Wildflowers and a Mighty Wind:
Nine days in the Peloponnese and Athens.
Nine days in the Peloponnese and Athens.
The voyage to Nafplio
“Thundercats are GO!!!!”
This was our battle-cry as we left the Athens airport and hit the tollway in
our rented Hyundai Elantra. Chris and Allie had just watched the movie
Juno on the overnight plane ride, and this memorable catch-phrase from
the film would serve as a recurring verbal motif throughout our trip. No, no
one in our traveling party was giving birth, but it was a motivating phrase,
nonetheless.
Our long-planned vacation trip to Greece got off to a great start at the C-
concourse Red Carpet Club at O’Hare, where we enjoyed a total of five free
drink chits (don't you love it when you find an extra one tucked inside your
passport). The United transatlantic flight to Munich boarded and took off on
time, and we were on our way.
The crossing went about as smoothly as it could, considering all that could
have gone wrong. Our flight was absolutely packed full. About 70 or so of
our fellow travelers were high school students traveling in a large,
Clearasil-scented group; another sizeable group was a muster of military
personnel and/or retirees who were quite chatty during boarding. And just
two rows away was a howling lap-child. But once the wheels went up,
everyone pretty much settled right down.
Unsolicited, unpaid product endorsement #1: Chris is thrilled with his
new Shure E3C earbuds, his latest iPod accessory which totally blocks out
ambient noise and reproduces quality hi-fi sound for music and in-flight
movies alike.
Marisa and Allie were able to sleep at least a little during the flight, which
helps. Chris has learned his lesson, and didn't even try. Concert videos
ripped to his iPod kept him company all night.
On arrival in Munich (30 minutes early!), we made a bee-line for the
Lufthansa/Star Alliance lounge area…where we were promptly denied
access for anyone besides the (Red Carpet Club) cardholder and ONE
guest/family member. A little grumpily, we slinked away and found a place
to sit and have some coffee & OJ…a little restaurant called Seafood Sylt
Meets Asia in the Schengen area. Their fresh-squeezed orange juice
machine was a sight to behold; large quantities of whole, fresh oranges
were dumped in a hopper on top, some gears ground them up, and out
came the best OJ. EVER!
Our Aegean Airlines flight to Athens was also uneventful. The food was
decent but probably contained some hidden traces of nuts because Allie’s
allergies were agitated a bit.
It was raining when we arrived in Athens, not a good sign. We picked up
our car, the aforementioned Elantra, which sported its share of dings and
which generated roughly the same amount of torque as you’d expect from
a Weedwacker (with similar sound effects).
We hit the highway at 4:15, lumbered (crawled?) our way through early
rush hour traffic jams around Athens, and soon we were cruising toward
Corinth and Nafplio. We crossed the Corinth Canal at the stroke of 6pm
and soon after that were navigating our way on smaller roads through
rugged scenery and small towns into the Nafplio area. Our planned arrival
into town was thrown for a loop when we got a look at how narrow the
streets are in the old town, and we promptly ended up in a circuitous
goose-chase tour of the town before finding the enormous free parking
zone on the waterfront. Why fight it? We can carry the bags across town;
we've done worse before. As it turns out, it wasn't very difficult at all. We
walked straight to our hotel without so much as a glance at a map.
After rolling our bags for about 5 minutes, we were standing at the
reception of Pension Amfitriti, our home for the next three nights. We
checked into this homey B&B, and were given a room one floor up from
street-level with one double bed and a fold-out sleeper sofa (which Allie
says was less than ideal). We cleaned ourselves up a bit, then strolled out
into the evening to find a place to eat. The restaurants stand cheek-to-jowl
on the street one block down from the hotel, and we stopped to read the
menu at the first place we encountered, Ta Fanaria. Nothing fancy here,
just a simple taverna; but they had an English menu, a lot of their offerings
sounded pretty good, and a sign outside proclaimed that the same chef
had been here for 25 years, so once again…why fight it? Thundercats are
GO!!!
This meal turned out to be one of the best of our trip, and one of the best
values. Allie had no idea what to order, so we talked her into trying an
appetizer of dolmades (stuffed vine leaves)…which she loved so much that
she ended up ordering it virtually every day of our trip! The Greek salad was
uber-fresh, the slow-cooked veal stew was extremely tender and tasty, the
stuffed eggplant was delicious, the house red wine was serviceable. And
Chris’s after-dinner ouzo was just what the doctor ordered. The final bill
was about 33 euro…not bad at all.
Sated and exhausted, we strolled a little through the town then headed
back to our room where we played Uno in a desperate attempt to fight jet
lag and stay up until 10:00. We then crashed.
Next: Mycenae: Bronze Age equinox
See all of our Greece photos
our travels
home
contact us
“Thundercats are GO!!!!”
This was our battle-cry as we left the Athens airport and hit the tollway in
our rented Hyundai Elantra. Chris and Allie had just watched the movie
Juno on the overnight plane ride, and this memorable catch-phrase from
the film would serve as a recurring verbal motif throughout our trip. No, no
one in our traveling party was giving birth, but it was a motivating phrase,
nonetheless.
Our long-planned vacation trip to Greece got off to a great start at the C-
concourse Red Carpet Club at O’Hare, where we enjoyed a total of five free
drink chits (don't you love it when you find an extra one tucked inside your
passport). The United transatlantic flight to Munich boarded and took off on
time, and we were on our way.
The crossing went about as smoothly as it could, considering all that could
have gone wrong. Our flight was absolutely packed full. About 70 or so of
our fellow travelers were high school students traveling in a large,
Clearasil-scented group; another sizeable group was a muster of military
personnel and/or retirees who were quite chatty during boarding. And just
two rows away was a howling lap-child. But once the wheels went up,
everyone pretty much settled right down.
Unsolicited, unpaid product endorsement #1: Chris is thrilled with his
new Shure E3C earbuds, his latest iPod accessory which totally blocks out
ambient noise and reproduces quality hi-fi sound for music and in-flight
movies alike.
Marisa and Allie were able to sleep at least a little during the flight, which
helps. Chris has learned his lesson, and didn't even try. Concert videos
ripped to his iPod kept him company all night.
On arrival in Munich (30 minutes early!), we made a bee-line for the
Lufthansa/Star Alliance lounge area…where we were promptly denied
access for anyone besides the (Red Carpet Club) cardholder and ONE
guest/family member. A little grumpily, we slinked away and found a place
to sit and have some coffee & OJ…a little restaurant called Seafood Sylt
Meets Asia in the Schengen area. Their fresh-squeezed orange juice
machine was a sight to behold; large quantities of whole, fresh oranges
were dumped in a hopper on top, some gears ground them up, and out
came the best OJ. EVER!
Our Aegean Airlines flight to Athens was also uneventful. The food was
decent but probably contained some hidden traces of nuts because Allie’s
allergies were agitated a bit.
It was raining when we arrived in Athens, not a good sign. We picked up
our car, the aforementioned Elantra, which sported its share of dings and
which generated roughly the same amount of torque as you’d expect from
a Weedwacker (with similar sound effects).
We hit the highway at 4:15, lumbered (crawled?) our way through early
rush hour traffic jams around Athens, and soon we were cruising toward
Corinth and Nafplio. We crossed the Corinth Canal at the stroke of 6pm
and soon after that were navigating our way on smaller roads through
rugged scenery and small towns into the Nafplio area. Our planned arrival
into town was thrown for a loop when we got a look at how narrow the
streets are in the old town, and we promptly ended up in a circuitous
goose-chase tour of the town before finding the enormous free parking
zone on the waterfront. Why fight it? We can carry the bags across town;
we've done worse before. As it turns out, it wasn't very difficult at all. We
walked straight to our hotel without so much as a glance at a map.
After rolling our bags for about 5 minutes, we were standing at the
reception of Pension Amfitriti, our home for the next three nights. We
checked into this homey B&B, and were given a room one floor up from
street-level with one double bed and a fold-out sleeper sofa (which Allie
says was less than ideal). We cleaned ourselves up a bit, then strolled out
into the evening to find a place to eat. The restaurants stand cheek-to-jowl
on the street one block down from the hotel, and we stopped to read the
menu at the first place we encountered, Ta Fanaria. Nothing fancy here,
just a simple taverna; but they had an English menu, a lot of their offerings
sounded pretty good, and a sign outside proclaimed that the same chef
had been here for 25 years, so once again…why fight it? Thundercats are
GO!!!
This meal turned out to be one of the best of our trip, and one of the best
values. Allie had no idea what to order, so we talked her into trying an
appetizer of dolmades (stuffed vine leaves)…which she loved so much that
she ended up ordering it virtually every day of our trip! The Greek salad was
uber-fresh, the slow-cooked veal stew was extremely tender and tasty, the
stuffed eggplant was delicious, the house red wine was serviceable. And
Chris’s after-dinner ouzo was just what the doctor ordered. The final bill
was about 33 euro…not bad at all.
Sated and exhausted, we strolled a little through the town then headed
back to our room where we played Uno in a desperate attempt to fight jet
lag and stay up until 10:00. We then crashed.
Next: Mycenae: Bronze Age equinox
See all of our Greece photos
our travels
home
contact us
The highway around Athens, in the rain
Peloponnese highway, between Corinth and Nafplio
Nafplio Harbor at sunset
Ta Fanaria, our first evening restaurant (and it
was good!)
was good!)
Nafplio in the evening
Nafplio in the evening
Pension Amfitriti, Nafplio
Greece home
The voyage to Nafplio
Mycenae: Bronze Age equinox
To the theater! Epidaurus
Madness? This is Sparti! (and Mystras)
Greek Independence Day on the Mani
Monemvasia: a one-way trip to the past
Athens is calling
A rainy day in Athens
Our big, fat Greek finale / the journey home
Hotel reviews, air, driving, and other logistics
Logistics con't, and some final thoughts
The voyage to Nafplio
Mycenae: Bronze Age equinox
To the theater! Epidaurus
Madness? This is Sparti! (and Mystras)
Greek Independence Day on the Mani
Monemvasia: a one-way trip to the past
Athens is calling
A rainy day in Athens
Our big, fat Greek finale / the journey home
Hotel reviews, air, driving, and other logistics
Logistics con't, and some final thoughts