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Published: November 28th 2015
Happy Thanksgiving to all. Hope everyone enjoyed their day.
It is hard to believe it has been a week since we left Boston. Ed's sister Patti and her husband Doug have joined us on this trip and it has been great travelling with them.
Smooth uneventful 9 hr flight to Istanbul where we enjoyed 3 great days. A short flight to Athens, picked up the rental car at the airport and a 3 hour drive to our first stop at Nafplio. A beautiful waterfront promenade where we stopped for wine and appetizers at the end of the waterfront. That evening we checked out the night life. The town consists of narrow streets, remarkably clean with granite pavers throughout. Very picturesque with stairways among all the buildings, instead of streets. Travelling off season, we had the main square to ourselves.
Spent the next day in the town of Epidavros, with ruins dating back to 600 BC, we think. The ancient theatre easily sat @ 15000 people with acoustics so clear you could hear a person speaking from center stage in the last row. On the return drive stumbled on the olive processing plant
where they were pressing tons of olives into olive oil. Stopped for lunch at the waterfront of Ancient Epidavros. On the way home found a fruit stand and are continuing to enjoy the 4 kilos of fresh oranges we bought and a jar of olives. They are so sweet!!
The next morning we toured the Palamidi fort constructed on top of the cliffs overlooking Nafplio, built @1600. It was a beautiful view from the top!
A 4 hour drive through lots of olive groves and some beautiful mountains before reaching Monemvasia, considered the Gibraltar of Greece. From a distance it just looked like a giant rock island. A short causeway takes you to the main entry grate. No cars are allowed and as you walk thru the first gate, you enter a medieval castle. Very narrow alleys, we explored all the nooks and crannies and then watched the full moon rise over the ocean. It was beautiful, and so far our favorite town. Dinner was fantastic in a tiny restaurant with tiny 8 tables of which we were the only ones there. An amazing meal of traditional greek dishes including their own local wine.
A very enjoyable evening.
Thanksgiving breakfast started with homemade bread including some delicious olive bread, a plate of sweet bread, homemade jams and delicious fresh orange juice. Then came a plate of 'salties' that included ham, cheese pies, pieces of cheese, puffed pastries, bagel with tomatoes,feta cheese and capers and olives. Then came bowls of yoghurt and rice pudding. Fortunately we were smart enough to order only one omelette which was enormous. It was an amazing breakfast and lasted a couple hours.
Then we had @ 1 1/2 hour drive to the Spilea Dirou Caves. 1200 meters of river thru a cavern, we rode thru amazing numbers of stalactites and stalagmites. We took a ton of pictures. After that it was a rainy (our first major rain of the trip). We drove up and over the mountains on some narrow lanes to our next stop. We have discovered that the size and color of the lines of our map have no correlation with the actual size and condition of the roads. So far. it has been a great trip!!
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fox-middleton
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Wishing you all a joyfull time
What beautiful sites, and mostly to yourselves. Hopefully all the deadlines are weeks/months away and you can get lost in your travels. Thanks for sharing them with us.