i spy

λόφος, δέντρο, πέτρα, θάλασσα (hill, tree, rock, sea)

On the advice of my domatia owner, Dimitri, I spent my afternoons in Nafplio exploring the coastal walks. A paved walk follows the edge of Nafplio's little peninsula from town and ends at the pebble beach just behind the hill. Another (unpaved) path leads from this beach, continuing southeast along the coast to a larger sandy beach, 3 km away.

Dimitri tells me that he walks this path every morning, and indeed, the locals were using it throughout the day as their jogging/walking/romantic stroll route. When Dimitri first told me about the walk, he tried to explain how great it was in his halting English: "Hill, tree, rock... sea," was the best he could do, but in the end, it's probably the best description possible, because that's exactly what it is. Walking the path, there is nothing but hill, tree, rock, sea... and sky.

palamidi fortress

The Palamidi Fortress, overlooking Nafplio and the surrounding gulf, is by far my favorite ruin. It was built by the Venetians in the early 18th century, and consists of multiple (at least five) bastions. After climbing the 860+ stairs up the hill (that's just to get to the entrance gate; once inside, there are many more stairs, depending on where you'd like to go), you're free to explore the whole expanse of the fortress on your own (and at your own peril).

Wandering around was so much fun (many of the bastions are well-preserved, and still have rooms and tunnels and such to poke your head into) that I made a video for you to join in. Prepare yourself for some jostling; it's quite difficult to keep the camera steady while scampering over 300 year old cobblestones.

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.

Ναύπλιο (nafplio, greece)

Greetings from Nafplio. I arrived last night in the dark, and woke up this morning to a sunny (albeit a bit chilly) morning, finding myself on the coast, overlooking tiled roofs, with two fortress ruins towering above me. So far, so good.