2009 Ports of Call 28 - 31

 

Click on this link and you will be directed to pictures of all 2009 trips.

 

Greece:  Gulf of Corinth

Jul 13 - 16

 

After passing under the Rio Bridge, we entered the Gulf of Corinth, an area rich with ancient history.  We started to explore it with a stop at Itea, the port of Delphi, center of the world, according to the ancients.

 

Delphi, pictured above, is one of the most spectacular classical sites in Greece.  It takes its name from Apollo Elphinos when the god was worshipped in the shape of a dolphin.  But other gods are also associated with Delphi, notably Dionysus and Athena.  And the Delphic oracle, whose interpretations were vague and often obscene, was famous throughout Greece.

 

The Gulf itself is like a large lake with scenery of an Alpine lake.  The dolphins like it as well; we saw three schools of probably 20 each.

 

On to Corinth near the Canal, which it controlled and made it wealthy.  We docked at the commercial harbor without much company, probably due to the stench.  The women visited ancient Corinth where St. Paul spoke.  By evening the smell was gone and we had a lovely dinner at Lee’s favorite, the fly bridge of The Prize.

 

 

Greece:  Corinth Canal to Athens

Jul 16

 

We got an early start for this fascinating journey which resulted in calm water and the canal almost to ourselves.

 

The canal is 3.2 miles long, about 82 feet wide, and the maximum permitted draught is about 21 feet.  The limestone from which it is cut rises to about 260 feet above sea level.  Three bridges (a railway bridge and two road bridges) cross it at the maximum height of the cut.

 

The ancients used to drag ships across the isthmus on a paved road, parts of which can still be seen.  Octavian in pursuit of Antony after the Battle of Actium had his ships dragged across here.  At various times the Greek and Roman rulers worked out schemes for a canal, but Nero was the only one to start digging.  Using 6000 Jews, he didn’t even get to the rock before insurrection in Gaul diverted his energies.

 

The present canal was started by a French company and finished by the Greeks in 1893.  It was enlarged after damage suffered in WWII.

 

We cruised on to Athens where the Lanes & Mussers departed after a day of sight-seeing and dinner by the sea.

Greece:  Athens to Cape Sounion

Jul 18 - 21

 

Athens is a city so full of ancient ruins that developers have a difficult time finding a place to build without archeologists having a field day.

 

Allan and Millie Bradley (Exxon friends) joined us in Athens where we stayed longer than planned due to high winds.  However, this gave us a chance to see lots of sites, including the Temple of Zeus, pictured above with the Parthenon in the background.  Speaking of the Parthenon, the Greeks are still determined to get parts of it back from the British Museum where they are called the Elgin Marbles.  The Greeks have even built a new Parthenon Museum to house the treasures.  It opened just three weeks before we visited it the day the Bradleys arrived.

 

The Parthenon is part of the Acropolis, which is a challenge to visit, especially when cruise ships are in town.  Otherwise we stayed ahead of the crowds and enjoyed seeing many sites, shopping in the Plaka (old town), and eating beside the ancient Agora and by the sea.

 

Although the winds did not totally subside, we decided to head on to Evia (Evvoia, Evoia, Euboea, Euripos???) Island.