Kiato
We woke up after less than four hours of sleep to watch the boat navigate the Corinthian Canal. Wow, that was a sight! There was no margin on either side and the times the boat touched the walls were quite interesting. So worth the 2 hours early, early in the morning!
Afterwards, we headed back to the room and got ready for our landing in Kiato on the Ionian Sea. Prior to leaving the boat: we had breakfast, which consisted of yogurt, toast, cereal, milk, and orange juice and a general emergency drill. When commanded, we had to get our lift vest, put them on, and muster at meeting point number 4. This was followed by a general emergency discussion.
Once complete, we then headed out for our tour. We got on a bus with about 50 other passengers and drove to Mycenae.
After about a 45 minute drive, we arrived at Mycenae Citadel, also known as an Acropolis. Our tour guide, Amalia, gave us a lecture, and then we were able to walk the area on foot. We explored and took pictures of the Lion Gate, which is the entrance to the site, and Grave Circle A. We then walked to the summit and explored the old palace and enjoyed the view of the town and Agamemnon's mountain. These mountains look like a man lying down on his back. We continued on our walk to the back section of the citadel and found the underground cistern. We walked down and were able to get some relief from the hot sun. We walked back to the bus and drove to the beehive tomb. Our guide gave us a talk about the grave and keystone before we walked inside and saw the inside. Very huge. Just the fact that the entire tomb was always covered by dirt is amazing. Talk about a lot of work to bury someone.
After a quick lunch at the Agnamemnon's Palace Restaurant of bread, tsatsiki, Greek salad, and lamb, we continued onto a ceramic store and were given a quick lecture on the types of ceramics. We then were able to browse the shop. Our bus then drove us back to port. We decided to head back onto the boat to drop off our purchases before walking the town. In town we found a beautiful Greek Orthodox church and went inside. The murals were so cool and almost every wall/ceiling was covered. We then each lit a candle.
Afterwards, we continued to explore the town. We found a pastry shop that had 6-7 different kinds of baklava and many other delicious looking sweets. We found a stationary store, and each (minus Russ) bought our initials in the Greek alphabet. We figured they would be great for the cover of each of our scrap books. We also found a grocery store and picked up an orange fanta - love the European formula, and oregano potato chips. Those were great! After walking around for a while longer, we returned to the ship and went a lecture on Mycenaean Bronze Age Civilization of the Greek Mainland by Heinrich Hall. Heinrich is a German archaeologist who is going on the tours with us and reinforcing what was seen during the tours with each lecture. He explained the history, culture, structure, and writing of Mycenae. Interesting enough, the Mycenaeas were in contact with the Hittites, Egyptians, and Assyrians. That is how many ideas were exchanged and can explain some of the artifacts. Although for a long time people thought there was no written Mycenaean language, it has recently been deciphered that Linear B, which is a language of syllables and not letters, was used. In 1200 BC, the end of the Mycenaean world occur ed when Troy, Athens, Crete, and Mycenae were burned. Thus the Dark Ages began.
After the lecture we headed up for dinner. The buffet included rice, mushroom, au gratin potatoes, bread and butter, chicken, beef, fish, and flan. I really liked the potatoes and mushrooms with cheese. With full bellies, we went back to the room and changed. I went and did a quick workout before we put on our swimsuits and got into the "hot" tub. It was more like a tepid tub at 31 degrees C (~88 degrees F). Once we were too cold to be there anymore, we quickly got out and went back to the room to go to bed.
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