We had the morning to fill in before we left by small boat from Hydra back to the mainland, so had a lovely leisurely breakfast in the port area, watching the hustle and bustle of their daily business.
Shopkeepers, hotel and Pensione owners, all meeting the boats that arrive en Masse with their daily deliveries of fresh fruit and Veges, seafood, beer, wine, dairy products, furniture…..
Then it’s up to the poor old donkeys to cart it wherever it needs to go. We dead set saw wardrobes and huge windows strapped to pallets that were strapped to the poor old donkeys backs. And off they went.
Farewell to Hydra, you’ve been great.
We got a smaller boat back to Ermioni, along with only five other passengers. The trip was very enjoyable, taking around 40 minutes. We were able to sit with our feet hanging over the sides and catching the spray of the water while watching the beautiful views. Terrific.
Back into the car and on the road again, for the two hour drive north along the eastern coast of the northern most part of the Peleponnese hugging the Aegean for most of the way, with – you guessed it, amazing scenery the whole way.
We arrived in Corinth in mid afternoon and found our accommodation in the Ancient City of Korinthos, which is about 10kms from down town Corinth. This village is tiny, and set up on a hill with lovely views down to the coast. Probably three places to stay, one Taverna which is owned by our landlords, and three other cafes/restaurants. Plus the obligatory souvenir shops selling all kinds of “100% genuine copies” of the archeological finds of the area.
After settling down and having a quick lunch in the hosts taverna, we headed off to check out a pretty amazing piece of Marine engineering – The Corinth Canal. Sounds exciting eh?
Well…….it is.
Back in the day when Nero the Roman Emperor ruled this area hundreds of years ago, they realised that ships coming from the west (Italy, and Western Europe) had a massive task getting around the bottom of the Peloponnese to drop off in the Aegean areas across to what is now Turkey. It added 460 miles to their trip…..if only there were a way to get rid of that 460 miles……
So, old mate Nero decided they were going to cut a gorge through the isthmus at its narrowest point which is about four miles so boats could just slide through. So they started digging a canal – by hand. Right. It’s solid rock, granite, marble and in places 300 feet (100 metres high). In the meantime, while his slaves were working on this little bit of engineering, they created a system whereby they would take the boats out of the water on the east coast, put them on logs and roll those mofos up and over the hill for four miles and drop them in the water on the west coast.
Seemed to work for them!
Over the coming centuries many people had a go at digging out this canal until the 1800s when a bunch of engineers decided to have a crack at it using explosives. Sure enough, 12 years later it was completed and open for traffic. Four miles long, 100 metres high on either side and at its widest point is just over 80 feet (approx 26metres).
So, the result of this meant that the southern part of the mainland, commonly known as The Peloponnese now became an island, separated from the remainder of Greece ! How wild is that? So, there are a few bridges taking vehicles, trains and people across the canal. Insane.
The width limits the size of boats that are able to traverse the canal, but it now takes approximately 30 minutes to be towed by a tug from one side to the other, where before it was taking 40 or 50 hours at best.
We were lucky to fluke a tanker/cargo boat and a sail boat being dragged through and it was a very cool sight.
Oh, and they have a bungy Jump point from one of the bridges that traverse the canal. Are these people crazy?
We wandered around the new part of Corinth and to be honest it’s not much. The waterfront and beach areas are quite nice and there is a fab statue of Pegasus the mythological horse in the town square, but that’s about it.
We headed back up the mountain to Ancient Korinthos (Corinth) and headed out for a feed and a beer. It seemed like Karen was the only female in the Village! Not that there are a lot of people there anyway, but it was odd. Literally each place had a bunch of old blokes siting in the lovely court yards playing cards, rolling dice, drinking, coffee, beer, Ouzo, chain smoking….
Three restaurants – we picked the wrong one….never mind, a quick beer, wine and thanks mate! Out the door and into a place 15 metres up the laneway called Marinos. Which was just Magnificent! Perhaps…..best on tour so far.
There you go. Big call.
It is set on the edge of the mountain with uninterrupted views down to the coast. As the sun set before us at around 9.30pm, fire works set off in the distance just for us 🤗. It’s owned by a family that has run the place for generations, and all of the staff are family or close friends. Mumma has been the head cook for 37 years. She’s a genius. The service was impeccable, given that I know more Swahili than they know English. In fact, I know more Greek than they know English! But it didn’t stop them with their ability to get stuff done.
Everything on their menu is sourced locally, or grown themselves. Their own olive oil, vinegar, salads, olives….their own wine ! Papa grows the grapes in the backyard and makes the wine and stores it in bottles with resealable caps.
Karen wasn’t feeling great so was just going to have a snack of something…well, that changed pretty rapidly. The brought us freshly baked bread rolls, and a bottle, probably 500ml maybe a bit more of Papa’s rose. They had draft beer that was bought in, obviously not home made, but is hooked up to a mobile beer tap that gets wheeled around the yard (possibly greatest invention ever…better than the wheel) and they pour into humongous beer glasses that are pretty much frozen solid. If only…..
So, we started with veal meatballs…little tiny morsels about the size of a golf ball seasoned to perfection heavy in mint, and served in a tiny frying pan hot off the grill.
Then the best Greek salad ever. EVER. With a small bottle of their own olive oil on the table to drizzle as required. I drizzled and drizzled and dribbled and dribbled…..hhmmmmm. So simple..fresh chunks of the ripest, tastiest tomato, chopped cucumber, skin removed, red onion that is sooooooo sweet and no onion aftertaste, red and green capsicum again as sweet as could be and layered with local black olives and home made goats feta cheese…with oregano sprinkled all over with a sprig of fresh thyme…
So far so good. And Karen had come back to life.
But the piece de resistance was what came next….freshly BBQ’d King prawns caught locally. Now, I like prawns. In fact, I love them. But I have never, ever had prawns prepared as simply and as beautifully as this. A bunch of these huge crustaceans, just lying there on a little bench, dressed with olive oil and chopped rocket lettuce awaiting judgement.
I hardly ever take photos of food. Unless I’ve cooked it myself 🤓, but I couldn’t resist.
The aroma of these prawns was like nothing I’d smelled before. And others noticed, not the least Karen – but within 30 seconds cats come running from everywhere waiting for the leftovers.
Anyway, I was unsure how to hook into these blokes…a couple of nights before I’d seen a guy eating similar prawns that were still shell on, with a knife and fork. He made it look easy removing the head, tail, shell….
I tried. Once…..so in true blue Australian style, I threw my knife and fork to buggery and just ripped in, head and tail first then the body. Holy Mother of Zeus! Talk about sensory explosion. Karen reckons I was groaning with enjoyment. I probably was. That’s a bit sad, isn’t it?
In the end there was nothing left. I even got stuck into the heads….first time ever. Un-freaking-believable. I asked one of the daughters how locals eat these and with sign language she laughed and confirmed that what I’d done was just right.
Ohhhh reliving that culinary experience was just amazing….haha.
BUT it wasn’t over yet! They brought us out these tiny little choc coated ice creams on a stick, probably again the size of a golf ball. And I got Ouzo. Of course. They asked if I wanted water, and I said just ice. They all looked at each other and me and I shrugged and they said “Velly strooong”. Meh. And it was.
Local Ouzo. Home made. I should have known. but it was fab.
Then Greek coffee. And the bill? €32 or AUD$45. Embarrassing. Unbelievable.
Sorry about raving about this meal – I haven’t done this so far this trip but this place deserves it. Wow.
Anyway, Ancient Corinth isn’t famous for its food. Although perhaps it should be. It is a place of very significant Religious history.
Initially the area was settled geographically in the fertile plains high up in the hills, as a centre for trade, and a naval headquarters due to its easy access to the coast and subsequent participation in many Greek wars. It came under the control of all manner of people, with the Romans very involved.
It is believed that it was initially settled around 5000 BC, but became really popular in around 1000 BC.
Julius Caesar took up residence in 44 BC but it wasn’t until 51 AD that the place got turned on its head. St Paul the Apostle turned up and made Corinth the centre for Christianity in Greece. He was lambasted, ridiculed and had to defend himself against the Hebrew elders who declared he was undermining the local Mosaic Law. He looked like he wasn’t going to make it out of there. Fortunately, a court case proved him innocent and he was allowed to continue his teachings. But wisely he didn’t hang around too long.
He was on an extraordinary pilgrimage, spreading the word of Christianity, which had taken him to many countries before finding his way in Greece.
His teachings and learnings were recorded as the Two “Letters to the Corinthians” and make up two books of the New Testament. Even if you are not religious, these stories are just remarkable, and even if 50% of what he is alleged to have written is true, then it is amazing. If it’s not true? Then it’s a good read anyway.
His second letter to the Corinthians written in 56 AD was a plea for Christian unity in the area, following many misunderstandings and challenges to his initial teachings of 51/52 AD. His writings are often the most quoted, or referred to in any of the New Testament.
The historical archaeological site is lovely – set up on a hill (standard) with uninterrupted views of the sea. Lots of greenery, and some of the ruins are in terrific order. For example the Temple of Apollo (another one) is gorgeous.
We spent about 90 minutes on the site, then hit the road for the 90 minute drive back to Athens to end the two week road trip portion of our holiday. And it was lovely….great motorway, good views and easy signage. Perfect.
What a road trip. Some tough roads along the way, but the sites and experiences were worth every minor panic attack when rounding a single lane hairpin bend with a goat truck coming at you – more than once.
In all, we drove a total of 1,900kms, spent approx €200 on fuel (AUD$300) and less than €50 on tolls. Great result. Comparing with our road trip through France last year, this was kids stuff.
Our brand new car was amazing. Never let us down once. Poor thing. It definitely didn’t look brand new when we returned it at the airport.
Too many highlights to rank them now…maybe later but realistically the entire two weeks came together perfectly to create one massive highlight.
Typical Greek airport stuff ups saw us depart an hour late for our flight to Heraklio in Crete, but the 40 minute flight was beautiful, flying over many of the islands in the Aegean.
Our last week will be split between Agios Nikoloaos in Crete, and Naxos before flying home…let’s hope this week delivers as much charm and enjoyment as the last two weeks have….
For More of our awesome pics of Corinth click on this link
Stay tuned.
Ralph and Karen's Tours 