19 March
2025 – Nafplion
Miles
driven today = 29
Total Miles
to date = 2,120
The change
in temperatures over the last 3 days has just been crazy. It was 27 and sweltering when we were
clambering up and down the stone steps at Mystra on Sunday and I was swimming
in the Sea on Monday but the temperature barely got out of single figures today
and my weather app is forecasting a possible frost tonight, so the heating in the
van and the thermal covers on the windscreen are back on. At least yesterday’s rain has now gone.
We took the
20 mile coast hugging road to Nafplion this morning and parked up near the
harbour, where we surprised to see 20 or more other vans of various
nationalities, many of whom appeared to have spent the night there. It wasn’t my idea of a peaceful place to sleep
with all the loading and unloading of ships going on very nearby but each to
their own.
For 5 years
between 1829 and 1834 Nafplion was the first Capital City of Greece following
the War of Independence.
The town
has no less than 3 Castles.
The most
accessible of these is The
Akronafplia which sits
directly above the town centre on the site of an old Acropolis.
Part of it has been redeveloped to
accommodate hotels, at least one of which is itself now completely derelict.
Considerably
less accessible is The Palamidhi which sits more than 200 metres of vertical climb
up a steep staircase which is visible to the left of this picture.
Thirdly is
the sandcastle like Bourtzi which sits on an island a little way offshore and
looked very photogenic with the fresh snow on the peaks behind it.
It was built by the Venetians to protect the
shipping lanes into Argos Bay.
A lot of
the town gave the impression of being comparatively upmarket by Greek standards.
Even the
tourist tat shops seemed to have considerably more in the way of unique
offerings than most places we have visited.
Easter is
obviously just around the corner.
Boom time
for the Chocolatiers.
We made a
quick stop at the Komboloi (Worry Bead) Museum and learnt that beads are used
for prayer counting in most religions.
Hindus
have been known to use them for at least 3,500 years.
But the Greeks use them more for meditation
and tranquility purposes.
There were
several interesting displays inside but unfortunately we weren’t allowed any
photos.
After
browsing the shopping streets for a while we found our way to Platia
Syndagmatos, the town’s main square.
Here there are a couple of old mosques from the Ottoman period.
The Trianon is occasionally used for theatre
productions.
Whereas the
Vouleftikon housed the embryonic Greek state’s first Parliament.
This
grandiose Venetian Mansion at the far end of the Square houses the local Archeological
Museum.
There were
also a number of tavernas lining the square so we decided that brunch was in
order and devoured a couple of ham & cheese croissants whilst warming ourselves
under their gas patio heaters.
Without doubt
the darkest, thickest and strongest Greek coffee I’ve ever tasted with
complimentary sweetened dough balls.
There is
very pleasant coastal path around
the Akronafplia
fortress walls.
So we
braved the biting winds for a stroll.
The Sun was
trying to make an appearance, making the Sea a fabulous turquoise once again.
The view
from the Akronafplia looking down over the town and the Bourtzi in the Bay
beyond.
This
building looks Ottoman too but apparently nowadays it’s a Catholic Church which
is mainly attended by the town’s Polish community.
The
Venetian Land Gate formed the entrance to the old town.
On our way
out of Nafplion we stopped at Lidl and also filled up with LPG for the first
time since we left Italy. In 26 days we’ve
gone through just €23 worth of gas.
Pretty impressive when you think we’ve had the heating on a good few
evenings over that period.
We’ve moved
just a few kilometres further along the coast to Lefka Beach Camping, near to the
village of Vivari.
It’s set into a steep
hillside and has its own private beach.
Looking
at Google Maps satellite imagery there is the much larger Kondyli Beach just
the other side of the headland and we could probably swim there very easily.
But getting
there without getting wet is a bit more tricky so we went in search of a path.
We turned back after a while but we may give
it another go tomorrow.
But in the
meantime Lisa managed to forage some wild Oregano to add to the sauce she
cooked up for the gnocchi we had for tea tonight.
We like it here. It’s
certainly a half decent spot to while away another couple of days.
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