Nafplion and Hydra (sort of)

Well, the first night on board was very smooth and comfortable, and we awoke to find the port of Nafplion just outside. We had only booked a walking tour of the old town for the morning, and would see from that what else we wanted to do in the afternoon, as we were not scheduled to depart until 10 p.m.

Breakfast in the Patio Cafe was typical Lido style, including Crystal's famous muesli, one of Monica's favourites, and a full cook-to-order bar. Yummy!

Our tour was only an hour and a half long, but our guide seemed to want to cram 3,500 years worth of Greek history in there for us. That was because Nafplion (or Navplion, or Nafplio, depending) was the original capital of Greece when the whole country was only the Peloponnesian Penninsula, a few islands and a bit of the mainland. It had been occupied by the Ottomans and the Venetians, and then the Ottomans and the Venetians, until the early 1800s when it finally achieved independence. Not long after that, the then King of Greece, Prince Otto of Bavaria, moved the capital to Athens. But Nafplion is still the capital of the Argolis region of Greece, and remains an important port, although not a large commercial one.

The old town is quite pretty, the typical Greek architecture and lots of bougainvillea trees. Apparently everyone loves the plants, but hates to clean up after them when the blooms all fall off. But they do make the place look very nice and tropical.

View of the pleasure boat harbour

An old well with an inscription in Arabic,
going back to one of the Ottoman occupations

A little corner near St. George's Church

Inside St. George's church, a copy of Leonardo's 'Last Supper'
done by some of his students

The church - icons on almost every
available space.

...and more bougainvilleas

Oh, and we can't forget the cats! They are everywhere. There
shouldn't be any small rodents left anywhere for
the number we are seeing.

Oh, yeah, even MORE bougainvilleas. And
we thought Greeks were famous for oleanders.

After the tour, we took a walk along the shore toward the beacon and passed the Bouritz island fortress. It had quite a history, too, first as a prison for condemned convicts, then as the home of the executioners, who had previously been convicts themselves, and more recently as a 'vacation home' for the rich and famous. It is now being restored and will reopen as a museum and an entertainment spot.

Just before we left in the evening, we took a walk around the deck and noticed that Palamidi Fortress was lit up. The fortress was built in 1812 as the main protective bastion for the city.

We arrived at Hydra just before 9:00 on Tuesday morning. This was a tender stop and we would be taking local tender boats into town for our tours. We had booked a hiking and swim at the beach tour, and went down to the reception area about 20 minutes early, where we were asked if we wanted to go ashore early to look around, since one of the tenders was already at the ship. Just getting on the tender was a bit of a struggle for some of the older folks because the sea was a little choppy, but we headed off nonetheless.

The town is, again, what you think of as a typical Greek island stop. Larry commented that he kept waiting for Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan to wander into town and start singing something from 'Mamma Mia'. We looked around in one direction and got back to the shoreside meeting point a little before the appointed time, and were told that tender operations were on hold because the conditions were getting windier and the captain had to decide if they were going to continue. So we went off in the other direction, and when we got back again, the decision had just been made: bring everyone back and we'll head off early toward the Corinth Canal. So the 8 guests who had managed to get on shore all boarded the tender and went through the same process to get back onboard. It was substantially bumpier both on the water and at the ship's marina, so the decision really was in the best interest of all the guests.

Up on the hillside. The view from there must be spectacular.

 

Fishermen tending their nets on
the jetty.

Donkeys aren't just used for ferrying tourists around; they are
an integral part of the transport system. This guy is carrying
the old lady's groceries and 2 bales of hay for himself!

So now we are sitting in the Sunset Bar watching the Greek islands go by. We've already had a leisurely lunch, and decided to get the blog up to date before we go through the canal around 6:00 this evening. Update later!