RIP Turkey

Since my trip failed this section is devoted to the areas I intended to cover.

Philippi

Philippi is famous not as a town but as the site of the final battle between Octavian and Anthony on one side, and Brutus and Cassius on the other. It was here that the fate of the Republic was decided. This was a major battle with around 100,000 men on either side. The battle was actually two battles fought on the same plain several days apart. On the first day Marc Antony took Cassius' camp while Brutus took Octavian's, but due to the confusion of battle Cassius thought that all was lost and killed himself leaving Brutus to lead the troops in the next confrontation. He wasn't up to it. Apparently the Liberators were in front of the town while the Caesarean forces formed up further out. It would be really difficult to overstate the importance of these battles. Because of this the Republican cause died for good. Cicero was already murdered, Cato had killed himself a few years before, and now Cassius and Brutus joined him. The only major figure left for the Republicans to form up with was Sextus Pompeius. At this point Antony and Octavian were the unquestioned masters of Rome.

Brutus: Why comest thou?
Ghost: To tell thee thou shalt see me at Philippi.

 

At Philippi our luck ran out. These guys intended to honor the strike and they were manning the place to make sure that nobody snuck in anyway. But although we may not have gotten to go into the site we could still see most of it from the roads.Still unfortunate given that its two hours east of Thessaloniki.

Pella

This day was an odd one. After the riots in Athens the entire country went on strike. All government-run sites shut down so the tourist sites were closed. Or at least they would be if this hadn't been Greece. Heaven forbid the Greeks should be consistent. Finding out that these sites would be inconsistently open we decided to try for them. So our first stop was Pella which was about 40 minutes out from Thessaloniki.

 

Pella was the home of Alexander the Great. From this place Macedonian troops went out to conquer Greece and Persia. Built up under Alexander's father Philip this city became the capital of Macedonia during the 4th Century BC. After Alexander and his immediate successors died the city became less important until it was dwarfed by Thessaloniki after Pella was damaged in an earthquake and the inlets dried up.

Thessalonika

Thessaloniki isn't exactly a city you're likely to visit for fun. Most people who go there do so because it is a convenient stopping off point for visiting places in northern Greece and has the second major airport in Greece. As such it seems somewhat unfair to criticize it for being a grungy mess because it isn't supposed to be anything else. Basically Thessaloniki is Athens without the Parthenon.

Iolkos

I have little to say about this place. Iolkos was the home of Jason according to legend. There is a Mycenaean citadel there but I actually managed to miss it. We only stopped here because it was more or less on the way. Unfortunately due to the strikes we were unable to get in. The entire site was fenced off. So I, uh, hopped the fence. I'm a little embarrassed about that but I was really fed up with governmental stupidity by this point. They just aren't capable of running these priceless sites by themselves. The popular and rich ones or the ones located by prosperous towns are the only exceptions. It makes me sympathize with the British when they roamed through these lands taking all the priceless artifacts back to display in London. We kept joking that the British members of the group were sizing up the sites to see what artifacts to take when they entire country inevitably dissolved in riots.

Thermopylae

Thermopylae is a place where you really shouldn't visit unless you're desperate or passing by. If you happen to be driving north from south-eastern Greece you'll go right by it and it is worth a look. Unfortunately there isn't that much there to see.

In Greek Thermopylae means the "Hot Gates." Thermopylae is famous for being the last stand of Leonidas and his 300 Spartans (and a few thousand others {including their slaves}, but we don't count them because it sounds cooler this way). Anyone who's been living on the planet Earth for the last few years is probably at least aware of the movie 300. Far be it from me to impugn the dedication to accuracy of a Hollywood movie but they did get one or two minor things wrong. This place will look strange to anyone who's seen the movie. It really isn't clear why anyone would defend this spot given the current topology of the ground.

Arachova

Arachova is a wonderful place. It's a beautiful town built on the side of a mountain.Anyone going to Delphi from Athens will come right past here. If you get the chance it's definitely worth a stop. The entire town has the feel of a classy ski resort (which it is during the winter). It feels old, but not ancient. A sturdy medieval town. Really, it doesn't get much nicer than this. Places like this are the reason why northern Greece is so much nicer than the Peloponnese.

Chaeronia

There's very little in Chaeronea worth seeing but it's a nice place to stop for a bit on your way to or from Delphi. This little town in the mountain has two claims to fame. First and most importantly it was the site of one of the most famous battles of the ancient world. The battle of Chaeronea took place between the forces of Philip of Macedon and the mainland Greeks. This lion here represents the spot where the celebrated Sacred Band fell. They're actually buried under this monument. The Sacred Band was an elite unit made up of 300 paired lovers who fought together in battle. the idea was that a man would be less likely to flee if he knew that he would leave his lover behind. As with so many things Greek it was extremely gay. They were very effective and mark the first significant tactical innovation since the creation of the hoplite. They assured Theban dominance of Greece, but only for a short while. Within thirty years Thebes was just one of many squabbling city-states. Recognizing the danger of the Macedonian advance they teamed up with the Athenians to meet Philip in battle. This resulted in their slaughter here high in the hills of Boeotia where they perished to a man. Philip's son Alexander made his first major appearance here where he crushed the Sacred Band with his troops. It's hard to imagine this quite town being the site of a battle but it happened twice, once in 338 BC against Philip and again in 86 BC with the Romans under Sulla fighting against Mithridates of Pontus. Chaeronea's other claim to fame is that it was the hometown of Plutarch, the famous biographer and philosopher.

Thebes

Thebes (Thiva) is a decent sized town in Boeotia. This was one of the most important Mycenaean cities from Greek legend. Oedipus was king of Thebes as were Cadmus and Pentheius. The god Dionysus was born here. The city was sacked by the Seven Against Thebes just before the Trojan War which is why none of their heroes showed up. The modern city hasn't really got much to recommend it. We never got out of our car on account of it being a death trap. The traffic patter here was really dreadful and we nearly got hit twice, which is twice more than in the rest of Greece. From what we saw there wasn't much here. There's the Cadmeion which was the citadel on the the hill where palace used to be but it's really nothing but a pile of rocks at this point. There are a few other sites around the city but they're not much. The bus stops here so if you get a bus to or from Athens you can see it out your window.

Gla

 

Gla is a Mycenaean citadel in Boeotia. It's about twenty miles or so from Thebes and was where the villagers used to go when they were under attack. The citadel doesn't have a palace or any major buildings since it was intended as a temporary refuge. They think. This entire area used to be swamp which made it harder for any armies to campaign there. This is a pretty cool site since nobody knows it exists. if you're looking fro aa genuinely untouched site this is the one.

Chalcis

This is Halkida. One of the nicer cities we went to. Actually, probably the only nice city we went to unless you count some of those northern towns as cities. Halkida has a very nice beachfront that is full of life. They also make a wicked kebab.

Marathon

On our escape from Athens we stopped by Marathon. This is the site where the Athenians fought off the Persian invasion under Darius. This was more of a raid than an invasion, but they'd undoubtedly have taken Athens if they'd had the chance. Marathon is about an hours drive from Athens and I can't imagine walking that in a day as they apparently did. That's supposedly where running the marathon comes from when the Athenian messenger Philippides ran back to Athens to bring news of the victory. He promptly gave the message then dropped dead of exhaustion. Of course, another legend has it that he was running to Sparta to get help for the Athenians and that's where the marathon started. The Spartans never showed up because they were in the middle of one of their festivals. Yeah, you didn't see that part in 300. It does explain why they felt they had something to prove the second time the Persians showed up. Couldn't let the Athenians get all the credit this time. Anyway, the Persians had formed up on the beach haven gotten off their boats when the Athenian army led by Miltiades showed up. The Athenians formed their phalanx while the Persians prepared to receive them. This is the strange but because the Athenians apparently ran the last half mile to attack the Persian army. It's like something out of a Hollywood epic and exactly the kind of thing you expect never to happen in real life. But here it did. At any rate the Athenians cleaned the floor with the Persians and sent them scuttling off back home. Ten years later the Persians would try again under Xerxes in their larger and more famous invasion.

Corinth

 

There isn't very much at Corinth worth seeing. The Romans wiped this place clean in 146 BC and they did a pretty thorough job of it. The city was rebuilt later but I believe it was in a different location since I didn't see any Roman or Byzantine remains here. Certainly by the time of the fourth crusade the Acrocorinth (the big cliffs there in the background) was the main stronghold in the area.

Tiryns

COMING SOON

Nafplia

COMING SOON

 

Palamidi Castle

Sparta

COMING SOON

 

Mistra

COMING SOON

 

Taygetus Mountains

I'm going to divert slightly from places we actually stopped at on our trip and talk about the route we took. Because this route really needs to be seen to be believed!

The road from Pylos to Sparta is an unusual one. The first bit was normal enough. Lots of hills and the road twisted a fair amount but generally ok. But once you get to Kalamata that all changes. After that point you are in the Taygetus Mountains. Look to the bottom left of the picture. That little squiggly thing is the road. The road has a ridiculous number of hairpin turns throughout the drive. And of course, there's only one way through. I didn't even get a picture of the most nerve-racking cliffs. You're about five feet from the edge at times and just a slight skid on the gravel and you'd be off the edge. The very large number of shrines on the side of the road doesn't help increase confidence either. There have been enough people killed on this pass to fill a decent sized town. I should also mention that these mountains were where the Spartans threw their defective children and elderly.

Pylos

COMING SOON

 

Pylos is a beautiful place. The area just looks quintessentially Greek. The bay itself has a beautiful beach, the surrounding area is filled with history, and the main roads are little more than paved dirt paths. Nestor's Palace is located on one of the hills just over the umbrellas on the left.

Olympia

COMING SOON

 

Actium

This little beach was the site of the battle of Actium. This was the battle that really determined the course of the Roman world. It was the final battle between Octavian (the future emperor Augustus) and Mark Antony. Mark Antony's fleet was destroyed and he was forced to flee with Cleopatra to Egypt where they awaited Octavian's arrival.

Nicopolis

This is the classical city of Nicopolis. We didn't even know this place existed until we drove past it. The name means Victorious city. That's abut all I know.

Igoumenitsa/Syvota

Having at last escaped Italy and the horrors therein we arrived in Greece. We knew that Greece was only days away from bursting out into riots yet somehow we had an infinitely better time there than in Italy. Our luck there had been just vile. In Greece we somehow managed to slip between all the cracks.

Brindisi

I have very little to say about Brindidsi.

Pompeii

COMING SOON

Marine Gate

Naples

Napoli, another ugly modern city. Although to be fair it was in the middle of a garbage strike which meant we weren't seeing it at its best unless you like piles of garbage in the street. In what was to be a common refrain in Greece they started setting fire to things shortly after we left. We saw very little of the city since it was just a stopping off point on our way to Pompeii. It was still unimpressive. The number of homeless people we walked past just going to the station was extraordinary.

Rome

It would be hard for a place to make a worse impression on me. Rome ruined my entire trip. What was supposed to be a three-week victory lap with my friends became shortened by a week and lost the main goal. Turkey was the country that I'd been pining for all year but I needed to get other people interested in order to afford the rental car. The sites are too far away to rely on public transport. It was to be the perfect conclusion to my trip. Greece and Italy were almost an afterthought, added on to attract interest. Rome killed that. Some cheeky little bastard with a cruel smirk stole my wallet on the subway. So no Driver's License and no Credit Card, the two things necessary to pick up my prepaid car in Turkey. Not only did I lose four months worth of planning and dreaming in a heartbeat but I lost all the hotels and equipment that I paid for in advance. So I paid full price for Turkey and gained nothing but bitterness from it.Way to leave an impression Rome.

I can't believe that I'm saying this but Rome is an ugly city. I'd honestly rather spend time in New York. At least that city's honest about what it is. Rome passes itself off as the epitome of culture but while I was there all that I saw was a typical modern city with the occasional relics scattered throughout. Not that those relics aren't worth pursuing, but the city adds nothing to them. I can only assume that we missed the nice bit somehow (we stayed mostly on the east side of the city). Admittedly, having my life ruined didn't improve my opinion any but I was disappointed before that. Either the west side is infinitely superior in every way or Rome is the most overrated city in existence. Finding it hard to believe the latter I can only assume it's the former. Someday I will return to Rome and spend a few days there to determine the truth of it for myself.

Whether or not there is some hidden beauty in Rome it is a mean city. New York is an apt comparison. Nobody cares what happens to you and you're unlikely to get a sympathetic ear from the authorities. Anyone visiting should take my advice and be vigilant at all times. Rome can seriously mess up your life.

Florence

COMING SOON

Ravenna

COMING SOON

Ravenna was where we started having problems. To be honest, at this point most of these problems were my fault. The early morning trains (6 or sooner) are the cheapest ones and so I had us getting them every time we changed cities. You do that and you need a rest afterwards or you're good for nothing at all. Even with a full night's sleep it's hard to pull off. Even if we had to pay more it might have been worth getting later trains. Given the state of the train services it might have been better if we'd spent more time in fewer spots. Believe me, you'll be hearing more about the train system later. MUCH more. Anyway, we got to the train station in Pisa by about five. It was just down the street from our hotel. The ticket booths weren't open so we had to use the automated ones which was where we hit our first problem. There is an app for the iPhone that is essential for anyone brave or foolish enough to risk the Italian rail services. It's called iTreni and is the only time that prices, stops and times show up in the same place. It told us to get the 5:39 to Florence and then transfer to a train going to Ravenna. The ticket booth did not list this as an option. So the first ticket we brought had us making three stops at three different stations before we reached Ravenna. I should of held firm on Florence because we couldn't find a train going to the first station listed so we bought new tickets to Florence and hoped that the app was right about the transfer. Once on the train we relaxed until a ticket collector came by and told us that we needed to stamp our tickets before we left the station. The charge for not doing so was €40. Each. Anyone who's ever taken a train in Italy and knows what to expect may want to skip the next paragraph because it is essentially a giant rant about the Italian rail system.

Italy has the worst public transport 'system' that I have ever seen. It is a mass of incomprehensible gibberish so bad that even the Italians can't understand it. The stamped tickets was only the first of many problems we had with Italian trains. Charging €40 for a mistake that everyone is bound to make at least once is obscene. Worst of all is that there is no warning about it in advance. Admittedly, I don't speak Italian but there were no big signs over the machine or stamper or even on the ticket. Nothing to make it obvious that there was something that needed to be done before the ticket could be used. The yellow boxes where you stamp them are small and actually hidden away. I had wondered if we needed to validate tickets but there was nowhere obvious to do so so I assumed that the tickets themselves were enough. But no, the yellow boxes are hidden away out of plain sight where no one will find them unless they know what they're looking for. The French have a similar system but unlike the Italians you cannot get through to your train unless you've stamped your ticket. Their machines are impossible to miss. There is also a very small number of machines at each station which means that when one is broken (and they often are) you have to go to the opposite side of the station to validate them. Evil. It doesn't get better from there. The costs for different locations depends entirely on the company that runs the train. There is no centralized system. This would not normally be a problem except that when you buy the ticket there is no company listed on it. You can use it on any train going that way. Unless you know which train is cheapest, something impossible to find without iTreni or a very good grasp of Italian, you will be charged the additional amount when they check your ticket. The costs also vary depending on the time. Again, there's no way to know how much unless you're psychic or have access to an internet connection. The train companies are not always listed, the platforms vary, and the stations are mazes. To buy a ticket you wait in one of two lines, the purpose of which is not clear to me. They seem to be divided up by the company running them but it is rarely clear from that exactly which one you want. Even finding the ticket booths can sometimes be a problem. There is no one there who can help you. The Italians get by this by sleeping at the train station until their trains arrive! We saw a large number of people waiting on top of blankets and cushions. All told the Italian system reamed us for about €150 each in fines and missed tickets alone, and we did everything right and arrived to every train station at least an hour early. Avoid using public transport in Italy if at all possible!

Pisa

This trip was to be the final and biggest of all the ones  made this year. I spent all semester planning for and organizing and preparing for it. I was going to go to the three main counties for Roman enthusiasts and see the sites with friends whom I made while in England. It did not go as well as would be liked although I was able to salvage a lot of good memories out of it.

The trip started off well. We arrived in Pisa at around 9 PM. We found our hostel easily and it was right next to the train station which was good since we had a 5:39 train to the next stage in our journey. Since we got there at night we decided that we should take a quick look at the tower and then go to bed. Probably the best plan we could make. To get to the tower we had to cross over to the north side of the river.

Hadrian's Wall

 

Hadrian's Wall is one of the best known Roman sites in Britain. The wall stretches from the west coast by Carlisle to the east coast at Newcastle. Along the way it runs over cliffs and valleys and defines the terrain. There are also a number of forts along the way which housed the soldiers who guarded the wall. There is a ten mile stretch in the middle that contains the best-preserved sections of wall as well as several of the better forts. This is really the section to do and the only way to really see it is to walk it. Naturally that meant we drove.

St. Michael's Mount

COMING SOON

St. Michael's Mount is a little castle set on an island that is only accessible from a small road when the tide is out. It is very similar to Mont Saint-Michel which I kept confusing it with the whole trip, except that Saint Michael's Mount is much smaller and doesn't have a big town on it. The main town is that of Marazion located on the other side of the bridge. St. Michael's Mount is also closed on Saturday which is what screwed our schedule up. We had originally planned to go to Saint Michael's Mount on Saturday and Tintagel on Sunday but with the positions reversed we had to change our plans. If you're going to Saint Michael's Mount it is important to check the tides. If the tide is in there is no way of accessing the island unless you want to hire a boat.

Tintagel

Tintagel was fun. We left Arundel at 12:30ish and Tintagel closed at 5:30. We didn't start out rushed but as we got closer we realized that we were going to be pushing it. England is full of speed cameras which means that speeding just isn't worth it. Unlike cops Speed Cameras are always there and they don't skip cars just because other people are speeding. There's also no way to argue your way out of a speeding ticket since there is visual evidence of your identity when the camera takes a picture. Worst are the average speed zones where they average your speed for the entire section. These are mostly construction zones and they are annoying. I'm quite glad I'll never have to deal with them. The point is that it doesn't pay to speed. If a journey takes five hours it takes five hours.

Tintagel is a place filled with myth and mystery. Connected from an early date with King Arthur it has a strong mythical pedigree. This is the supposed site of his birth and where Uther Pendragon conceived him upon Igraine by appearing as her murdered husband Gorlois through the aid of Merlin. It is basically an island connected to the mainland via a thin spit of land. The island itself is all cliff and cannot be approached on any side. It is basically the perfect defensive position except that it is impossible to sneak supplies in. The cliffs are just as deadly for friends as for enemies.

 

Arundel

On our way to Tintagel we stopped over for the night near Arundel. Arundel Castle is the best preserved in the country and is still the residence of the Duke of Norfolk.

Brighton

There's nothing classically related in Brighton. As far as I know it was never a Roman town. That doesn't mean that it isn't a great place to visit. It has a Victorian royal palace, excellent shopping malls, and the nicest pier I know of.