Argos and Tolo (Beth)

After a few days of relaxing in Koroni, it was time to move on again to see some more sights. Nathanial has been educating us with 'Greek' films -  'Clash of the Titans' (old and new versions, just to make sure) and 'Jason and the Argonauts'. Funnily enough, my film suggestions on a Greek theme (Mamma Mia and Captain Corelli's Mandolin) appear to have fallen on deaf ears.

Anyway,Discovering that Argos was nearby, it was here we travelled to next. From 'Clash of the Titans' we had learned that as well as being a very successful catalogue store, Argos was believed to be the place where Perseus, a son of Zeus was born to Danae the daughter of King Acrisius. We had of course seen a statue of Perseus in Florence, although we didn't make the connection then.

Perseus. Alfie loved this statue.

We were not generally impressed with the town of Argos itself on our arrival, but we did just make it in time to have a look around the ancient theatre. 

Not another pile of bricks Dad

The theatre was built in the third century B.C and was estimated to hold 20,000 people. It looked to be carved right out of the hill and was certainly an impressive sight. Tom and Nathanial immediately set off for the top. Alfie made a little attempt and gave up halfway. I, feeling the effect of the heat decided to stay at the bottom!

I think that's high enough...

I'll go up a bit more.....

The top!!

On our way in to the theatre, we had met two girls under the shade of a tree who were looking after two little puppies in a ragged cardboard box. They explained that four pups had been abandoned a few days previously, in what is apparently a well-known spot for dogs to be left. Two had already been taken and they were keeping an eye on the remaining two. The boys had quickly cuddled the pups on the way into the theatre, but when we left, the girls had gone and the pups were still in their box.

We had another cuddle with them; they looked so forlorn and sad. It was very, very difficult to resist the impulse to gather them up and take them away (not helped by pleading cries from both of the boys) but we are obviously in no position to take on two pups, living as we do in a small tin box  -presently a very hot tin box -especially given the fact that they were such an unknown quantity. 

Pleeeeease can we keep them?!

We have witnessed lots of stray animals all over Europe, but possibly more so in Greece and it is very tough to witness, but we could offer the puppies nothing more than a cuddle and some water, then we had to reluctantly leave them behind.

We had found an aire in our book not far away in Tolo, so we drove there throught the heat of the afternoon. Again, we were presented with a very nice view for wilding, thank you Camperstop.

View from Aire #3

We had arrived in the late afternoon and were all a bit hot and bothered. After a lovely stroll down the beach, we walked back along the front to find a fridge magnet and were pulled in by the lure of a restaurant. Since it was far too hot to contemplate cooking in the van and we had been prompted to try Gyros and Souvlaki by a couple of people, we decided to treat ourselves.

Standard fare for this boy

Alfie being adventurous!

The meal was a great success and yes, we very much enjoyed Gyros and Souvlaki and I think paprika makes an excellent addition to chips!

That night, we had what was our hottest night yet in the van. The insualtion has done us proud through the winter and is still doing a pretty good job of keeping out the intense heat, but we had been travelling during the day and had then parked in full sunshine. Although we had put up the silver insulating screens before we went out, the temperature was approaching 30 degrees inside for most of the night. It was sticky. In the morning, we decided that we would move the van to a shadier spot down the road and have some time on the beach to recover. We were all desperate to get in the sea!

Alfie Cousteau

Alfie got out his snorkel and asked us if he could buy a net to try and catch some of the many fish that we were seeing in the sea with us. This is the first time in ages that something other than a screen has kept him busy for longer than five minutes; it was a real pleasure to witness.

Come here fishy fishy.

The weather looks a bit dull in the pictures and it was a bit of an overcast day, but trust me, it was still blooming hot. Tom was happy digging on the beach, in between dips in the sea. 

It was the perfect way to cool down and we stayed on the beach for most of the day, before getting back into to the (cooler) van to find our next stop, Korinthos.