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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast

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Speaker 1: from News Talks at BE.

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Speaker 2: Mike Hardley is our travel corresponding Good morning sir.

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Speaker 3: Good morning Jack. No predictions in the sporting will.

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Speaker 2: I'm glad that you said it because it was on

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Speaker 2: the tip of my tongue. It was on the tip

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Speaker 2: of my tongue. It was a good game last week though.

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Speaker 3: It was a good game, very good game. I'll tell

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Speaker 3: you what. I'm very excited for Hamilton boys high today.

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Speaker 3: Courtiers and Noel.

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Speaker 2: Oh, yes, right, yeah, I thought played so well last week.

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Speaker 3: Really good.

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Speaker 2: I think he is a high stress moment as well.

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Speaker 3: Oh totally. You know, I think he of the three,

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Speaker 3: I know TJ's obviously out, but of the three, I

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Speaker 3: think Courtiers would be my starting pick.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think he might be mine as well. Actually, well,

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Speaker 2: so I've just not based on that performance last week,

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Speaker 2: as you know. Anyway, so it'll be interesting to see

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Speaker 2: how he goes this afternoon. But this morning we are

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Speaker 2: focusing on the Peloponnese Peninsula. Say that three times fast.

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Speaker 2: The Peloponnese Peninsula and Greece, so compared to Athens, compared

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Speaker 2: to the Greek islands, this is a lesser traffic, slightly

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Speaker 2: less touristy region, right.

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Speaker 3: Definitely, jack yep, far less trampled. But it's the stuff

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Speaker 3: of legends, and as you wander around the peninsula, it's

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Speaker 3: like myth and history just constantly overlap. It's where Paris

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Speaker 3: of Troy eloped with Helen, the Argonauts set sail and

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Speaker 3: said to the Golden fleece. It's where gods walk to

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Speaker 3: the earth, meddling and mortal affairs. So for history buffs,

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Speaker 3: there's just so much to blow the mind. In southern Greece.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the Paris Olympics, of course less than seven days away. Now,

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Speaker 2: so what about Olympia.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, the western Peloponnese is home to the Valley of

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Speaker 3: the Gods, So this is where the ancient Olympics began

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Speaker 3: nearly three thousand years ago. And it's interesting when you

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Speaker 3: look back at the history. All regional hostilities would be

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Speaker 3: suspended for these games, which were very much staged in

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Speaker 3: the honor of the God of God's Zeus. And when

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Speaker 3: you go to Olympia today, there's not actually a lot

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Speaker 3: left from the majestic temples and the athletic facilities. Because

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Speaker 3: the Roman emperor at the time ordered them destroyed as

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Speaker 3: he converted to Christianity, but you do still get a

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Speaker 3: hint of the sanctuary's former glory. And of course it's

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Speaker 3: still here that the Olympic Flame begins its journey every

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Speaker 3: four years.

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Speaker 2: And Olympia wasn't the only meeting place right for ancient

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Speaker 2: sporting festivals in Greece.

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Speaker 3: That's right. And the reason I thought we'd mentioned this

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Speaker 3: is because I went to a place called Epidorus in

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Speaker 3: the Peloponnese, and you do get a real flavor for

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Speaker 3: ancient sporting conquests at Epidorus. The place is home to

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Speaker 3: what they call the Sanctuary of Asclepius. Now, Asclepius was

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Speaker 3: the god of medicine and the son of Apollo Jack,

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Speaker 3: but three thousand years ago this sanctuary was famed across

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Speaker 3: the Mediterranean as a place of miraculous healing, and apparently

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Speaker 3: being licked by a snake was considered the most powerful cure,

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Speaker 3: believe it or not. But alongside their medicine, they also

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Speaker 3: staged amazing sporting contests, and you can still see the

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Speaker 3: ancient stadium at Epodorus and also this massive amphitheater, one

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Speaker 3: of the best preserved ancient thess of Greece, so it

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Speaker 3: seats about fourteen thousand people and I just love it.

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Speaker 3: How at these ancient theaters, you go on to the stage,

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Speaker 3: you drop a coin and it can be crisply heard

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Speaker 3: from the highest seat. You cannot beat old school acoustics.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, oh that's cool. Okay. What's so popular about Naplio?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, this is just twenty minutes down the coast from Epidorus,

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Speaker 3: and Naplio is a sweetheart spot. It's considered by Greeks

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Speaker 3: as one of their most romantic cities, and it was

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Speaker 3: actually the first capital of the newly born Greek state

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Speaker 3: back in the early eighteen hundreds. So lots of architectural candy,

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Speaker 3: lots of hilltop castles, Ottoman fountains, Venetian townhouses. And interestingly,

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Speaker 3: if you're a fan of Bucklaver, which is such a

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Speaker 3: loved sweet treat right across the keeping the Turps love

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Speaker 3: and of course info they've got their own variation. It's

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Speaker 3: raisin Bucklover, which is really really good. I would get

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Speaker 3: a godful or two of.

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Speaker 2: That Jack Raisin Bucklover, Okay, because sometimes you don't want

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Speaker 2: to mess with the classics. But I'm open minded when

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Speaker 2: it comes to Aegean sweets.

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Speaker 3: Okay, that is true. By the way, Yeah, one ship

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Speaker 3: had a gobful of raisin Bucklaver. Definitely go to a

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Speaker 3: souvenir shop in because they are very, very famous amongst

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Speaker 3: Greeks as the city that produces the best worry beads convaloy,

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Speaker 3: and it's because of the amber beads. All of the

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Speaker 3: end of beads are produced in Naphtlio. So if you

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Speaker 3: want a real authentic souvenir, you can't go wrong with

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Speaker 3: a convaloy from naph Plio.

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Speaker 2: Right, Okay, that sounds awesome. So for history buffs, what

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Speaker 2: ancient site would you say is the best of all?

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Speaker 3: Do not miss Myceny. The mycene and civilization dominated Greece

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Speaker 3: a thousand years before the Golden Age of Athens. And

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Speaker 3: the thing about Mysony is not only did it call

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Speaker 3: the shots over much of the Mediterranean over three thousand

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Speaker 3: years ago, but the ancient citadel which you can see

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Speaker 3: today has been so incredibly preserved. Now, the legend is

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Speaker 3: it jack that Cyclops was enlisted to help build Mysony,

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Speaker 3: And when you look at the size of the stone

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Speaker 3: blocks and its Fortress Wars.

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Speaker 2: You do have to.

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Speaker 3: Wonder those limestone blocks weigh six ton pop.

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Speaker 2: That's amazing.

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Speaker 3: How did they do that? Yeah, three and a half

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Speaker 3: thousand years ago?

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Speaker 2: That's that is stunning, isn't it. Speaking of engineering, the

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Speaker 2: Currinth Canal.

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Speaker 3: Yes, well, with a photo stop. It comes a path

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Speaker 3: through the Corinth Asthmus, which links the G and C

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Speaker 3: with the Ionian Sea. So this canal enabled a four

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Speaker 3: hundred kilometers shortcut for ships heading to Athens. But it's

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Speaker 3: amazing because imprior Nero was actually the first to start

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Speaker 3: building this canal over two thousand years ago. It was

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Speaker 3: abandoned when he died and it wasn't actually started again

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Speaker 3: until the nineteenth century. And it was actually the Sewers

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Speaker 3: Canal that inspired the success of the Corinth Canal. But yeah,

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Speaker 3: it's a gorgeous site.

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Speaker 2: Oh wow, Yeah, that's amazing. So is the Peloponnese Peninsula

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Speaker 2: easy to get to.

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Speaker 3: Yes, it is. So it's only about an hour or

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Speaker 3: so west of Athens, and it's if you look at

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Speaker 3: a map, you will notice that it's like this peninsula

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Speaker 3: hanging kind of dangling from the rest of the Greek mainland.

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Speaker 3: By that narrow isthmus the Garynth Canal. So you can

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Speaker 3: do it by way of day trips. So there's lots

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Speaker 3: of guided tours day trips from Ethens. If you've got

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Speaker 3: a bit longer, just self drive your way around the region.

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Speaker 3: It's a revelation and it's a head blast with epic ancient.

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Speaker 2: History that sounds so good. Hey, thank you, Mike, really

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Speaker 2: really appreciate that. Enjoy the game this afternoon. Without having

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Speaker 2: made any bold predictions, eh, thank you, Jack good Man,

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Speaker 2: Mike Yardley, I have correspondent there will put his tips

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Speaker 2: for exploring the Pallow Ponnese Peninsula and Greece up on

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Speaker 2: the News talk's 'B website.

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Speaker 1: For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live

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Speaker 1: to newstalks 'B from nine am Saturday, or follow the

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Speaker 1: podcast on iHeartRadio