MENU's Aegean Odyssey. Day 15: Diakofto, Corinth and Mycenae

Day 15 of the Odyssey started with some Tchaikovsky as Terry got in some last minute practice before we left for Corinth and then Mycenae

The ruins at Corinth

The museum is full of beautifully preserved and very impressive statues

A piece of mosaic floor

They have been restored, very sympathetically

Classic decorated Greek pots

Glass and pottery so well preserved

Dionysos, god of wine, capped with grapes and vine leaves

Ancient armour on a figure

Functional jugs

A vessel for storing wine or oil

A statue of Irodis, said to be one of the builders, and, according to our reading of the inscription, a lover of wine. The third word looks like “peripatetic”, so perhaps he didn’t stay very long. But he obviously made his mark

A sculpture of a lion eating grapes

A sarcophagus in the courtyard

A richly decorated frieze

Taking a rest from the heat in the corridor of marble – one of the statues was still painted in natural colours

A shepherd with his lamb. Could this be an early Christian reference? Perhaps; it is labelled “Hermes the lamb-bearer”. It is from the Roman period and came from the Forum

Asklepios, the god of healing

The contents of a sarcophagus; a man buried with his pots and oil

The temple

Remains of the old town; excavation is still ongoing

We came upon this prayer group from the USA. This is said to be the site at which Paul spoke to the Corinthians, so it has a lot of meaning to Christian groups

Early Corinthian columns

The walled city on top of the hill

Blood red poppies

Tiny harebells

The ants were enormous and Terry, who got bitten, says it was extremely painful

It is possible to imagine how the city must have looked when you see such good excavations

An orb, cracked. Presumably this was for storage of some liquid and it is beautifully carved

More superb carvings

It was time for some lunch. Across the street, this Taxi was parked with its sign on the roof at the back of the car. There must be a logical reason, but we couldn't think of one; many of them are like this. Perhaps the Greeks believe it is best to tell you it was a taxi, after it has passed

A cool beer and a cheese and ham toastie with some crisps

Do I look good in this? Of course you do, but perhaps it's too expensive? (Gun fight at the Corinth corral)

A final view of Corinth

We were to return to visit the city on the hill on our last day, only to find it closed

Greece is covered with Oleander bushes in many different colours

We arrived at our hotel, La Petit Planete, in Mycenae. It is the last hotel on the road up to the ruins

Our peaceful room, with its balcony and silent air conditioning

The bathroom. The sign above the loo is an instruction not to flush the toilet paper (“Do not drop paper in toilet seat”), but to put it into the bin. We saw this everywhere in Greece. Difficult to obey!

A panoramic view from our balcony

We unpacked and then went up the hill to see Mycenae. We started at the The Treasury of Atreus or Tomb of Agamemnon. It is an impressive "tholos" tomb on the Panagitsa Hill at Mycenae, constructed during the Bronze Age, around 1250 BC. The lintel stone above the doorway weighs 120 tons, with approximate dimensions 8.3 x 5.2 x 1.2m, the largest in the world. This huge beehive tomb is rumoured to contain vast treasure. Nothing has yet been found. The building is incredible

The entrance has echoes of Egyptian tombs

Lynne used her torch on the walls and spotted some interesting minerals in the agglomerate rock

The entrance with its lintel stone

You walk further up the road and you come to the ruins; a lot of excavation is still taking place

Ancient stone walls, built without mortar and the rocks fit closely together

The famous lion gate

in more detail. The heads have been obliterated; by man or by the weather?

This site feels so ancient and they are still discovering things about it

How to build a wall

We do not know what this lined pit was used for, as there was no information

Agamemnon sleeping. If you look carefully at the mountain in front, you may be able to see him

Figs ripening on the tree

Blue hills of late afternoon. A sort of Trompe de l’oeil, certainly an optical illusion. The hill in front almost looks as though there is a “see-through” effect with the hill behind

The haze over the olive and citrus groves in the distance

The view over the precipice

Sage grey green olive trees

Across the valley we can see this castle on the top of a hill. Could it be a Crusaders’ castle? No, it is the ancient citadel at Corinth

Time for supper. Spinach, cheese and egg tart with a creamy sauce

Crisp on top, with lovely flavours of cheese and some dill

Crisp garlic toast, with olive and oil, sprinkled with fresh oregano

A refreshing orange salad

Steak and chips, with some stewed aubergine and peppers

And if that was not enough, a custard tart topped with baklava, pastry, cinnamon and honey

And so to bed
Continue to the next day in Epidavros
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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

MENU's Aegean Odyssey. Day 14: Diakofto

 We set off that morning by car up the famous gorge and went to a local winery, Tetramythos

A stone clad building, with slight Swiss notes

It is located high up in the hills behind Diakofto

We did a quick tour of the modern and spotlessly clean cellar, filled with good equipment

They have their own bottling line

and are using some clay amphorae to make wine, as in ancient times

Different styles of amphora

Their barrel cellar, where we saw French, American and Hungarian barrels

In the vinoteque

Organic Cabernet Sauvignon

Some wine memorabilia and an Icon

Bottles locked away, but also available for purchase and tasting

We went upstairs to the tasting area and tasted some of the wines. The first was a Colombard Chenin Muscat blend, Roditis from Patras, with crisp acidity and long flavours. Then a Retsina with, thankfully, not much resin showing, but not great. A dry Malagousia which tasted like Muscat d'Alexandrie, perfumed & refreshing with nice acidity. Then on to red wines with the Cabernet Sauvignon which was corked but, underneath the TCA, there was incense and classic cassis notes. Our tasting guide did not understand enough English to get 'corked'

Other tourists from Athens, Alexandre and Annita Karalis, joined the tasting. Next came Black of Lalavryta, which is a local grape variety. The hit was harsh and tannic, also had TCA and was dry with dusty chalk. Perhaps you have to be born there to appreciate it. Then Agiorgitiko, another local grape. Lots of fruit with chalk coating the mouth. A fruit bomb on the nose, but a short finish

The line up of what we tasted. Back to a white wine; next, the Milia made from Sauvignon Blanc, but not at all recognisable as one. Not good. Then the Milia red, a blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Black of Kalavryta. Deep cassis and black fruit, currents. Elegant, with soft tannins. 16/20.  Interesting wines, which they do export to the United States

Onward up into the mountains, where there are winter ski resorts

High on the top was this small Taverna, also with an Alpine feel

Marvellous views down towards the sea, the winery and the vineyards

Our hostess, who is a friend of Terry's

Attracting local butterflies! Terry could supply the name....

Looking across at the local village

Their sign and menu, all in Greek

Perched on the edge of the mountain, we sat in the sun and ate 'Toasties' with beers. Toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches, a Greek lunchtime tradition it seems. It was all they had that day for lunch, as the season had not yet started

Lots of wild flowers including a version of our scabious, but the flowers are unusually square

Back to Diakofto, we did a tour of the beachfront. Tall gum trees on the shore

accompanied by cork oaks and Tamarind trees

The beach is made up of lovely pebbles that are hell to walk on and the clear water is warming up for summer

It’s a shallow beach that follows the coast for miles

Across the bay far in the blue distance is Galaxidi and Delphi. This is a panoramic view of what we saw

Back to meet, Zoe, another of Terry's friends, and drink a bottle of wine bought that morning at Tetramythos. We enjoyed her company a lot, as we had lots in common, especially a love of travel

Lovely evening light. This was about 9 o'clock

Off to another village restaurant to have dinner under the mulberry trees with another friend, Dora

Dora lives in London but is originally from Crete. She is building a house in Diakofto. She was great fun

Here comes more food. Toast with oil and herbs, a Greek salad, some good fresh beetroot and some humus - with some carafes of wine

Some chips arrived and Terry produced a surprise bottle of Vondeling Petit Blanc which he had bought when he was in Cape Town in January

We were next to the small harbour

Then the fish arrived. It was bream, fresh from the sea and delicious

The restaurant filling up

We preferred to sit across the road under the trees

And the evening was a huge success and typically Greek. But sadly (!) no plate breaking and no Greek dancing. Perhaps it doesn't suit the current mood of the country

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015