June 30th - Day 20

Another busy day! This morning we went to the Nafplion Archaeological Museum. It was a small museum consisting of just two floors, both with single rooms. The coolest thing I saw was Mycenaean armor made of bronze. After that we walked a few blocks to the Folk Art Museum where we saw displays of crafts and traditional clothing from Nafplion and the surrounding area. It too was a small museum, so it didn’t take long to get through it. It was nice to spend the morning out of the sun, but alas it was not to last.

Palamidi

After a short snack break we got on the bus and headed off to Palamidi, a Venetian fortification with some spectacular views. The site consists of several bastions and we all enjoyed running from bastion to bastion and climbing the different bastions to see what was to be seen. It was certainly not for the faint of heart however. The bastions were all incredibly high and not all of them were in the greatest shape, so it often required some creative climbing to make it to the top. I had to force myself not to look down several times.

When we finished at Palamidi, we headed off to Epidauros. Along the way we stopped to see a Mycenaean bridge. We got to Epidauros early so we got to spend some time relaxing on the lawns and playing with the site dogs. Many of the sites that we have seen have site dogs, some of which are used to help guard the sites. Many are just strays who are taken care of the people to run the sites. While I had fun playing with the dogs, they reminded me of Jack and Precious and how much I am missing them, even if they are not missing me.

Epidauros

Vassillis Lambrinoudakis, an archaeologist on the site, toured us around the site. Epidauros is a sanctuary dedicated to Apollo and Asklepios and is associated with medicine and healing. At the Temple of Asklepios Vassillis showed us a really cool feature of the temple. Across from the temple was a cistern where water was pumped through underground pipes to the temple. The water was then pumped up into a statue base that contained a bronze statue of Asklepios. The water flowed out of the statue’s hand and was collected in a basin which was located at its feet. The water then flowed from the basin through more underground pipes to the bath house located next to the temple. This suggests that water was an important element for this site, as it both cleanses and gives life.

Athletic games were also held here and the site hosts a rather large stadium. It is also home to a famous theatre which is renowned for its acoustics and performances are still held there. We were able to experience the wondrous acoustics as Bella stood in the middle of the orchestra and recited a poem for us (in ancient Greek, of course) and even though we were all spread out around the theatre we could still hear her. Not always well, but that was due to the large number of other tourists that were at the site. It was still pretty impressive, especially considering the theatre’s mass. It can hold up to 12,000 people.

After the theatre we headed to the museum to see some of the finds from the site. We even got to go around back and see some of the pieces from the temple and tholos which are currently being reconstructed. They have not been published yet, so we could not take pictures. You’ll just have to take my word for it – it was really neat!

I like Nauplion much better than New Corinth. Our hotel is much nicer, but it has the smallest bathroom in the world! You literally have to step into the shower to close the door so that you can get to the toilet. We do have a nice balcony even if our view is just of other buildings. The whole town has a very Venetian feel and we are just a short walk to the main square which is surrounded by little restaurants and shops. Tonight we went to a small little family owned restaurant and I ordered slouvaki, which is skewered meat and veggies that are grilled. It was delicious!

Tomorrow is our last day/night in Nauplion and another busy day with 4 sites, so I’m heading to bed – goodnight all! :)