Greece 2015 (#5)

Part 5: May 10th – 12th

By Watracz Is Traveling

Day 15: Monemvasia, Argos, Nafplio, Epidaurus, Mycenae

May 10th, 2015

View day 15 route on Google Maps

I climb out of my warm sleeping bag early, at 5 a.m., and after a quick breakfast I load the GPS map for the day. As I leave the mountains heading towards the sea, a flock of sheep escorted by a bunch of herding dogs crosses the road.

Several kilometers north of Gefyra, there’s a road leading to the beach; I go to see how my Aprilia handles sand — but it looks like the bike had too much for breakfast, and riding on the beach on road tires is not really up its alley. I push the bike out of the wet sand and go back to tougher surfaces.

On my way to Nafplio I pass Sparta and the castle sitting on a picturesque hill near Argos.

Nafplio

Finally! Beaches where you can see sunbathing tourists and people entering the water! I get through the old town and reach a parking lot on the western side of the Palamidi castle that towers over the town. The castle was erected in 1715 by Venetians and there are — supposedly — a thousand steps leading to it. The unbearable heat and my tiredness make me wonder for a while if it’s even worth going up. But since I’m already here… I decide to give it a shot. I walk up, slowly counting the steps along the way. And there really are a thousand, even a bit more than that.

At the top, it turns out that you didn’t really need to climb a thousand steps to visit the castle. On the other side there’s a tourist parking lot that’s easily reachable on a motorbike. It’s a shame I hadn’t checked that before.

Epidaurus

I head east from the Palamidi castle, towards the Epidaurus theater. It’s an ancient structure from around 3,000 BC, and it could once seat over 14 thousand spectators. The theater is preserved so well that plays are still staged here on occasion.

There are some archaeological sites nearby, with the main attraction being a 3rd century BC propylaea, the temple of Asklepios, the temple of Artemis, a 200-meter-long stadium, and an abaton, which is a dormitory for patients hoping to be miraculously cured in their sleep.

The dig also has a small museum with figures and reliefs from the same era.

Mycenae

Around 6 p.m. I start out towards Mycenae, located some 50 kilometers north-west. Unfortunately, when I get there it’s too late to get inside. I turn around and look for a campsite. The search is not long, because there are two of them nearby.

Day 16: Mycenae, Ancient Corinth, Acrocorinth

May 11th, 2015

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Mycenae

I enter the ruins as one of the first tourists that day. I begin my sightseeing with the museum, which has a rich collection of figures, pottery, jewelry, and some rusted daggers.

I’m enjoying the dig much more. According to ancient beliefs, Mycenae was founded by Perseus, and one of its kings was Agamemnon, the conqueror of Troy. It’s also said that Mycenaean soldiers were the only ones to help the Spartans at Thermopylae by sending a troop of 80 soldiers to the battlefield.

There are several underground tombs in the site; I don’t know if you can go inside — they’re not lit or secured in any way, but I do have my headlamp, and there’s no one guarding the entrance, so...

After I go through the ruins, it’s time to visit the Treasury of Atreus, also known as the Tomb of Agamemnon, believed to be one of the prime achievements of Mycenaean architecture. The structure is over 13 meters tall, and over 14 meters wide.

I go back to the campsite, eat up my second breakfast, pack my things onto the bike and start off to the north. After less than an hour of riding I get to ancient Corinth, said to be founded by Sisyphus himself.

Ancient Corinth

The archaeological dig covers a pretty big area, and I need more than 2 hours to take it all in, along with the museum section. Due to the fact that in the late 2nd c. BC the city was ransacked by the Romans who carried off lot of the art pieces, and later struck by several earthquakes, most of the monuments here are of Roman origin.

Among the key remains are the temple of Apollo from 6th c. BC, of which only 7 columns still stand, the temple of Octavia (only 3 columns), the Peirene spring, and some remnants of shops and baths.

The museum has lots of sculptures, but most of them are incomplete. In one room, for example, there’s a glassed-off section with just legs, feet, and sets of arms and hands hanging next to it, while another room holds only heads. The courtyard features torsos without limbs, some reliefs and column fragments. And there’s a lot of pottery and small decorative figurines. All in all, there’s plenty to look at.

I’m drawn by a Roman villa mosaic showing the head of Dionysus.

Acrocorinth

After a tour of ancient Corinth I ride to the top of Acrocorinth, the hill rising to 575 m.a.s.l., with the ruins of a sprawling fortress at the summit. It starts to rain when I’m mid-way up the hill. There’s a small bar before the ruins, kind of like a shelter, so I park the bike in front of it and go inside to wait out the rain. Apart from the owner, one employee, and me, there’s no one there. I order something to eat and find out along the way that the owner’s wife is Polish, that he’s been to Poland a few times, and that his young employee’s name is Marko and he hails from Albania.

The rain doesn’t let off for the next 3 hours; the owner goes home, and I’m left just with the young Albanian. It’s getting dark and I’m losing hope of any chance to see the ruins before night. The nearest campsite is 8 kilometers away and I don’t really feel like riding there in the pouring rain. Fortunately Marko suggests I can put up my tent for free behind the establishment. Awesome! It’s a great opportunity to get some cold beer. We take out a few cans from the fridge and talk. After 3 rounds, Marko wants to ride down to a bar down in the city and get some ouzo. I tell him it’s a dumb idea, because, one, I don’t have another helmet, and two, I could lose my licence for riding the bike under the influence. Still, somehow he’s able to convince me. We get on the bike and ride down.

Down in the bar, I get another beer, and my new friend has a few rounds of ouzo, then talks me into visiting a local strip club… a friend of his is supposed to take us there and back. He gets his phone, calls the guy, then we leave the bar and get into an old car that drives us out of the city in a direction I can’t really recognize. The guys are talking in Greek, I can’t understand a word and I just hope I’m not about to be robbed in the middle of the night. We get to the club that turns out to be closed. Marko, inconsolable, states the obvious — no dancing girls for us tonight, we need to get back to the city. As we get there, it starts to rain again, so we get back on the bike and ride up to the shelter at the top of Acrocorinth. Going through one of the turns, I can feel Marko sliding down my shoulder. He’s falling asleep! I just hope he doesn’t fall off… When we get to the shelter I squeeze the brakes hard and Marko wakes up. Instead of setting up a tent, I take my mattress and sleep on the shelter’s floor. Luckily we made it in one piece, and no one’s licence got taken away.

Day 17: Acrocorinth, Corinth, Athens

May 12th, 2015

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Acrocorinth

In the morning I’m woken by a buzzing in my head and the alarm in Marko’s phone that keeps playing the same tune over and over for more than half an hour. The Albanian doesn’t even budge. I get up, take a quick shower and head out before 8 a.m. to see Acrocorinth.

The ruins are sprawling and going through them takes me two and a half hours. It’s windy and chilly, and there are no tourists around apart from myself. From the top, you can see the Aegean Sea on one side, and the Ionian Sea on the other, with about a dozen ships heading towards the Corinth Canal.

After taking in the ruins I get back to the shelter where I find the owner having a very lively discussion with Marko. He’s not pleased, either with the fact that I spent the night there, or with Marko not being quite up to it. I make sure that everything's fine between us, then say goodbye to my new acquaintances and go see the Corinth Canal.

On the way, I fill up the bike and do shopping for the next few days. The wind by the seaside is very strong, clashing the waves against the shore. I quickly regret riding onto a bicycle path right by the sea. A gust of wind tips over my bike again, this time on the right side. I have to take off all the cases, bags, and everything to get it upright.

Somewhere in the southern part of Corinth I stumble across a work of the Polish car industry parked by the side: a Fiat 125p pickup.

From Corinth, I go directly to Athens. Unfortunately, the weather is really poor. There’s a strong wind, and I’m having trouble keeping the handlebars straight. Sudden gusts of wind almost rip the handlebars out of my hands a few times. On the highway, by the toll booths, the wind pushes me to the roadside and I can’t reach the booth I’m aiming for. On the way, I go through lots of tunnels and after each one, as I get out in the open, the wind almost throws me off balance. I stop behind a gas station to wait it out. Some construction workers are hiding behind the wall with me, the trees are flailing like they’re about to break; overall, not the type of weather you can ride a bike in. The wind is so strong I don’t even think about getting off the bike. After about an hour it gets better, so I decide to press on.

Athens

I reach the Athens campsite, where I plan to spend the next couple of days. The receptionist isn’t too welcoming, and she’s unwilling to negotiate the price, while the campsite is one of the most expensive I’ve been to (at nearly 20 euro per night). But I’m tired and I really want to sleep, so I agree to the terms. In the evening, more bikers come and get set up nearby; the group includes a grandpa and his granddaughter, both from Canada, who are in the middle of their motorbike trip around Europe. The campsite has a small restaurant and I can finally eat a normal, warm meal. After dinner I delete the photos I don’t like, download a few apps for sightseeing in Athens, and plan the next day.