Greece (Kid Stuff)

Home to the ancient poet Homer, the Olympics, magnificent architecture of old, bazillions of olive trees, and almost as many feral cats.  Oh!  I almost forgot - my personal favorite - the music of Yanni.  Each and every touched us but what I bring home is a renewed fascination with time and place.

The Iliad and the Odyssey were written in the 8th century BC.  The first recorded Olympic champion is a man named Koroibos in 776 BC.  Nestor's tomb is dated to 1500-1450 BC and associated artifacts date as far back as 3000-2600 BC.  Some of those olive trees have lived for 2000 to 4000 years all the while playing a critical role in the Greek culture.  As for those cats?  Well, even with their nine lives they don't live for thousands of years but they have thrived in Greece since at least 1200 BC to the degree that they are now treated as communal property and honored as part of the national identity.

Now, here I am, walking among it all on a brisk December day in 2025 AD.  Simply humbling.  Questions abound.  Why them, there, then?  Why me, here and now?  Profound questions that speak to purpose and design which in turn demand profound answers.  Any answers....then again, no.  Regardless, the words of another ancient, Solomon, touch my soul in this hour:

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born,

And a time to die;

A time to plant,

And a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to kill,

And a time to heal;

A time to break down,

And a time to build up;

A time to weep,

And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones,

And a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace,

And a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to gain,

And a time to lose;

A time to keep,

And a time to throw away;

A time to tear,

And a time to sew;

A time to keep silence,

And a time to speak;

A time to love,

And a time to hate;

A time of war,

And a time of peace.

                                   Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 

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Note:  We visited seven ports in Greece.  A bus ride of varying duration and linearity was required to get from each harbor to the venues shown below.  One destination came dangerously close to breaking Doug's #1 Travel Rule - NEVER get on a bus if travel time exceeds sightseeing time.

Corfu, December 14, 2025

Old town Corfu.

A feel of the past, but not all that distant.

Katakolon, December 15, 2025

Temple of Zeus.
Archeological site of Olympia.

Vestiges of those first Olympic Games. 

Left:  Krypte at Olympia - Grand entrance for the athletes into the 
ancient Olympia Stadium.

Top right:  The stadium track, 192.27 meters long. 
The first game consisted of a single run the length of the track.

Bottom right:  The balbis or starting line.
Athletes placed their toes in the grooves to start races. 

Interesting fact:  The modern day Olympic flame is not "eternal".
A new flame is ignited for each Olympic Game
by focusing the sun's rays on a torch using a parabolic mirror.
The lighting ceremony is conducted here at the Temple of Hera (not pictured). 

Kalamata, December 16, 2025

High tech protective roof and elevated walkways above the
Palace of Nestor at Pylos, dated to the Mycenaean Bronze Age (1300 BC).

In the Iliad and Odyssey, Homer describes King Nestor as a wise and elderly
adviser to the Greeks during the Trojan War.

Left:  Entrance to Nestor's tomb.

Right: A peek inside the "beehive' shaped structure.

Heraklion, December 17, 2025

Heraklion Archeological Museum.
This stuff is really old.  Older than dirt.  Uhhh....not Jamie of course.

Greek Orthodox church
Cathedral Holy Temple of Saint Titus.

Rhodes, December 18, 2025

Dawn as the Star approaches Rhodes (top), Island of Rhodes (lower right).
But on this morning, the horizon and North Africa beyond (lower left) were calling my name.  Maybe someday.

Rhodos Cemetery as seen from our tour bus window.

Acropolis of Lindos, the Sanctuary Summit.

Perched upon a 116-meter-high cliff at the absolute edge,
the spiritual heart for much of antiquity for the cult of Athena Lindia.

This view is looking east across the Aegean Sea with Turkey beyond. 

Left:  Looking north across Lindos Bay from the Grand Ascent level.

Top right:  Two residents on guard as seen at the Lower Entrance.

Bottom right:  The Monumental Staircase, 34 step staircase to the summit. 

Left:  Today's Lindos as seen from the First Plateau.

Right:  Quiet byways and welcoming entrances.

Santorini, December 19, 2025

The village of Oia, Island of Santorini.
Pictures, at least our pictures, don't do the place justice.

The buildings with blue domes are Greek Orthodox churches.
The blue domes represent the "heavens".
The bell towers, known as kabanaria, represent the "voice".

The village of Santorini, Island of Santorini.

Right:  Holy Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist (Catholic).
An earthquake in 1956 leveled much of Santorini and much of what we see today has been restored/rebuilt.
So it is with Saint John's - circa 1975.

Left:  The Viking Star at anchor in the central lagoon of a volcanic caldera.
The eruption is believed to have occurred around 1600 BC.

Piraeus (Athens), December 20, 2025

The Acropolis of Athens.
The Erechtheion featuring the Porch of the Caryatids
with the urban sprawl of Athens in the distance. 

The Panthenon.

Left:  The southeast corner.

Right:  Scaffolding, construction cranes, and wires - the bane of this tourist photographer
although heartening in that future generations will enjoy the past as I have in the present.

The Panthenon as seen from the east.

Thats all folks.