Down the Eastern Peloponnese

The weather decided to be pleasant for the foreseeable future with light breezes forecast, so we headed south along the eastern side of the Peloponnese to the little village of Korfos.  We found a good spot to anchor in the bay and of course jumped in for a swim.  Every village has an idiot and this one was no exception – this time the idiot was a young man who owned a gold-painted small car (no idea what make or model and don’t care) and who played his car stereo so loudly that it echoed around the bay. Now to put things in perspective, we were anchored about 50m offshore from the road around the bay and his stereo was so loud it literally hurt our ears.  Goodness only knows what it was doing to his ears inside the car!  This village idiot spent the afternoon and part of the evening driving back and forth around the bay (through the village, when he would turn down the volume for the 30 seconds it took to drive past the tavernas and shops) with the volume turned up full blast.  Really?  He was either the mayor’s son or the locals were so used to it that they didn’t care any more to stop him.  For a sleepy little village we were surprised that they allowed that sort of behaviour.  We enjoyed a walk later on in the evening as well as a gyros and a beer for dinner.

The lovely little town of Korfos

Moving south again the next day, we entered the harbour of Palaia Epidavros and looked around for somewhere to anchor.  Again, the age of our pilot guide and the Raymarine charts showed a nice beach with sloping bottom – perfect for anchoring.  The only problem was that the local authorities had decided to put a series of swimming buoys out across the bay at some distance from the beach so that the shallowest area for anchoring was at least 15 metres.  We prefer to anchor in shallower water so we cruised around a little to try and find another spot and in the end gave in and went stern-to on the town quay.  Normally we don’t do this but as we wanted to visit the ancient site of Epidavros that day we felt it was safer to leave the boat tied to a wharf than at anchor (even though no strong winds were forecast). We squeezed in between a local fishing boat and a charter yacht and were safely tied up by 10am.  We then went in search of a taxi to take us to Epidavros and found a delightful lady who agreed to take us there (about 20 minutes) wait for an hour or so and bring us back for a very reasonable (we thought) price.  It was already later in the day than we normally head to these ancient sites for two reasons: the heat and the crowds.  It was a Sunday and so we thought there would be a great deal more visitors but we were pleasantly surprised – there were other tour buses but most simply visit the amphitheatre and then leave. We wanted to see the whole site.

The amphitheatre at Epidavros

The amphitheatre is the focal point of Epidavros as it is one of the best-preserved in the world and is still used today for performances. Seating 14,000 people, the acoustics are remarkable as demonstrated for us all by one of the tour leaders who stood in the centre of the stage (while the rest of the visitors were scattered around the seats – we were at the top) and clapped, tore a piece of paper and snapped his fingers.  All of which were clearly audible up to the top row of seats! It’s hard to believe that 14,000 people could have gathered in this fairly remote area in ancient times, but the adjoining archaeological site was an important destination for many people in ancient times as it was supposedly the birthplace of the healer Aesclepius.  The area consisted of a large dormitory to house the people who came to be healed, several fountains, temples and the sanctuary where the healing occurred, among other numerous buildings.  The healing method was simple – the person looking to be healed of their illness or condition would first cleanse themselves at a special fountain and baths and then proceed to the sanctuary where they would read the testimonials of previously healed people (auto-suggestion); they would then be led to an area where they would fall asleep and dream their cure through the intervention of Aesclepius.  Of course there would also be therapists to dispense dietary information, herbs, massage and other treatments to aid whatever ailed people.  In the small museum on site there are stone tablets with recorded information of gratitude from successfully treated patients, including one man who was cured of deafness and another of indigestion.  Our 90 minutes passed all too quickly (and it was also very hot), so we made our way back to the entrance with a freshly squeezed orange juice from one of the beverage vendors to meet our taxi driver.

Statue of Asclepius the healer

A votive of thanks for curing deafness

Translation of someone's treatment for indigestion

As an aside – we have noticed that, so far, at Greek sites of antiquity (namely, Delphi and Epidavros) the profusion of slushy machines.  For those of you unfamiliar with ‘slushies’ they are a drink made from crushed ice similar to a frozen margarita but usually non-alcoholic, with flavours such as lemon-lime or orange.  Here in Greece, they charge a ridiculous price (captive audience with the heat) of EUR 4 for a medium-sized cup of slushy in the most amazing flavor variety I have ever seen.  Coke, kiwi fruit, watermelon, lemon, lime , orange, peach, mango, to name a few. They also have alcoholic slushies although why you would want one of those in the heat of the day is beyond me!

On the taxi ride to and from the port of Epidavros to the ancient site we noticed large orange groves with a profusion of fruit on the trees.  I had always thought that oranges and lemons were a winter fruit but clearly in this part of the world they ripen in summer.  We bought a few oranges and put them in the fridge for a refreshing snack on hot days.

Once back at the boat we had a light lunch and then walked over to the nearby beach where we spent the afternoon swimming and reading our Kindles.  That evening we enjoyed a delicious meal of mussels saganaki (mussels in crushed tomatoes with feta cheese) and deep fried kalamari (squid) with a Greek salad and an icy beer.  Heaven!