Monks are Weasels

We left Delphi for Meteora today. It is a place with interesting geological formations. Many of these steep cliffs have a monastery on top of it. Each of the monasteries has different opening and closing hours just to make things that much more complicated. That being said, I was far more interested in the views from the monasteries than actually entering them.




As we soon discovered, monks are terrible people. They charge people to enter their monasteries, which frankly are kind of boring on the inside and smell like an old gymnasium. Secondly (and try to follow me on this one), women are required to wear some sort of skirt. My mom, and many other females attempting to visit these sites, were wearing pants. This was not acceptable by the monkey standards. They all had to wrap these heinous looking skirts over their pants. The logic of this was completely lost on me. Thirdly, for reasons I cannot work out, monks have it in for photography. There were many signs prohibiting cameras, but I was glad to see that everyone was ignoring these signs. You see, monks? If you deny people like me the right to practice my art, you get bad press! My influential blog with its 2 readers has exposed you for what you are!




In any event, we visited about 5 monasteries today. We decided to pay for just two, and mostly just to get a better view. After you've seen one smelly monastery with goat pee running down the steps, you've seen them all. I also am allergic to them, and I'm not just saying that. I don't know if it was the mustiness, the ferrel cats, or the goats, but my nose did not appreciate.




This stack of skulls at one of the monasteries reminds me of my final notes for the day. I damn near starved to death. Breakfast again was a bit lacking. The yogurt was especially thick this morning . . . even by Greek standards, and not terribly appetizing. Lunch was completely skipped. Skipped, I tell you! All I had to keep me going was a Luna bar and an old airline croissant. I had gotten real desperate. It was like reaching toward the end of your Halloween candy and realizing all you have left is a roll of dental floss and those candies that taste like Tums. It was almost as bad as Nicole's infamous Colorado road trip of '08, when she was rumored to have eaten an old orange that she found on the floor of a rental car.




Anyway, this is our last night on the road. Tomorrow we may head back up into Meteora, but ultimately we must get back to Athens. I'm actually kind of excited to get back to Athens. In some ways, it seems like it will be more relaxing.

Location:Καστρακίου-Μετεώρων,Kalabaka,Greece

Just some video updates . . .

Since we are still in Delphi, and bored out of our minds, I have been organizing some of my videos and uploading them. First, one I shot this afternoon. As my editing tools are primitive until I get back home, I expect this to look quite nice when I can adjust the exposure.

Next, we have some traffic near the old harbor in Iraklio, or however it is spelled.

Then finally, I was able to get to some of the GoPro footage from back on Santorini. First up, a side mount as we approach the town of Oia.

And last, we have the old Micra taking on the switchbacks leading up to Ancient Thira.



Oh, and there was no hot water in the shower. I have a bit of a chill.

Location:Βασιλέων Παύλου και Φρειδερίκης,Delphi,Greece

Our Hotel Turns the Hot Water on at 5:00. Who's Excited?

We went from Olympia to Delphi today. Along the way, we crossed one of the largest cable bridges in Europe. It was built by the French and has electronic sensors controlling the tension and all sorts of things. I half expected the bridge to electronically surrender to our taxi cab, but it did not.

In Delphi, we walked around more ruins. These at least were a bit more intact. Delphi also sits in the mountains, so the view down into the valley didn't hurt either. Delphi is the site of the ancient Greek oracle that would essentially act like an ambiguous fortune teller, or maybe even a life coach.

At one point, Delphi was considered to be the center of the earth. There would be a priestess there, who was high on crack, and she would mumble and flail about like a cast member of the Jersey Shore. This incoherence would then be "translated" by the priest at the oracle . . . though vaguely. You could read into it as you chose. I feel like it would be similar to when United Airlines used to have a horoscope page in their magazine and all the horoscopes dealt with "going on a journey" or "traveling."

The sky today was mostly overcast which fit with the whole mystique of the site. Alas, our visit didn't take very long. We are also staying in the town of Delphi for the night, and there is absolutely nothing to do, and I've been to Baker, CA, so I know when there's nothing to do. At least Baker has the world's largest outdoor, free-standing thermometer.

The problem with Delphi (the town, not the archaeological site), is the problem with Greece right now. The archaeological site closes at 3:00 meaning the tour buses have no reason to stay for dinner or the night. Yet, the entire town consists of tourist shops and tavernas. Nobody is shopping. Nobody is eating. Nobody has any reason to visit the town. So, if their logic is to close at 3:00 to "save money" by reducing the wages they have to pay their workers, they do not realize that those extra hours could mean thousands of dollars in extra ticket sales, souvenirs, food, drink, and lodging. Perhaps I am thinking too rationally.

Location:Φιλελλήνων,Delphi,Greece

I finally got a meal.

For anyone who cares to know, I got my first meal of the day. I took this picture while sitting at our table at the Best Western and eating lamb and potatoes. This all happened just in time, as the folks damn near killed me off today. When I get hungry, I get mean, but this can easily be avoided.




At the completion of my one meal today, I was able to catch a nice sunset over the plains around Olympia. Tomorrow we go to Delphi to see the site of the ancient oracle. It's a long drive, but as long as I get fed, I'm sure it will be ok.

Location:Αρχαίας Ολυμπίας-Κρεστένων,Αρχαία Ολυμπία,Greece

A Lazy Day

Today we toured Olympia -- it being the location of the ancient Olympic games. I thought this might prove interesting,but at the risk of sounding unappreciative of being in Greece, it didn't really stand out. It looked like the other ruins we've seen, if not worse. It was really not in good condition. We would see something like 4 stones lying on the ground and it would evidently be the temple where the torch was lit. This would have been impressive had it been more than 4 stones.




Much of the site was like this. We saw where they did the running events. I would have considered running 100m or so, but I really didn't sleep well last night. The mattress was thin, yet hard as a rock. I think I slept better on an overnight train in Vietnam. The hotel breakfast of a piece of bread was also a bit lacking.




This combination of being tired and hungry made me a very weak boy. Olympia was the only thing on our itinerary for the day, which is probably for the best because I was already falling asleep in the taxi.




We spent a good portion of the afternoon relaxing by the pool at our Best Western, which is actually quite nice. The photo here is the view from our balcony. I'm greatly looking forward to dinner as it will be my first meal of the day.

Location:Αρχαίας Ολυμπίας-Κρεστένων,Αρχαία Ολυμπία,Greece

Touring the Mainland in a Taxi

Today we began our travels around the mainland. We are driven around in a taxi cab by a man named Spiros. We made our first stop in Corynth to see some ruins and then saw its old fortifications on top the mountain.




Then we continued to Mycenae, the location where the famous mask of Agamemnon was found. After that, we saw an ancient, but very well preserved amphitheater in Epidavrus.




The acoustics were very impressive. At the top, we could easily hear someone talking in a regular speaking voice down below. I too, briefly stood down below. I had some gas building up from my lunch of chicken souvlaki, but fortunately it behaved itself when in the amphitheater. The French tourists would have no doubt taken offense to the reverberation.




We ended our day in the town of Nafplion, a town that would be more at home in France or Italy - mostly due to its Venetian roots. It had a lot of narrow streets with shops and cafés. It also had a major storm go through it. This was exciting for me because I don't often get to hear thunder. We got caught in the rain and were forced to sit under umbrellas at a street café for drinks.



The rain and clouds parted just long enough for the sun to show itself for a bit before disappearing for the night.

Tomorrow we go to Olympia. Beyond that, I have no information on our activities for the day.

Location:Κωνσταντινουπόλεως,Navplion,Greece

Back in Athens

We got on a very early flight out of Crete today. "How early was it?," you ask. Well it was sooooo early that we flew from Crete to Athens, got picked up by a taxi, driven all the way from airport to the hotel, and they were still serving breakfast.
It was a big day in Athens that began with laundry. €5 to use a washer. And you thought your laundry was expensive! Our first real item of the day was a trip to the Acropolis Museum. The picture above was the most interesting part. It's the remains of the neighborhoods that once surrounded the area. This, however, was not really part of the museum. The artifacts present were mostly replicas because the original pieces are in London, Vienna, or various places in Germany. Lame. We were going to go to the acropolis right afterward, but apparently things close at 3 on Saturdays.

Because everything was closed, we hiked up a large hill called Mt. Lykavittos. It was quite the task for my locals. When we got to the top, we were rewarded with some nice vistas. It was tricky to get this shot due to the scheißy German tourists perpetually blocking my view, but I managed. It figures that the warmest day of the trip so far occurs while we are far from any nice beach. I had to zip off the legs of my pants. I was forced to hike in short shorts for a spell. Nobody I knew saw me. We grabbed a drink up top before heading back down.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped in front of parliament to watch the changing of the guard. They wear fun outfits. I'll have to see if I can acquire one at a vendor and wear it out next time I go to Venice Beach. Unlike the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, this all took place in about 5 minutes.

The routine consisted of a lot of high, exaggerated kicks. Then some military guy with a mustache adjusted their uniforms and posture, and it was over. Tomorrow we leave Athens for Mycenae and end in Nafplion for the night. Wifi situation doubtful. I am currently blogging from a cafe since our hotel wants to charge €6 for the day. Weasels.

Location:Leoforos Syngrou,Athens,Greece