Peloponnese

Day 02. Glyfada to Loutraki Today the distance to pedal is 64.3 miles and 6,340 ft of elevation gain Today's route is: The Aegean Sea features prominently in many of the most famous Greek myths (Icarus and Daedelus, Theseus and the Minotaur, Jason and the Argonauts, The  Odyssey , among others) and Plato made ample use of the islands in his dialogues.  Aegean Seaview is the name of The Hotel in Loutraki. A myth tells where the Aegean sea got it's name from. The story below was "borrowed" from: http://greekerthanthegreeks.blogspot.com/2017/10/how-aegean-sea-of-greece-got-its-name.html How the Aegean Sea of Greece Got its Name: A Wonderful but Sad Greek Myth The Aegean Sea View from Mykonos Photo: Dimitris Tamposis If you look hard enough, there’s a story behind everything, especially when it relates to all things Greek.   The ancient Greeks were admirable story-tellers.  Take   Aesop , who understood, that in order for chil

Day 01. Athens - Sounio - Glyfada Arrival around 9:30am to Athens International airport. Stay at a nearby Country house hotel, and the next day and first of the bicycling journey pedal to Glyfada via Sounio 50 miles with 3,889 ft of elevation gain. The map for this day's route is: Sounion  (Σούνιον; modern Greek: Σούνιο) is the southernmost point of Attica to the east, about 40 miles from Athens. Because it commanded the seafaring lanes to and from Athens it was was fortified to guard the maritime interests of the Athenians. A strong garrison of Athenians hoplites and triremes was stationed at the promontory and guarded the all-important food supplies from Eubea and Pontos, as well as the nearby  silver mines of Lavrion . Today, it is an archaeological site crowned by the elegant Doric  Temple of Poseidon . Homeric Hymn 22  To Poseidon I begin to sing about Poseidon, the great god, mover of the earth and fruitless sea, god of the deep who is also lord

Stories of a journey and a struggle are frequently the corner stone on which cultures and civilisations are built. The Illiad and the Odissey are stories of a battle and a journey which can be seen as the pillars supporting the abode of ancient Greece... Homer tells in the Odissey the story of Oddysseus long journey back home to Ithaka after the war of Troy. Odiseus journey can be seen as a metaphor to the journey of our lives and the stories we tell ourselves about our goals and dreams. I copy below two poems by the Greek Poet C.P. Cavafy: Ithaka and an Old Man. Ithaka BY C. P. CAVAFY TRANSLATED BY EDMUND KEELEY As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. Laistrygonians, Cyclops, angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them: you’ll never find things like that on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare excitement stirs your spirit and your body. Laistrygonians, Cyclops, wild P

Biycle Journey Around the Peloponnese The Peloponnese (Πελοπόννησος) is a land of legends. It was here where Heracles strangled with his hands the Nemean Lion who  could not be killed with mortals' weapons because its golden fur was impervious to attack. Its claws were sharper than mortals' swords and could cut through any armor. It was here where the gods descended from the Olympus and intermingled among the mortals.  It was from the Peloponnese that the Troyan prince Paris seduced the beautiful Helen. And i t was from here that the  The  Argonauts  ( Ἀργοναῦται   Argonautai ) sailed with  J ason  to  C olchis  in his quest to find the  Golden Fleece. These stories and these mythological tales add a charm to the very tangible traces of the successive civilizations that were born there: Mycenaean palaces, classical temples, Byzantine cities and Ottoman, Frankish or Venetian fortresses. This blog documents our inquest in the Peloponnese in search of ancient tales,