The crew preparing for the Corinth Canal
CORINTH CANAL
David and I got up at 4:30 AM to watch the ship go through the Corinth Canal. We were really interested in how the ship crew set the hawser lines for the tug guide boat. The large (about 4 inches across) line was carefully measured out and lowered to the tug. The tug looped it through their equipment and they made sure it was an equal pull on the ship ... The line went out each side and was tied off. One of the crew ran and got a can of green paint and marked the exact measurement ... we heard later it was the first time they had gone through the canal so they were making it easier for future trips.
The tug began pulling the ship when we were still in open water.
right in the middle is the opening to the canal...we are in the ocean approaching....
... It was dark and we could see where the canal was because of the break in lights on shore.... Slowly they pulled up into the opening which was gently sloping sides ..... as we went further the sides began to get taller and taller.... finally they loomed 50 feet above us in the dark. The actual canal is about 50 feet across so it looks really narrow.... when we looked straight down the ship's sides we could see the edges only 5-7 feet away from the ship. Yikes. It was really amazing that the tug pulled us so accurately. The sides of the canal weren't sheer cliffs at all. Some places it was sheer cliffs but most had plateaus and other places had a wide area. Bamboo, Fig trees, pampus grass and caper plants grew on the edges and on the sides of the canal.
The canal with the sides looming
All in all it was amazing to see! It took about an hour to go the length...... I'm so glad we saw it! We took a ton of pictures but they were black .... I am hoping to work with photoshop to get something from them.... We went to breakfast at 6 30 AM with a lady from the ship, Wendy. ,, It was the best breakfast! Corn flakes, coffee, apple and Greek Yogert with honey. (Greek yogert is the texture of cream cheese and isn't bitter at all)
KAITO : PORT CITY
The ship docked at Kiato. David and I decided to go to the town of Corinthia and visit the ancient site.
Us on the deck... about 5 AM
First we had a cup of coffee then set out looking for the public bus that would take us the right direction. A funny thing happened when we went to coffee. A little girl came over begging for money. I don't usually give to them as I wonder if their parents know they are doing it and I understand some really don't want or encourage it.... but I gave her a quarter...... She was quite unhappy about the foreign money and kept telling me she wanted something else..... then a second little girl came over with her and asked for one. I gave her one too. I told her it was a quarter and explained the buffalo on the back. A man came over and asked what was going on.... We explained that we had given her a quarter and was telling her about the buffalo on the back.
heading for the Corinth Canal
He leaned over and explained it to her and she skipped off happy.... She showed it to a teen age boy later and he took it. But her attitude was more like she fetched it for him... OK ... another reason not to give money. But it was a little funny.
We saw a bit of the town as we walked... we asked a travel agent if there were any ancient sites near town and he said no.... He gave us directions to the bus station.... We stopped at a fish market and the lady there, after seeing I was photographing, picked up fish after fish for me to photograph... it was really sweet of her... They really had quite a few unusual fish....
ANCIENT CORINTH
We wandered until we found the bus station .
looking down at the water... there were a few lights along the sides
... we bought a ticket to Corinth and rode towards Corinth... within a few blocks we saw a sign that said there was an ancient excavation.... So apparently it wasn't the travel agent's forte....We rode the 45 minutes until we arrived .... we were dropped off in the middle of Corinth... and wandered quite a while. Modern Corinth is a busy, bustling city with tons of cars and narrow street. We stood near the taxi stand next to a school yard.... The kids were marching to music around and around.... Everyone of all ages were participatubg and no one had an attitude..... It was fairly entertaining to watch. We were surprised that we didn't find any signage telling us the turn for ancient Corinth. That was odd as it should have been close. Finally we found a taxi driver who understood and knew what we wanted (he was the fifth.
the Artist at his table... It didn't make him nervous at all for us to stand and watch him...
..) but he was too busy to take us so he flagged a taxi down and explained to the driver what we wanted.... then 6.70 Euros later we were at the front gates of Ancient Corinth. It was a huge relief. .. Our error was that we didn't write the name in Greek and didn't have pictures or post cards. The town of Ancient Corinth is actually quite a ways from Modern Corinthia.
Ancient Corinth is quite large...... We took quite a few pictures and walked the grounds for 5 hours. The museum is very good and we could take pictures as long as they weren't flash. Because we were on our own we could really take our time and see everything... Across the road was an ancient theater... The gate was open so we walked down and took some pictures.
Temple of Appolo : 550 BC
.. This theater was across the street from Corinth grounds... We thought it was interesting that the paved road was in the center of the two areas... yikes... what was buried under that pavement?? We took a lunch break and were lucky enough to find a restaurant that overlooked the site.... the food was pretty good. The restaurant owner was reluctant to let us go to the back area and said it was not shaded. I walked up the road next to the restaurant and looked at the patio... it had umbrellas... He saw me and immediately suggested we try it and we could move if it was too hot. .. allllrighty....
We also found a delightful place where the man hand paints museum quality Greek vases and pots. We got his picture and got a picture of him holding one of the magazines he is featured in.
lion
Such an nice man. His shop is in the little group of shops and restaurants near the site entrance. above the door in silver letter is Atelier Exekias. It's next to the Gemelos restaurant and next to the lower exit of the park. He has a little table set up to the right of the door and sits and paints vases. He didn't mind at all when we stood watching him.
We spent another couple of hours wandering in Ancient Corinth then walked back to the little town and caught one of the cabs that was next to the road. He took us back to Modern Corintha and we caught the next bus back to the ship....
