A Pinay in Europe

After a two-week stay in Manila, Philippines, I flew direct to Athens where H was waiting for me at the airport.  It was our plan to do a seven-day driving holiday in the Greek Peloponnese, something he has been dreaming to do for a long time.  But since we were in Athens, we took the opportunity of seeing what this most ancient city has to offer, and of course, the Acropolis was on the top of the list.  It was a poignant moment for both of us, seeing with our very own eyes the ruins of the Parthenon, a temple dedicated to Athena constructed around 400BC!  As we walked around the Acropolis, more archaelogical finds are scattered everywhere! Even on the way to this rocky hill as well as in the surrounds of the city, sites of diggings are just in every corner!  Athens is truly an open air museum and they are still continuously stumbling upon ancient ruins as they dig  underground for infrastructure like the Metro.  With this mammoth task of sorting out and archiving this historic pieces of the past, I just hope that they don’t get nicked by souvenir-hunting tourists, as they are just scattered everywhere on the site without any security camera or guards looking….

That Sunday we were there,  the 2,500th anniversary of the Athens Marathon was held.  More than 12,000 people from around the world joined in the race.  Too bad we were too exhausted the previous day doing our own marathon sightseeing so we were not able to watch it.  Anyway, story goes that in 490BC, the Athenian army defeated the Persians at the Battle of Marathon. A messenger called Pheidippides ran the 42km (26 miles) to Athens to announce the victory. Hence, the origin of the word, “Marathon”.

 After Athens, we drove straight to the Peloponnese and visited the mindblowing Corinth Canal and a 3,000 year old amphitheater that was discovered only in the late 19th century.  It was buried in soil and overgrown with trees and nobody could have imagined that it was a sacred site for pilgrims wanting the miracle of healing.  We also went to the Methana penisula, renowned for its 32 volcanoes!  I wonder if the word “Methana” originated there because as soon as we got into the town, we could smell sulfuric gas and the water by the port is whitish due to the gas that is continously spewed from the volcanoes.  They are apparently dormant, the last volcanic eruption occurred in 230BC.  Although the town is quiet in the winter, it gets very crowded in the summer, mainly Athenians who come here to seek the healing powers of the gaseous waters.

We still have 5 days left and plenty more stopover sites.  Photos shall be available as soon as I get a wifi connection. 

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