Friday, June 20, 2008

Medieval Market and Tournament

Last week we visited the medieval fair and tournament in Horb, which is about half an hour drive from our house. The whole old town is turned into a fair, where you could buy all kinds of medieval stuff, such as weapons, clothes, food and drink. I did try mead (brewed with honey and flowers), which I always read about in books when I was a kid, but could never try it. It was OK, somewhat similar to a desert wine. The best thing about the fair was that about half of the attendants were completely decked out in medieval regalia. This gave the whole place a colorful, happy atmosphere. To fit in Adrianne and Victoria had to get matching outfits. Mark settled on a chain mail head cover. I had mead....

We also attended the tournament, which was a re-enactment of a power struggle some 800 years ago in this part of Germany. There was even some real jousting (see two clips below). It was quite nice, but still the best part was the market. Pictures below: Mark shooting with bow & arrow, the cheese stand, market scene.



Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Vacation in Greece

In short: Our two week family vacation this time took us to Greece. The first week we traveled on the mainland in and around Athens. We visited the canal of Corinth, the old capital Naupflio, the ancient theater of Epidaurus and the Mycenaean ruins, which predate the Greeks. Finally we spent time in Athens, with all its museums and ruins from the classical Greek times.
The second week we spent relaxing on the island of Crete. Here we hiked the narrow Samaria gorge with all our packs. After arriving at the Libyan sea, we took the ferry to the charming fishing village of Loutro. We spent five nights here doing not much, but swimming, kayaking and exploring the surrounding area. Finally, we took the ferry back to Athens and flew home.
Visiting Greece in May and June is perfect (we went May 10-24). There is no oppressive heat, significantly fewer tourists (except maybe in Athens), plenty of available hotel rooms and - at least in Crete - the water was warm enough for swimming.

Here is the trip report:
Arriving in Athens we rented a car and drove to Naupflio, the old capital of Greece under the Venetian and Ottoman occupation. On the way we stopped at the canal of Corinth connecting the Ionian and Aegean sea. There happened to be a strike of the tanker truck drivers delivering gasoline to the gas stations. At that moment I understood why I did not receive a full tank of gasoline from the car rental agency (at the end we managed to find gasoline, that required finding the only gas station in Naupflio that sold gas the morning we wanted to return to Athens). Thanks to the efforts of our hotel front desk.
By the way Naupflio is a beautiful old town, with a central square made of shining marble surrounded by restaurants. Our hotel was also located on the square. In Naupflio we visited the fortress, and made side trips to the theatre of Epidaurus (one of the few Greek ones not converted by the Romans), and to the Mycenaean ruins. We saw a still standing three thousand year old Mycenaean bridge. Amazing! See the picture below.
We also visited Mycenaea, the center of this civilization. They used giant stones for their building projects, and the Greeks could not understand how this could have done. They thought that Cyclopses built these towns. The entrances to their covered tombs (built into hillsides) reminded me of Egyptian ruins. The kids had fun, as you can see below.

After Mycenaea, we spent three days in Athens. We stayed at the Plaka (below the Acropolis), where most other tourists stay. It was packed. I would try to avoid it next time. The food in the Plaka is mediocre and expensive. As Adrianne said, we can do either or, but not both at the same time. From the sights the Acropolis (Parthenon), the National Archeological Museum, and the Temple of Zeus stood out. I did not know, but the Acropolis was built in just 9 years. The Parthenon used building techniques that corrected for optical illusions. I am not even sure how they could calculate how much to tip the columns inward so that they appear straight, make thicker corner columns so that they appear the same width as all others. Here are some pictures. Shown from top to bottom: the Acropolis; Temple of Hephaestus; finally Mark and Victoria admiring the remaining colums of the Temple of Zeus.


This concludes the sightseeing portion of the trip. We boarded a large overnight ferry; had our own cabin, and enjoyed watching the hustle and bustle of the trucks trying get onto the ferry. With people weaving between them, we were clearly reminded that we are more in developing country than in a developed orderly one. Below the kids are watching the neighboring ferry being loaded.

Arriving in Crete in the old Venetian town of Chania, we took the bus into the mountains of Crete, to hike the narrow Samaria gorge. I was first of all amazed by the lush vegetation of Crete. It must have been like that all over Greece in ancient times, when the weather was wetter than it is today. The gorge was great, Victoria did no even complain once about the six hour, 10 mile long hike (all downhill though). The pictures do not do justice to this gorge. Unfortunately this time of year there was only one bus, which meant that we did not hike in solitude.

After arriving at the rugged south coast of Crete, we had a nice meal before boarding the daily ferry to Loutro. Some words about the food. With the exception of the Plaka in Athens we really enjoyed the food. The yoghurt in Greece is the best I ever had. Mark enjoyed his daily fix of fresh squeezed orange juice (squeezed right there). Victoria (see picture) had plenty of octopus, while I enjoyed other seafood, especially the fried whole sardines (see picture), and Adrianne was adventurous to try foods like Cretan snails (see picture).

Finally we arrived in Loutro, a small fishing village with no road and only twice a day ferry access. The village had a grade school with three students. We had no hotel reservations, but upon leaving the ferry (only one other person got off) quickly found a clean room, with shower and sea view and super friendly, English speaking owners. The place was relaxing, the water crystal clear. We stayed five nights, and did nothing but explored the area by kayak, foot and boat. It was wonderful. Some pictures below: Our room; Mark jumping into the water with Loutro in the background; The goats of Loutro; the clear waters of the Libyan sea.

This concludes our trip report. On the way home we stopped in Chania, the old Venetian town with some flavors of Venice. If you are ever there make a point to eat at the Chani restaurant (next to the old restored synagoge). A family run place with really good food, fun conversation with the owner that has almost as colorful of a family tree as us. We want to go back to Crete next year.