Final day in Greece

June 25, 2009. I spent my last day exploring the central market of Athens! So many wonderful things...barrels full of olives, huge wheels of halava, hanging carcasses of meat just begging to be painted!
I went out of central Athens to find the National Arccheologial Museum, very neat and crowded with Italian tour groups. The I drank some gritty Greek coffee, got lost (reading bus signs in Greek is not an easy task), and met up with Jeana to do some last minute shopping before running off to the airport.
My flight was delayed, and I met some nice Canadian guys while waiting around, and I ended up showing them around Rome the next day! But that is another adventure.

Athens and the Acropolis

June 24, 2009. We visited the new Acropolis Museum (it had just opened that week!) It was pretty impressive, a beautiful open space. Nothing like the old stuffy artifacts behind glass sort of set up. Here we are with the caryatids.Later, really cheap yummy gyros on Souvlaki Row
Then the hike up to the Acropolis! It was amazing, you could see all of Athens sprawling out...

For dinner, a great place Rick Steves recommended, 12 shared dishes, ouzo and dessert.

Hydra!

June 23, 2009--daytrip to the island Hydra (pronounced EE-dra). Just a short ferry ride away from Athens, and so gorgeous. The bluest water I've ever seen. I missed being my the ocean after just a few days of Athens city life. I spent the day hiking around the island, finding different beaches to swim, sunbathe and paint at.No cars on the island, only donkies!
After a lovely lovely day, back to Athens to explore the Plaka and have dinner with everyone.

Athens

June 22, 2009. First full day in Athens. My travel companions were busy preparing for their conference in the morning, so I set out exploring the marketplace! I saw some sights and sought out the famous poet-sandal maker, got a gyro on souvlaki row...so good.

Later, I went to the International folk narrative research conference cocktail party, where Jeana and her friends met up with a professor friend.
Our hostel was right near the brand new Acropolis Museum, where they put on a great light show at night, animated smiling Kore...
Athens is a very interesting city. It reminded me of a very ancient LA...it has a lot of secrets.

Epidarus

June 20. We took a bus trip over to Epidaurus the healing sanctuary of the ancient world. It is also the home of one of the largest ancient theaters. We tested out it's acoustics with singing and jokes. It was pretty amazing how far sound traveled with no help from technology.
We returned to Nafplio for a summer storm, and then for dinner. We got ouzo accompanied by tiny fried fish, along with olives, giant beans, grilled feta, sausage, tomato and cucumber salad, and more ouzo!
A perfect last night in Nafplio!

Mycenae

June 19. We took a day trip to Mycenae to see the archeological site of the ancient Greek city. It was beautiful, but very hot....We stopped in Argos on the way back to search for Grappa (it is sold in plastic bottles!)
We went to the beach upon returning to Nafplio! The water was so refreshing, even if the waves were a little rough.
For dinner that night, we started with the most amazing olives, olive oil and toasted bread.
The infamous Greek Salad.
Jeana and I shared moussaka and some kind of pig skewer, and our waiter kept supplying our table with free red wine! Very tasty.

The Conquering of the Palamidi Fortress

June 18. My first morning in Nafplio, we got up bright and early to climb the Venetian fortress before it got too hot. The natives debate whether there are 800 or 1000 steps.....
There were a lot of steps.
The views were amazing. The ocean was so blue and seemed to go on forever...
After that hike, we were all exhausted and rested for most of the day. I explored and discovered a beach! The Mediterranean is so nice...And for dinner we had the fish special:
yum!