patch of turbulent boiling water surrounded by seabirds, a sure sign of
big fish feeding on smaller fish. After several passes through the area
we hooked a small bonito tuna - just right to feed 3 mouths for 4 days
with only a small risk of tuna boredom.
Poros has numerous anchorages, we chose 'Navy Bay' close to the town.
The only drawback being the church service being broadcast by
loudspeaker at 7am and the Naval marching band practice at 8am.
After picking up Peter, the following day we hired a car and sped up the
coast to visit Epidavros where there is an ancient theatre capable of
holding 14,000 spectators built in 4C BC. The theater is perfectly
proportioned and has perfect acoustics - apparently you can hear a pin
drop on stage from any seat. There are regular productions of greek
tragedies and comedies such as those of Sophocles and Euripides. We
could have bought tickets for Oedipus Rex but thought that we would be
unlikely to understand a word of it, especially in ancient Greek!
The theatre is set among the ruins of the sanctuary of Asklepios, the
god of medicine. People from all over Greece would come to sacrifice to
the gods and consult the oracle. They would spend the night in the
sacred dormitory and hopefully have an instant cure, or Asklepios might
appear in a dream, which the priests would translate into a
recommendation for exercise, rest, baths or intellectual pursuits. After
their cure the 'patient' would make a votive offering in the shape of
the part of the body which had been cured. This explained to us the
reason for some of the exhibits in the museum of willies, boobs, ears,
feet, hands or whole legs. The doctors emblem to this day is the
caduceus, which represents the augur's wand and magic serpent of
Asklepios. From 5C AD to 19C the site was completely forgotton.
After that we sped on towards Argos – the site of the oldest city in
Greece (remember the Argonauts?)– to the hilltop site of Mikinai, or
better known to us as Mycaenae. This acropolis was built while in
England people were still making additions to the stones at stonehenge.
It was the centre of a great civilisation from about 1650 to 1100BC, the
dominant culture of Greece, the home of King Agamemon. The wealth of the
Mycaeneans was legendary. The dead were buried in tombs with lavish
treasures and gold death masks, only a portion of which has survived
grave robbers through the centuries.
It was yet another unbelievably hot and dry day, but we survived the
visit even in the afternoon heat. We thought this was the site to top
all sights. On the way back to Poros we saw signs all over to more
Mycaenean ruins until we had to say ' Oh no not another acropolis!' and
pass on by without a glance.
We were excited by the forecast of north force 5 the next day, for our
trip NE across the Saronic Gulf. As usual we burned diesel for hours in
no wind , and then fought a 30 knot headwind for the last two hours.
We didn't have high expectations of the anchorage under Ak Sounion, as
it was suggested just as a rest stop to wait out the meltemi winds
before heading up the east coast. Well, as a complete surprise yet
another stunningly ancient site adorns the headland. Built in 448BC the
Temple of Poseidon sits on the hilltop, with most of its pillars intact.
It is a simply perfect backdrop for a cockpit BBQ of – you've guessed it
- tuna, and I'm going to go back and enjoy it, instead of sitting inside
writing this!!!!
Love
Steph and Stu xx
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