Here I am walking up the ramp of the temple and at 46 seconds you hear a rustle; me disturbing a snake in pine needles. Given my history with snakes I just assumed I was about to ironically die at Epidaurus and thought it was fittingly ridiculous. But at :47 you see a pinwheel engraved into the marble floor, a graffiti motif I saw repeatedly at Eleusis. There I was told it was a game played by Ancient Greek children, but I have some doubts about that and will try to find more about them. If you know, please tell us. So one thing you have to know about Epidaurus is the smell is so heady I thought I’d swoon. There are lots of pines here and the forest floor is covered with decaying pine needles and rich acidic soil. Then there are wild oranges growing nearby and of course olive trees too. And the perimeter of the healing dormitory is surrounded by apple trees and I spotted a few pomegranate trees too. Fig trees are everywhere too. So the air is so sweetly scented with the balsam pine resin, pine needles, sweet oranges, various other fruit trees, and just healthy clean forest air. It was mildly warm yesterday so the aroma was intense and I could see pine resin just oozing from some of the trees. I couldn’t stop thinking about it the whole ride to Vitsa and it’s something I’ll never forget. This place is magical and I understand why the Greeks and Romans loved it so very much.
