An Ionic Column

 

 

I was persuaded to start blogging a couple years ago. That coincided with a trip to Greece, and, at the time, it seemed that a blog trip report would be a good idea. It seems the blog fad has passed, but part of the report was written: and this column has been shamefully out of date. So, I am transferring the report, in chapters, here: with the hope that I can actually finish it. If not, what I have written will at least amuse some folks.

 

#36

"Home Is the Sailor..." Part Two

July 26th, 2008

In the morning the car we had ordered (for driving around the country) was brought. It was supposed to be a (something or other of which we had never heard) but it turned out to be a Fiat. A bright green (sort of between lime green and chartreuse) little car, and I was very pleased. I used to drive a Fiat before our Dictatorship, backed by Detroit, prevented them from being imported.

Good gas economy! Great handling!

We loaded up and began our Odyssey.

Unfortunately, Greeks do not give good directions. The man who handed over the car said: "It's easy, here's the shift, you pull up and back for reverse. Bye!"

After about eight tries at getting it into reverse we prayed to Hephaestos, and the car went into reverse. We pulled out and headed south, as Brauron was not too far away.

There are great Archeological Site signs all over Hellas, in Brown and in Greek and English, which is a different color from all the other signs. Still, it took a while to find it. There was a museum on the way that we thought might be it, but it was closed. Finally we did find it

It is not really a developed site, which was good. We were able to meander around while the caretakers weed-whacked the growth. The ruins of the small temple were the very first that we had visited. The area where the 'Little Bears' lived and learned was nice, and the sort of quad where they no doubt danced and exercised looked like a good space for little girls. There is a certain amount of stonework still standing, so you can get an idea of what it was like. Really nice Doric columns.

There were plenty of prickly pear cactus growing in the ruins, and fig trees.

After a pleasant stay at Brauron we headed further south, to Cape Sounion, which you see in lots of pictures. The temple of Poseidon is one of the big view sites, and being on a promontory surrounded by the Agean, you can't miss it. They light it up at night.

In the pictures it looks huge, but that is an illusion of the Ionic columns. Diana noted that it was not much bigger than the place that one of the Troth members is building in the southwest.

The brochure told us there was a substantial temple to Athena there as well, but try as I might I could not find it. Then I discovered a man giving a lecture to some of his students, and when he finished I asked him about it. It turned out he was a compatriot of Stephen Miller, at Nemea, and was the man who was in charge of measuring the stuff at Nemea. He pointed downhill to a far less impressive set of ruins (practically nothing there), but Diana said we had to get going.

I had parked in the lot, the car facing the cliff. It would not go into reverse. Diana began to have visions of having to hover over space and push me backward. (She doesn't drive shift.) We prayed to Hephaestos some more, with some more pleas to Hermes to make sure we didn't go over that cliff. Finally the car moved backward, and we headed for our next destination.

Diana was the navigator for the trip, and she was sure she had the ring road system down pat. Only somehow we got off, and before we knew it, we were plunging across Athens, which is a lot like Los Angeles, only faster and with fewer rules.

People drive wildly in Greece. There are many motorcycles and motorscooters, and they all rush to the head of the pack when everyone stops at a traffic light. Then they all take off fast.

We saw our only accident that day, in Athens, when a scooter went down.

Our destination for the day was Napflion, which had an inexpensive hotel. We crossed the Korinth canal, then found the exit, (we were back on modern highways), which happened to be the same exit for Nemea.

We drove two lane roads past Mykenae, Tyrins, and finally arrived in the thriving beach town of Napflion. But after an hour we still could not find the hotel. Diana finally gave in to my importuning and used the rented cell phone.

"Oh, it's easy," came the reply: precisely what everybody said for the whole trip. But we did negotiate a number of one way streets, find the Hotel Economu, parked, and piled out.

It was a sort of hostel, but being an old married couple, Mr. and Mrs. Economu had given us a room with a private bath and toilet.

There was no guard door inside the elevator, but from the hall wiindow we had a view of the full moon and the fully lighted, really huge, Venetian Castle. We had not known that Napflion was the first capital of Modern Greece, or the role it had played in the Greek War for Independence. We learned the first of many lessons we had not expected about that wonderful country.

They have these little, curious air conditioners, and when you check in they give you the controller, somewhat like a TV remote. I was happy with the temperature, but Diana wanted refrigeration.

Fortunately, there were blankets.

E-Mail me at: RhinocerosLodge@pon.net