Nafplio Day Trip
Today was the big day, no more work and all play. The night before we agreed to leave around 7 to avoid heavy traffic. It was about a 3.5h drive so what better way to spend it than nodding in and out of sleep in uncomfortable positions? Right before we entered the Peloponnesian, we stopped to take a look at the Isthmus of Corinth created by the Turkish during the Ottoman Empire. We didn't stay long because 2 tour busses showed up at the same time as we did, we took a photo or two then headed out once again. However, it was enormous, it was made to allow small ships through, and it remains big enough to do bungee jumping. They had a pop up tent and the zone was right below the pedestrian walkway. Still haven't done that or gone skydiving...
Isthmus of Corinth
After another long drive we stopped at Mycenae. There we had Dr. Lane as our personal tour guide and walked around the remains of the palace. We quickly went to the back end of the remains as two school tour busses showed up with us, the yellow hat school and the red hat school. An interesting event that happened in the back was that we 'trespassed' into the cave they accessed the water. It was closed off because there was no light to assist but with our phones flashlights we walked down for a couple of minutes before seeing a drop off and murky green water awaiting down below. Slightly creepy, one slippery step on those stairs and you'd take a quick bath, fortunately no one slipped. Coming back out we couldn't see the yellow/red hats so we went back to the front, where Lane further explained the outlines, possible explanations for certain ruins and a breakdown of the gravesite that was found inside the walls. Further outside the walls was another gravesite, however, this one seemed older and abandoned than the one inside. We still dont know why. Short distance from there were ancient tombs which would be covered in dirt after the funerary services. There where three tombs, one meant for Agammemnon, another meant for his wife Clytemnestra, and a third which seems to be shared. Unfortunately not many remains were discovered as looters had found the place before the archeologists. We went to the museum for a little bit and then headed back out to the next fortress. Next stop was at Tiryns. Much less to see here than Mycenae but the view was spectacular and there was a nice gale up ontop of the ruins.
View from Mycenae
Finally we arrive at Nafplio at around 2. Lane drove up to a parking lot, scribbled something on a piece of paper, handed it to Cris, and told us he'll be back by 8, and off he went without us to do some archeological work or something. Ok. We started with the museum as it was hot and hopefully they had A/C there. It was smaller than hoped for but it was cooler than the outside and it had some interesting items. Then we decided it was time to climb up the mountain to see the fortress up above. All the signs leading up to it say it has 999 steps. Ashley, our 4th classmate, didnt want to climb so she stayed back to find an ideal restaurant. Thus Connor, Cris, and I began to walk up.
View from the top of the Fortress
Each person had their own pace, and the higher I went to stronger the wind felt, which was nice to take a quick break and enjoy the gale and view the city from a vantage point. By the time I reached the top Connor was sitting on an edge eating cherries. I joined and we waited for Cris for a while. We didn't enter the fortress as it cost €6 and that was a tad too expensive for a ruined fortress ontop of a hill. While we were eating cherries and enjoying the view we could see a shirtless dude, with really small white shorts on, climbing up the steps aggressively. Once he made it up he began a conversation with us and we found out he was from Virginia on a study abroad trip in Athens. He was given a bet that he couldn't climb the stairs and back down in 30min. I don't know if he actually made it but he demeaner seemed as though he did. By that point it had been a good 20min so Connor and I decided to head back down. About 1/4 of the way down we saw Cris relaxing in a hole in the wall enjoying music by himself, and then all of us went down together. We found Ashley at a nearby restaurant and discussed what our next plan should be. Gelato, it was to get Gelato. And boy was it good gelato, or maybe it was decent but the experience made it great. Once we were satisfied with our gelato we started to go window-shopping.
It was a really nice to see that not all the shops were the same tourist shops each one was different and sold different items, sure there were several goddies that appeared all around but the shops were unique and enjoyable. There was a metallurgy store, a woodshop shop, a pillows and shawls shop, candy store, jewelery store, toy store, an Americanized store, and restaurants almost at every corner. Seeing as I had only brought with me €20 and forgot my card, I spent as little as I could. After window-shopping we walked alongside the beachfront which wrapped around the city. There was a nice spot that we could sit by the rocks, look out into the sea and relax. We stayed there for a good 20min enjoying the view and sound of the lapping water against the rocks. Hunger started to set in and we went off in search of a restaurant, it wasn't that hard honestly. Once we were down to 15min till 8 we started to walk back where we got dropped off. We met up with Lane and then started our drive back. This time we didn't stop so we arrived as quickly as possible which was 11:30pm. By that point it felt like everyone was done with the day and lights were out 5min after entering the front door.
After another long drive we stopped at Mycenae. There we had Dr. Lane as our personal tour guide and walked around the remains of the palace. We quickly went to the back end of the remains as two school tour busses showed up with us, the yellow hat school and the red hat school. An interesting event that happened in the back was that we 'trespassed' into the cave they accessed the water. It was closed off because there was no light to assist but with our phones flashlights we walked down for a couple of minutes before seeing a drop off and murky green water awaiting down below. Slightly creepy, one slippery step on those stairs and you'd take a quick bath, fortunately no one slipped. Coming back out we couldn't see the yellow/red hats so we went back to the front, where Lane further explained the outlines, possible explanations for certain ruins and a breakdown of the gravesite that was found inside the walls. Further outside the walls was another gravesite, however, this one seemed older and abandoned than the one inside. We still dont know why. Short distance from there were ancient tombs which would be covered in dirt after the funerary services. There where three tombs, one meant for Agammemnon, another meant for his wife Clytemnestra, and a third which seems to be shared. Unfortunately not many remains were discovered as looters had found the place before the archeologists. We went to the museum for a little bit and then headed back out to the next fortress. Next stop was at Tiryns. Much less to see here than Mycenae but the view was spectacular and there was a nice gale up ontop of the ruins.
Finally we arrive at Nafplio at around 2. Lane drove up to a parking lot, scribbled something on a piece of paper, handed it to Cris, and told us he'll be back by 8, and off he went without us to do some archeological work or something. Ok. We started with the museum as it was hot and hopefully they had A/C there. It was smaller than hoped for but it was cooler than the outside and it had some interesting items. Then we decided it was time to climb up the mountain to see the fortress up above. All the signs leading up to it say it has 999 steps. Ashley, our 4th classmate, didnt want to climb so she stayed back to find an ideal restaurant. Thus Connor, Cris, and I began to walk up.
Each person had their own pace, and the higher I went to stronger the wind felt, which was nice to take a quick break and enjoy the gale and view the city from a vantage point. By the time I reached the top Connor was sitting on an edge eating cherries. I joined and we waited for Cris for a while. We didn't enter the fortress as it cost €6 and that was a tad too expensive for a ruined fortress ontop of a hill. While we were eating cherries and enjoying the view we could see a shirtless dude, with really small white shorts on, climbing up the steps aggressively. Once he made it up he began a conversation with us and we found out he was from Virginia on a study abroad trip in Athens. He was given a bet that he couldn't climb the stairs and back down in 30min. I don't know if he actually made it but he demeaner seemed as though he did. By that point it had been a good 20min so Connor and I decided to head back down. About 1/4 of the way down we saw Cris relaxing in a hole in the wall enjoying music by himself, and then all of us went down together. We found Ashley at a nearby restaurant and discussed what our next plan should be. Gelato, it was to get Gelato. And boy was it good gelato, or maybe it was decent but the experience made it great. Once we were satisfied with our gelato we started to go window-shopping.
It was a really nice to see that not all the shops were the same tourist shops each one was different and sold different items, sure there were several goddies that appeared all around but the shops were unique and enjoyable. There was a metallurgy store, a woodshop shop, a pillows and shawls shop, candy store, jewelery store, toy store, an Americanized store, and restaurants almost at every corner. Seeing as I had only brought with me €20 and forgot my card, I spent as little as I could. After window-shopping we walked alongside the beachfront which wrapped around the city. There was a nice spot that we could sit by the rocks, look out into the sea and relax. We stayed there for a good 20min enjoying the view and sound of the lapping water against the rocks. Hunger started to set in and we went off in search of a restaurant, it wasn't that hard honestly. Once we were down to 15min till 8 we started to walk back where we got dropped off. We met up with Lane and then started our drive back. This time we didn't stop so we arrived as quickly as possible which was 11:30pm. By that point it felt like everyone was done with the day and lights were out 5min after entering the front door.
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