Nafplio(n)

This morning we woke up early, and no one was on strike! Oh wait, yes they were...

Autumn, still wasn't feeling well, and decided that we would also go on strike against the ruins and sites and stay in the room today. We had breakfast at the hotel, and I went out for a swim from the old town gate and took a few photos before we left Monemvasia.

The drive up to Nafplio/Navplion/who-the-hell-cares was uneventful, and we got to drive on the freeway! It was joyous to return to civilization without winding our way though one lane mountain roads. Nafplio was a cute town with a large fortress and some other ruins since it had previously been the capital of Greece. We checked into our hotel, grabbed some gelato, and I tucked Autumn in for an afternoon of rest and CNN / BBC World News.

While she was resting, I trekked up the 999+ stairs to the top of the fortress, even though it was closed due to striking archaeologists. The views from the top were nice, and then I walked all the way back down again. I grabbed a snack and wandered around the rest of town. Highlights included a cactus forest, a treacherous path along the bottom of the cliff that threatened falling cactus paddles, and a beautiful sunset. We ordered room service and went to bed early. Note on the room service, I ordered the Pear and Cheese "Salad" that was one tiny pear stewed in wine, no lettuce and about 1 1/2 pounds of Greek cheeses. Note on Greek "cheeses", there is only one...feta.

 Good morning sunshine!

 Good morning sad little tuckerton!

 More views of Monemvasia

 Swimming at the sea gate!

Que refreshing!

 Help! I'm trapped in an M.C. Escher drawing!

 The tiny fortress of Nafplio

 Checking into the Amphitrion Hotel

 Our beautiful swimming pool! Just kidding, you thought we'd been Greeked!

Gelato-mania!

 Nafplio town square and the big fortress

 What a surprise! The fortress is on strike! Oh well, Greeked again!

 I think that our vacation went wrong somewhere when walking up 1000 stairs was the highlight of my day...

 View of Nafplio from the top of the fortress

 More views...it was a really nice day, and very pretty from up there.

At least the bartenders union wasn't on strike today! Whew!

 Gratuitous cactus collage!

 Hmm...maybe I should have taken the torn down barbed-wire fence, defaced warning signs and smashed cactus bits as a sign that this was a forbidden path!

Goodbye Greece!