λουλούδι (flower)

Nafplio is a two and a half hour bus ride from Athens, in the Peloponnese. The chatty Greek woman who sat next to me on the bus informed me that Nafplio was Greece's first capital, after its independence from the Ottomans in the late 1820s, until 1834, when the capital was moved to Athens. 

Prior to all of this, Nafplio was a major stronghold for each occupier, of which there were several throughout its history: the Byzantines, the Franks, the Venetians, and the Ottomans. The architecture of the old city center has a lot of Venetian influence, and is incredibly picturesque. There are flowers, um, everywhere. The last photo above is of a street drain. Clogged with flower petals. Not garbage, not stinky brown sludge. Flower petals.