Kurma

Today was my last day in Greece. I took a picturesque bus ride and headed south-east to a place called Sounion, on the tip of the Attiki Peninsula.

The ancient sanctuary of Sounion is first mentioned in the Odyssey, as the place where Menelaos stopped during his return from Troy to bury his helmsman, Phrontes Onetorides.

At the beginning of the 5th century B.C., the Athenians initiated the construction of an imposing temple for Poseidon, the Presiding Deity of the Water, Otherwise known as Neptune to the Romans, and Varuna in Vedic Cosmography.

With all the frantic to-ing and fro-ing of history, the building was never completed, as both the temple and the offerings were destroyed by the Persians in 480 B.C. In the following decades, Sounion, like the rest of Attica, flourished, and an important building project was undertaken at both sanctuaries.

At the end of the 5th century and during the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians fortified Sounion cape. But, alas - as is the nature of all things of rock and stone - from the 1st century B.C. onwards the sanctuaries gradually declined.

These are the remains of the Temple of Poseidon. It is situated on top of a massive cliff face that gives breathtaking 360 degree views of the Aegean Sea and many Greek islands. The Doric columns are made of Agrileza marble.

In ancient times the temple was the last sign of civilization the Athenians saw as they sailed away from home.

And it's the last glimpse of Greek history I'll be seeing before I fly back to Australia. Kalinihta, and adio Ellada!

It was my desire to see a bit of rural Greece before heading back to Australia. I finally got that opportunity. Yesterday I took a train North to the city of Livadia near Mount Parnassosis.

The mists were still hanging low over the hills as we entered the region.

The area is rich in archaeological places, such as Heronia, Orhomenos, Thiva (pronounced almost like Shiva) and Delphi, one of the most important of the five oracles of Ancient times, and home of Hellenistic Astrology.

Livadia is situated right in the centre of Greece. It's a pretty place, with lovely icy cold streams that rush down from the mountain and are channelled into waterfalls and waterwheels that meander through the town.

A specialty of the region is a variety of tiropitakia (cheese pie) that resembles baklava.

Instead of nuts and sugar in between the layers of filo, there is feta cheese and butter. Very interesting. I'll have to try making some. Watch out for it in a future cookbook.