Nafplio

We said goodbye to Sarah and wished her good luck in her job-hunting, and headed off for Nafplio.

Nafplio is one of the prettiest towns we saw in Greece. It was the capital of Greece for a brief period following independence. Built on a narrow stip of land beneath (you guessed it) not one but two hillside fortresses, it has attractive narrow streets, elegant Venetian houses, and flower bedecked balconies. Athenians flock to this lively seaside town for weekend get-aways, thronging its quayside cafes and upscale boutiques and restaurants.

We were entirely unaware that there would be weekend crowds, but luckily we arrived on a Sunday at mid-day, when all the Athenians were getting ready to go home. We secured a room in a charming but excessively vertical stone hotel. Fortunately our room was on the ground floor, even though the office and restaurant could only be reached via four flights of stairs. We thought it best to get out of town while the crowds dissipated, so we set off to find the famous ancient Greek Theatre of Epidavros, reputed to be some 30 km distant.

We thought, quite reasonably it seemed, that the ancient Theatre of Epidavros would be found in or near the town of Ancient Epidavros. We dutifully followed the signs leading there, and in the town followed more signs directing us to the "ancient theatre". This theatre turned out to be indeed ancient, but it was a tiny amphitheatre that might seat 200, if they were all good friends. Barb was especially disappointed when we soon concluded that we were in the wrong place.

A couple hours of driving down various rural roads with precipitous mountain hairpin turns did not result in our getting any closer to the theatre so we finally turned, disgruntled, back towards Nafplio. We did find a small bridge that was built by the ancient Mycenians 3000 years ago. We convinced ourselves as a sort of consolation that the Spartan army must have marched over this very bridge on their way to attack Athens. After we left the bridge, Nikos was studying the road map in the back seat, and proposed that we try one more place before giving up on the theatre. It sounded improbable to me, but after a few kilometers and a wrong turn, we wound up in a large parking lot, mostly empty in the late afternoon except for a couple of tour buses and a few cars. We had finally found it!

The theatre is spectacular, and in very good condition. It is huge, capable of seating 14,000, and amazingly well-preserved. The acoustics are incredible. The acoustical centre of the stage is marked by a round flat stone about one metre in diameter. A person standing on that stone speaking, or a coin dropped on the stone, can be heard perfectly well in the highest row of seats. Additionally, some of the sound reflects back to the speaker, a sort of natural monitor. The theatre is still used today, with the annual Hellenic Festival offering both modern and ancient Greek dramas during the summer.

We were fortunate that when we arrived, a tour group of Russian women, some of whom were a choir, were moved to give an impromptu performance. They sang several songs in four-part harmony, filling the whole theatre with their beautiful voices. We left the theatre and drove back to Nafplios, still thrilled by the fabulous experience.

The next morning, we climbed the four flights of stairs for breakfast, and enjoyed a great view of the harbour and the small island fortress of Bourtzi. After breakfast, I climbed up to the small fortress at the top of the hill behind the hotel, while Nikos climbed the 999 steps to the large Palamidi fortress.(photo) We then drove back to Athens, as we had to return our rental car and prepare for the next leg of our journey