Lester Siegel, Tony Mendez: [on the phone] So I’m sitting in Jerry’s this morning, having breakfast, a waitress comes over to me, she’s waving a newspaper and she says, ‘You see what those Canadians pulled off? Why can’t we do something like that?’ And I said to her, you know what I said?
Tony Mendez: No, what?
Lester Siegel: ‘Argo fuck yourself!’
-Argo
Lesson Learned: Sometimes a jarring quote (or foul language) can get your attention. We went to Argos for the day (wet and rainy). I’ve always enjoyed this movie. I think its one of Ben Affleck’s best efforts and the screen writing is fantastically witty. So, when we decided to go to Argos (which is only 12 klicks down the road) I had to sneak it in. So, I know the F-Bomb might offend some, so Argo fuck yourself.
Regrets: Cold day, wet day, nothing to regret. We had a whole castle to ourselves. I’ll bet the Ottomans never had that.
Argos
Argos is a city in Argolis, the Peloponnese, Greece and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. But from my point of view, its seen better days. Argos is traditionally considered to be the origins of the ancient Macedonian royal Greek house of the Argead dynasty. The most celebrated members were Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. It was a strategic location the peninsula and was a major stronghold during the Mycenaean era (1600 to 1200 BC). In classical times Argos was a powerful rival of Sparta for dominance over the Peloponnese. Once Alex took over the world, most people forgot about Argos, though it still has a good port for international trade.
After the Fourth Crusade, the Crusaders (mostly Francs) captured the castle built on Larisa Hill, the site of the ancient acropolis, and the area become part of the the Francish controlled Greece until 1388. After that the Venetians ruled Argos until 1463, when the Ottomans captured the city. Things really went to hell after that. The castle was the main reason we went to Argos. They also have an ancient theater that held around 20,000 people, an Archeological Museum, and like every other Greek town, an ancient excavation on every other corner.
We went up to the castle, which is visible for miles. It’s large, but pales in comparison to the fortress in Nafplion. On the trip up to the fort, it was obvious that the condition of the castle, and of the road leading to it were is sad shape. When we arrived, we were the only ones there. Not even workers at the ticket office. The following pictures show what we found.
Argos was a perfect example that when there are too many ancient sites to comprehend, some of them get ignored and neglected. Sad as it is, Argos falls in this group. So, based on the weather, the Farmers Market in the city center, and the fine wine and large lunch we had. We decided to cut our Argos visit short and skip the museum. Besides, it took us half an hour to find our car, though Ellen did pick out all the correct twists and turns back to the side street we’d left our little Nissan. I also picked up a box of Cuban cigars for 14 Euros, which I thought was a bargain. Efcharistó (Thank You in Greek) roughly translated……F-in stow.
I love it that you had it all to yourselves! Argos is also the name of Odysseus’ faithful dog. Perhaps the blind poet Homer recited his epic poem in this area. Enjoy your journey through this region! It’s on my bucket list!