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Mythical Dreamscapes
June 2022

Jo and I were excited to return to Greece, which for us always feels like a spiritual home. Our short Athens break with our friend Dizzy was wonderful.

Climbing up to the Acropolis is a magical experience. On the way up was the first Ancient Greek theatre, dedicated to Dionysos, where the earliest Greek plays were performed. It was here that theatre was born. Further on was the Roman Theatre of Herodotus where many famous performances still take place today. We continued to walk upwards past cave shrines to gods and deities until we reached the impressive entrance to the Acropolis itself, with several temple buildings, including the beautiful Erechtheion where the stone Caryatid women pillars hold up the front lintel. At the very top we stopped for a while to look at the awe inspiring Parthenon itself, the great temple of Athens dedicated to the goddess Athena.

The following day the three of us took a boat to the island of Aegina, passing an archipelago of picturesque rocky islands on the way. We can see how so many myths were inspired by sea journeys through these islands. In Aegina we saw the lovely temple of Aphaea before visiting a monastery, with a room adorned with hundreds of exotic lamps above with many burning candles below, giving the feeling of a mystical Aladdin's cave.

Back in Athens, it was intriguing to visit the ancient Agora where the idea of democracy was born in Greece, and beyond that, the beautiful amazingly intact temple of Hephaestus.

Finally, the trip to Sounion was incredible. Those high pillars of the temple of Poseidon on the rocky hilltop with the sun setting behind was totally breathtaking.

The only blot on the horizon literally were two fires, destroying hilltops and threatening buildings near the edge of Athens. Within a month we've seen fires in both California USA and Greece, so much more frequent now because of the heat caused by climate change. Now we actually see the scorched earth in beautiful landscapes...

Our world is precious and Greece shines as a bright light. Such a wonderful country with an incredible history and spectacular scenery. It's always totally uplifting to experience this magical place.

Many thanks as ever to Thames Travel.