Day 45

Palaia Epidauros to Isthmia via Ancient Corinth.

It was going to be overcast all day today so we decided to head off and see some more ruins. Next on our list was Ancient Corinth and the Corinthian Canal.

Just before the entrance to the camper stop we had chosen Gareth changed his mind and wanted to park closer to the archaeological site.

As I was working off of Google maps and not the truck satnav, I told him where the car park was and…..flippin eck! We drove straight through the cobbled bar and restaurant street, just squeezing by the table and chairs!!! My squeaking reached a new high and Gareth just thought, I have to keep going thank goodness it was only two short streets.

We finally parked up and sat for a few minutes, gathering what witt’s we had left and chuckling before venturing back into the village – in disguise . The entrance is just outside the village and the exit spills you out into the high street.

Ancient Corinth is the biggest site we have been to so far. There is still work going on at the theatre and the museum was amazing. There are picture boards by the ruins showing how the city would have looked and if you had the inclination, there’s a castle on the top of a hill to visit too.

It’s very strange that almost all of the statues are headless. We did read that when the Romans came they destroyed most of Corinth so maybe they chopped them off in a bid to stop the subjects being idolised?

We also read that in the 1990’s the museum here was robbed of over 200 artefacts which were retrieved some years later in Miami, Florida!

There are a few skeletons displayed in their original sarcophagus’. We didn’t feel right taking pictures of those but Gareth was amazed that you were permitted to touch the displays so couldn’t help but feel some of the pots and urns dating back as far as 750BC! Not sure if he’ll ever wash that hand again .

A lot of the marble stones had writing on them. How frustrating not to be able to read it or see a translation – though ignorance does seem to make it a bit more special.

Needless to say it’s worth a visit.

Leaving the ruins behind we got Meg out of the van and went for lunch. We had noticed a terraced restaurant overlooking the ruins so headed there. A lovely lunch with lovely views .

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Leaving ancient Corinth we headed towards the Corinthian Canal, opened in 1893 and closed this year for repairs….it should be lovely when it’s open….

We’re going to have to come back because our intention was to take a little tourist cruise up the canal. It’s an amazing feat of engineering and just about wide enough for a tanker or cruise ship – though not modern ones!

Wow, the walls are really steep, ner vertical at 80°, 300ft high and the water is an amazing turquoise blue . At each end there is a submersible bridge made of wood and metal. It does exactly what it says on the tin, sinks below the water to allow boats to pass .

Omg! How flipping annoying that we don’t get to watch any of it in action. We have earmarked a café by the Isthmia bridge for when we return. I imagine sitting with a coffee as a huge ship passes by within touching distance .

We are now parked by a beach at the Isthmia end of the canal on a free stop for the night.

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