Greece II: While in Greece, we spent the mornings through lunch out exploring the ancient ruins and the afternoons swimming and at the beach. This worked well for us as it was hot in the afternoons, and also gave Ethan a break each day. Here are some of the ancient sights that we visited. We visited ancient Corinth and and the summit of Acrocorinth, the rugged limestone mountain that is 1,885 ft. above the plain. Acrocorinth is a natural acropolis, first fortified by the ancient Greeks. Everyone who came later -- the Byzantines, Franks, Venetians, and Turks -- simply added to the original walls. Today, there are three courses of outer walls; massive gates with towers; and a jumble of ruined houses, churches, and barracks. Here are William and Ethan at the remains of an old shop in ancient Corinth.

Corinthian colums ...

View of ancient city of Corinth.

Acrocorinth - look at the blue sea in the background!

Here is a view of Acrocorinth from a cliff above.

EPIDAURUS

We also visited Epidaurus with an almost perfectly preserved amphitheatre built 2,500 years ago. According to Greek mythology Epidaurus was the birthplace of Asclepius, the god of healing and son of Apollo. The site later became one of the most important centers of healing in the ancient world and by the 4th century BC the sick were travelling from far and wide to seek medical and mystical cures at the sanctuary dedicated to Asclepius. The ruins of Epidaurus include the foundations of the Temple of Asclepius, a sanctuary of Egyptian gods, a sports stadium, odeon and bath complex. The theatre is one of the best preserved structures from Classical Greece, having lain hidden and protected beneath layers of earth for centuries. Excavations began in 1881 and continue today.

Excavations are still ongoing. Here are some women cleaning by hand one of the items found at the site.

MYCENAE

We visited the ancient city of Mycenae which was once thought to exist only in ancient Greek legend and the epic poetry of Homer. In 1870 an amateur archaeologist named Heinrich Schliemann found the city. The city of Mycenae was the center of a large and powerful Mycenaean Greek civilization, which existed from circa 1900 B.C.E. to circa 1125 B.C.E. It is located in the south central part of what is present day Greece. The Mycenaean civilization was at its height between 1400 and 1200 B.C.E

Mycenae is also known for its ancient builders. The Lion Gate is a main entrance into the citadel at Mycenae. It is a solid stone carving of two lions which stand as sentries directly over the entrance. This gate is part of the outer wall of the citadel. Here are William and Ethan under the Lions Gate.

Another great structure found in Mycenae is the Treasury of Atreus. This treasury is actually a self-supporting domed tomb .

NEMEA

We also visited Nemea. Nemea was famous in Greek myth as the home of the Nemean Lion which was killed by the Heracles. Nemea is home to the stadium where the Nemean Games were held. Three columns of the Temple of Zeus from the 4th Century BC have stood since their construction and two more were reconstructed in 2002. As of late 2007, four more are being re-erected. The site around the temple has been excavated, including the great altar and bath. The stadium has recently been discovered. It is notable for its well-preserved vaulted entrance tunnel, dated to about 320 B.C., with ancient graffiti on the walls. The temple is below.

Remains of the bath house. This was really amazing. You can still make out the sinks below.

William and Ethan have a race in the Nemean Olympic stadium.

William loses his hat ...

Greece Part I: We flew from Milan to Athens, Greece. When we arrived in Athens, we were surprised at the cleanliness and moderness of the airport. Most people spoke fluent or basic English, so language was not a problem. In addition, all of the signs were in roman as well as greek letters, so reading was not an issue. We went to our car rental place and received our compact car a "Roomster." We asked for directions out of the airport and headed on a 3 hour drive to Tolo. Tolo is on the Pelopennesian Peninsula on the mainland of Greece. It is a small fishing village that in the last ten years has begun to develop a toursit trade. The ride was pretty easy and we made it to our condo on the beach. Here is the picture of our condo Helitopos run by a nice German woman, Gunda.

We had dinner on our balcony almost every night since our condo had a kitchen.

This is the view from our condo balcony.

Our condo had a rooftop bar and pool.

Our German Hostess Gunda made the best milkshakes in Greece! Here is Ethan enjoying one. Ethan scoots around Tolo.

We did lots of swimming and snorkeling at the beach in Tolo.

On our last day in Tolo, we rented a boat for the day to snorkel and explore some of the area beaches.

Lunch on the boat.Ethan drives the boat!Beautiful, crystal clear blue water with lots of sea urchins and star fish!

If you look closely, you will see there is a funny sea creature in this shell. Ethan called him "creature."

We left the Veneto to head to Milan to catch our flight to Athens, Greece. On our way to Milan we stopped to spend the afternoon in Como, Italy on Lake Como. Here are some aerial views of the town.

Ethan by the lake.
We took a funicular up to the top of the mountain overlooking Lake Como. Here is the car.

Here is a shot looking down the track.

William looks out of the scope at the top of the mountain.

We actually walked down the mountain on the "walking path." If you ever go to Lake Como, take the funicular down. The path was really overgrown and very difficult to navigate (especially in flip flops!). We were probably the first people in 5 years to actually walk down, but we made it!

Hiking in the Pre-Dolimites - We left the Vento for a day trip/hike in Northern Italy to the pre-Dolomites. William picked out a route for us on Mount Bondonero. It was about a three and a half hour hike. We also stopped for a picnic lunch on the way. Here are the guys on the top of Mount Bondonero.


Eating our picnic lunch ...

Ethan enjoys his sandwich!

Here are me and William on top of the mountain.

Here is a view from the top.

After our hike, we came across a great ski bar. There was a friendly goat and donkey at the base of the ski lift near the ski bar.

Here is the Ski Bar - Il Bondonero - named after the Bond family of course :-)

Here are signs in Italian pointing to the different hiking trails.

Ethan and William play a game of ping pong at the ski bar.

Ethan points to the top of the mountain. This is where our trail goes. We did not hike the entire way to the top.
Goat...