Sometimes a port turns out to be so much more exciting than originally expected. Today is definitely one of those, even though we had a plan.
We tender into the town of Nafplio, or Nafplion I don’t know why both spellings seem to be used interchangeably but of course the alphabet here is different, really it’s Ναύπλιο, passing the Bourtzi Fortress as we go.
Having done due diligence we plan to take the long walk around to the fortress. The facts are simple – it’s a 183m climb, and the upper end of step tread hight is 7” so that’s at least 5.6 steps for every meter which means just over 1000 steps. Now we can and have climbed more, but not when the air temp is 38 and the humidity is also high. Instead we follow the road whilst taxis scream past us heading in the same direction.
As we go we wander past the now defunct railway station, find the statue of former commander in chief Thoeodros Kolokotronis, who later fell from grace and was executed in this fortress, and a very colourful and extensive street market.
The Palamidi Fortress is Venitian, built in just three years from 1711. It has eight bastions, and we manage to get around seven of these, the topmost one is in bad order and out of bounds, some of the others are more intact, the best are the prison and and one housing a small chapel.
The views down to the town are spectacular, we clamber over as much as possible before we head to the lowest bastion which is the point where the staircase meets. Our descent takes us slowly down those steps with many twists and turns, some diversions into treacherous territory as we explore the huge wall, and finally to the gate which represents the start of the old town of Nafplio.
Here we follow our plan of discovery from the Land Gate which dates back to 1708, next the (now)Catholic church which has a sinister and unlit crypt chapel with bones (not visible) in the walls.
From then we hit a few orthodox churches, view the Venitian Arsenal which is now a museum. We find some old water fountains which date back to the Ottoman rule where a complex of underground irrigation provided the town with water from the monastery sitting on the hill above.
The church of St George is in particularly poor state, with scaffolding under every arch but it still looks impressive. The whole area has been hit with a massive tourist infection, every building is now an hotel, or even worse AirBNB, and we know only too well how this will adversely impact on the locals, but for now it has a wonderful atmosphere of calmness and sophistication.
Our entire walk may have only been six miles but we believe have justified a pizza, so we catch the next tender back home and order a special from chef Ajay at Patio Grill.
The afternoon is spent working poolside, it’s very quiet as once again about two thirds of customers are leaving tomorrow so need to pack. We have a praying mantis onboard, it keeps on popping up around the deck. As always there is an epicurean event where we get to thank the wonderful staff. Two of the new cast sing a short classical set, before the staff parade around deck ten.
We break with our long-standing rule on buffets this evening. Normally we don’t ever use them for obvious hygiene reasons, but it’s Indian Market so we want to at least try it once. The food is fabulous, we sample a lot of small portions, a lot I don’t really know but they are tasty. However the service is seriously under par.
There is a change to the planned show tonight and instead Joe is performing his other set. We enjoy his excellent performance of Eagles, Elton, Bee Gees, Meatloaf, Prince and some others.
