NAUPLION

People had told me about Nafplio/Nauplion/Ναυπλιον as one of their favorite places in Greece, and now after spending two nights with free evenings there I love it too!  Our program for the field trip was great, because even though we got up early to begin our days (partly because the museums we visited had shortened winter hours and we had to make it early enough…) we were free around 5 or 6 to explore, find gyros, gelato, watch the Olympics…you know, as one must do.  We visited the museum at Nauplion on Wednesday to see the artifacts from Franchthi Cave, which was inhabited from 40,000 to about 3,000 BC.  Otherwise, we were free to explore!  

Upon arriving early in the afternoon on Monday after seeing Mycenae, Vasso made a quick edit to our itinerary so that we could see the Palamidi castle.  It is a huge fortress with 999 steps leading down the cliffside.  The restaurants had dishes named for these 999 steps as their object of local pride.  I caught a picture (above) of these steps just as the sun hit them right before it set!

These pictures are either from our hour of exploring the Palamidi Castle, from the walk along the water that is lined with cafes, or it’s the picture of these butt-chairs that I wasn’t lucky enough to sit in.  At my roommate Eleni’s recommendation (she is a full-year student so she came on this trip last semester), we went to a certain gyro place twice.  The best tzatziki!  Also, they happily changed the channel so we could avidly watch the Olympics!  We only saw some curling, but at least it was something!