An Epic Drive to Monamvasia

We thought we had a 4 hour drive ahead of us... and I should have believed Rick Steves when he wrote to not trust your GPS and get a real paper map for it, because I think it may have been a 6 hour drive when it was said and done.  At one point we almost seemed to be driving vertically up a cliff, and another we dead-ended on a washed out mountain road, and we found ourselves three times going through one particular quiet town.  The road-side shrines didn't make us feel much better, and on our 3rd time through that one little town we actually brought water as scary scenes played in our head.  

The confusion may have started (as it always does) with one wrong turn, but this one was a lovely one.  We found ourselves in the idyllic town of Plaka, in a restaurant of a mother and son pair.  The mother talked non-stop about her son's restaurant and his new store that opened in the back, at one point calling us over from another shop to see what her son had to offer. It was a lovely stop and worth the upcoming hours of confusion.

And then we found ourselves in the mountains.  We were glad to have stocked up, enjoyed the scenery and cheered when we saw another car (at one point it was 20 minutes of one-lane driving before we saw one.  Oops.

Spoiler alert: we made it.  This island fortress of Monemvasia would be our home for the next 2 days.

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.

Athens to Nafplio, by way of Mycenae

Day 3: Athens to Nafplio, by way of Mycenae

Today we started our Peloponnese expedition by making our way to Nafplion (for 2 nights) after a nice morning in Athens.  On the way, however, we had to stop at Mycenae which was one of the major 'sites' (a word our kids would soon fear, as we would discover in 4 days) of the powerful Minoan civilization (who won the Trojan war), that either mysterious disappeared or (more likely) succumbed to illness and starvation and was absorbed by another civilization.  They were in power on the Peloponnese 1,000 years (!) before the Acropolis sights were even built!

Morning in Athens

Athens

Acropolis in the morning

 Mycenae- Amazing!

Mycenaean Lions Gate

They can still do it!

cystern at Mycenae

 Made it to Nafplio in time for a swim, a walk on the Promenade and dinner in Syntagma Square

Nafplion Swimming Beach- walking back to town

Athens!

Sunrise from Mars Hill

We made it! After 3 flights and a very long layover in the very dull Baltimore airport we arrived in Athens in time to catch a cab to the hotel, find a quick dinner, and fall fast asleep. None of us really felt like leaving the hotel room after our long trip, but we knew we had to keep ourselves awake and get some fresh air. Not much to report from day one except that we are happy with the food (yum pita and freshly squeezed orange juice!), we were just a couple minutes from the acropolis and the walking street that proceeds around the base, and that it's ...very... warm in Athens in June. We decided to call this day and try to get up and on the acropolis by the time the gates opened at 8 am so we could see the Parthenon before the sun got too intense.... so...
Day 2- The Parthenon, The Acropolis Museum, the flea market, AND the National Archaeological Museum.  We don't mess around.  It was amazing to make it through the gates before the throngs of tourists arrived.  We were instantly charmed by two orange kitties guarding the gates, one on each side (we called in the Lion Gate) and the girls kept themselves busy finding cats under and around monuments for the next hour.  We were blown away by the beauty and complexity of the acropolis monuments.

This pediment scene (original now in the British Museum, taken by Lord Elgin) depicts part of the banquet of the Gods with a drunk Dionysus lounging.  In the rest of the scene it would have shown Zeus (after complaining of a headache) having his head split open to reveal Athena, the patron saint of Athens.  The Parthenon, a monument to Athena, would have been a place to bring offerings and show appreciation to Athena.

Check out the size of the columns!  

Theater of Dionysus

Isabella spotted this turtle while we were sitting outside the Theater of Dionysus.  Mom didn't believe her but... she was right, and he was so happy to get a pear core and some crackers!

This flag that flies over Athens is a source of pride for the Athenians.  During the Nazi occupation two young men snuck into the acropolis to remove the Nazi flag and raise the Greek one.  

Some of the other buildings on the Acropolis....

My favorite building on the Acropolis: Temple of Athena Nike (Nike means Victory) which pioneered the Ionic Style in Athens somewhere around 420 BC).  This is the temple where people both thanked her for past victories and prayed for more.  She was the city's protectress.

Porch of the Caryatids balcony of the Erechtheion (421-406 BC)  which would have housed the original olive tree that Athena planted here in the face-off with Poseidon- their battle for naming rights to the city.  Athena's gift of the olive tree bested Poseidon's gift of a spring (the story goes that his trident also cracked the pavement).  The Erechtheion does give a nod to Poseidon, however, by giving both him and Athena a room in this structure in which they could have been worshiped.

The Acropolis Museum was a bit underwhelming but gave us a respite from the heat.  Somehow afterwards we were able to get up the energy to go to Monastiraki square to visit a lovely cafe (Avissinia) that was recommended by a friend, do a double decker bus tour to the National Archaeological Museum so as to see the best of the best of the Greek art told in an excellent chronological story.  Of course, Eilidh went the wrong way so we ended up jumping from Archaic to Hellenistic, but we got the general idea.  We knew we only had one day so we decided to make it count.

Nuff said.  Amazing.

Isabella was so tired she couldn't figure out how this tea thing worked.

Day 3 entailed getting up to the wonderful hotel breakfast (Greek yogurt!), trying to find cash, taking a bit of a walk and then getting our rental car to start the drive toward the Peloponnese Peninsula.  Our first stop: Nafplion.