"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report #96 Nafplion, Greece April 5, 2017 Wednesday Chance of rain & 68 degrees Part #1 of 3 87 Pictures

Today's port of call was Nafplion, Greece, a new port for many of us. Advertised as a small vacation area for Athenians, we discovered that this city is full of ancient sites, with museums, beaches, and mountain villages. Originally, this was never a stop on this cruise, until the port of Istanbul was cancelled. So there was not a lot of info provided as far as details are concerned. By getting a complimentary map on shore, we did learn some facts.

In 1823, Nafplion was appointed the seat of government, and became the first capital of Greece by 1828. The first Greek governor was Ioannis Kapodistrius, but was assassinated three years later. By 1833, a Bavarian Prince, Otto, became the first King of Greece. He moved the capital to Athens.

There were seven tours offered here today. They ranged from 3 ½ to 7 hours, and cost from $65 to $150. Two of the longer trips went out of town to ruins with lunch. Been there, done that. Shorter ones were to the Corinth Canal, wine tasting, and a local walking tour that included going to the Palamidi Castle, built in 1714. It is 700 feet above the harbor, and has at least 850 stairs to the top. It is three castles connected to each other by vaults, corridors, or secret passages. Eventually, it became a horrible prison.

Today was our first and only tender port of the entire world cruise. Last night, we got a notice that the President Club guests would get priority tendering. That meant we would not have to get tender tickets. We would need to meet with an escort at the front desk, who would take us down the secret stairwell to deck A, where we would wait for the next boat available. It is a nice perk, and we have done this on past trips. Today, we decided to wait until after the crowd went over, then went down to deck A with everyone else. Besides, not much was opened that early.

What we liked about Nafplion was the fact that everything was within walking distance in this compact town. Upon getting off of the tender boat, a local greeter handed us an excellent map. The first thing that caught our eye was a row of restaurants facing the harbor that had pizza. Then we walked deeper into town and found a grocery store that had what we needed. We would come back here before leaving.

Walking to the base of the Palamidi Fortress and Castle, we decided that it was not worth the time to try the climb up 850 stairs to the top. Unless you wanted to take a taxi, you would have to climb back down those same stairs. Not going to happen, thank you. We are sure the view was fantastic, but would have been even better if the sun was out. For most of the day, it remained cloudy, with several sprinkles coming down every now and then. We did come prepared with umbrellas just in case the sky opened up.

We turned left, and found the old historical part of town. The streets were lined with granite stones, and most of the alleyways were closed to car traffic. There were museums, schools, churches, and plenty of shops for souvenirs, as well as high end stores. The town was just waking up with many coffee shops. We found another shotglass and a necklace made with many colors of blue, a nice little keepsake of Nafplion.

One store was interesting, as it was a museum of "worry beads" called komboloi. They are praying objects used not only by the Greeks, but also Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and Catholics. We know them as rosary beads. This shop or museum had a collection of 1000 worry beads dating from 1550 to 1950. They were made from Baltic amber, black or red corals, precious stones,ivory, bone, horn, wood, or seeds and glass. It is not unusual to see elderly men with these beads in their hands at any given time…..while drinking coffee or playing games with their friends.

Turning around, we went to the other end of this peninsula, and found the Municipal Park. There was a flea market set up that went on and on. It began with clothing, shoes, housewares, and eventually produce of fresh veggies and fruit. At the far end, there were tables of fish of all kinds. We saw absolutely no flies. As in Piraeus, the vendors were barking out prices, enticing the locals to buy from them. Considering it was only Wednesday, it was very crowded with shoppers.

It was getting near noontime, and the skies were getting darker. Soon it would start to sprinkle, so we began searching for a good place for lunch. Most of the smaller cafes appeared to be self-service, like a McDonalds or similar. Come to think of it, we have not seen a McDonalds in Greece so far. Pizza Hut and KFC are in Greece, but nothing else familiar.

Eventually, we spotted a restaurant with a sign advertising wood-fired pizza. OK, that is what we were looking for. The place was called Carrera's, so we went inside and got seated right away. Not too busy yet, we remembered that most Greeks eat lunch later, like around 3pm. There were several customers in here lingering over coffee and cigarettes.

We ordered a margarita pizza, two draft beers (Mythos) ½ liter, and one chocolate/walnut crepe to share. Sure was good. A wood-fired pizza oven makes all the difference in the world with taste and texture. By the time we left, the place was filling up.

Our last stop was at the grocery store to buy a few things we needed in our room. Food prices here were surprisingly reasonable, as was our lunch.

By the time we went to the tender boat, it began to drizzle. Guess we timed that about right. It would be a passing shower, but all aboard time today was 4:30pm, and we did not want to wait until the last transfer back. The ride was smooth as glass, and getting on and off the small boats was a piece of cake here.

Upon entering our room, we found deliveries of President's Club amenities in the way of a flower arrangement and 17 Cokes waiting for us. Now that it is not so hot outside, the sodas are lasting longer.

The sail away was held once again in the Crow's Nest. There were several reasons for using this venue and one of them was the fact that it had been raining. The other reason was due to the type of fuel being used, soot was being spewed into the air, dropping black ash all over the outside decks. As we always go to the aft deck by the pool, we had to be careful where we walked, and what we touched on the railings. The good thing was that there were few of us back there, so taking photos was easy. And the rain stayed away.

All were present at dinner tonight, although the lower dining room was mostly empty. This was the fourth port in a row, and the folks are obviously getting tired. This is hard work….day after day. Martin agreed, since he had walked a total of 89 kilometers trekking in Greece. Today, he slept late and missed his short tour to the Corinth Canal. Happens to the best of us.

We ordered the beef entrée, which was similar to beef brisket with a different name. For the first time, baklava was on the menu, so we had to try it. Funny thing was it was made with peanuts as well as pistachios….not bad, but not exactly typical. Guess the bakers ran out of ground pistachios and substituted peanuts. One of us had the excellent pineapple upside down cake with ice cream, sharing the ice cream to eat with the baklava.

Tomorrow, we will be in Crete, another new stop for us. We doubt the show lounge was full, even with a mime, magic, and comedy act by Ruben Vilagrand.

By the way, we have received a letter concerning the future of Grand Dollar Activities on the grand voyages. Only a total of 400 guests out of approximately 1800 on the Amsterdam and the Prinsendam turned in their questionnaires about the program, and the feeling was that the guests did want to continue with some type of program.

With this info, HAL will re-assess the games and the prizes. It will be determined what the activities will involve which will fit the physical, mental, and/or social stimulation while at sea. In other words, we feel the games that have caused the most stress on the staff and arguments between the passengers will be dropped. And it will be re-named Grand Activities on both ships. The prizes? Don't expect much, is our guess…….

Bill & Mary Ann

Arriving in the Argolikos Bay