Nafplion, Greece

We had a wonderful sleep last night, whilst expensive the Sofitel does not disappoint and is very comfortable, clean and spacious. After another lovely shower and room cup of tea we headed out across the pedestrian crossing to the airport to check out the breakfast offerings instead of an expensive hotel one. We stepped out of the hotel to be greeted by a gorgeous sunny day already around 22 degrees at 8:30am. Yes, its starting to feel like holiday time and strangely familiar even though we have never been here before. The familiar is the European feel, and I am not sure how to describe it – perhaps it is the connection to my European roots, its the history, its the difference of each unique culture that although borders can be a line in the earth each place has distinction and connectedness.

Athens airport is nice and modern and has 3 levels of modest shopping and eateries including a McDonalds which of course we skipped instead choosing a spinach and cheese filo pie and roll with mozzarella, tomato and lettuce and couple of ‘good’ coffees totalling €15. They even heated the pie which was really delicious – crisp, buttery, cheesy and fresh spinach flavours. I also love the mozzarella over here with the rich flavoured tomatoes, simple but oh so good with a chewy roll.

Fortified we checked out and got instructions from the concierge on how to get a bus to Nafplio. This involved walking across the road to the airport and getting the X93 to a regional central bus station and changing to the Peloponnese line. Cost was €4 into town each and then our return transfers to Nafplio were €46 total. First leg was about 35 minutes and comfortable enough and the second leg was on a nice modern bus and 2.5hrs long.

At Kissios station we thought is a good idea to take a comfort stop before the longer leg, so Vern went first whilst I minded the bags. When I was standing there I had a beggar woman come up and she was very persistent in trying to get money out of me, indicating it was for food and that she was pregnant. Its always a *******e but we have agreed not to give as there is so much scamming in Europe. Anyway my turn to go, and low and behold after going down the stairs and paying the attendant I open my stall to see no toilet but one of those hold in the ground, squat over facilities. Great, always a challenge but when in Rome, or Athens …. do as the Athenians.

We are starting to form little perceptions of Greece, its not too hard to find an English speaker and these range from very good to very little. Around the airport and hotel its better and more refined but as you head into the city you see a lot of poverty. Its dry, dusty, and crammed with white houses and jumble across the horizon to some gentle hills where more houses are crammed. Very few trees or parks. Streets are narrow, and lots of derelict houses and buildings add to the shabbiness. Graffiti is the worst I have seen anywhere and generally people are not of the cheery, happy or friendly type – with exceptions of course. The bus station felt somewhat hostile and a place to be on guard as a foreigner so it was nice to hop on the bus and head out of town. I understand that the people here have it tough and some are probably torn between resentment of the ‘wealthy’ tourista and yet dependant on that at least as a constant stream of income which by all accounts is hard to come by. I can imagine even getting in a position where one can benefit from the tourist income must be very competitive.

The scenery heading out of town is a contrast between more pockets of shabby and derelict buildings amongst dusty, rocky and hilly terrain and a beautiful blue harbour on the other side. There are lots of olive trees and very little other natural vegetation. No animals and bird life is black and white crow sized birds with a few sea gulls. After about 45 minutes of travel we arrived at Corinth and got to cross the canal which happened all too quickly but was a nice little thrill to see the deep carve and almost cobalt blue water.

Once on the Peloponnese peninsular the scenery changed to be more green with heavier planting of olive trees, loads of citrus and a decent amount of stone fruit. Hills got larger, and the houses in the smaller towns and villages were still older but a lot less graffiti and derelict buildings. When we got to the town of Argos I noted that the streets were very narrow and there was no sidewalk -like we had seen in other old towns in Italy. I thought this strange as it was on relatively flat open bits of land so I wouldn’t have thought space was a premium? Even along the roads, houses are built right up to the roads edge ie., no front lawns, easements etc.

The bus stop at Nafplio is only a 5 minute walk to our accommodation for the next two nights which is in the nice ‘old-town’ section of town. The architecture is Venetian influenced here as Nafplio was on and off Ottoman and Venetian rule over time. I love the shabby narrow streets so full of character and stories to tell, and could spend ages wandering them. Pension Dafni is beautifully decorated inside and dirt cheap at €40 a night. We even had a rain shower in the bathroom as well as air conditioning. Breakfast is €4 each so we have booked that for convenience and our early starts and big days ahead.

Check in went smoothly and once unsaddled of bags we headed out to have lunch at a Taverna recommended by our host towards the waterfront. Even though it was relatively late at 2pm there were still a lot of people eating and we chose a quick souvlaki in a pita as we didn’t want to be too weighed down for our first activity of going up to Palamidi Fortress. Lunch cost €2.50 each which we thought cheap, thinking it was like a kebab at home. Wrong. It was a snack wrap version, complete with chips in it. WTF? Tasted fine though, and it filled the gap for a while.

Palamidi Fortress can be accessed two ways; by foot up nearly 1,000 steps or by taxi. I picked taxi, for €10. Once up the top there is still a lot of climbing to do, and we walked down (which was no mean feat), so we were still getting a lot of exercise. The fortress was first built in the 1711 and has 3 bastions. There is not much to see around the ruins as such, but it provides terrific views and exercise as you pick your way carefully around the top. It was actually tricky going as the steps and path ways are very uneven and most are worn stone which are as slippery as anything. I had my good and ugly outdoor hiking sandles on but still had to take it easy as to not get injured or fall off the jolly cliff! There were a few wildflowers up there, nothing spectacular but some cute small poppy type flowers that made me think of all the blood shed and battles up there.

We spent a good time getting to the very top and Vern got to be king of the castle before we very carefully managed our decent, all 990 steps, one at an increasingly painful time. I am having a little sympathy grab here as I am over 50 and the knees aren’t what they used to be. Add a little swelling still from the heat and travel and less than desirable peak fitness, those amount of steep steps get noticeable after the first 500. They are not even or flat and sometimes there is no side support like a rock wall and even fewer sections had any rails. The slipperiness of the well worn marble and rock was a real hazard that required a very slow considered approach. There is some information about men on horse back using these in battle etc- that must have been something to see. Anyhow, we felt proud of ourselves once we got to the bottom and as quick as we could we limped to the beach about 10 minutes away to put our sizzling feet in the water whilst sipping a frappacino to recover.

The beach side bar was situated in a beautiful bay of clear blue and green water and joined a walk way around a rock peninsular to town on the other side. Refreshed we enjoyed a gentle flat paved walk around to town to choose where to eat. It was still very warm and light – at least 24 degrees at now 7:30pm and we wandered past a few full waterfront bars and eateries for a bit before stopping to examine a menu outside. The matre de was so pushy trying to get us to sit down it was annoying so we moved on despite the menu looking ok. He kept on – we have fish, es grill, es fried, we have a shrimp, we have a snapper ok ok we get it and can read, thanks and everytime we politely tried to leave he kept offering more menu options. We managed to get away and headed further into the town away from the waterfront and settled on a nice looking place down a narrow car free alley.

At this point it was still very warm and we felt very weary. I think we walked about 4-5 hours that afternoon in good heat up to 26 degrees. Vern chose a mixed grill slouvaki (pork and chicken marinated on skewers and a few small tasty sausages) which came with tsasiki (yoghurt dip) and fries (we were told it came with potatoes and thought that would be nice- not darn chips again) and I had the blackboard special of squid stuffed with rice and vegetables which also came with the obligatory fries (didnt eat them) and a tomato based sauce. I also tried a glass of red which was not that impressive. Meals cost €8 and €14 respectively. It was pretty average, ok but nothing to sing praises about. My squid was overcooked a bit which was disappointing and we are both craving veges already. Don’t know what the fascination with chips here is about.

After dinner we topped up our cash from an ATM ready for tomorrows big day, fell into a gelato shop and got a choc cherry flavour and bergamont to share as we wandered home. Nafplio is a nice place and of course we already wish we had a bit more time to enjoy it and take it in. Hope we can find the better places to eat tomorrow as I am sure they exist.