Greece Road Trip

We took another big trip last week (Egypt), so that means in order to stay no more than three trips behind on the blog, it's time to write about our travels in Greece last January!

Rainy border crossing, post tire-changing adventure. Paul's first time leaving Turkey!

            This was the first trip of our semester break, and our first international adventure since moving to Turkey.  We decided to see as much of Greece’s mainland as we could by car, since that was one of the few places in our region where the weather would be decent in the middle of winter, and because we had ample time.  The trip started out eventfully.  The Corolla suffered a punctured tire while we were “randomly” selected for a complete search and X-ray at the Turkey-Greece border—we were the only non-cargo vehicle crossing at that time.  We noticed an interesting cultural shift as we made the crossing.  I replaced the tire with the “donut” tire on the Turkish side.  While I did so, a Turkish gentleman accompanied me, offering to call a friend who could repair it if possible (it was not repairable), “helping” me change the tire without getting in the way, and keeping me company with conversation even though it was starting to rain.  This is a phenomenon we have noticed to be quite common in Turkey: if someone has an issue or problem, others will gather around to try to help that person solve the issue (if they are of no help, maybe they can call a friend who will be), or at least to show interest.



...so we thought we'd let him take his turn at the wheel 

...and just so the grandparents don't freak out, we were parked at a rest stop.

            Once we crossed the border the story was a bit different.  We stopped in several small towns asking (or gesturing) where we might find a new tire.  We were mostly met with a “not my problem” type of response.  Granted, most people we ran into really could not help us—including the tire dealer whose town was out of power that afternoon—but there was no desire (genuine or feigned) to help like we have experienced in Turkey.  We finally found an open tire shop in Alexandroupolis, the first major city across the border, and continued our journey.



Atatürk's childhood home in Thessaloniki, right next to the Turkish consulate

            Our itinerary included overnight stops in Thessaloniki (where we visited Atatürk’s childhood home, now the site of the Turkish Consulate), Lamia, Athens, Navplion, Olympia, Ioannina, Kozani, and Alexandroupolis.  We stayed in middle-range small hotels in most places, with the exception of Athens, where we found an excellent apartment through airbnb.com, quite close to the Acropolis.  Other favorite highlights of the trip included Thermopylae, Delphi, Corinth, the Byzantine ruins at Mystras, and the cliff monasteries at Meteora.  We noticed some signs of the financial crisis, especially in Athens, where many shops were shuttered, and we missed the Metro workers’ strike by a day.  Still, we were surprised that prices were generally not lower, and we spent more on food than we expected we would—possibly a sign of the Euro keeping costs high.  The traces of the Ottoman Empire were quite evident in the northern portion of the country, especially in Ioannina and the region between Thessaloniki and the Turkish border, where minarets are still prominent among several villages.  Also, the Museum of Macedonian Struggle in Thessaloniki outlines the Greek version of late Ottoman history quite clearly.  Since we traveled during the lowest point of the low season, we were often the only customers at hotels and restaurants, which meant Paul got some extra attention, which was nice.  It rained a few times during the second half of the trip, and we drove through one snowy mountain pass between Mystras and Olympia.  Even so, weather was not too much of a limiting factor.  Overall, it was an excellent trip, and a great opportunity to note the similarities and differences between Turkey and Greece.

At the Hosios Loukas Monastery in Boeotia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Overlooking Delphi and the temple of Apollo (where the Oracle sniffed some geothermal fumes and gave vague statements as predictions)

On Kolonos Hill, where the remaining Spartans made their last stand against the Persian army on the final day of the battle of Thermopylae.  For three days, around 4,000 Greeks (including 300 Spartan knights) held off the army of Xerxes, which numbered between 70,000 and 300,000, at this pass.

On the morning of the third day of the battle, Xerxes' messenger relayed the Persian king's order for the few hundred remaining Spartans to hand over their weapons.  Leonidas, the Spartan king, replied: MOLON LABE, "Come and get them!"

The first modern Olympic stadium, in Athens, hosted the games in 1896.

The remains of the Temple of Zeus, once the largest temple in Athens

Changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in front of the Greek Parliament building

Caryatid columns at the Erechtheum on the Acropolis in Athens

The Parthenon! Another one of those things we read about in 6th grade history that we are amazed to be able to see in person.

Roman Agora, just below the Acropolis.  Our camera battery died right after this photo.

In the Athens Archaeological Museum: the burial mask of the Mycenaean king Agamemnon, the legendary leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War; however, the mask dates to 1550-1500 BC, supposedly before the period of the war itself.

The Temple of Apollo in Corinth

The Bema in Corinth, where Paul the Apostle was once indicted in the public square for his evangelization.

The Acrocorinth, a fortress on a hilltop high above ancient Corinth, used from ancient times until the late Ottoman era.  We climbed it.

An island fortress near Nafplio

Grave Circle A in Mycenae, where the Mask of Agamemnon was found, among other treasures.

The Treasury of Arteus, the burial site of one of the ancient kings of Mycenae

Nafplio, the first capital of the Greek Republic after the revolution in 1821.

The marble tile at a church in Mystras, upon which Constantine XI, the last king of the Byzantine Empire who died in the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, was crowned.

Mystras is the hillside site of a major Byzantine city, and several churches and an active monastery remain.  Paul is sporting the "shared rainjacket" fashion, which we employed several times during the second half of the trip.

The Corolla handled a little snow in the mountain pass just fine.

More rain in Ancient Olympia.

This is the spot where the Olympic flame is lit for every Olympics.  It better be a sunny day when they do it, though, because they use a shiny parabolic mirror to light the first torch, no matches allowed!

One of the remaining buildings that used to be a mosque (now a museum) in Ioannina, a major Ottoman city in northwestern Greece.  It was a bit cold.

Varlaam Monastery at Meteora, the site of several clifftop monasteries that are hundreds of years old.  Really glad we made this detour.

At the monastery, even though she was already wearing jeans, Emily was required to wear a "dress," mandatory for all women visiting.  She was not as amused as I was.