Day 4
We were offered the use of a free rental car for the afternoon but none of my travelling companions wanted to leave the resort for an adventure so I went on my own… (I get totally restless after a few days of no activity… I’m not good at the ‘lizard in the sun’ holiday style)
There are lots, LOTS of old, OLD, things to see nearby…. Ottoman and Venetian castles and Mycenaean tombs… but I opted for the palace of Nestor… I spent so many of my school days studying the Ilyad and Greek mythology that the chance of stepping in the footsteps of the great general was to great to miss!
The palace is on top of a hill, with amazing views of the coastline and the sea, surrounded colourful oleanders and olive trees hundreds of years old in the most amazing location. There weren’t many other visitors, the cicadas were out in full, the hot sun, the warm breeze… it was truly magical. With your eyes closed you could travel back in time.
The ruins of the palace are protected by a giant roof and a walkaway has been built over them so you can walk up high and have a perfect view of the different rooms and the palace structure.
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this is the throne room, the throne would have been along the wall at the back
this is the waiting room next to it
The photo on the right shows the clay tablets found in the room on the left during early excavations. They allowed archeologist to decipher the Linear B text, which is the earliest European language ever found (a sort of pre-Greek language).
Coolest thing in the house is the bathtub, so weirdly modern it is tiled inside with lovely mosaics and has even a step to help you step in…
olive oil was a rich commodity even back then and the storeroom were large 
they sat behind the throne room
It’s not a big place, but it was lovingly restored and maintained and it was a pleasure to visit.
A short distance away there is also a Mycenaean tomb.
The roof was rebuilt in the last century…
They are much bigger than you think when you get inside them. And a little bit erie… didn’t linger long… Not sure what the sarcophagus-like shape on that photo was, suffice to say my mind was running away with all the creepy stories I had ever read so I exited quickly in the hot sun and the olive grove and walked speedily back to the car.
And back to the hotel and present life.
while you're ahead... 
I am interested to know, with all your reading for your course, life etc whether when you go to somewhere with history, a sense off place or a tangle of story’s just beyond hearing, if it has the same effect as reading a book? Do they linger with you, in the same way a book does?
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HI Jo, I find that some place really resonate and others… are just interesting… I can’t work out why. If there is a previous connection, history studied… books read… it helps but not always. Most of the time I find that if you can silence what’s around you and ‘tune in’ with the place then you can connect and then they stay with you. It’s like you have to listen to the stones, and forget the present… and just ‘be’… Does that make sense? My favourite is when you go somewhere new… and it feels like a coming home, like in some weird way it’s familiar and have been there before… I love travelling, and some places are ‘new’, they’re a total new discovery, others… no… there’s a feeling there even if I know I’ve never been before. Am I crazy?
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Thanks once again Monica. The first 2 pics are stunning and thank you for the history lesson. Glad you enjoyed the adventure and hope you felt better after the little escape!
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Yes, I know what you mean, I am interested in the things we connect with and the things we walk past. I enjoy your book reviews as it has the same moment of connection. I am sure that for everyone it is different but I am trying to work out if I connect with the family a or the new.
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