Reflections on Greece

We wrapped up our trip to Greece in the southwest of the country. The area was called Peloponnese. Before traveling to Greece, it was a pretty big decision to choose between the north and south of the country. The north had Delphi and Meteora, the south had Sparta, Olympia, Corinth and several other attractions. We chose the south this time.

We stayed in a town called Nafplio. We asked people in Santorini about it, one person said it was great, the other had never heard of it. 

Nafplio is a great port town. It has a peninsula shaped area that rises up out of the sea. There's a main city square and two shopping streets. There's a separate street on the water that's lined with restaurants. 

It's less than a 2 hour drive from Athens, and it makes for a great central point to most of Peloponnese. We took it easy on our first day there and asked locals what to do. The boardwalk and castle were recommended - and they were great! The boardwalk was one of my all time favorites and the castle was so good!

There are 999 steps to the castle, it's quite a workout. Palamidi Castle is the name of it if you want to google it. 

On our second day, we drove less than two hours to a place called Mystras. It'sa mystical place. 

I'll try to let some of the photos above speak for themselves. We stopped at a restaurant on the way up, had great food, then wandered the upper and lower areas of Mystras. 

The next day we went to Corinth. We started at the Corinth Canal since it's such a major feat to have built that canal. They used to hand carry boats over the four miles of land there because it was better than sailing all the way around Greece??

We then went into the town of ancient Corinth. It was smaller than I expected but still quite meaningful to walk an area that I heard is 7000 years old.

Our big finale was to drive up to acrocorinth, which is the castle and town at the top of the mountain. I was pretty surprised to not see much up there but again loved it.

I found the people and culture to be very kind in all of the places we visited. We met taxi drivers, waiters, waitresses, hotel staff, shop owners, and even locals in city centres. Given the current situation and asking them about it, they were so great. One shop owner said it best when he said "some days are good, some days are bad, we do our best". I think he wisely meant it broader than days, I think he meant days, weeks, months, years, decades, maybe even longer...

The food was great. We found the portions larger than expected and everything was flavourful. Desserts were especially good. Gyros seemed abut better than souvlaki in most places. Lots of olives. And the wine is amazing! 

The vistas were fantastic - lots of mountains, oceans, and thousands of years of history. 

Driving in Greece was the easiest driving of any country for me. Very few people on the road, relatively well marked signs and very few confusing intersections. There seems to be a culture of hovering over the right shoulder if you know you're going below the speed limit so that people can easily pass you - nice!

In terms of language, if you can read the Greek alphabet, you're in pretty good shape for reading signs and menus. Kalimera means good morning and efcharisto means thanks, you can almost get by on that :) 

Really enjoyed the trip, hope to come back someday!