Day 8 in Greece - Athens
11 June 2012 | Athens, Greece
Andrew & Vera Waldby - Find & hot 35degreesC
Today was a road trip day. To get out to the archealogical site of Corinth and have a look at the Corinth Channel.
We set the TomTom for Corinth which would take us over the Corinth Channel and give us the opportunity to look around there before heading on to the archealogical site. It only took about an hour to get there. The Corinth Channel is cut between 2 bodies of water that ultimately link the Adriatic side of Greece (west) to the Aegean side of Greece (east). Then distance between the 2 bodies of water is about 10km (I think), with a maximum land height of about 80m. It had been touted to be down for centuries and centuries, with the most notable being Nero's failed attempt way back when. And, then had been attempted a number of times throught the Middle Ages and failed due to the amount of rock involved. But in the 1800's it finally happened with a partnership between the Greek government/royalty and another European country that I have forgotten. It is only 24m wide, so in the 1800's it was suitable, however now is mainly used buy tourists (small boats) and tourist operators. By the looks of it only 1 boat is allowed in at a time, unless maybe if it is an organised convoy, and they are gates at each end.
We then headed to Ancient Corinth. There were 2 parts; the Acropolis (which means hill? in the city) and the city itself. We decided not to drive up to the Corinth Acropolis as it look like quitea distance up and we had to be mindfull of the 3pm site closures, so we just found our way through a little village to the Corinth site. Again, there is plenty of information, and guides sitting around the grounds if you need further information, plus there is a small museum. It is quite a good site, with further archealogical digging taking place. The focus, like many of the ancient sites, is the town being built around a fresh water spring. This is still operational and the town still draws water from it.
We then headed back to Athens for a wander around some shops and a bit of th Athens central area.