Foto: The Acropolis of Athens (bron: Ronald van der Veer)
Greece - Today, we leave early with a large bottle of water and a bulky Weekend Telegraaf newspaper on our way to the Acropolis. We’re still unsure what we’ll have for breakfast, but luckily the small corner shop is open. Problem solved. At the Acropolis, it’s incredibly busy — crowds of people shuffle in, one by one. Admission is free today. Naturally, being Dutch, we stand near a tour guide and casually listen in. It’s quite warm up on the hill, so once we’ve seen everything, we rush down to buy some cola. We continue our tour through the Agora — the old city center of Athens, now mostly ruins. In the fully restored museum, we learn about the excavations (also free). By now it’s past one o’clock and time for lunch and a siesta. We quickly find a shady bench and read the newspaper. The front page says it’s pouring rain in the Netherlands — but by Wednesday, it’ll be 30°C. After our siesta, we head for the theaters at the foot of the Acropolis. The Odeon, still in use today, is closed due to an evening performance. Of the second theater, very little remains, though it once held around 20,000 people. Despite the official closing time having passed, the gate is still open. We sneak inside. After climbing to the top of the theater, we discover you can walk all the way to the other theater. Still, we decide not to wait for the show — if we linger too long, the gate might be locked when we return.
Delphi
Greece - The Temple of Apollo is just outside of Delphi. Yesterday, I already walked past the entrance. Although it’s a short distance, we’re picked up by bus. Outside the hotel, I meet Jorgos, the new driver. It still feels a bit strange to step into his ...
Surprisingly trendy Xanthi
Greece - From Alistrati we continue to the overnight stop in Xanthi. The hotel is located in the city center. Here too, the Land Rover does not fit under the entrance to the parking lot. We are allowed to park right in front of the hotel. On the central square, ...
The caves of Alistrati
Greece - We continue to Alistrati. In the center, we park our Land Rover in front of a little eatery. The owner immediately comes to meet us. He has worked in Germany for 30 years and wants to know everything about our trip. He translates our travel program for ...
The Games of Olympia
Greece - At the entrance to Olympia, I meet Saskia. She is guiding our travel group through the old city today. Saskia used to be a tour guide but met a Greek man. She has now lived in Greece for 23 years. In Olympia, the ancient sanctuary of the god Zeus, games ...
The island of Santorini
Greece - On the way to Santorini, the wind is directly against the ship. It gets so cold that I get up. At quarter to five, almost two hours later, the ship arrives in Santorini. It seems as if the entire population is on the shore with signs reading “rooms.” ...
The monasteries of Meteora
Greece - The landscape becomes more rugged as we approach Meteora. Steep rock points protrude in the landscape. In the 14th century, hermits lived in these hard-to-reach places. Later, monks built monasteries on the rock points. Many monasteries were destroyed ...