Greece March 2018

Next stop - in the second millennium BC, Mycenae was one of the major centres of Greek civilization, a military stronghold which dominated much of southern Greece and parts of southwest Anatolia. The period of Greek history from about 1600 BC to about 1100 BC is called Mycenaean in reference to Mycenae. At its peak in 1350 BC, the citadel and lower town had a population of 30,000 and an area of 32 hectares.(thank you wikipedia)

For a bit more info on the Lion Gate, check out this wikipedia article -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_Gate The Lion Gate is the sole surviving monumental piece of Mycenaean sculpture, as well as the largest sculpture in the prehistoric Aegean.

By 1200 BC, the power of Mycenae was declining; finally, during the 12th century BC, Mycenaean dominance collapsed entirely. The eventual destruction of Mycenae formed part of the general Bronze Age collapse in the Greek mainland and beyond. Within a short time around 1200 BC, all the palace complexes of southern Greece were burned, including that at Mycenae. This was traditionally attributed by scholars to a Dorian invasion of Greeks from the north, although many historians now doubt that this invasion caused the destruction of the Mycenaean centres. Displaced populations escaped to former colonies of the Mycenaeans in Anatolia and elsewhere, where they came to speak the Ionic dialect.

Afterwards we visited theTomb of Clytemnestra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Clytemnestra). Ton of bees hanging around in here - luckily didn't get whacked although Janet thinks she might have.

Upon leaving, we wander down to catch the bus and lo and behold - no bus! Ah - another adventure! So as we ponder where it disappeared to, we wonder if anyone else is left behind us but no, of course not! This is not the first time in my travels I have missed the bus! Now we look at each other rather stupidly and contemplate our options (never thinking to call our tour guide on her phone!), suddenly we see our bus returning on the highway! Needless to say someone suddenly noticed that we were missing although Effie was sure the count was right (she was rather embarrassed about this , I think!). So we quickly became famous as those "Left Behind" folks. I will say that I was damn glad to see that bus returning! :)Leia mais