I departed Loutraki reasonably early in the morning in the hope of leaving myself enough time after visiting the Anceint Mycenae ruins to give me options on the afternoon journey to Patras.
I followed the good roads shown on my GPS and the signs to Mycenae, until the GPS decided some off-road was necessary. I was following a road clearly signposted and shown on the GPS when it persisted in advising me to do a U-turn even up until I was within 50m of the entry gate that it had identified as the finish line. I doubt there was a suitable, or accessible, road where the GPS wanted me to go since it was through the paddocks on the hillside behind the ruins and was likely fenced off.
Arrival distance 5.4km - actual distance 50m…..?
After arriving at the entry area I was again surprised at the number of tour buses. At least when travelling on your own timetable you can outstay the tour groups.
I wasn't sure the best place to start or finish the ruins so I parked back down the hill a short distance to take in the Treasury of Atreus first. This tholos tomb is the best preserved and most representative of it age and type and is a good starting point.
Treasury of Atreus
Treasury of Atreus
Treasury of Atreus
Treasury of Atreus
After looking inside and on top of the tholos I readied myself to walk back up the hill to the main Ancient Mycenae ruins site. As I considered getting back on the bike and heading up, a man handing out leaflets for lunch at his restaurant seemed as though he might be generous enough to help. I asked for a ride up on the back of his scooter and he agreed. I expect he was hopeful that I would join him for lunch later.
Ancient Mycenae is a remarkable and significant discovery due to the wealth of treasures that remained complete. Although several areas may have been looted the sheer quality and quantity of gold that was ultimately unearthed is outstanding (as seen in the National Archaeological Museum). The treasures indicated that the site was that of a very important and wealthy family group.
Lion Gate - Ancient Mycenae
Grave Circle A - Royal Tombs - 16thC BC
The Acropolis has a commanding position
House of the Columns and Artists' Workshops
Cyclopean Wall - up to 7.5m thick
As I continued around the ruins I noticed the sign and description for the underground cistern. I was unsure if you were allowed to go down inside or not. As I peered into the darkness a couple returned from their trip down. They were better prepared than I since they had brought their head torch - all I had was a small LED on the keyring with all of my motorbike keys. It was enough to light the way although not bright enough to really help see clearly. I carefully made my way in the dim light to the bottom and back up.
Underground Cistern - 18m deep
Underground Cistern
Underground Cistern
North Gate
Exit - Lions Gate
I was hoping for a nice clean photo of me at the Lions Gate since the crowd had almost completely gone. As I waited patiently for others I thought I was in with a chance….
She was happy to stay in the picture…and I hoped to get the lions too
Lions made it in and so did some other people
Nobody else in the frame and missed the lions…..
I think that was enough photos of me at the Lions Gate so I popped in to the museum on the way out. Since I had already seen a massive quantity of Ancient Mycenae treasures in the National Archaeological Museum I was not sure how much would be available for the on-site museum. Except for a few replicas the museum if full of more of the discoveries from Ancient Mycenae.
The only replicas are in the single foreground display case
Bronze
Pottery
Outside the museum there were a few more tholos tombs to see:
Tholos Tomb of the Lions
Tholos Tomb of the Lions
Tholos Tomb of Aegisthus
Tholos Tomb of Aegisthus
Tholos Tomb of Aegisthus
Tholos Tomb of Clytaemnestra
Tholos Tomb of Clytaemnestra
Tholos Tomb of Clytaemnestra
I was finished at Ancient Mycenae so after a refreshing ice cream and bottle of water I was ready to redress for the bike ride to Patras. I had decided to avoid the major toll roads and head through the Peloponnese interior. Based on the map it looked as though there would be some good riding through the countryside and up into the mountains before heading back into Patras on the route I had used to leave previously.
There were several beautiful villages to pass through on the route and several warned of having speed cameras. One particularly sneaky camera was mounted between the sign for 90km/hr and the sign for 50km/hr that were about 6m apart…….bit hard to slow down that quickly. It seems that the crisis in Greece is so bad that the speed cameras do not have cameras and the only way of getting a speeding ticket is if the Police catch you with a radar (so I was told).
The weather has shown no signs of changing to be cool, let alone wet for a while now. The riding outfit is rather warm despite having several vents. Most of the riding time is spent wishing for a way to be cool and refreshed. Along the route I stopped at the roadside water supply and seriously considered getting completely drenched before riding off. As I considered the idea I took a few photos:
Without anyone in it…
Across the road to where the bike and I were….
And finally after moving the bike - both the bike and I and the water...
Apart from the speed camera giving me a short period of concern I was again surprised by the incompetence of some of the local drivers. As I was approaching a car on the side of the road he decided it was an opportune time to pull out onto the road in front of me and proceed rather slowly. He didn't seem to accelerate much so I pulled to the left to overtake just as he was about to turn left off the road (without indicating). Although I slowed dramatically I was fortunate that he realised I was passing and stopped, thereby avoiding me joining him in the front seat.
I made Patras in the afternoon, was glad to see the staff at Maison Grecque and very happy to unload everything and freshen up.
I returned to Psilalonia Square for dinner and watched Greece and Poland draw 1-1 in Euro 2012.
It had been a fairly solid day and I was glad to be soon in bed asleep. The bed in Maison Grecque is very comfortable.