"After breakfast we'll visit Mycenae, the fortified city founded by Perseus, where we'll tour the ruins and walk in the footsteps of Agamemnon." It's a bit of a shock to realize, looking at the ruins of the Classical Age, from around 400 B.C.E., that this was only the second great civilization to develop on the Greek mainland. The Mycenaeans had arrived first, around 1600-1200 B.C.E., and built walls of such size their successors could be forgiven for attributing the work to giants.
We should also forgive Heinrich Schliemann, their modern discoverer, for his belief that he had located the grave of Homer's Agamemnon, rather than something even older. The man who had defied orthodoxy to find Troy, on the site described in the "Iliad", had needed a one-track mind.
I'm not often impressed by size alone, but the tholos tomb we visited at Mycenae was an exception. Built of huge blocks, the entryway towered above us, and the domed roof seemed to defy gravity. The famed lions seemed rather worn, but still drew crowds.
Patti, our local guide here, a marked contrast to the one at Mystras, led us through the museum, pointing out that the gold masks were reproductions - we had seen the originals in Athens, back on day three. The museum included a good cafe as well as good displays, the site was not too steep and provided with informative signs and well-maintained paths, but we had clearly rejoined the tourist trail. Ever since Olympia, we had had the Peloponnese peninsula largely to ourselves, but not here, an easy day trip out of Athens.
"Then we return to Nafplio for a free afternoon to explore this charming town and its surroundings." Back in Nafplio I took it easy. No climbing up steps and clambering around castles, Turkish or Venetian. No boat to the island. No bus to a neighboring sight. Not even a museum.
I did stroll slowly along the streets of the old town, window shopping and admiring the old buildings. I did locate the gelato shop that David had praised. I did find an Internet cafe so I could start choosing a hotel in Chania, on Crete. But mostly I sat down with cappuccino and admired the views.
"Group dinner at Taverna O Pseiras + music + dancing." Greeks, like Spaniards, eat late. Ten at night could be considered early. That means, as David explained to us, that after dinner activities, such as music and dancing, don't get under way until after midnight. Since this doesn't mesh well with tour timetables calling for us to get started at 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning, David arranged for the musicians and dancers to come to us, on our schedule.
So we were already a happy group as we followed David up into the new town, to a little taverna run by friends of his. We didn't have to wait for the music for good things to happen. David had mentioned that the name of the taverna had something to do with lice, but he hadn't mentioned that his friends (that's one of them with David, I should look so good after all that cooking) served wonderful food.
We could have made a memorable meal just from the appetizers - mixed salad, an especially garlicky tzatziki, divine zucchini fritters (kolokithokeftedes), cheese pies shaped like sausage rolls, stuffed vine leaves - but that would have been a mistake, because this array of delights was followed by melt-in-the-mouth pork cooked on a spit, superb spicy sausages, and potatoes. And then by dessert - honey and walnut cake.
After all that food we might have sunk into post-prandial sloth, but the musicians and dancers woke us right up. The photographers kept busy looking for the best shots (that's Ken on the left), and after giving us a wonderful show, the performers got everyone on their feet for a group dance.
Design and content © Copyright 2006 - 2007, Kathy Wilhelm
Contact: webms
Intro