MAKING TRIP PLANS, 2016

ENGLAND AND THE IONIAN ISLANDS

I've started to verify and plan my trip to Europe this year which will begin September 4 when I fly to London.  From there I will go right away to Caerphilly, Wales to spend a couple of days visiting with my cousins and touring my castle.  It's a quick trip due to me having to take advantage of cheap air fares.

 Caerphilly Castle

 Windsor St. Where my Dad used to live.

On Sept. 7 I'll head into London again, early, in time to take in a special exhibit at the British Museum.  I'm really excited about seeing EGYPT'S LOST WORLDS, which are artifacts found under the see, some off of Alexandria which was the city founded by Alexander the Great and occupied but the first Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt.

 The British Museum

Early the next morning I fly to Corfu, my first stop in the Ionian Islands off the west coast of Greece. I was only there briefly back in the early '80's so I wanted to spend a few days there as Corfu has an interesting history with lots to see. I've check out the tours and will try and take one of them so I can see as many of the special sites as possible.  This will include the palace where Prince Philip was born and the home of the Durrell brothers of literary fame.

 Corfu, Kerkyra

 Mouse Island

 Kerkyra

I'm staying on Corfu for 3 days then taking the quick ferry over to the tiny island of Paxis where I'll spend two days exploring. There are a couple of interesting museums and a Venetian Kastro on an islet off shore that was reputedly designed by Leonardo da Vinci. 

 Paxi, Gaia

 Paxi harbour

From Paxi I must take a ferry to the mainland and then a bus to Lefkada where I'll head south to the town of Vassiliki (the surf-boarders paradise). Not sure yet if I'll spend a night there. It depends on the ferry service onward to Kefalonia where I will visit the seaside town of Fiscardo, established and named for a famous pirate. 

From there I will head by bus to Athens, and will stop there to visit friends for a few days before heading on another island adventure,  this time to the islands of Paros and Naxos.  I decided to stay two days on Paros as it is another island that I've only visited briefly back in the '90's.

My favorite island is Naxos, so I'll stay there five days in a bed-tent at the Maragas Camping, a campsite and beach that I just love going to. I never get tired of visiting Naxos as it's a big island and lots to see besides having the most fabulous beaches!  I can hardly wait to have my dinner at one of my favorite sea-side tavernas there to watch the sunset!

From Naxos I will head south to Crete.  I haven't been to Crete since the '80's and wanted to see the Minoan site of Knossos again as well as exploring around Iraklion.  I'll be there a couple of days and hope to get up to a mountainside resort owned by a FB friend.

When all my Cretan adventures are over, I head back to Athens and that's where I'll be for the month of October, until the 20th when I head back home.  There's lots to see and do in my favorite city besides visiting with my friends.  I'll go over to Salamina island for a few days to explore with Christina and probably make a few day trips around  If finances enable it, I might even go up to Pelion for a few days as I've been wanting to explore that area for quite some time now. 

Some of my Athens friends

 Zoe and me

 Carola, Christina and Kim

I'll be posting along the way and sharing all my adventures with on-line friends and family. So stay tuned for the next installment!

MEMORIES OF ALL THE FUN I HAD IN GREECE (Sept/Oct 2015)

I didn't do much blogging after I got back from last year's trip to Greece and here it is, time to embark on another. So while looking through my photos I came across many of the adventures I enjoyed, from the islands to visiting archaeological site and hanging out with my friends.

 Maragas Camping, Naxos

The most beautiful beaches!

 A margarita for lunch at the Picasso Beach Taverna

 

 Spectacular Naxos sunset

I started my holiday adventures on my favorite island NAXOS, at my favorite spot, Maragas Camping, Agia Ana. The most fabulous beach, and fun staying in a bed-tent for three days.
Then I moved into a lovely pension in the town with a room right by pool-side.

 The "Something Else" Pension

 There's lots to see on the island of Naxos and I like to go back there every time I visit Greece. 

 The walk out to the "Portada" 

 The Portada "Apollo's Temple"

 I love the Venetian influence on Naxos with these vaulted streets. 

 Then, back to Athens, an on to many more adventures.  These included a couple of day trips with friends, a visit to the island of Salamina, an afternoon at the Temple of Poseidon, Sounion, and many others.  Here's a sample of a few of them.

 The Corinth Canal

 A day trip to the Peloponnese:  Fish farms

The small ancient theatre of Epidaurus.

The Big Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus

Then some trips around Athens and the mainland.  There is so much to do there and many choices of where to spend your time. You really need to allow for this when you visit Greece.

 Athens, the Acropolis

 The Temple of Poseidon, Cape Sounion

The Temple of Poseidon (try to get there for sunset!)

One day I made a trip to Marathon, where the famous battle took place between the Greeks and the Persians. This is where today's marathons begin, just as the runner who bore the news of the Greek victory ran from there to Athens (and then died of exhaustion!) 

 Grave mound of the fallen warriors

Marathon, monument for the runners

Then I made a trip to Salamina island, also the scene of a famous naval battle between the Greeks and Persians. My friend Christina lives there so we always go exploring and this year was a very special archaeological adventure!

 Monument to the fallen warriors

Monument for the Battle of Salamis

I had heard from my friend about a cave up on the mountain where the dramatist Euripides had once lived. I was determined to make the climb up there, and I did!  (It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be!)  

 The Cave of Euripides

It wasn't all Archaeology on this trip. I even did a reading of my historical novel SHADOW OF THE LION: BLOOD ON THE MOON at the Canadian Institute. 

Then there was more exploring and having fun. 

 somewhere around the Agora

 along one of the old walled areas of ancient Athens.

 my travel buddies

My Athens pals!

And most of all I love hanging out with my Athens pals.  This year there will be lots more adventures too and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone and being there, in Athens, my second home, and exploring Greece, my favorite place to be! 

EXPLORING SALAMINA

 Boat in Piraeus Port 

Salamina (Salamis) is the largest Greek island in the Saronic Gulf about 2 km off the coast from Piraeus. My friend Christina lives on Salamina so each time I visit Greece I always enjoy a few days on the island with her.

Last September when I was there we decided to do some exploring.  Salamina is a large island with an interesting history dating back to the Bronze Age. It is best known for the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC when the allied Greek fleet led by Themistocles, overpowered the Persian fleet. Today Salamis is the home of the Salamis Naval Base and a NATO base.

The island is one of the largest Greek islands with an area of 36 square miles.  It is mountainous and covered with pine forest. It's popular for holiday and weekend visits for Greeks from the mainland but not many tourists visit there. There is an island bus service but to really see around you need a car to reach some of the lovely more remote beaches around the island.

View from Christina's house

Christina's house is in the village of Aianteio on the southwestern part of the island. Her house has a magnificent view of the bay below and down the hill is a small, pleasant beach. This time when I visited Christina suggested we go exploring and see if we could find some of the ancient sites. According to the map there are several but they are not well marked so you need to be prepared to do some searching and hiking.

Our first stop was to go to the memorial for the Greek fleet from the Battle of Salamis.  Along the shore there is a memorial and nearby  tumulus where the dead were buried. Higher up on the hill is a beautiful bronze statue depicting the sailors aboard a ship.

Monument Honoring the Greek Fleet from the Battle of Salamis

From there we drove around to another part of the island, this time in search of  the ancient Mycenaean acropolis at Kanakia. The acropolis was on a hillside near the beach, but farther up the hill there are excavations and a memorial to Ajax, one of the warrior-kings who took part in the Trojan Wars. He is mentioned in Homer's Iliad and died at Troy, so a memorial had been built for him.

We found a dusty road leading up to where we supposed the excavations were and when we reached the top I heard some digging. Through the trees we could see some young people at work. They were the archaeology team.  So we went to investigate. And what luck! I just happened that the archaeologist was there, Yannos Lolos, who is well known for his discoveries. He welcomed us to the site and showed us around. When I mentioned my novel Shadow of the Lion which had just been published, he was very interested. That was definitely one of the highlights of my trip last year!

Archaeologist at Work 

Other interesting sites on the island include the Cave of Euripides. The poet was born on Salamis and this cave is where he wrote most of his works.  Christina has been there but said it was a difficult trudge up the mountain so we passed on that idea and went in search of a nice beach where we could refresh ourselves.

Salamina has several very pleasant beaches and we enjoyed a nice feast of Greek mezedes at the beach taverna in Kanakia before driving around to see more sites.

 One of many beautiful views

 The Monastary

A very old church dating to 1000's.

Home of the poet Angelos Sikelianos

Along the way we stopped at The Monastery of Virgin Mary Faneromeni that played a role in the Greek War of Independence in 1821 against the Turks. Nearby on the beach is the house of the distinguished poet Angelos Sikelianos . The author wrote many of his remarkable pieces here. It is now a museum

 Beautiful Views on the Island Drive

Church of the Virgin Mary Eleftherotria

On the way back to Salamina town we drove up into the hills to see the Euripidean Theatre and the beautiful Church of Virgin Mary Eleftherotria on the Patris Hill. The views from there were spectacular.

Back in town we visited the Folk Museum and also the archaeological museum that had displays from the Cave of Euripides and other excavations on the island.

Across the road we found a quaint old taverna and were welcomed in. It was like a mini museum with all kinds of Greek artifacts hanging from the rafters and decorating the walls.  The owner was a very friendly fellow and we decided this would be a great place to visit again. (Maybe this year we'll go there).

 The taverna in Salamis

Christina and me having fun

As usual my time on Salamina was full of fun and never a dull moment. It's always nice to get back to Chris's house and relax on her porch swing watching the collection of neighbourhood cats that like to come and visit. When I got back this year we plan to do more exploring as there are still a lot of undiscovered places to see.

 The Cats

 Feeding Time

 The little courtyard and the suite I stay in

 The terrace

Christina's beautiful house

Here's a link to a published story about Salamina: http://www.travelgeneration.com/travel-stories/greece-the-hidden-treasures-and-secrets-of-salamina/