CORINTH     The little information I copied from old travel books  wasn't much use.  It gave Corinth a thumbs down.  Well, don't believe everything you read.   It was wonderful to walk ancient Corinth.   It was mostly ruins.  The only thing standing were a few pillars from the temple of Apollo, but it was beautiful.  In the background, towering over the ruins, was the Acrocorinth, a huge mountain with a fortress on top.  

I heard it was a wearing climb of an hour and a half.  I had no interest in that but I could handle a $5.00 taxi ride.  I originally bargained to pay more and have the driver wait.  He told me fifteen minutes up there was nothing.  I needed hours and should consider a walk down.  He was right.  The fortress covered all over the mountain top.  Most of the fortress was in ruins except for some walls and a few gates.  Still, it required time for exploration and I managed a free ride down.  I couldn't believe I almost missed out on this!

MYCENAE, near CORINTH   I headed into the Peloponnes.  My destination was Mycenae (pronounced mick' ki nes and spelled Mikines in Greek).  I never heard of it before teaching ancient Greece.   It was the first civilization to begin in Europe, 1400 BC.  Actually, I had heard of some of the main characters from Mikines although I'd forgotten the name of the empire.  This kingdom was involved in the Trojan War.  Helen of Troy was married to the King of Sparta.  Her sister Clytemnestra was married to King Agamemnon of Mycenae.  

A lot of walking was involved in seeing Mikines.   I went to the burial site of Clytemnestra first.  Since she killed her husband, she wasn't allowed to be buried in the city itself.  He tomb was in a nearby hill.  The interior was shaped like a giant bee hive.

I next trekked on to the main ruins.   Agamemnon's palace was on the very top of the hill with a spectacular view.  He was buried in a circular grave site where each person buried was standing.  The grave site was right by the entrance to the city called the Lion's Gate.

MARTIN