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Agios Nikolaos: Lepers & Lotus Eaters
About 50 years ago in the early 1970s, I used to watch, with my parents, a TV series called The Lotus Eaters which I recall as being very watchable. That series was set here in our next base, Agios Nikolaos, towards the eastern end of Crete. I figured I was one of only a handful of people to remember the programme, yet on our very first walk around the town upon arrival, we find the very bar where it was filmed, still with a commemorative board at its entrance. The title of that series is actually taken from Greek mythology, whereby those who ate the fruit of the lotus lost…
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Korinthos: Mad Dogs & Englishmen
“No”, he said rather grumpily, “nothing till August 15th”. This was the response at the first of the three car hire places in Korinthos, and a bit of a worry as our plans for this part of the trip realistically hinge on having a car. Google Maps then takes over in style, first getting us to trudge up multiple hills on the way to the next rental office – “open today 9am to 9pm” – which turns out to be a long deserted empty office by a main road, and then to option 3, where “you have arrived at your destination” brings us to a completely empty stretch of road…
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Legends, Myths & Mountains: This Is Delphi
“Welcome to Delphi”, says the taxi driver as we enter the small town, “the centre of the world”. The reason for that comment will become clear, but as we look out of the car window at the unbelievable scenery which has been unfolding for miles, we feel more like we’re on the edge of the world than in its centre. The modern town of Delphi lies just a few hundred yards from the ancient civilisation of the same name, perched precipitously on the steep slopes of Mount Parnassus and looking across the spectacularly deep valley of the dry River Pleistos to the Gulf of Corinth. One first stroll around its…
