Jeff's Blog - Tuesday, October 4, 2016 - Nafplion

After two days in Nafplio, I've really grown to like it here. Scenes like the first below are common, with a flowering tree arching over a narrow street. That was taken on my way to the town's archaeological museum where two of the highlights were a 7th-century BC set of grotesque ceremonial terra-cotta masks from Tiryns, and a 15th-century BC bronze suit of Mycenaean armor, the oldest suit of armor ever found in Europe. At this point in my vacation I've finally settled down into the relaxation that I'd planned for from day one. I'm not as leery of driving any more, in fact, since the trip to the Temple of Apollo at Bassae the other day, I've even been enjoying some music in my car. It has an iPod USB connection, and I've been listening to some of the music I'd loaded into the iPod for my driving time during this trip. A comparison of 6 performances of one of my favorites, Mahler's 7th symphony, began then and will continue for a few more enjoyable days of my driving. To you, my readers, this probably means nothing or perhaps brings a giggle. To me, who planned and has been looking forward to this vacation for a long time, it is quite a relief to finally be "on vacation". Thanks, Nafplio.

From the museum it was out into the heat to see the Palamidi Fortress standing high atop the cliffs of the town. Some of my favorite photos from this fortress were of sunlight through a doorway, a view of a prison cell, and a stairway leading up to a gate.

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But the views of the town from the fortress (jeez, I can't believe I'm somewhere that I can see anything like this) were as impressive as the views of the fortress I've been seeing over the last day or two from the town.

About 5 miles from the fortress was Karathona Beach, where I went for a swim in the Mediterranean Sea to cool off a bit. It is quite hot today. After lunch back in town, I went to a shady seaside cafe to cool off and drink a beer. Then I rode an elevator bored into the hillside for a very swanky hotel, from the town level near my hotel to the luxury hotel at the top of the walls, and enjoyed another view over the city. From up there, I had a great view of the Gulf of Argolis in the direction away from town (toward the main part of the Mediterranean Sea). The beach I'd swam at earlier is just around the corner to the left. Jeez, am I really here? What a sight! It was a nice relaxing day in preparation for a couple days on the road again coming up.

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