A bit of a clean and a coastal drive to ancient history

If you are going to end up accidentally driving around the narrow streets of a Greek town, it might as well be a place of some significance. Argos is such a place, one of the oldest continually inhabited settlements in the world. It is believed people were living here more than 7,000 years ago, although it is unlikely that Neolithic man would have found himself cursing Google maps for depositing him in a warren of one-way streets rather than the ring road which would have been a better bet. Eventually we managed to extract ourselves and get back on track. 

A little chilly at this height

We had started this phase of our trip 4,000 feet up in the Parnon mountains near the village of Kosmas where we had spent a quiet night on a parking area. After being at sea level for so long it was a bit of a shock to experience cold mountain air. We took the spaniels for a walk along a rough track through the obligatory olive groves as the sun finally began to warm things up. 

Pausing on the way down

Given our height, and the fact we planned to be down at the coast that evening, we expected a fairly sharp descent and so it proved. A series of seven steep hairpin bends took us down through a spectacular gorge alongside a dried-up river bed. The long hot summer coupled with an extremely dry winter this year meant a sign promising white water rafting was unlikely to deliver. Having stopped to take a photograph of an old monastery clinging impossibly to a rock face, we finally reached sea level at the town of Leonidio. 

Builders needed a head for heights

We had to drive another 4k down the road at Plaka where our trusty Park4Night app had promised a flat area by a beach, and so it was. It was also busy with mainly home-built camper vans owned by climbers who relished the opportunity of tackling the mountain range behind us. When we went to eat in the small local taverna that evening we discovered a couple from Colorado who were spending a few weeks climbing in the area. Apparently Greece offers challenges that the Rocky Mountains don’t. They explained what that was but, as someone for whom climbing is only associated with stairs and bed, I struggled to get it. Something to do with ‘drips’ apparently.

Some places are worth two nights

The next day saw us journey on northwards along a winding coast road, rocky heights to our left and a sparking blue sea to the right. We had thought that Norway offered the most spectacular scenery in Europe but the Peloponnese can certainly give the Vikings a run for their money. Lunch was taken in the van, parked on a headland looking across to the small island of Spetse where, Neri told me, she had spent a week’s holiday some years ago. Further on we turned off onto a narrow side road which took us through even more olive groves to what was the most perfect small harbour with small blue and white fishing boats tied up at the quay. We quickly decided that this was a place for a two-nighter and an opportunity for a bit of a cleaning session. 

There was a river here once

We were out of bread and running low on milk so the following morning we decided to walk the 3k to the nearest village. Max is undergoing training to stop him dashing about when on the lead, so it took us a little longer than it might have to get to the tiny grocery shop. I also popped into the local bakery which had beautiful freshly baked loaves as well as the bewildering selection of pastry products which the Greeks seemingly cannot get enough of. On the way back we stopped to look at the remains of an old bridge that had once crossed what was now yet another dried up river bed. 

This was here long before the Ancient Greeks

Our destination on Sunday was the ancient site of Mycenae which was an hours drive away. We stopped at a roadside stall to stock up with oranges, 20 for less than two quid, and, having battled with Argos, climbed the hill to Mycenae. The car park was very busy, not least because there is free entry to historical sites in Greece on the first Sunday of the month. Greece is rich in archaeological remains but Mycenae, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a bit special. It’s origins go back 7000 years but it achieved prominence during the Mycenaean age to which it gave its name. This period predated the Classical Greek era and was the source of Homer’s poems about the Trojan War and its aftermath. We think of Alexander the Great as ancient history but Mycenae was flourishing a thousand years before the conqueror was born. 

This was old when Alexander was born

We climbed the hill to the top of the fortress which, at its peak, had been the centre of a settlement of more than 30,000 people. It is ideally situated to guard the approaches from all directions and it is easy to see why it became a seat of power. That power is exemplified in the stunning Lion Gate, the main entrance to the fortress on which is inscribed the outline of two lionesses, the only motif of Bronze Age Greece that was described in classical literature so modern archaeologists already knew of its existence. Tonight we are parked up a couple of hundred yards away, looking across at this amazing place.