Corinth and Sounion

Corinth is a spot many have heard of from religious texts (Corinthians) and Ricardo Montalban commercials (rich Corinthian leather). Actually I'm not sure if the leather is from the same place, but that is neither here nor there. Corinth was a rival to Athens in ancient times. Today one can visit the ruins on the Acrocorinth (upper town) and see artifacts like this mosaic in the museum.



This is the Temple of Apollo on the Acrocorinth:



Heading east and south, past Athens, one reaches Cape Sounion, where the Temple of Poseidon is perched on a promontory overlooking the Agean.



It was probably built around 440 BC.



It must have been dramatic to approach this spot from the sea in ancient times. Or even now, actually.

Epidauros and Mycenae

Epidauros is famous for its amazingly well-preserved amphitheater. The acoustics are great. If you stand on the little circle on the center of the stage, your voice is amplified so that even the people seated in the last row can hear you.



Here's the view from the bottom, looking up.



On the same day, we visited Mycenae, northwest of Epidauros. Mycenae was the home of a Bronze Age civilization. It was a fortified city whose ruins are still visitable. The structure pictured below, the main entrance to the citadel, is known as Lion Gate.



Here's the valley view from a higher point.



Nearby is the confusingly named Treasury of Atreus, which was a tomb. The entrance shape looks similar to Etruscan tombs we visited near Rome, only it's at least twice as high. The lintel stone (the horizontal piece just above the doorway) supposedly weighs 120 tons! Not sure how the construction workers put it in place in 1250 BC.



We clapped our hands inside to hear the repeating echoes. The interior is cone-shaped.

Mystra

Near Sparta is another fabulous site for Byzantine ruins, the former despotate of Mystra. The Turks and Venetians also occupied Mystra for significant periods of time.



Like Monemvasia, Mystra has a lower town and an upper town. Here's the view down from the upper town. There is a convent still in use here. That's the modern town way down below.



From the upper town's wall, there is a nice view of the snowy mountains, or at least there was during our visit in January.



Wildflowers grow alongside the paths.



I liked the flowering trees as well.

Now those are Easter eggs

We still haven't finished posting photos of our trip to Greece (which took place in January!), but we are interrupting them to show you how Italians like their Easter eggs: enormous, chocolate and filled with presents. You can buy your eggs with presents already inside, or you can bring your gifts of choice to the chocolatier to place inside whichever egg you want.

Here's a photo of a chocolate shop window in our neighborhood in Rome:



Can you see the price tag on the egg in the lower right corner? It says 350 Euro. At today's exchange rate of $1.35 = 1 Euro, that's $472.57. I wonder how much the larger, mermaid egg costs.