After a stressful day of traveling from Paros we finally ended up in Loutraki near the ancient site of Corinth. The hotel was nice and we stayed there one night. The next day we travelled on the bus, which always seems to end with the ticket lady screaming in Greek and us leaving the bus station with tickets with no real confirmation of where we might end up or when.
This time we did manage to make it to Corinth where we hired a taxi for the day (Sunday) to take us to Ancient Corinth and Nafplio, partly because we didn't want to deal with the hassle and uncertainty of the Sunday bus schedule or cranky Greek women behind bus ticket counters and partly because it was a fairly good deal and the Greek man was extremely nice and helpful! Despite some of those that find themselves in my commentaries .......most Greek people are extremely nice and helpful!
Ancient Corinth was just as amazing as I remembered it. There is something powerful about being in the place.....standing exactly in the spot where the Apostle Paul preached, converted many Greeks and Romans to Christianity, and was tried for his teachings. I found myself engaged in reading Paul's letters to the Corinthians and felt so much depth in his words. It is easy when standing in the middle of history to feel the reality and passion he must have had when writing his letters.
Corinth's fortress is basically a castle on top of a mountain, or so it felt as we hiked up to it. It was enormous and the remnants left of the fortress hinted at a MUCH larger complex than what is left. The views (see pictures below) were priceless.
O Nafplio....how I love thee! I have never been to Nafplio so it was a first time for both Adam and me. We absolutely loved this ocean town with its pedestrian streets, beautiful weather, sweet ocean breeze, and friendly homesteaders. We spent our first evening walking around the old town, about 2 km. With the warm ocean breeze in your hair and the sounds of children playing and couples romancing we fell in love from the moment we got out of the taxi. It was a charming city to say the least! We had many lovely dinners in the town...all traditional Greek cuisine with local wine from the region (Pelopenese). Our first full day we stayed around our lovely little attic apartment, did some laundry, and then Adam and I hiked up 999+ steps to the Palamidi fortress. This was a huge fortress and it took us upwards of 2 hours to take in the site up and down. Ok...we like to hike, but 999+ steps is a lot! We were huffing and puffing by the top and as we came back down our legs were literally fatiguing to the point of shaking.....so we relaxed the rest of the day! This region is also well known for its amazing orange groves and fresh orange juice.....you better believe we took advantage of that!
Day 2 Gramma, Adam, and I set out to see the ancient site of Mycenae and Epidarus. Everyone we spoke to said it couldn't be done in one day as they are both about an hour away from Nafplio on separate sides.......well we thought...let's try! We woke and caught the earliest bus at 10 to Mycenae, had about 2 hours to see the museum and site, caught the 1pm bus back to Nafplio.....caught the 2:30 bus to Epidarus and had over 3 hours to see the museum, theater, and archeological site. We did make every bus on time without major disruptions....we even had time to spare at both sites! I know......I'm as surprised as anyone after our experiences with the busses on Santorini. The fact that we made it to one site without being cursed at in Greek was surprise enough. Haha! All in all...we were tired at the end of the day but we felt great about what we got to see.
Our last morning in Nafplio, Adam and I got up and went on a run around the city and....yes.....climbed the 999 steps again. Crazy I know, but we had to do it. The run didn't completely wipe us out so we thought.....let's go for it. 10 steps in we were whistling...I mean wheezing a different tune..haha! We made it up all 999 steps and back down. The run and climb took us less than an hour! We felt AWESOME about our morning excursion and left Nafplio a bit tired, but accomplished and happy! O dear, beautiful Nafplio....we will miss thee.
We then travelled by bus to Olympia...it took us about 8 hours! We went from Nafplio to the Isthmus (Corinth Canal) to Pyrgos and finally to Olympia. Thank goodness the bus station in Olympia was literally across the street from our hotel. Yippee!!!!!!! We navigated the bus system correctly for the 2nd day in a row......... although not without Greek women yelling at us behind the ticket counter or bus drivers completely ignoring Gramma's attempts at communicating in their language.
It seems some don't like it when we speak English or Greek.......hmmmmmm French maybe? I fact, one woman in the ticket counter at the canal naturally spoke in a loud, mumbled, quick Greek cadence...one we honestly stared at for a few minutes trying to figure out what language she was even speaking. Picture Gramma and I AND luggage getting 3 tickets to Pyrgos with a line of older Greek women behind us in a busy bus station. The woman behind the counter starts out yelling in a mumbled tone and Gramma requests appropriately in Greek......clearer than the woman behind the counter I might add. Ok, we got the number and the location......now for the payment. They don't take credit cards......got that from the woman's violent head shake......ok, now for how much. She kept yelling the number at us in Greek....seriously couldn't understand...here we are...she hears us speaking English and continues to say it in Greek. We are baffled and begin to get all the cash we have prepared to shove it all at her......just then she gets up....walks around behind the counter and begins cleaning the floor...like she doesn't have a huge line of customers.......she then looks up and says plain as day 62.50 in English. WOW!!!!!!
So.....minus a few bumps, we made it to Olympia!
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