Wednesday, November 10, 2021
Our first stop today was the Corinth Canal. Originally we were to go on a ride through the canal from the Aegean Sea to the Ionian Sea but there was a landslide and so the canal is currently closed and has been since January. Instead we saw the canal from above and then from a lower elevation.
The closing of the canal is a hardship for tourism because a large amount of visitors on cruise ships or yachts who use the canal to go from the Ionian to the Aegean Seas have to either cancel or take the much longer and more expensive route around the Peloponnesian peninsula!
The first ship used the canal in 1892. The canal is almost 4 miles long, about 75 feet wide, and just over 26 feet deep.
The pictures below were taken just above water level.
A submersible bridge goes across the canal in Corinth. It lowers the bridge deck about 26 feet below water level to permit the boats to use the canal.
On our way to ancient Corinth, we stopped at St. Paul’s Church and the beautiful triptych mosaic of the Apostle Paul. He lived and preached for two years in ancient Corinth.
When we arrived at the ancient ruins of Corinth, we visited its museum.
Also in the museum is what our group thought was the perfect wine goblet size. This is in fact a wine goblet!
Ancient Corinth is known for the two letters from Saint Paul in the New Testament, First and Second Corinthians. Paul the Apostle’s missionary travels mentioned Corinth in the Acts of the Apostles. Ancient Corinth was an important city in Greece because of its location to the Aegean and Ionian Seas. It sat on the isthmus which connects mainland Greece with the Peloponnese. Corinth was a major colony and a center of trade.
After our tour of the ruins we visited a local restaurant for a snack and an Ouzo tasting! Below is a picture of our snack. It is always interesting to compare my gluten free snack on the right with what the rest of our tour group received! Where they had bread with a spread on it I received octopus cooked in olive oil. Everyone at our table tried the octopus!
Once everyone was served, Marina, our guide, gave a toast!
When we returned to the hotel we sat on the beach overlooking the Aegean Sea. It was a little breezy!
Before our dinner we attended a lecture at the hotel on Family Values and the Social Culture of Greece. Some of the takeaways was that the Greeks feel strongly about “what happens in the family, stays in the family”! It is also important to keep the family name and there are often two generations living together. An elderly parent is only in a nursing home if the children can’t care for the senior. Therefore, there aren’t many nursing homes, assisted living, or senior living facilities in Greece!
It was another great day in Greece!
