Nafplio: A charming town, a fort hike and visiting Epidavros' Theater

The charming town of Nafplio is just under a 2 hour drive from Athens, and was worth the drive.  It was instant peace, and really there's nothing better than the pace of a beach town.  A plain old beach town would drive our little family bonkers, so to have a beach town with a fascinating history was a huge bonus!  Nafplio is in a strategic location on the Peloponnese peninsula, and as such has changed hands between the Ottomans and the Venetians multiple times.  In fact, it was the first capitol of independent Greece in 1820.  We enjoyed the quiet windy streets, the busy restaurants lining the waterfront, kitties in doorways and trees, and the little chapels around every corner.  Isabella enjoyed the squeeze your own orange juice machine at the breakfast buffet and kept us all flush with OJ.  As with all of the breakfast spreads that we saw in Greece, a big fat of fatty, thick and tart Greek yogurt was available with all sorts of fruity toppings (Quince jam, honey, green fig jam... yum)

Bourtzi Venetian fort from the 15th century.

We especially enjoyed our hike up to the Palamidi Fortress (well, three of us did.  Teenagers apparently don't always appreciate getting up and hiking 1100 steps before breakfast). The Palamidi Fortress tops Nafplio's ancient acropolis and was built roughly 300 years ago.  It happens to be the best-preserved Venetian fort in the Mediterranean.

We were floored by the exquisite Theater of Epidavros about a half hour drive from Nafplio.  This theater, built nearly 2,500 years ago, seating 15,000 people still feels 'finished', state of the art, and in a stunningly quiet location.  We just missed the staging of a Greek theater festival the following weekend, but we were treated to a dozen or so tourists singing arias or national anthems from the stage.  Limestone seats fit us to perfection, and in typical Greek fashion, is a model of symmetry.  The acoustics are superb.  From the orchestra, you can talk in an 'inside voice' and be heard from the top row.  A circular marble 'oration spot' marks the top of a hollow underground space that projects voices (for the last 4,500 years) to the top row of the theater.  Amazing.