Canada was celebrated in Greece with a visit to the central Peloponnese, to visit some incredible hillside villages, ancient monuments and to cycle a stunning 10km from Appollo's Temple to the River Neda.
The first stop of the day was to an open theatre at the top of one of the valley peaks. Yannis taught us the myths and the history of this area. Our next stop was the Temple of Appollo.
We were told the area Vasses (ancient Bassae) was always a sacred place, host to numerous temples. The region’s name means "little valleys". The mountainous Peloponnesian land creates a magical landscape and at an elevation of 1.130 metres, stands the temple of Apollo Epicurius.
Fun Fact: Appollo's Temple was the first of the great monuments of Greece to be recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1986.
After exploring the temple we embarked on a 10km cycle down to the River Neda. Midway through Zeus paid us a visit and we had a impromptu picnic inside the 3 vans we had following us on our cycle. Zeus said his goodbyes after a half hour and we finished our cycle. At the bottom Yannis showed us another ancient site, Athena's temple and what remains of the Ancient city wall.
Fun Fact: back in ancient times locals would decide where to build their home based on where their donkeys and goats would decide to sleep. The ancient Greeks felt the animals were more strongly connected to the earth and therefore created better energy... its the Greek feung shui. Now science is used to decide where to build.
Our River Neda walk was postponed due to another visit from Zeus, so we headed to the NOKY pool, for some swim time before dinner. The Woodgate's and Yannis joined us for dinner and we all got a chance to express our appreciation for how much they have contributed to the success of this trip :)
After dinner a big game of fresher and capture the flag was initiated and the kids played up until the very last moment before it was time to head off to bed.
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