Welcome to my travel Blog

April and May 2007

This blog has become a personal dairy of our trip over six weeks in Europe in 2007. We travelled to

• Barcelona


• Assisi


• Pucinni House


• Cinque Terre


• Through Switzerland to Germany


• 2 weeks in south Germany (Allgua)


• Greece - a weeks tour


• Singapore

Sorry but it is in reverse order. Thats the way blogs end up. Last to first. More of a history well.

Singapore and on to NZ
Wednesday 16th to Friday 18th May

Yesterday I was feeling irritated about being stuck in Singapore for 2 days that could be used more productively in NZ. I disliked the hotel, the hotel cafe, the tours that people were trying to sell us. I was tired and grumpy.

Today, Wednesday, I got my first good guitar practise done in 10 days (since we left for Greece). I feel better about that. We get a reasonable and not expensive breakfast. We decide to go to the Zoo. Although advised to go by Taxi "It's too complicated to go by bus and train. You will get lost", we decide to go by public transport. It's alot cheaper and more of an adventure.

We find our underground station, figure out the ticketing system, get off at the right place, get the right bus, and after another 20 minutes arrive at the Singapore Zoo.

Very much setup in a rainforest setting it is extensive, highly developed and well maintained. The conditions for the animals generally do well in replicating a natural environment. It is obviously well resourced and a place of pride for Singapore. Included in the Zoo presentations was an emphasis on the serious plight of so many species and the need for conservation. The biggest threat at the moment are the clearing of habitat (rain forest) for agriculture or logging and the hunting of animals for animal products.

Highlights of the zoo for us included:
The Siamang, and ape as comfortable in the trees tops as we humans are on the ground
The White Tiger, whose natural environment is snowny mountain country - it is so sad that the threat posed by humans means a zoo is a final chance of survival for the species

Hamadrayas Baboon (70 of them) the younger ones playing just like an active group of young kids, the older ones just resting up and taking it easy

There was the Probocis monkey which has a highly elongated nose. Even though there was feed in the cage, and most were eating, there was one male not interested in food and at one point he seemed to throw himself against the cage netting - in frustration at his captivity? I could appreciate how he might feel. He reminded me of the bus driver who took us to town from the airport in Barcelona.

There was a walk-in enclosure that included bats. Hanging around in the treetops. With bats I think rabies and Dracula so I kept an eye on them. One did an impressive flight around the enclosure well above our heads. The only flying mammal.

The giraffes walk so gracefully. Because of their long necks they need very strong hearts to get blood to the head. They therefore have a normal blood pressure 3 times ours (is that 360 over 240). Generally lions will leave them alone as they can kill with a single kick. However to drink they need to splay the front legs to get the neck to water level. In this position they are vulnerable to attack.

Our return trip to town goes easily. The Singaporean people seem to be gentle, kindly, courteous, eager to help. Europeans number about 1 percent on the public transport. I feel this would be an easy city to live in. There is no grafitti. There is no rubbish. There seems to be a high valuing of education. But people often look tired. I think there is a lot of hard work.

We fly out tomorrow at 9.55 and arrive in Auckland at 11.30am Friday - 2.30 in Wellington.
What a journey it has been. I look foward to being home. I need a rest.

Allgau - Zurich - Singapore
Monday/Tuesday 14th/15th MAy
Away by 7.15. Down to Bregenz. Get off the Autobahn at the Austrian border so we can avoid being fined for not having the Vignette (fine = about E150). There is a traffic jam on the motorway anyway (an accident we think) so the slow road may be just as good a choice. At the Swiss border we buy the motorway pass for E30 which we will post to a friend at the end of today who will use it for the summer holidays in July and August.
We drive on and get to Zurich Airport without fuss (a piece of cake compared with Milan) and park the car beside the Avis office. Phew! We have got it back unscarred and have saved E45 in extra insurance charges.

We check in, onto the plane and away on time. The plane is only half full so both Zita and I get a set of three seats to lie down on. What a treat. I doze deeply for several hours - but I don't think I actually quite sleep. Maybe?

Breakfast, 2 hours before arrival in Singapore is spoilt by heavy turbulance. I know these planes can take alot - but I am still a little nervous. By the time the air smooths out my breakfast is cold and unappertising.
Coming in to land the plane somehow ends up pointing what seems 10 or 15 degress off from the runway as it touches down and requires a great wrench to bring it straight again. Not a good landing. The immigration entry card states that bringing drugs into the country has the penalty of death.

Singapore is hot. It is summer. We have two days free accomodation at the 'Hotel Royal' courtesy of Singapore Airlines. Our transfer is in a fairly rickety tight little van. At the hotel at reception they were going to have us wait three hours until our room was ready but after a little fuss they give us room 1201 - more an apartment than a room - huge including two large TV's one of which the porter turns on for us after he has put our cases in the room. We are very tired and hit the sack for three hours (we turn the TV off). We then head out to check the local surrounds. The local shopping centre, 5 minutes walk away, is almost completely European (people) free. We both have hair work done - prices the same as in New Zealand. We then head down to the famous Orchard Road the most serious shopping street in the city. Very posh. There is a big "Borders" book shop just like I used to visit in England when we lived in Oxford. Full of pretty much the same books as you would find in England. It really shows what an English influence there still is in this society.

Later we both get a much appreciated good nights sleep.

An Afternoon Mountain Bike Tour
Sunday 13th May

Today is our first day back from Greece and last day in Germany on this trip. I did have plans to either go and do a final long run in this part of the world for a while (maybe 2 hours around Hochgrad) or take part in a local half marathon in the morning before doing something with the Wespel family in the afternoon. Once arrangements were sorted there was no time for this and Zita, Gebhard and I headed off at about 11am to meet up with Hubert and family at 12 in Fussen. This is near Neuschwanstein, the unusual castle built by Ludwig II and made famous on many tourist adds for South Germany.

As we drive towards Fussen we see the castle and behind it Sauling, 2050 metres, a great steep little mountain. From a distance it looks impossible to climb. I had climbed it 10 years ago, and today I enjoyed tracing the route up as we drive past. I remembered an excellent and not very difficult day of walking and a little scrambling.
Our plan for today is - the three girls will do a three hour walk together in the forest, while the 5 boys will mountain bike up, over and down a hilly forest road further back into the mountains up to about 1400 metres. Travel distance = 22 km. Height gain = 650 metres.

We head off. It is steep but enjoyable climbing - with a few rest stops on the way. At an open clearing high up on the hill we see the Wieskirke, considered the finest example of a Roccoco style church in Germany - and which had left a lasting impression on me when we visited it 12 years ago. One aspect of the church which had been of great significance to me was a painting on the inside roof of the "Doors to Eternity".

Once at the top of the climb we could see the bigger mountains to the south. After about 20 minutes of ups and downs at about 1400 metres, we start our general descent. In Wellington I have done some rides with a mountain biking group from the Hutt Valley Tramping Club. I know the guys would love this. A local Alpine Club sign indcates that this is a ski touring area in winter. It would be fabulous with good snow. For a while the metalled logging road descends slowly. The views of the mountains to the left (south) are mountains I have never seen before, with great rocky ridges and interesting summits (all around 2000 metres). It is a joy to me. I could imagine exploring these mountains forever - as if in a joyful dream. Why does such imaging, such action, give us such pleasure?
Our descent road now steepens and off we go, zooming down as fast as we dare, so much fun, and still views of the new mountains rising above us. The final section of our route returns to a narrow sealed road running beside a wooded river for 3 kms. Back at our departure point we order ice-creams at a Gasthaus (restaurant). They come in a glass dish - three scoops for each of us, each a different flavour.

When the girls return, we head back to the cars and to the Wieskirke for a quick visit. It is a mothers day and "Mary" service and we end up staying for 1 and 1/2 hours. I can't understand much of the German but I have a detailed guide about the history of the church and information about many of the artistic features, in English, which I buy as we enter, so I read this as I look about the church while the service continues. Above me is the door to eternity.

Later...
It is 12.37 am. I have finished packing for our trip back to NZ tomorrow. My guitar and case together weigh 26 kgs. (The limit is supposed to be 20!). Also my carry on bag is about 10 kgs! Hopefully this goes OK at checkin. But Singapore Airlines are generally pretty good and allow quite alot of extra weight without charge (we heard up to about 28 kgs per person!!).
Zita is still packing. Tomorrow we fly.

.

Athens National Archaeological Museum then home to Allgau
Saturday 12 May

Our last breakfast at the hotel 'Acropolis Select'. We are a bit late and miss our new friends Gino and Maria for their last breakfast as well. Gino and Maria are of Italian descent, grew up in Argentina and now live in Pittsburgh, USA.

We fly back to Munich later today. But we have some time this morning so we brave the underground and travel to the National Archaeological Museum. AT only E0.80 each this is very cheap. The underground system is really modern, classy and graffiti free. What a sense of lightness this brings. It must have been completely overhauled for the Olympics in 2004. I haven't seen better.

The museum is full of some of the wonderful stuff we have found everywhere in Greece. A well informed tour guide would help some understanding of so the wealth of exhibits that are here. It would quite often happen that I would be looking at some object while a guide was also talking about it with a guided group.

It is so remarkable, what beautiful vases, bowls, storage vessels prehistoric (pre-written history) peoples created. With the various displays and models I enriched my understanding and appreciation of the Mycenae Acropolis which we had visited a couple of days previous.

I found (thanks to Zita) that at least one Greek god had some kindness and a sense of concern for the welfare of others. It was Asklepios the God of healing.

I was deeply touched by the humanity shown in the Sculptures of family scenes where several family members would be gathered together. (valedictory stele). This depicted a leave taking (one member of the group had died) and they were saying farewell to each other. This was intended to go on the grave of the dead person. It was life size or larger. It displayed dignified suffering.

We walked back through town rather than using the underground, heading always towards the Acropolis and using it to keep our bearings as we knew that once we reached it's base we simply had to bear left to find our hotel. As we walked we passed many of the shops used by locals rather than tourists.

We picked up our bags from the hotel and returned to the Underground. Our ticket for the 1 hour journey to the airport for the two of us was E10. It had cost us E33 to come in by taxi and was alot slower. Everything to do with this underground and the airport was very modern and well maintained.

Our flight of 2hrs 10 minutes heads for Munich. We fly over Delphi, probably near where those two eagles had come together in the time of Zeus, and I recognise the genral landforms below. We can see the sea channel between the Penepolnese and the mainland of Greece. A little further north the mountains rise higher with more snow. We see Spit, Dubrovnek - places we had considered visiting but didn't have time.

At Munich Airport we arrange our two day car hire (including budget rather than full insurance! - suckers for punishment). We can't find our car among the hundred or more in the Avis section of the car park so walk past the cars repeatedly pressing the remore lock until one responds. It is the correct one.

We spend an hour or so with two friends who have come from the city to the airport to see us. Krista, who Zita has known for many many years and Leander , a youngish relative of Zita's who stayed with us for a time in New Zealand while on a world tour in 2005. It was great to see them. I especially enjyed talking with Leander about outdoor stuff like mountain walking (called tramping in NZ) and the mountains.

We were home in Eisenharz by 10.30 pm. Tomorrow is our last day in Germany on this trip. Man - things have gone well!

A Cruise in the Greek Islands
Friday 11 May

Our one day cruise in the Greek Islands, Poros, Hydra, ???. E70 each. Our transfer bus arrives at 7.45 am. The bus is completely full. I sit in the last seat available, next to a tour guide. He doesn't acknowledge me. He talks almost continuously and loudly to his tour group. He irritates me.

We arrive at the wharf. Our boat is the SAnta Maria - maybe halk the size of the Arahura. We are away by 8.45 am, south past big ships anchored in the harbour, keelboats coming and going from sailing excursions.

Our first stop is Poros. Very pretty as we approach. We have 45 minutes ashore (it takes about 5 minutes to disembark 500 passengers) so walk up the hill (with about 400 others) to a clock tower on a rocky hilltop 100 metres above the waterfront. We return to town via other streets. Some of the buildings here show the white walls and blue trim characteristic of some Greek Islands. We enter a tiny Greek Orthodox church - rather disorganised but intimate and very atmospheric. I light a candle and place it in the sand filled bowl. I vaguely mutter an indistinct prayer. Not all prayers are distinct.

Back on board, our ship continues on down the channel between Poros and the mainland of Peleponese.

An hour later we arrive at Hydra. There are some big yachts here, posh sailing yatchs that would easily cost several million NZ dollars. And would have a permanent crew of 2 or 3. Where do they get that money from?

Hydra has only one vehicle on the whole Island – a rubbish truck. The standard transport for people and goods is donkey or foot. No Cars. We walk around the water front. Donkey owners try to get us to take a ride. I get frustrated at wasting time looking at tacky tourist kitsch. Again. I’ve seen enough. And no one seems to ever sell anything. We turn off the main way through an archway into a church enclave. This is a Greek Orthodox monastery. It is gentle and peaceful and refreshing for me here. I sit for a little. We go upstairs to a museum of religious art – on the first floor above the court yard. The curator seems to ‘demand’ that we enter her museum. Which we do. At E2. But I appreciate the inner atmosphere. There are older icons, crowns and some silver work all of which I dislike. But there are also icons in a softer, more humane style, depicting various scenes from Jesus life that speak well to me.
Back on the water front we walk further and I enjoy photographing some of the working fishing boats. That these are working boats on which men make their livelihood appeals to me greatly. If I had grown up here this is what I might have done. Been a fisherman on one of these small boats. Zita finds an Icon that she really loves and feels confident that it is the genuine article (which is not so easy to tell). That means completely hand painted by an official icon painter. Cost is E130. It is something she has wanted for many years. I personally dislike the art style of the older icons. I also feel tense about how much money we are getting through.
As soon as we re-board our ship to continue the cruise, we go to our lunch sitting (price included).Salad, pork, potatoes and a spongy desert. Our table companions are a similar age to us, from the US, and very soon after we start to chat they tell us what a big problem they feel George Bush is. Most Americans we meet, soon after meeting tell us a similar thing. We have a good chat about travelling in Italy and Greece.
Now sitting outside on deck chairs we are heading for our third Island – Aegina. We pass many small islands and rocky outcrops. There is just a light warm breeze and a cloudless sky. I wonder if it gets rough out here sometimes. (I am sure it does). The wind has changed from off shore to onshore during the day. Most likely a sea breeze.

We are at Aegina for 2 hours. We take the “Scenic Bus Tour’ option. Otherwise there is little else to do. A drive around the northern half of the island. The first capital of Greece was here after the liberation from the Turks in 1830. During that war the motto of the Greek resistance was – “Freedom or Death”. The Greeks mention this great uprising a lot. I can appreciate that. A part of Cyprus is still under Turkish control – much to the frustration of Greece.
We see groves of pistachio nut trees. These trees often only fruit well once every 5 years. They also fruit best when they are configured as one male tree surrounded by seven females. Lucky guy. I can appreciate that.
We see a new Greek Orthodox Church. (of St. Nectorius) – the most recent saint they have had. He died in 1920 and was famous for healing people by laying hands on them. I didn’t like the church myself.
After the bus tour we were led to the fish market. And seated and served a small seafood meal with a drink of Ouzo. We sat with our new friends from Pittsburgh, Gino and Maria from Pittsburgh USA. I was not interested in eating the shrimps, octopus, squid. Pretty fussy I know. Maybe I will get over it one day.
An hour and ½ on the ship returns us to Athens. We start talking with two people from Quebec. They have just been to a conference in Corfu and are going to Turkey to do business with Turkish academics who want to publish a book they have written. Their field is ‘Communications” and they work in a university in Canada.
One project they have been involved in is in South America. There is a big problem with mercury poisoning getting into the food chain around major rivers. This is because the big ranch owners, wanting more and more land, cut down and burn the forests. With rain this releases mercury into the rivers in a form that can be absorbed by fish. The communications project involves finding ways to successfully communicate to locals changed fishing practises to help them avoid the bad affects of the mercury. The idea is to distribute information about safer fishing practises through social networking. They are aware that the real problem lies with the ranch holders. But attempts to modify practices in that area could easily be life threatening to our communications experts. I think about obesity, smoking, excess drinking and wonder if a communications perspective could help positive social change in New Zealand.
It is dusk as we leave the ship and board our bus to the hotel. I wouldn’t mind a sailing holiday here some time. Costly though. Most of the rest of our tour group from the previous week are now on their 7 day ship cruise and on the way to Turkey. We will be heading home tomorrow.

Nauplia to Mycenae, Corinth Canal and Athens
Friday 10th May

We drive out of the seaport of Nafplio and within half an hour we reach te hilltop Acropolis (high city) of Mycenae. Much could be said about this place.

We first visited the beehive tomb outside the city wall. This had been built into a hilly hummock and we enter by walking down a roofless tunnel. The mantel stone over the doorway weighed in at 36 tonnes. The roof above this was constructed in such a way as to avoid the unsupported mantel from collapsing. An open triangle was put into the roof above meaning that the roof weight was transfered to the corners of the doors and thus to the stone sides of the entrance that reached to the floor. Very clever.

The iner space of this sanctuary dome was a beehive in shape, 13 metres high by 14 diagonal. It was a burial chamber for the kings and family from the Acropolis - Agamemnon - in the 14th Century BC. As people of that time believed in an after life it would have been filled with things to take to the hereafter including clothes, jewellery etc. When the dead had been installed the whole structure would have been sealed and buried under earth to be hidden from grave robbers and and to be made to look like a small hill. When rediscovered in the 20th Century, it was already empty, access likely gained through the keystone in the top of the dome. Were those grave robbers ever asailed by later guilt or unease - at having robbed the dead?

We then went on to the museum and the Acropolis of Mycenae. Situated on a steep sided knob of land with a deep gorge on one side and a steep rocky hillside on the other. Defense was a major consideration in thebuilding of such a complex. Hidden underground channels were created from springs further up ther hill to bring water into the enclosure in case of seige. On the side facing towards the sea, 15 kms distant, was a higher hill and surrounding planes. Any danger or potentail invaders would have been easily spotted from here.

It was here that the famous golden mask of Agememnon was doscovered by the renown german archeologist - Heinrich Schliemann. Whether there ever was such a character as character as Agememnon is an open question. The famous mask however is reliably dated as coming from a knig in the 16th century BC.

after leaving Mycenae, we drive to a shop on the way to Corinth which sold a variety of Greek pottery and jewellery. We were given a demonstration in potmaking as it has been done for 1000's of years. We heard about the the types of pot decoration from different periods. It appears that there is a clear idea of the variuos techniques used in ancient times. They still use these techniques today today to recreate pottery in these old styles. The more closely the techniques used match those of the past, the more time and skill is required to create, and thus the more expensive the resulting pot.

For lunch we stop at a Tabanera beside the Corinth Canal, 25 metres wide, 8 metres deep, 6 kms long, which allows shipping to pass between the Aegean and Ionian Seas avoiding a trip that would otherwise be 100's of kms by sea.

We drive the final 2 hours back to Athens a now seemingly familiar city. Tonite it is farewell drinks with our group and tomorrow while many of them head off on their cruise to Turkey, we take a one day cruise in the Greek Islands.

Olympia and on to Nauplia including the Theatre in Epidaurus
Wednesday 9th May

We have an easier start today. The bus doesn't leave until 10am so Zita and I head over to the Museum of the history of the Olympic games. This is really fascinating. I take photos of some of the beautiful statues. I take photos of the text displays describing the history of the Olympics. This is a topic worthy of it's own publication. It is presented so interestingly here. As a runner and competitor I find this highly interesting

Last night, reading my new book on Greek myths, I came across the following...

"The theft of fire by Prometheus provoked such anger in Zeus that he also wanted to punish men since they had accepted the gift. He therefore charged Hephaestos to make a woman out of earth and water and then called upon the goddesses to furnish her with gifts. He sent this woman , whom he called Pandora, to Epimetheus along with a clay jar which was to remain closed forever.

Epimetheus married Pandora and they lived happily until the time came when she desired to open the jar. Then all calamities flew out of it: war, diseases, death, unhappiness. Even though the inquisitive woman hastened to stopper this source of all tribulations, all that remained inside was hope. "

This is a remarkable discovery for me. Especially so when I recall that an emotional/spiritual theme for this trip is for me is:

"Where is the Hope?"

In no way am I adopting this small myth to blame woman for the scarcity of hope in the world. I approach the myth more like a dream. Accept that it addresses an important theme for me. Let the story speak as it will.

We drive on across the Peloponnese, the southern area of mainland Greece. We climb up over a mountain range to 1000 metres and drop back down to the sea. To the west the Ionian sea, the the East, the Aegean, to the south, the Medtereanean.

We arrive at Nafplio, an attractive and well looked after sea side town that is a common weekend destination for more well to do Athenians. It was once occupied by the Venetians and it still shows a Venetian flavour in its shops, restaurants and general building style. Nafplio was the first capital of Greece after the war of liberation from the Turks (1821-1829).

Before going to our hotel, our bus travels to Epidaurus, a large open theatre orginally built by the Greeks in timber but converted to stone and enlarged by the Romans. It is still used for summer festivals today and has a seating capacity of 14000. As I get off the bus and walk towards the open theatre, Barbara, an ex-work colleque from Tawa College in New Zealand, who I haven't seen for 6 years, comes up to say hello. She is travelling with another group on another coach tour. Small world.

The autitorium itself has a beautiful aspect. Looking from the the seating to the stage area, the backdrop is the rolling hills of southern Greek country side. Ths theatre is used every summer for the performances of the ancient Gree plays.

A modern traditionhere is for visitors to stand on a stone in the centre of the stage area and sing a song. The 2/300 people sitting around the terraces listen quietly and applaud - more so for the better performances.

We return to the Hotel Rex, passing a small bridge, a simple stone structure beside the road, dated at 1400 bc. Thats old.

Tomorrow we visit Mycenae and Corinth canal on our way back to Athens.

Delphi and on to Olympia
Tuesday 8th May

Our guide for our tour around the Delphi site today is Lucy. She is great. So informed and intelligent. I learn 2 days later that the guides for these sites must be government approved. And to be approved they must have done the full training which included university level courses in Archeology, Art History, etc etc.
We are led up the Sacred Way. She tells us so much that is both thought provoking and interesting.

Throughout Greece, slavery was the source of labour. Slaves could buy their way out of slavery. Slavery in Greece was complex.
In Delphi we see the stones that are the first examples of recorded/ written down music. The words and the notes. Attempts have been made to reconstruct it. This is from before the time of Christ.

Archeology is a complex business. Should you restore things or leave them be. Often succeeding generations of occupiers on a site used the materials from existing structures. Which one should the archaeologist give preference too?

One site was originally a Greek temple. It was rebuilt as a forum for shops in Roman times. It became a Christian church in the 4th Century AD. Which should be reconstructed?
The site of Delphi was essentially destroyed by Christianity. It became and ordinary small Greek town. But in the 19th Century, French archaeologists realised the significance of the site. They convinced the towns people to move their town 1 km around the hill to where the town now is. Then they began excavation. At some stage during Roman times the temple was seriously damaged. (Earthquake or fire). Instead of recycling the materials as was often the case 2000 years ago, they buried many of the damaged objects including building parts, sculptures, art objects, a sculpture of a bull full size the shell of which was made of beaten silver. When moving a block of stone on the "Sacred Way" the way that visitors took as the moved up to the temple, archaeologists the storage pit containing all these objects was discovered. Its contents now make up much of the display at the Archaeological Museum in Delphi and what a remarkable display it is.

We were told about about the Oracle. How, under the temple, there was always a Sanctuary, how in this area the rock gave off a mixture of Sulphur Dioxide and Methane - a potentially fatal gas combination which would also induce trance in those who breathed it. People from throughout the ancient world including the most powerful, would come to Delphi to consult the Oracle, a woman from the local town, who would communicate through priests who acted as intermediaries. Often the response provided to the questions asked would be obscure and enigmatic.

We saw the stone that marks the centre of the Universe. To determine this Zeus released an eagle from opposite edges of the universe and had them fly towards the centre. At the point where they met a stone was placed to mark the centre of the universe This stone was and is at Delphi.

The main temple at Delphi was dedicated to Apollo god of Music, Poetry but also reason and logic. When Apollo wet away as he did for 3 months every year, Dionysus was the stand in - the god of wine, feasting, wild behaviour.At this temple, the intended wisdom was for the individual to express the characters of both these gods in their lives. And also that in the end, the choice of how to live is up to the individual.
At this site, the theatre for poetry and music performance had a minimal backdrop. The reason was that the natural beauty of the mountains and the valley in this area was sufficient and one of the most beautiful in Greece. And it was very beautiful for us this morning.
At the top of the Sacred Way is a is the sports and games stadium. About 200 metres long by 100 metres across with seating for several thousand. I run a circuit - not the first to do so I imagine. This afternoon we are going to have a mini Olympics race for our tour group at the stadium at Olympia. I have a good chance to win the running I think.
There are now about 300 people on the site mostly in groups of about 20 or 30 and mostly with guides. All seem interested, quiet, respectful, moved in some way by the something of this place.
Yesterday when we first arrived and Zita and I walked to the temple of Athena area below the road I found the following inscription on a tablet - which I found very moving:
" The archaeological site of Delphi including the sanctuary and the natural landsacpe from Arachava to Itea and Amphissa has joined the list of protected world heritage sites. This designation confirms the universal significance of the architectural and natural assets of Delphi for the cultural evolution of mankind

Unesco Convention

December 1987"

We now head for Olympia - the location of the first Olympic games. Within 30 minutes we have dropped from about 600 metres to sea level and are travelling around the coast on the Ionian Sea. The wind is strong onshore - gusting 30 knots. There are many little harbours and small boats. People have been on the water here for a long time.

At lunch someone in the group who had ordered fish was waiting longer than the rest of us to receive his meal. He asked the waitress - "Where is my fish. Did you catch it?"
The waitress reply was "Yes, yes - 2 minutes"
Two minutes later the waitress brought ketch up (tomato sauce). But still no fish. The Greek word for ketchup is similar in sound to that in English.

We arrive at Olympia - at what is generally agreed to be our nicest hotel so far - although I have trouble telling the difference. We are given a complimentary Ouzo before we walk down the road 5 minutes to the site of the original Olympic games. Our guide, another confident and highly informed, well trained Greek woman, tells us about the ideals of the original games, how, even though it was the individual who competed, the place the individual came from would take pride in a good performance. How in ancient times, the various Greek states, who were often at war with one another, would agree to a months peace during the time of the games and this was later extended to three months. Even the Persians agreed to cease hostilities for the games duration during the Persian Wars. If only those at war today could be so civilized!

When competitotrs were found to have cheated in some way, they were pubicily shamed. first instance of this was when a father from one particulr state, wanting his son to win a running race, bribed the other 6 competitors. When this was discovered by officials, he was compelled to contribute 6 beautiful statues hich were errected at the entrance to the stadium as a mark of shame to the father and to remind other competitors of the consequences of unfair behaviour. On the statues was inscribed the name of the offended and the offence commited.

After our site tour I had a discussion with the guide about the relationship between the Greek Orthordox Church and the more ancient religions and culture of Greece which has shaped much of the rest of the world. Her answer was that this is a big question in Greece. I am left with a sense of anger at the way Christianity destroyed so much of the wonder of Greek art and architecture. The wonderful complex of temples and buildings at the Olympic site was first badly damaged by earthquake. Then in the 4th century Christianity finished the job as it wa believed that Art and Architecture was idoletry.

I walked into the stadium itself, through the entrance tunnel that competitors would have passed through for 1000 years. From the stone marked start line, I ran the length of the stadium (about 200 metres). A bit like in a movie, I could hear the crowd cheering (or booing?). Are we any more civilised today than those ancient Greek athletes? Or can we still learn much from this Olympic ideal?

Meteora and on to Delphi
Monday 7th May

What a place! These most wondrous great rock faces and towers. There have been 17 of these monasteries built on rock pinnacles over the centuries - the first byAthanasios in AD1382. Two ideas that are suggested for getting initial access to the top of a pinnacle are:
1. Use a kite to take a light line across the pinnacle and down the other side and use this to draw a heavier rope and then rope ladders up the pinnacle.
2. Use wooden wedges inserted into gaps in the rock to suspend ladders from the face and work upwards using these.
We visited two monasteries. In the second a young nun - maybe 20 - explained much of the meaning of the iconography in the inner church. Stories of Christ returning again, on judgement day to judge us for our sins, with the help of the Apostles. God will judge us differently to how humans judge things. There is a picture of scales with a good side and a bad side - where our lives are weighed. And on these scales, even though there is less on good side than the sinful, the good is heavier and hangs lower. There is hope!

We drive south again, back towards Athens but later we will branch off to the west. We hear there is an underground pipe line all the way from Russia to Athens carrying gas or oil. We see a place where there is a covering over the pipe where it is near the surface because the ground is too rocky to lay a deeper trench. We are driving through the Parnassus Mountains. They rise to about 2200 metres. They have lots of snow in winter and a ski resort. We see some left over winter snow high on the hills in the west.
All the art work in the church summarises the beliefs of the nuns. Do they take this all completely literally? That we will be judged according to the words of Jesus in the Bible? There are icons of Jesus, Mary, the Apostles - ambassadors between us and God. I can understand the need for that.
And as we climb up to these small, rock bound, communities of Chapels and dinning halls and sleeping quarters - we climb up steps now hued into the rock faces. But in earlier times, people climbed these rocky faces with flimsy ladders and unreliable ropes, hundreds of metres.
As we drove away to Delphi, we see rock climbers belaying up one of the many semi vertical towers, 6 to 8 rope lengths = about 350 metres of climb. "A dangerous sport" someone on our bus says. A lot safer than the lives of those early monks.

We arrive at Delphi (about 630 metres), a little town on a steep hillside with a a view down to the Aegean Sea. Big rocky hills rise to well over 1000 metes close behind and across the valley. Much of the valley below is planted in olive trees - there are about 100 million olive trees in Greece.

The bus drives through town and past our hotel and out the other side for a kilometre or so to give us a little orientation. . It then turns around to return to the hotel but first Zita, I and one other get off to walk back. First we drop down below the road and visit the temple of Athene. On the way down we pass an engraved metal plaque which I find deeply moving:

"The archaeological site of Delphi including the sanctuary and the natural landscape from Arachava to Itea and Amphissa has joined the list of protected world heritage sites. This designation confirms the universal significance of the architectural and natural assets of Delphi for the cultural evolution of mankind.
Unesco Convention
December 1987"

We climb up a little and pass through a gymnasium area used by the ancient Greeks for training for the 4 yearly games competitions. We cross the road and find the spring where visitors to Delphi would always bathe before entering the Sanctuary. A small splash of this water on forehead and neck us our symbolic sanctification.

We walk on to the museum. Very modern, beautifully layed out and presented. The sculptures and art is special. I love the relief of ?? and ?? arguing about ??. I feel that if the gods can argue, maybe I don't need to feel so bad about arguments I have with Zita, or conflict in general. (I often feel guilt about conflict I am involved in).

We walk back to town. I find a good book on Greek mythology which I will read. I am reminded of a comment - by author Robert Bly I think - that all those gods of the ancient world we in the 20th cenrury have internalised. But they are still parts of us and our humanity. Maybe the ancient Greeks enjoyed a clarity that we miss.

Athens and then on to Meteora
Sunday 6th May

Wake up call, bags out, good breakfast, don’t flush toilet paper down the loo but place in lidded bin beside toilet (Greek plumbing does like toilet paper). Onto the bus and our guide for the morning is Lucy – who is Greek. Really well informed. As the trip goes on we learn why all the guides are first rate. We drive immediately up to the Acropolis – the second bus to arrive.

An easy walk up the hill brings us to the entrance to the hilltop temple area. I was expecting to find this all very touristy, crowded and ho-hum. But it was quite the opposite and deeply impressing. Essentially, all this Acropolis area as we now see it was built in a golden age of about 100 years in the 5th century BC. We see the temple erected jointly to Athene and Poseidon – who battled one another to be patron of Athens. We see the rock where Paul preached of “The Unknown God” to the Athenians. That must have been different after such a pantheon of known gods. We see examples of Dorian, Ionian and Corinthian columns. We see Dionysus reclining in the pediment. We learn that the word tragedy means “goat skin” – the costumes first worn by actors in the first plays because goat skins were handy. We look down to see the Theatre of Dionysus. We see the shine to Asklepios (god of medicine) – apparently one of the few gods with some concern for others. I learn that when the Romans arrived, they took on the Greek gods but gave them Roman names. Thus Zeus became Jupiter. In a place like this I am so affected but the human capacity for investing so much life force in the creation of scared spaces of such immense beauty.

I learn that Zeus (Jupiter to the Romans) developed a giant headache and so was struck on the head with an axe by another god in an attempted cure. From Zeus’s split open head emerged a fully formed Athene – Goddess of wisdom after whom Athens was named. I didn’t learn what happened about Zeus’s headache.

Back on our bus we tour around the city. We hear a little history – how the Ottoman Turks occupied Greece for 400 years but were finally ousted in (late 19th century??).
We visit the theatre of Dionysus where many of the great Greek tragedies and comedies were first performed, generally under the patronage of a wealthy sponsor.
We head out of town, north, towards Meteora – site of numerous monasteries built atop giant rock pillars and towers. It is a 3 and ½ hour trip. The land is simple, flat and unremarkable for a start…later it becomes hilly and more interesting.
We see Gypsy camps where the rubbish looks unpleasant but we are told that Gypsy life is not associated with crime in Greece.
We stop to see a monument dedicated to ??? ,who, with 300 Spartans, held back an army of 100000 Persians for a week at a pass in the ??? Mountains so that Athens could prepare itself for the attack, and get woman and children to safety. Or so we are told.
We climb to 800 metres over hills and down to plains again. Much of the country seems poor, life centred on simple farming. The average adult income in Greece is E1000 / month = E12000 per year. But the cost of living in Greece is not cheap. As we travel north we see that more than half the houses are unfinished, generally with iron rods poking from roofs. In Greece you do not pay tax on a house until it is finished. To save money - don't finish the house - ever.

After a long haul we arrive at Kalabaka. Our hotel, “The Edelweiss’ is much more pleasant than we had been led to expect. A bit silly that only 2 days ago we were in an ‘Edelweiss’ type hotel in north Italy. There are remarkable cliffs to the east of town, 100’s of metres high and mostly vertical. One the top of one of these is a very distant church and monastery. We will visit monatries in these hills tomorrow.

Milan Airport to Athens
Saturday 5th May

Our last dash to Malpensa Airport. We get lost a few times on the way. An infuriating aspect of Italian roads for visitors is that road signs to turn off a road to head for some other destination often come just after the turn off! At the same time you are often being harassed from behind by impatient locals – so by the time you ealise your turn off point you are past it. With a few anxious moments in (town outside of Milan??) we find our way to terminal 1at the airport. We are soon parked in the Avis car return area. We have arrived! With the car completely unscathed. After 23 days of some pretty dodgy driving. No prangs. No scratches. Any one of which could have cost us up to E1800. Instead we have saved E350 on a full insurance. Was it worth it? Also the whole business of returning our car to Italy and then flying on the Greece has worked perfectly.

As we board our Aegean Airlines flight – I see it is a modern Boeing 737-300. There is a sticker on the side of the plane saying “Airline of the Year 2005/6”. I should be reliable. 2hs 10mins to Athens. We will stay at the Acropolis Select Hotel tonight and meet our group. From reading the tour guide they may well be mainly Americans.

At Athens we simply walk through with no customs or passport check. We take a taxi to our hotel – which takes us along a completely modern motorway for 20 minutes. The country side is rocky and dry and the soil is red. It could be southern Mediterranean. We turn off into the centre of Athens and traffic slows to a crawl. We pass the stadium which was used in 1896 for the first modern Olympic Games. It was also used to start and finish the marathon in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

We arrive at our hotel. Some derelict looking reconstruction across the road but our hotel is modern. We meet with our tour group at 6pm. Amanda is our tour leader. She is from London, but has lived in Greece for 25 years. While others take the evening out option for E50 each, Zita and I walk up to the Plaka district for an evening wander. There are many many shops, a lot full of tacky tourist trinkets which soon become irritating, but more quality as well, and Tavernas, all open till late.
Later we have a vegetarian Mousaka and Greek Salad at “God’s” place – named after the manner and look of the head waiter. This is a Lonely Planet guide recommendation. As we finished our meal it seemed to me God looked pretty worn out.

Eisenharz to North Italy Somewhere
Friday 4th May

We pack. I get an hour guitar playing while Zita finishes. We go to Isny for last minute stuff. And then south. First to Austria where we fill up on cheaper diesel, WE stay off the Autobahn here as we don’t have a vignette – which would cost us E50. If we are caught without it we will be fined E100. This means we are in slow traffic for about an hour.

At our petrol station stop I see the “Drei Schwestern” mountain group above the valley. 9 years ago with the Seelbach family, I made a traverse of this small range. Lots of ladders and cables to hang on to for security at steep bits and tunnels through rock to walk through. It was a great day marked by early nerves which gave way to later mountain walking pleasure. At one point we had someone else take a photo of our group. He had his boots off at the time – resting his feet at lunch. As he stepped back to frame the photo better he kicked one of his free boots which rolled and then fell over the cliff edge and flew down hundreds of metes out of site. We last saw him starting his afternoon walk wearing about 6 socks borrowed from his companions on the bootless foot.

In the car we soon cross the border into Switzerland. This also requires an Autobahn license payment system. However we are told it is not heavily enforced so we take the risk. The pass would have cost us about E120. This is a years pass and there are no alternatives. We would be on Swiss Autobahns for a few hours.

The weather now closes in as we head up valley towards San Bernadino Pass. On either side of our valley are fantastic mountains holding remnants of winter snow. We travel through a couple of huge gorges. So wild. So narrow. Vertical. 100’s of metres high/deep.

We have the choice to pass through a mountain tunnel or drive over a high pass. As we approach the turn off to the pass the rain is heavy and the cloud thick. I can see new snow on the ground 100 metres above us. The pass is several 100 metres above us. Driving conditions would be pretty dodgy. And it is already late. We take the tunnel instead. 7 kms underground. As we emerge from the tunnel on the other side, here is snow on the ground beside the road and a heavy coating of fresh on the hills and mountains above. A spring surprise. It was the right choice.

We are now in Italian speaking Switzerland. Down we go. A sign tells us – 8% for 17 kms. There are warning signs beside the road showing trucks with brakes on fire.

Later we check camping grounds in Lago Lugano but nothing available. After some getting lost on small back roads, we arrive in Venassa. We find a reasonable priced hotel room. The hotel is in Alpine style. We are now in Italy but could be anywhere in Alpine Western Europe. We find a Piziera for dinner.

Last Day in Eisenharz
Thursday 3rd May

Each morning at Gebhards the pattern is the same. I head off on the bike at about 7.30 am to the local Grocery which also has a Backerei. It's only 5 minutes. I buy fresh bread for breakfast and what ever else we might need.

Gruss Gott.

Guten Morgen.

Zwei Sechkorn Brotchen bitte, und eine Seele.

Tchuss und eine Schonen Tag.

There is now alot of modern music on local radio which has words in english and many people tend to say "Hallo" rather than the more traditional "Gruss Gott". I stick with the later.

I ride home and set up breakfast for Zita and me. Gebhard would have started work in his machining factory, which is attached to the house by 7am. He would often continue work till 9 pm. He can make thousands of copies of almost any small item made of metal that might be used in machinary of any kind. He is very busy.

Today after breakfast Zita and I head to Isny to organise large prints of photos from our joint family cycle trip as presents for Gebhard and Hubert and family.

Zita drives on Leutkirk, a neighbouring town about 20 kms away and then on to Eichstetten to meet with Elizabeth and Beate and to go swimming for the afternoon.

I had ridden by bike from Eisenharz to Isny so I would be independent. It is a great little ride taking about 25 minutes. Eisenharz is a compact little town, population about 1500, altitude 650 metres above sea level (uber dem Meeres Spiegel in German – meaning – over the sea mirror). It is surrounded by pasture farmland, forest and moors. The Allgau Alps start about 20 kms south and are easily seen.

Just out of town I turn off the road, ride between two barns, complete with wintering cows, and then onto unsealed (shotter) paths tat lead through fields then forest. This is also a Nature Protection Area. A few days earlier I came across a fox (Fux) hunting something in the long grass. I stopped for a while to watch and photograph it, hoping it was not crazy with “Tolwut” (rabies)and would have a go at me. In my early days in the South German Mountains I used to be concerned at the warning signs saying to watch out for foxes that might be carrying Tolwut. My doctor friend, Ernst, has told me that in recent years, in an attempt to control the problem, chicken heads containing Tolwut vaccine, have been placed in the forests to attempt to control this disease amongst foxes. He also told me that, even if you do get bitten by an infected animal, as long as you start the course of injections quickly, you normally recover easily. However if you are not treated soon and start to develop symptoms, you will experience a very nasty death.

I bike on further, through forest. It is a type of pine, a monoculture in this area about 20 metres high. I pass open grassy areas that will be grazed or mown for grass gathering in summer. It is very common to see ‘Hides” in this area. I wouldn’t have thought this was for hunting?

I now cycle through a more open “moor” area with browner grasses and stunted trees. In winter of course, all through here can be covered in snow bringing its own charm. After a further section of forest I emerge to cross a small country road. On the other side I pass between a farm house and several farm buildings, someone’s back yard, and then cross a bridge over a major stream which drains the large area of moor land ahead.

I can now see Isny in the distance, with the characteristic twin church towers topped with the ‘Onion Domes’ so common on churches here and further east. This section of the trail is passes across what has been moor but has been drained over the centuries so quite a lot of it is now pasture land. In 10 minutes I arrive on the outskirts of Isny and ride into town and the Fussgangerzone (pedestrian shopping area) where I meet Zita to organise getting out photos copied onto CD.

I then go off by my self to the local internet Café. I am keen to keep my Blog going and to try and improve it. The poor presentation is really frustrating me but I think it is really only designed to take one photo per posting? I spend several hours beavering away and probably pay about E8. At the end of the session, about 5 pm, I knock my camera onto the tile floor of the Café. It seems undamaged, but a day later I find that the battery door has lost part of its closing mechanism and so was not closing fully. I will need to tape it until I get it fixed.

My ride back home to Eisenharz from Isny was in rain and a strong cool easterly headwind.. This was pretty uncomfortable in the open areas. I was only wearing a light shirt and shorts.
This evening we went to have dinner with Markus and Anna in Lindenburg. When I lived in Isny 9 years earlier, Markus and I played classical guitar duets together quite a bit, played in some concerts including playing a full evening concert in a small hall above a music shop in Ravensburg. This was to a packed and enthusiastic audience. We also made a CD around that time called “Musik fur den Sudan” with the aim of raising some money for the suffering in the Sudan at the time.
These days we keep a ‘once a year’ letter/ Christmas card contact, and I always like to visit Markus when we come to Germany. This evening we play a few duets. Then Anna had cooked white ‘Spargel’ – asparagus. I sensed that Anna was not sure of the English for Spargel so I told her ‘Rhinonocerous’. I think she didn’t believe me.

Because these days there is a lot of music with lyrics in English on the radio, much of the evening conversation was punctuated by English song lyrics – sung.
Markus is such a versatile musician. He also plays in a rock band and sings classical music. He has a concert the day after we have had dinner together – for voice and organ at Neutrauchberg – a favourite modern church of Zita and mine just outside of Isny. We used to love going to church there. The Priest, Stephan Cipulka, had previously been a protestant minister and so had brought a wife and children to his new Catholic vocation. He was also a trained psychotherapist. I was first alerted to him in 1996 when I saw in the local paper that he was running support groups for people who felt they had been badly affected by their church upbringing. His sermons were wonderful. When he preached the church was generally overflowing. I would often feel tearful at what I experienced – as did many others obviously.

A run around Hochgrat then last minute shopping
Wednesday 2nd May

A classic little trip for me by myself this morning. A pure morning . Another almost spotless day. Just a litle wind. We are told this is the best April people can emember.I need to be back by early afternoon so Zita can go to Kempten and do some final shopping.

I drive to Steibis and the bottom of the Hochgrat Bahn - alone - in a place as familiar to me as Otaki Forks. Thinking about time constraints with the car but wanting to do something different, I decide on a round trip that will take me from the Cable car base stationat about 800 metres, up to a saddle called ????, then along the ridge for a kilometre or so to the peak of Hochgrat itself at 1850 metres. Then drop down the other side and down the mountain road that Zita and I descended a few days ago.

The last part of the climb to the ridge on this trip involves a traverse across bluffs for about 200 metres on a narrowish track, with a big drop underneath. There are cables to hang on to in the more exposed places as long as they are not buried in snow. I had been here about 10 years ago and the cables were under snow and the ledge was also difficult with the snow on. I was unsure what show might be on this north facing ledge this time.

The first 20 minutes is a jog down the small road only open to local farm vehicles and walkers. Then the track turns off the road and heads up the hill at a steepish diagonal across grass slopes which will be grazed in summer. The local Alpine Club has put a sign here - 'Trittersicher und Schwindlefrei Erfordnet' (Meaning you must be sure footed and have a good head for hieghts, as it is a climbing rather than walking route)

I continue to jog slowly but relentlessly up the rough trackwhich, after about 100 metres of vertical climb, enters forest. After a couple of zig zags, the track emerges into an Alp (summer grazing area) with an as yet for this season unoccupied mountain house.

At the end of this basin, the track climbs steeply again, past a delightful 30 metre water fall, sunlight sparkling in the cascade.

Above the water fall I enter a third basin surounded by a small circ of steepening grass and forest slopes that end in rock bluffs. These bluffs are about 100 metres high. I ca see snow lying on ledges and in some gulleys and I wonder how the traverse track wil be. With my running shoes I kick a few steps in in a local patch of snow. Conditions are good. Soft enough for good sized steps but not too loose to make the steps unstable.

I loose the trail and continue directly up the steepening grass slope where I pik up a set of rough steps that lead around a rocky nose of rock.Now there is a steep entry rocky slope about 5 metres highthat leads onto the traverse ledge itself. Although a bi expsoed there is a cable to hang on to.

I am now on the ledge and the way ahead is snow free. Halleluya!

I ead upwards and across on the rising ledge, the cable on my right but nt needed, a big verical drop on my left. A lttle nervy but that is aprt of the fun.

I climb up the last rocky slope and onto the saddle on the main ridge which flat and open. This is at about 1600 metres. Elation. And the distant bgger mountains to te south are particularly clear today.

I spend some minutes contemplating whether to go east (more interesting but more time) or west and oer Hochgrat. I decide onthe shorter route and head off jogging along the ridge on this great day in this great place.

On top of Hochgrat (High Ridge) I take photos of some of the mountain places I have visited at other times - places which are still snowed in at the moment. I then jog off down the hill and back to the car. Mountain running is one of my very favourite things to do. It brings me alot of happiness!

I drive home have some lunch and we head to Kempten. Zita does more shopping and I do some internetting. We get home at 8pm for a late dinner. I play guitar for an hour and then write this up.

The trip this morning was so great wish I could share it with good running mates from NZ - Simon, Rob, Jim. I think they might quite like it.