Espresso freddo: 0
Just started my new scoring system, only to score a zero. Perhaps I'll have better luck tomorrow.
Today was the first day of our Epos Tour. We were being picked up at 8am from Syntagma Square so we checked out of our hotel and headed to a bakery for breakfast. They were just opening up when we got there and the young man on the register had no clue how to use it so I settled for some croissant-like thing and a regular espresso as I wasn't comfortable asking for anything more complicated.
We were picked up promptly at 8am, which was very unGreek-like and then drove a little way to pick up the other couple on this tour. There is only 4 of us. The other two are an Israeli couple, Rina & David, who I'm guessing are in their 70s (actually it turns out they are in their mid-80s).
First stop was a visit to Lake Vouliagmeni which is near a spa town called Loutraki. When asked our guide, Argyris, said is was 20 minutes from Athens. It took us about an hour to get there. I'm beginning to learn that 20 Greek minutes is not the same as 20 chronological minutes, but just a term for within the next hour or so.
This lake is a beautiful blue lake that is actually a salt water lake as there is a very narrow channel to the sea. We paused here mainly for a pit stop, but the lake was lovely. It was quite shallow so the water was warm. It would be lovely to swim in.
Next stop was the Santuary of Hera Akraia at Perachora. Mary and I went down to the site and had a brief wander around. David & Rina didn't want to make the climb so we couldn't stay long which was a shame.
Then we were off to Acrocorinth. Acro just means "tall" or "high" so every town of any significance has an "acro-" not just Athens. This was a castle overlooking Corinth. This was just a stop for photos as just the climb up to the site takes an hour, never mind exploring the site itself. Something to do next time I'm in Greece.
Then we headed off to the Corinth Canal, which is just incredible. It is 6km long and a crazy number of metres deep. We saw a madman doing a bungy jump off a platform over the canal, as well as several boats going down the canal itself. One of the most fun aspects of this stop was crossing the road. It is a busy highway, so the trick is to stare intimidatingly at an approaching driver until they stop, and then walking out confidently across the road.
The final pre-lunch stop was a visit to the archeological site of ancient Corinth. It turns out our guide, Argyris, isn't actually a licensed tour guide so he couldn't come into the site with us. Instead, we went into the site by ourselves and meet Argyris and our driver an hour later. There is a free audio guide for the site, so we had a pleasant time exploring it. It was actually better than having an official guide with us as we could go at our own pace and spend as much time as we wanted at places that interested us and no time at others. We also got to ditch David & Rina and could go at our own pace.
Finally, after all this sightseeing we got to stop for lunch. Argyris ordered for us a variety of dishes to share which ranged from Average to Good. We had fried zucchini, Greek salad, tzaziki, saganaki, moussaka, stuffed cabbage leaves and stuffed eggplant (this was Good).
Next stop was Epidauras and its famous theatre. The acoustics are amazing. You can hear people walking around the sand in the orchestra pit when you are seated in the very top row. This theatre was part of a large complex dedicated to the god of medicine, Asclepius. The Greeks believed you could only be well if your were healthy in both mind and spirit so as well as the hospital, there were temples, a gym and a stadium and the famous theatre. Mary and I spent another hour wandering around this site.
After all this it was back in the van for the ride to Nafplio. We stopped on the way to take a photo from a hillside looking down on the town, just because it was a pretty view. Next stop was the Arkadiko Bridge which is, apparently, the oldest bridge in the world that is still in use - or rather that can still be used. I walked across it and also underneath it. Just incredible.
Then it was back in the van and onwards to Napflio. We still weren't done as we drove up to a viewpoint looking down on the old town, once again to admire the view. Which was worth admiring but I was ready to end the day.
We are staying at the 999 Luxury Hotel here in Napflio. It has lots of character and my room has its own tiny balcony. More importantly they provide breakfast (our hotel in Athens didn't) and they don't start serving until 8am, so we get to sleep in a bit. My feet could do with a rest.
For dinner we sinned and went to an Italian restaurant called La Gratella. I had the spaghetti carbonara. It had all the (basically) correct ingredients - pancetta, egg yolks and pecorino - but managed to taste bland. It also was served suspiciously quickly. Clearly not made to order. All in all Disappointing.
I wonder what tomorrow will involved. Epos provides 3 different sources of information about what each day includes. The website's itinerary page has headings listing the places you visit each day, then a detailed description of the day plus we are also sent a email each day with an outline. All 3 sources of information differ. None of them matched precisely what we did today. I think tomorrow we visit Mycenae and have a tasting of something. Either wine or olive oil. I'm not sure.
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