Let the Road Trip Begin!

 Friday November 18th, 2022

Maybe too much island life, too much Raki or too much food and my body is now protesting but lucky me, I'm not well. Gravol and sleep are my new best friends and I've lost all of my appetite (of all the places in the world to be and NOT get hungry anymore...sigh). After a decent night's rest I woke up feeling a bit better but today is a travel day and the beginning of our 8 day road trip through the Greek mainland. We say goodbye to Crete, fly to Athens and then head to Nafplion by car (with a driver). 

We had lots of time in the morning to pack and get ready as we weren't getting picked up until 10:30am which was good and getting to the airport and through the airport was a breeze, no one there. Of course our shortest flight is the only one we had leg room for being in row 1 LOL. But a quick flight up and down and because it's national no customs or anything so we were out and on the road with our driver in no time. The drive to Nafplion is about 2 hours from Athens, mostly on an interstate type highway. We had a quick pit stop to see the Corinth Canal on the way.

The Canal was built in the late 1800s to connect the Ionian sea to the Aegean sea cutting  through the narrowest part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is over 6km long but only 25m wide making it quite narrow. Because of the narrowness and the steepness of the walls, it was never really used as intended. And today it's too narrow for most transport ships and is primarily used for recreational purposes. It's quite a site to see knowing that it was completely dug out by man and in the end never served it's intended purpose.

From there we headed to the hotel. A cute little place up on a hill in Nafplion called Amfitri Palazzo. Only a few rooms here as well. Not as extravagant or luxurious as our place in Crete but cute and with an incredible view from the balcony. This hotel is in such an old part of town that cars cannot reach it and the car needed to park up top and we had to walk a few minutes down through the streets to get to it. 

Immediately upon arrival and checking-in we needed to meet up with our guide in town for a walking tour of the city. George (a different George) was our guide. And what a colourful man George is. He is a past teacher, musician, artist, theatre man and marathon runner. Needless to say his guiding was very passionate and expressive. For two hours he brought us through the old town explaining it's history, landmarks and importance for the creation of modern Greece. Nafplion is the first capital of Greece, not Athens. It was only later moved to Athens. Now given that Nafplion's population is only about 14,000 and Athens in something like 3 million... not overly surprising.

This town/city whatever you want to call it came highly recommended for its charm and beauty. It did not dissapoint. It has both Venetian and Ottoman influences and unlike most old towns is very grid-like in it's structure, making it very easy to navigate. Overlooking the city is the Palamidi Castle with 913 steps to get to it, unfortunately we didn't have time to go to it (even if I had been up for the hike) because it gets dark early, last entry is 3pm. Maybe next time! It is quite the site!

There is also a small castle in the harbour and a beautiful promenade. The old town streets are tiled in marble and there are alot of local artist shops and unique shops versus standard toursity shopping areas. We stopped at a local pottery shop and a Kolomboloi museum (Greek Worry-beads). Basically a greek traditional fidget toy. Reminds me a bit of a rosary, but is used to fidget with rather than pray. 

After the tour, we walked for a while. Got some ice cream at a place George recommended and eventually settled on a place for dinner. I ordered, but unfortunately couldn't eat - both sad and maddening. And so another fairly early return to the room as tomorrow is a full day of site seeing with George again and I don't want to feel crappy all day.

Saturday November 19th, 2022

Thanks to Lord Gravol I eventually slept and feel a bit better in the morning. Get some eggs down but that's about it. We do need to drive from sight to sight today and so that's going to be a challenge for my nausea. Luckily another beautiful day to explore the sights and our driver Socrates (I shit you not... his name is Socrates) picks us up and takes us to our first stop - Mycenae to meet George. And the guy at the ticket booth? Aristotle. His name is ARISTOTLE!  HAHA you know you're in Greece when...

Mycenae is about 25min from Nafplion and is the site of a pre-historic tomb and also an ancient acropolis. The area has been inhabited in some way for thousands of years and traces of settlements date back to as early as 5,000 BCE. This site is famous as the city of Agemmemnon, the man who led the battle against Troy in the Trojan War. Two of the most impressive parts of this site are the tomb, entirely in the ground, and the gates that still remain.

The tomb is beyond impressive. Dating back to the late bronze age, it is a large circular enclosure that is perfect in its symmetry and built with massive, and I mean MASSIVE, limestone blocks. As I have yet to see the pyramids... I suspect this is very similar in it's complexity. Not as big, different shape, but almost as equally impressive once you're inside. On the outside, it's just a long walled entryway leading to a hole in a hill with a triangular hole above the doorway, but inside is where you get the full scope and magnitude of the contruction. And because it is underground (or rather in the ground), it is almost entirely preserved.

The site of Mycenea, unlike Knossos doesn't have alot of recontruction and so alot of it just looks like rocks places in certain patterns to create rooms or structures that are no longer there. The gates to the city however still remain and the lion sculpture that sits above it is one of the most famous photo sites in all of Greece. Not alot is known of the early Mycenean people, but later on they know that they used the same script as the Minoan people on Crete. The site was eventually abandonned in approx 1100 BCE and again, there are only theories as to what happened to the Mycennean people. 

From Mycenea we then headed to Epidavros - the healing centre or as it's more commonly known for - the Ancient Theatre. Here we meet George again who explains that the etymology of the location name actually means place of healing. The theatre was only a part of that. And in fact, the entire site was a place where people would go to get healthy, mind and body. There they would go through a full hollistic healing program aimed at finding the root cause of the illness and addressing that rather than just treating the symptoms.

But back to the theatre. Something to behold. Not the largest, but likely the most well preserved ancient theatre in all of Greece. In it's time likely could sit an audience of 14,000 people. It's very large! The largest that they've uncovered to date would have sat about 26,000 people but is not as well preserved. The construction and design is intended to amplify sound so that the top row can hear as well as the bottom (obviously speakers and microphones weren't a thing) and it really is cool to hear when you walk around how the sound reverberates. A design dating back thousands of years is still used to this day for a reason. 

We then strolled through the more therapeutic parts of the site. There are two sanctuaries dedicated healing gods and used for healing therapies are rituals. There were baths, a "stadium" or "gym" and various spaces used for all sorts of reasons depending on the ailment that was being treated. Remember, this wasn't a doctor's office. This was almost like a retreat where the ill would spend days, if not weeks to hopefully get cured of what ails them.

From here we headed to another olive oil factory. This one was organic. The process was more or less identical to what we witnessed on Crete. However, here they process two different types of olives: the smaller one (size of a large blueberry) koroneiki and a much larger one (size of a grape) called Manaki. This farm alone has over 1 million olive trees. Here we got to do a panel tasting (similar to a wine tasting) where you sniff and taste the wine to judge it. Similar to a somalier with wine. It was interesting to swirl olive oil in the mouth and then try to notice the different notes, like the peppery sensation down the throat. We finished with a nice snack, but unfortunately I still can't eat so Scott enjoyed and she gave us my portion to go.

Back in Nafplion it was still early enough to walk around and stroll the promenade which makes a nice circuit around the coast and brings you back into town. It goes right along the cliff and is stunning. We found a local beach (should have brought our bathing suits) and sat there for a while watching the locals swim and sunbathe. It was a great spot, I could have sat there for hours. 

I also took a photo of a roadside mini chapel that families put up where there was an accident. They are EVERYWHERE. This one was on the promenade. They are intended to be reminders to take care and caution when driving or being out on the road. Inside there is a candle and maybe other items to commemorate and the candle is kept lit with olive oil. Crete had hundreds, they are all different. I've seen many here on the mainland as well. Similar to when we put crosses or wreaths at a crash site... here they put this elaborate miniature chapels.

After that I really wasn't feeling well and so we went on a hunt for a market so I could get some water and then I headed back to the hotel to rest. Hoping I'd feel better in an hour or so, but not so lucky. So I spent the rest of the evening in bed and Scott had to explore on his own. But sometimes, that's how it goes. Tomorrow we head to Olympia and I REALLY don't want to be sick for that!