Corinth, Mycenae, Nemea, Nafplion

Last time I wrote in, I had just been back from walking around the Acrop. I then went on a tour of Athens given by an archaeology professor who stays in the hostel and had studied in England. He was a very nice guy, but got stalled at places a bit too long. Ended up being a three-hour tour (...a three owwwerrrr tour) and blew my plan. But we did visit the Athenian and Roman agora, Hadrian's Arch, the Temple of Zeus, Syntagma Plaza (where the riots had been. There was one rather lame union protest going on but the participants looked bored as they marched down the street.) Saw Parliament Building and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the guards in their funny shoes. Went through the shopping areas of Monastiraki and Plaka. Saw the stadium where the Marathon ends and the National Gardens. Did I mention the Areopagus where democracy began and where Paul gave his message to the Athenians. Didn't work so well so he went to Corinth. Also saw the Pnyx (try pronouncing that one). After the tour mercifully ended (it was really very good) I raced onto the subway and went to the National Archaeological Museum where I saw manhy famous pieces like Agamemnon's mask and the statue of Zeus or Poseidon (they really don't know which) and several Minoan and Mycenean pieces. Then cabbed it back to the hostel and walked up to teh Parthenon and then the Parthenon museum. Instead of seeing the museum I just went to the cafe and had a cheese melon delicacy and a beer. Actually it was one of the worst beers I've had in a long time - said something like Bio Beer on the label. I've got to stop trying new beers. Heineken was the same price. Anyway I was happy with the honey melon cheese thingy from Crete.

I realize I am probably putting my audience to sleep, so suffice it to say I saw a ton of stuff before getting back to the hostel for the night. Hung out with a lot of people who made me feel very old, but they were very nice to me and gave me proper sympathy for the bloody knee I got during the hike.

Wednesday – After an early breakfast and checkout I was off walking to find the rental car place – also found a post office but only had enough money for 3 stamps. Dang. Needed an ATM also. The car is ok but the directions from the Avis lady were totally lame, so I spent alot of time missing turns and getting lost while trying to get out of town. Like…an hour. Ouch. Didn’t get too bummed out, as nobody was being inconvenienced but me. Very mature. I had brought my GPS from the States but it doesn't work here, and the GPS I rented from Avis is slow at crucial times, like saying "turn right" after the intersection is behind me. I eventually got the hang of it and checked out the Corinth canal at the isthmus. Seventy feet below the bridge over the isthmus at Corinth, the water was a gorgeous blue and you could see the outlets on both sides a few kilometers away. I decided to stop off in ancient Nemea (where they had Pan-Grecan games like Olympia’s) and then ancient Mycenae, which was truly spectacular. Fantastic geography. And then came down to Nafplio, which is one of the more beautiful places I’ve seen. Right on the Aegean coast and beautiful neo-classical architecture (from around late 1800s). It was the first capital of Greece so they made it look good. Now it’s off the beaten path so prices are pretty good. Nothing I’ve seen has been very crowded. It’s like I’m off-season with prefect weather and everything’s open. Grabbed a 3* business hotel (with a pool) at 2* prices near the beach. Ate a Greek pizza overlooking the port and castle at sunset.
Thursday

I like Nafplio so much I’m going to hang here for the morning until checkout. Then I see the beach town of Tolo for a quick swim and will hit Epidauros, site of the best preserved  ancient theatre in Greece, which has a lot. I’ve already seen five. I brought a book of three Euripedes plays so maybe I can read them in Epidauros. But then I have to hustle on to Sparta (yeah I know – there’s nothing there). Maybe I’ll get someone to film me on the iphone screaming, “This is SPARTA!” like the movie, and then kick some animal into a well. Not really. About the animal. Maybe the other part. After that it’s over the hill into Mistras (like a Byzantine Bechtesgaden) and to see the Messenian plain. I’ve attached some pictures of Nafplio, including one with me in it.