Corinth and Nafplion from Athens

 

Today we are in Athens and since we have two stops in Athens, we decided to head out of the city. We hired a mini bus with ten friends and Dimitri who was our guide and driver.

We met early and headed out of Athens towards Corinth for our first stop at the Corinth Canal – a Canal which was built as a shortcut for ships between the Aegean and Ionian seas. To save time traveling between the two seas before the canal was opened, ships were transported across the land by being dragged along a path covered with rocks lubricated with olive oil – true Greek ingenuity!!!

Our next stop was at the site of Ancient Corinth – a strategic settlement in Ancient times and very interesting. There was an excellent museum attached to the site.

Always up for a laugh, Joanne and I decided to hide between a row of headless statues in an outdoor courtyard and jump out from between them, while Garry filmed us. Unfortunately, the guard didn’t find it as funny as we did, and we were told off for disrespecting history – sorry!!

We travelled about an hour further to the seaside port of Nafplion – the original capital of Greece and now a popular holiday destination for tourists from all over Europe – set around a lovely bay with an ancient fortified castle in the centre of the harbour.

Lunch was at an outdoor restaurant overlooking the harbour – and which specialises in local seafood.

We started with a delicious creamy grilled feta – heated in foil and then topped with tomato and capsicum.

Then, for main course, I chose the lamb moussaka which was delicious while Arnold chose grilled octopus – the tentacles were huge – but so tender – almost the texture of chicken – and very tasty – I did have to have a mouthful to make sure that they were alright – accompanied by a delicious Greek salad!!

We have a lot of Greek ports, and the food is so delicious – we will have to start pacing ourselves!!

After lunch, we wandered through the narrow streets around the village exploring the different shops – although everything except the tourist shops closes between 1.00 pm and 4.00pm during the hottest part for the day – so civilised.

All too soon it was time to head back to the ship after our day in the country, and since it was 38 degrees, we all managed a nana nap on the bus and a swim when we returned to the ship.

Tomorrow, we have a sea day.