Day 8: Nafplion, 22°🌞🌩️

Tourists Watching Tourists & Other Stuff!

I mentioned yesterday that a weather shift was expected today. Well, as the weather map below suggests, we are on the cusp of it.

***Radar precipitation map at 9am with our location in the small square in the lower centre.***

***Our present situation at 13:00. We are about to get wet!***

Knowing that the weather for the next couple of days was going to be spotty, we went out this morning to wander the quiet streets of Old Town. The Venetian influence is very evident in the buildings. It’s just like walking through a dry Venice in some locations…for a fraction of the price!🤔

***Stairs, Stairs & Stairs! I didn’t go up.***😅

***This opportunity didn’t tempt me either.***

***There was the usual array of cats today finding ways to amuse themselves. Wonder what was under there?***

***And for those who wanted it, breakfast was served in multiple locations.***

I thought this building looked out of place, and then it dawned on me that it was actually a mosque. It was the tile roof that initially threw me. Apparently the clock high in the background is referred to here as ‘Big Ben’. I’m not climbing to check it out either.

We wandered all the back streets. I found a nice door that I’m posting for our daughter Caitlin as she is just as much of a fan of these old doors as I am.

With the advent of more and larger grocery stores in Greece and for that matter most of the EU, one generally finds these smaller shops less frequently than in prior times. A real shame as I have always enjoyed going into them to see what’s on offer and to interact with operator. Just one of the treats of international travel!

***Towards 11:35 and feeling somewhat peckish from our slow morning wander, we found a place in Sintagma Square to sit for a while. Actually, we felt a couple of drops of rain and we panicked!***

We ordered a piece of the famous Orange Cake with drinks and sat back in our comfy chairs to watch other tourists pass by. People watching can be an enjoyable pastime except when there are only just other tourists. So it’s those tourists sitting in the cafes who are watching the tourists pass by as they search for a suitable place to in turn sit and watch other tourists. The tourists sitting and watching hold all the cards as the other tourists who have not found a refuge are exposed. Frankly the whole process is exhausting!😂

***Orange cake with honey drizzled over it. Thank god for all the exercise yesterday! It was so good!***

***We were also presented with Timbits! Not really, but they did look familiar. They tasted better too!***

We curiously watched a young woman take up striking personal poses and filming herself all over the square. It seemed so odd. I wondered what social media platform(s) she would repeatedly dump her self-images on? And would anyone really care? Does it pay well, and if so, should I take more selfies?🙄 Probably no one really wants to see that much of me. I’m just getting older.

I took this photo because it just looked like a relaxed vibe for an apartment balcony in Venetian Nafplion. Based on this being my second visit to Nafplion, I think that perhaps this city might actually be a nice place to live.

Tomorrow we have to be up early, gas up the car, drive the 2 hours to Athens International Airport, gas up again, drop the car and then catch our 11:30 flight SE to the Island of Kos just off the coast of Turkey. Looking forward to slowing things down for a few days. Our host here said that he recently met with a hotelier from Kos who told him about how beautiful the island is. My feet are hopeful that it has sandy beaches!⛱️

We have to pack our carry-on tonight. I have acquired two 100 ml glass jars of excellent Greek honey. One that is made from chestnut flowers and the other from orange tree blossoms. Hopefully they make it through security!🤞🤞

That’s about it from the Peloponnese. It’s been a very enjoyable week here. Nice memories to take away and combine with my memories from a 2003 trip with Erin. I don’t think one could go wrong taking some time to explore this generally less-traveled part of Greece. It has it all…except perhaps for sandy beaches!!

Cheers!

Geoff🫒🍹🌞🇬🇷