Inter Rail 1987 Day 9

Got up at 8.30am and had what can only be described as a tepid shower. Had a full English breakfast at a little hotel in town for £2 a head. Picked up our Daihatsu Cuore hire car which had done 78,000km and rattled incessantly. It went phutt, phutt lovely. We thought it might even be a 2 stroke. Decided to go to the fort the easy way and drove up the back way. Jon saved us 50p on the entrance fee by being able to prove he was a student.

The fort was quite amazing. The main part was built by the Venetians, hence the Winged Lion of St. Mark carving above the entrance gate. It is made up of 8 independent bastions that were linked by hidden passages and walk ways. Each one could function on its own if its neighbours were captured. Each bit of the castle had its own fascination and the views out over the town and the bay towards the castle on Bourtzi Island with were gorgeous. A pleasant 1.5 hours spent here.

We moved on and drove to Tiryns. It should apparently be described as the Acropolis of Tiryns but I was not impressed. Another pile of very old rubble to me. I must lack imagination. The cyclopaean tunnels were OK. Jon was quite fascinated by the whole place. I spent more time watching a colony of ants moving home through the ruins. Entrance fee here had wiped us out of cash so we had to backtrack to Nauplion.

We then discovered from tourist office documents that during the Greek War of Independence Nauplion, due to its strong fortifications, became the seat of the provisional governments of Greece. It became the first official capital of modern Greece in 1829 and remained the capital of the kingdom until 1834, when King Otto decided to move the capital to Athens.

We eventually found a shop which would change some dosh for us and set off towards Epidaurus. The only petrol station en route that took plastic was shut so we had to splurge £5 to fill up the jalopy. The journey to Epidaurus was fun and was rather pretty as we drove through the mountains.

The Theatre of The Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidaurus (which is the largest Roman amphitheatre in Greece) was amazing. Even I was impressed. The acoustics were impressive. I was at the centre of the stage area at the bottom and laughed and Jon heard me almost up at the topmost point of seating. Amazingly well preserved seeing as it was built in the 3rd century BC and added to in the 2nd century BC.

This being a sanctuary there was more to see than just the theatre.

The asclepieion (reputed to be the birthplace of Apollo's son, Asklepios the healer), at Epidaurus was the most celebrated healing centre of the Classical world, the place where ill people went in the hope of being cured. To find out the right cure for their ailments, they spent a night in the enkoimitiria, a big sleeping hall. In their dreams, the god himself would advise them what they had to do to regain their health. There are also mineral springs in the vicinity which may have been used in healing.

There was alo a stadium for athletes, a guest house, baths, gymnasium plus other stuff which Jon went over to see but I decided to give a miss. There was also a museum containing models ans actual remains from all of the areas. Much more satisfying than rubble on a building site.

Stopped off at a bar with rooms for a cold beer and to attempt to contact Jon's friend Dinos in Patras who we were going to stay with for a few days. No joy with Dinos and no joy with trying to negotiate a cheap roofspace on which to spend the night. They were only willing to offer us a room for 1500 drachmas.

We decided to head off to the coast at a place called Panera Epidaurus. We managed to get the jalopy up to 120kmph, which was not bad as that was the top speed on the speedo!, but she really didn't like it. After a bit of pootling around, we found ourselves by some campsites. After a bit of haggling we managed to park the car on a plot for the night plus get use of the campsite facilities for 700 drachma i.e. £1.75 each.

We went straight to the beach for a swim or two in surprisingly warm water. Then lazed in the sun listening to music. Very pleasant. After Jon had had himself a shower we headed for the onsite bar/restaurant. Had 4 souvlaki, greek salad and chips, plus a beer for £2.50 each.

I then found out that all the loos were squatties and only one was clean and lockable. Spent the evening sat in the bar, listening to silly Greek music and drinking beer and wine whilst writing up the log.

Talking about sily music. The only decent music we heard all day came on the radio at midday. It was Casey Casson's American Top 40 which we used to listen to on Radio Nova on the Isle of Man. It was playing on Armed Forces Radio Athens "serving all the European command."

Jon Fort Palamidi

Tiryns

Tiryns

Jon Epidaurus

Cuore Car

Jon Plaea Epidaurus