Greece: Day 10

So this was the horrible, no good, very bad day. We left Meteora at 6:30 in the morning. We were going to try and stay in Athens that night, but we didn't have a reservation, so we thought we would just wing it. Bad idea. Well we got back to Athens, and sure enough, the hotel was booked solid. So on a whim we decided to take the train to Corinth. We thought it would be simple and easy. Note to self...nothing in Greece is simple and easy. So we went to Corinth, which is a HOLE. The rental car place was out of rental cars, so luckily this really nice old taxi driver took pity on us. He helped us out and waited for us to decided what to do. We decided to go to Nafplion. It's a really cute harbor town in the Peloponnese, and it's actually a vacation town for the Greeks. It's changed hands many times through out history. It's been run by the Greeks, Venetians, and Ottomans. It actually looks very Italian.

Anyways, we paid I think 150 euros for a taxi ride to Nafplion. We didn't really have a choice. Of course then we found out that the freaking train we were on went to Nafplion after Corinth. It was a new route, and in typical Greek fashion, there was no signs announcing this. I'm not bitter at all. This part of Greece was just as stunning. Groves of oranges and olives, as far as the eye could see. I really wish I had taken pictures, but like I said. It was a bad day. Everyone was a little freaked out and tired. Once we got to Nafplion we took the first hotel we could find, since one of my traveling companions was freaking out bad and needed alone time stat. We felt very pressured to make a quick decision. It turned out to be a really INTERESTING decision. I really wish I had taken pictures because now that I look back on it, it's actually funny. But it really wasn't at the time.

So our hotel. Ghetto slum lord...no joke. It was old, rusty, broken down, random mattresses stacked on a shelf in the room. It was horrible. We thought for sure we were going to get bed bugs or something. It was surprisingly clean for how old and run down it was. I really wish I had pictures to go along with this. So Angela and I decided the less time spent in our ghetto room, the better. So we took off. First thing we did was go to the train station to buy tickets back to Athens for the first thing in the morning. This is what was across from the train station...

The fortress on the hill is Palamidi castle. It has been used as a defensive fortress by the Greeks, Turks, Ottomans, and the Venetians. It's pretty interesting. It has 999 steps up to the top. Another thing I regret about this day is that I was too upset and over it to climb to the top. It was raining, everyone was emotional, I was just done. So yeah, I regret that. Oh well, honestly, when I look back at how I was feeling, I don't think I would have made a different decision.

Cool Venetian tower in the middle of the bay...Look at the raindrops...yeah, POURING rain. I was so paranoid over my camera. I hate rain.

Harbor....

 This was across from a church. It was a really cool courtyard that was full of marble artifacts. It looked like a staging place or restoration place. I also imagined this is what Michelangelo's workshop might have looked like. I was trying to make myself in a better mood, lol.

See how Venetian/Italian these streets look! Very cute and picturesque...

The other side...If you look in the lower right-hand corner, you will see the top of some fence posts. I was looking in this courtyard at more marble pillars, when I noticed something stuck at the bottom of the gate. It was a rat. And not just any rat....It was the size of a small dog. Actually, probably a medium size dog. It was dead, but it was still the largest rodent I've ever seen in real life. Of course, now I wish I had a picture to scar all of you, my readers. But I was still too traumatized over the days events to fully appreciate the grossness/awesomeness factor. It was so bad that when I was in Paris and waiting for Dawn and Angela to finish in the bathroom under the Eiffel Tower, I saw rats scurrying back and forth across the sidewalk, and it didn't even phase me. They were normal sized rats. This one was a monster rat. Like that More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark book, with the story about the Mexican Sewer Rat and the mom snuck it home because she thought it was a dog. I still get shudders from it.

Really cool moss-covered stairs. I stayed at the bottom while Angela climbed them. I took pictures and babied my knee, and tried to recover from the rat experience...

 Random courtyard with graffiti...Looks like we're in Greece!

This house was sooo old. It looked like it was falling apart. If you look on the left, you can see Angela...

More cute alleyways...

This was actually really awesome. You can see on part of the stone something written in Arabic. It was so cool to see Italian, Greek, and Arabic in this city. It has such a varied history. How crazy to be taken over by such different cultures...

Another view of Palamidi...

If you look closely, you can see where the stairs are. You could probably understand a little bit why I was not in the mood...

This is a really cool gate to the old city. It has a Venetian Lion on it. That was a symbol of this ruling country. There are Venetian lions all over the city. Behind the gate is actually the street where our hotel is on. Don't let it's quaint look fool you. GHETTO!!!

Here is another look at Palamidi with a better view of the stairs. We saw this as we went to explore the Acronauplia. It's the oldest part of the city dating back to the 1200's. It was an awesome old castle. Though, it had graffiti on it! How is that even possible? It was slightly disturbing to this romantic historian's mind.

This is a view from the top of the castle...Nafplion is a really cool town. I want to go back some day, so that I can have a different experience...

This is a view of the ocean from a mostly unprotected outlook from the castle. I really wanted to jump into the water from here. It would have felt nice. There was actually a guy in a red speedo floating around in the water below the castle. It was still pretty warm even though it was pouring rain.

Here is more of the Acronauplia. It was so cool! it was like we were in a real medieval castle! But without the tourists and tour guides. No one was there. It was just us. 10-year-old Jennifer would have been in heaven. I would have been wearing my dress-up, princess gear and felt right at home.

We walked all around inside the parts that weren't fenced off. It was so much fun. It was dirty, and rocky, and falling apart. It was like I was an explorer or an archaeologist discovering something for the first time. Ok, so I didn't have a completely horrible time while I was there!

It had turrets! The little girl in me was in heaven. Now that I'm looking at the pictures and thinking about it, this part of the trip was actually one of my favorites. I could have spent all day there, just looking and feeling and imagining. It was a really special moment.

We had some pretty good food in Nafplion, but it wasn't my favorite city. The people weren't as nice as in other places. We did see the most awesome event, though. After we explored the castle, we just walked around and ate gelato. Well, we ran across a wedding. Yes, my friends, a BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING!!! It was bling, and glitz, and lots of Greek people. And quite a few nice looking Greek men in suits. We sat and watched. I refrained from taking pictures because there was an older tourist couple taking pictures, and I didn't want to be one of them. Though, I probably should have just done that. Again, I say, Oh well.

So that was Nafplion. Probably my least favorite part of the trip, even though it had it's cool moments. We didn't get bed bugs, we didn't get kidnapped by our ghetto slumlord. It all turned out for the best. I slept good that night, even though I was freaked out by the blanket I used. I guess it was okay, though, it smelled good and didn't have any weird stains on it or anything.

The Greece part of my trip is almost over! One more day in Athens, then Delphi, and then Paris!