At the Taverna II

Athens

33mm ISO400 1/400 f/25

More of the blog…

Aegina

Another overnight dimensional leap brought us into a bright, sunny day, heading towards Aegina. It didn’t involve a particularly early start, but it was worth getting up a bit earlier than normal for another look at the Corinth canal. It really is a fantastic work of engineering and I loved the telescopic mechanism for opening the bridge. I’ve seen bridges rise up, or swing apart, but never retract.

It was calm, peaceful sailing until we reached Aegina, the largest of the Saronic islands and the one closest to Athens, only 45 minutes away by hydrofoil. We’d visited Aegina before, but many years ago. It looked unfamiliar until the first sign of the pistachio nut stalls, then it all came flooding back.

The bus took us first to the far end of the island, were we experienced yet another fantastic sight/site, the Temple of Aphaia. Another uphill hike had the muscles screaming again, but we heard wonderful tales of how the island got its name from a persecuted nymph. Unfortunately, the guide we had on this occasion was not up to the usual standard. She was difficult to follow and lacked the enthusiasm of our previous guides.

We passed on the museum, saving ourselves for the next visit, to the site of another temple of Apollo, at Kolonna, just outside Aegina town. Only a single column remains standing, but it’s a major landmark on the island. While we were ashore the liner pulled away from its mooring to allow another ship to dock and didn’t return until 6:00 pm. We passed the time having lunch, reading and chatting and watching the to-ing and fro-ing of ships and hydrofoils. It’s grim life, but somebody has to do it!

After a short siesta we returned to explore Aegina Town by night. We had a couple of ouzos inn a picturesque bar behind the fish market, wrapped in the smoke of grilled octopus and other fish and seafood. We finished the evening with some Greek pancakes full of ham, cheese and tomato, with herby cheese spread over the folded circle. Again, it was all locals in the place, with lots of friendly banter going on between the customers and the waiters.

As we were returning to the boat, we met Stelios again. He recognised us from our previous encounter and asked if we’d had a good time. He seemed genuinely pleased when we assured him that we’d had a brilliant time and thanked him for making it possible. It may have been an economy package, but it was a mega-rich experience.(Karmanie)

At the Taverna I

Athens

18mm ISO640 1/320 f/11

More of the blog…

Evening in Itea

After a brief siesta to recover from the exertions of the morning it was ouzo-hunting time again and an opportunity to do some more socialising with our companions. We ended up in a restaurant where lots of the locals were having a night out as part of their Carnival celebrations prior to the abstinence of Lent, which falls later in the Greek Orthodox calendar than in the Roman one.

A live trio provided some fine music ranging from modern Greek ballads to traditional rembetika on guitar ands two bouzoukis, while Bob and friends, from California, provided the craic, an Irish word for chat and charm. It was a long day, but a very enjoyable one. (Karmanie)

Regrets?

Monastiraki Flea Market, Athens

55mm ISO640 1/250 f/20

More from the blog…

Chatting with Kelly

After lunch we had a long and interesting chat with Kelly Agathos, a charming and intelligent young woman who is the Classical Greece Coordinator at easyCruise. Both Kelly’s parents are Greek, but she was brought up in the USA and Belgium and speaks perfect English, French and Greek. She studied Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge University, where she met Stelios when he was invited to speak at Cambridge Union Society about his businesses and his life as an entrepreneur. She was invited to join easyCruise as soon as she graduated in Summer 2007.

Kelly explained that her main role on board to ensure that the Classical Greece tours functioned smoothly and that she was responsible for selecting the sites to be visited and for local arrangements, such as employing tour guides. When the tours are not running, she markets and promotes the Classical Greece Cruise as well as selecting the sites and excursions for the following season. We asked her why easyCruise, a company known principally for offering low-cost, high-value leisure cruises, had chosen to enter this market. She explained that they saw it as an unexplored niche market which presented opportunities for attracting a new client group and extending the cruise season at both ends. No other company offered a one-week trip which included visits to so many major archaeological sites.

She felt that the company also had a commitment to promoting and supporting the Classics, as shown by their recent sponsorship of a Cambridge debate on the Parthenon Marbles. In some cases, this support could have very practical benefits, for example, including the little-visited but important site of Kolonna on the island of Aegina in this season’s cruise itinerary. Taking easyCruise guests to this site could affect its future by showing the Greek Ministry of Culture that it merits longer opening hours and more maintenance.

Kelly noted that the cruises were attracting a unique client-group, across a wide variety of ages, country of origin and background, whose only common bond was a shared love of culture. This presented challenges in marketing the cruises, but they were trying to attract interested clients through classics societies and classics journals. She said that Stelios himself believed that was important to make culture accessible by making it fun and exciting. She compared the cruise to an affordable 21st century version of the Grand Tour, the 19th century practice of visiting the cultural centres of Europe, enjoyed by the leisured classes.

We thanked Kelly for her time and wished her every success for future cruises. We are certain that her own obvious commitment and enthusiasm will play a major role in ensuring that this happens. We know that she welcomes comments from any of the passengers, so if you have anything to say, please let her know.

Mannequins II

Monastiraki, Athens, Greece

35mm ISO400 1/400 f/11

More of the blog…

Ithaca by night
Our evening started with a short but interesting Greek lesson on board, followed by a quick sniff at some typical Greek herbs. We then set out into Vathy to find an Internet Cafe and restore our plummeting ouzo levels, hoping to find some tasty snacks on the way. Once both the blog and the ouzo had been updated, we found a little Greek-filled bar serving excellent food. I can see the attraction of an onboard meal package from a budgetary perspective, but to get the full flavour you have to see Papa behind the BBQ in his greasy apron and Mama doling out baskets of toasted bread, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with oregano. We had dolmades (stuffed vine leaves) and chicken souvlaki (kebabs), washed down with retsina from a copper carafe.

Heading back to the liner, we met up with fellow passengers Don and Maureen from St Albans and joined them in another bar for a couple of nightcaps, or was it another couple of bars for a nightcap? In either case, it was a wonderful end to another enjoyable day. (Karmanie)

Read the complete blog at http://greecefeb08.blogspot.com

Mannequins I

Monastiraki, Athens, Greece

43mm ISO640 1/80 f/8

More from the blog….

Ithaca – a jewel of an island

Not an early start this morning, but we set out from the picturesque port of Vathy into a perfect day of sunshine and blue skies, with strands of mist whispering to the mountain. We quickly climbed aboard the coach, in time to get good seats with extra legroom and set off up the mountain. It was Hairpins R Us, as the driver took 3-point turns to get round some of the bends. There were a few anxious squeaks and squeals, but the views were worth it.

Our first stop was at a monastery, unfortunately closed, but the location gave a splendid view over the port of Ithaca and we could see our liner bobbing about like a toy on a shiny pond. The goats were funny – big ones, little ones, black ones, whiter ones and every size and colour in between, running about everywhere, clinking and clanging like Tubular Bells on crack.

After driving over the narrow isthmus that links the two parts of the island we arrived at a village that clearly showed the ravages of the 1953 earthquake in scary scenes of ruined buildings and broken lives. A village that previously had a population of more than 1500 now has only 20 permanent inhabitants. Although the earthquake left most of the building in ruins it left the church, with several marvellous old frescoes, intact, apart from downing the top of the bell tower, which has since been restored.

We moved on down the hill to the crossroads village of Stavros, an ancient meeting point for the exchange of goods between the North and South of the island. It was a beautiful village, with a fine state of Homer, looking just like Ted before his haircut. I think Ted has lost his heart to this island – no police, no crime, virtually no traffic. As Billy Connolly once said of the Scottish Highlands, there’s hee-haw but scenery.

A short stagger up the hill brought us to the island museum, whose displays of reconstructed shards from various digs showed the timeline of human existence on Ithaca. An enthusiastic lady curator explained the significance of the findings and waxed lyrical about a particular piece which she assured us proved the authenticity of Ithaca as the home of Odysseus. Perhaps Ithaca isn’t the best place to debate this.

Another half-hour of hairpin twists brought us down the other side of the island, overlooking sparkling waters of aquamarine and turquoise, with picture-postcard rocky beaches, unspoiled by buildings. The only dismal aspect of the journey was the occasional glimpse of broken hamlets, distorted and emptied by the earthquake. Swooping seagulls and soaring buzzards searching out food in the herby thorngrass of the pine-dotted slopes created an ever-changing movie over the heavenly-blue background of the Mediterranean skies. Maybe I’ve lost my heart a little too.

The first part of the day was rounded off by another delicious Greek taverna meal, sitting in the sunshine at the water’s edge, where there was no trace of oil or debris, paradise indeed. (Karmanie)