Friday, Nov. 5

We arrived in port at 6 a.m. And needed to clear off the ship early to make way for the next cruise due to get underway at 11.

We schlepped our bags over to the Budget office and picked up our vehicle. We were on our way to the Pelopennese by 9.

We stopped at Corinth to have a quick look at the Corinth Canal - it saves many hours and tons of fuel for ships traveling from the Adriatic to Athens or up to the Black Sea. Unfortunately no ships were transiting the canal when we passed. The photos I've seen are really impressive - it's so deep that the tops of the ships don't reach ground level.



After Corinth we immediately took a secondary road following the coast to Epidavrus. It was surprisingly mountainous, and featured some spectacular scenery.

Ancient Theatre at Epidavrus

The theater was designed in the 4th century BC. The original 34 rows were extended in Roman times by another 21 rows. It seats up to 15,000 people and is still in use today.



The theatre is reknown for its exceptional acoustics, which permit almost perfect intelligibility of unamplified spoken word to all 15,000 spectators, regardless of their seating. When all is quiet, one can actually hear the sound of a match struck at center-stage. A 2007 study concluded that the acoustic properties are either the result of an accident or the product of advanced design: The rows of limestone seats filter out low-frequency sounds, such as the murmur of the crowd, and amplify/reflect high-frequency sounds from the stage.



[Melinda: we ran into the Aussie couple here- they too are doing the Pelopennese]

[Note to Chichen Itza: by clapping my hands here, I too could make the Mayans' eagle cry]

We arrived in Nafplion early afternoon. The town was the first capital of modern Greece, from 1829 to 1834 when the capital was moved to Athens. Its Old Town remains one of the nicest places to visit (lots of Neo-classical architecture, harbour-side restaurant") and is a weekend retreat for many Athenians. It was held on several occasions by the Venetians and three fortresses remain.



Bourtzi was built to protect the harbour in the 15C. You can see our pension (orange sign) directly in line with the fort.



Palamidi castle (see very top) was constructed by Venetians during the 17th century and remains as one of the best preserved fortresses that they built.

Normal temp range for this time of year here is 12-15C; today was sunny and 26!






-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Φωτομάρα,Navplion,Greece