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.

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.

Sparta

COMING SOON

 

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

 

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.

Delphi

Delphi is possibly the most gorgeous spot in Greece. It is not surprising that the Greeks thought this place the most holy on earth. Delphi is most famous for having the Delphic oracle, and indeed most of the remains are from the temple. I don't believe that there was much else going for the town apart from its temple. It's located high in the mountains along narrow ledges and has very little in the way of natural resources or farmland. Just getting there is a treat as the road goes through mountain ranges and valleys and various little villages. It must have required a truly extraordinary effort to get here in ancient times.

Athens

Athens has some really wonderful sights and some really seedy areas. I find that a lot of foreign cities are like that, but what separates Athens (and Greece) is how difficult it is to tell when you're passing from one to the other. The difference between a nice safe section and a dangerous section can often be only a few feet. First off, Greek cities look really run down. Greeks don't put as much effort into maintaining cities as the Americans and British do. Even street cleaning and trash disposal is largely neglected. Areas like the Parthenon are different because of the number of tourists visiting but even there you can expect to see trash lying around on the ground. I don't think that this is a money issue. Even the areas that have money don't look fancy. Presentation is not a strong feature of Greek culture. It just isn't a big deal for them. While it becomes easier to tell the areas apart after spending some time there you should still expect to see druggies passed out on the street, homeless people, and random gangs of people wandering the streets. At least until you figure out which areas to avoid. Generally, the areas around the Acropolis are pretty safe but if you go north too far past Omonia Square you're on your own. Again, the lack of care means that all Athens looks pretty seedy, but unless you stay in your hotel room you're gonna have to face it sooner or later.