borders and byways: October 15, 2017 Mycenae and Nafplio

October 15, 2017 Cruise 3, Trip day 14 Mycenae and Nafplio

Early start with breakfast at 7:30 and on the bus to tour Mycenae at 8:30. We quickly left the town of Nafplio behind and drove into the countryside. There were 10 of us on the bus, “the independents” minus “Zippy” and the girlfriend. The big tour went separately. More untogetherness, but this was a benefit. It was about a 30-minute ride.

Our first stop was the Treasury of Atreus, or the tomb of Agamemnon. He is one of the principal characters in the Iliad (whose name I mispronounced in a reading in middle school to the delight of the other students) and was a King of Mycenae. He and his brother married sisters who were daughters of the King of Sparta. One of them was Helen, who was spirited away by Paris to Troy. Thus, was launched the 10-year Trojan war which made horses famous and launched 100 movies. Agamemnon returned victorious from the war with a Trojan princess, Cassandra, but his triumph was short lived because shortly after his return he was murdered by his wife and her lover. They were subsequently murdered by Agamemnon’s children. The stuff of legends and if it really occurred, it was a long time ago.

The tomb had a long, walled passageway that lead to an immense beehive chamber. Then we moved on to the main event, Mycenae.

Mycenae was the greatest city state of the Bronze era, ruler of a large portion of the Peloponnesian peninsula and a featured player in Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey. It was originally settled around 6000 BC, but was jump started around 2000 BC when it was conquered after an invasion by Indo-European tribes who crossed over from Anatolia.

Between 1600 and 1200 BC the Myceneans ruled the area and became very wealthy. The city consisted of a fortified citadel and surrounding farms and settlements. We first toured the museum which had displays of pottery, weapons and lots of gold jewelry. There was a copy of a gold funeral mask of Agamemnon. Lots of good English explanations and good bathrooms.

We then entered the citadel through the massive Lion Gate which is part of the large citadel walls which due to their size the Greeks thought must have been constructed by the Cyclops. We then came to Grave Circle A in which a German archeologist in the 19^th century found lots of gold treasure. It was undoubtedly a royal cemetery. After passing the remains of houses we came to Agamemnon’s Palace. Passing through the Postern Gate I came to the secret cistern. A worker with a flashlight let me go several steps down beyond the chain, but I could not see too much.

All that caused me I to be 6 minutes late for the bus and got the evil eye from our cruise leader. My lateness was not a proper thing to do holding up the rest and I will not repeat. We returned to the boat around 11:30 and took in the vista of a cruise sailing boat that had docked near our boat the prior evening. It looked nice.

We walked through Nafplio with our friends. A pretty town with lots of narrow streets, restaurants, shops, Venetian homes and a fortress on top. I purchased two double handed pots holders with evil eyes for sons’ housewarming gifts. Also scouted out a seafood restaurant for dinner. Nafplio according to legend was founded by Nafplios, son of Poseidon. At various times it was ruled by Romans, Franks, Venetians (several times) and the Turks. The Venetians built the large Palamidi Fortress at the top of the town. We did not get there. It was the first capital of the newly independent Greek Republic from 1828 until 1833

After lunch on the boat we walked along the waterfront around the town. We passed a sheltered swimming area behind a rock seawall. I bumped my head against a protruding rock so hard that I drew blood. There was a nice swimming beach at the far end with many bathers. We stopped in a tourist shop and bought a birthday gift of a bicycle backpack for my youngest son and some postcards. We later went back there for stamps and after some discussions with the owner learned that 40 years ago he had been in the honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier we had seen a few days earlier in Athens. We then dropped of the postcards at the past office and made our way back to the main square where we hung out at a café for a few hours watching people go by on a Sunday afternoon.

We had dinner at the seafood restaurant Large platters of good seafood. Then had some gelato at the same place we visited the prior evening. I never made it to any of the town’s museums or its fortresses.