The Black Horse of the Blog World

The island of Corfu is all the way up the western coastline of Greece, and you can even see Albania from it’s shores. It is also supposedly where Odysseus’ ship was petrified, mere yards from returning to port. While here we visited a working monastery (where Amanda was stung by a bee.. ask her about it sometime), the old town (complete with a reproduction of the Rue di Rivoli), and a small seaside town. Not in that order. We also saw some of the best Byzantine art and Orthodox icons of the whole trip. Of note to me were the icons of St. George and the Dragon, something I would expect more in England than in Greece.

From Corfu

Back to the ruins! On day 9 we docked at Katakolon, which is a cluster of one and two story buildings with almost no residences. The whole place serves as solely a port for the tourists who come to see the ruins of Olympia. Centuries ago, Olympia itself was on the water, but no longer. Once home to the Temple of Zeus, which housed one of the Seven Wonders of the world, now it is a collection of mostly untouched ruins, and a museum. The archaeologists who have been in charge of the site for decades are in the ‘leave it as it lies’ camp, and have done minimal restoration, instead conducting preservation and excavation efforts to reclaim the site from the swamps. There is an excellent museum at the site with all sorts of finds.

From Olympia

Our visit to Santorini was not one of an ancient site. Although Santorini (once called Thera) was a very important island stronghold in both Classical and Renaissance times, it is best known these days for its stunning beauty and cycladian architecture. Per government regulation, almost all new construction must be in the style, because it is what they are so well known for. Santorini itself is an island formed by the caldera of a volcano. The edges of the volcanic basin are the islands of Santorini. Because of this, Santorini forms a near perfect natural harbor. The walls of the caldera, however, are steep, so almost all of the construction is on the outside slopes, creeping up and peering over the rim. While in Santorini, we took the time to see the village of Ia, a popular wedding and honeymoon destination, an ancient Byzantine church (13th century, IIRC), and a local winery that produces some of the local vinsanto wine, a wine made from grapes left to dry in the sun until they are almost raisins.

From Santorini

Day seven, after a day at sea, we arrive at the second country on our tour, Turkey. We docked at Kusadasi and took a tour to see Ephesus, an excellently preserved and restored site. Our tickets also included access to the still-under-excavation Terrace Houses, which are carefully being preserved inside a well roofed area, and with glass walkways so that as little of the site is disturbed by tourism as possible. They offer limited admission to this area for an additional fee, the proceeds of which fund the archaeological work. We took a lot of pictures here as well, because there was a lot to see. By the way, the Library of Celsius is a stunning piece of work that any city public library should consider emulating. Afterward, we returned to Kusadasi proper, and were treated to a carpet weaving demonstration and sales pitch. The afternoon was characterized by an overpriced lunch and souvenir shopping.

Pictures up at Picasa.

From Kusadasi and Ephesus