We're Gonna Sprinkle It on Our Kids to Make Them Fast

Tuesday we left Athens for a trip through the Pelopponese, the southernmost region of Greece. I wanted to take Amanda to Nafplio since I liked it so much when Rex and I went there earlier this month. Plus, I wanted to show her the old amphitheatre at Epidaurus, which I haven't seen since I was 9. Beyond that, we had no plans, three days, and a full tank of gas.

Back over the canal at Korinthos and then south along Aegean Sea to Epidaurus. Epidaurus is the location of an archeological site where the remains of an old asclepion (ancient hospital and healing spa) were found. Though the archeological sight was impressive, the amphitheatre was by far the highlight. Architects somehow designed it so that its acoustics were absolutely perfect; that's Amanda standing at center stage, where she could practically whisper and I could hear every word sitting a hundred rows up and nearly 200 yards away.

We drove the rest of the way to Nafplio to spend the night. The good news is that Amanda liked Nafplio even more than I did; bad news is she wants to move there permanently. We spent the evening drinking our frappes, playing cards, and walking around to all the shops. Our hotel was just steps away from the paralia, so we were able to take in a beautiful sunset and get some nice pics.

After breakfast, we decided to take John up on his recommendation to drive across the Pelopponese to Ancient Olympia, site of the ancient Olympic games. The drive was straight west over and through several Pelopponesian mountain ranges; the drive made the winding turns up to Meteora pale in comparison. I swear that must be where they filmed the Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner chases...

We stopped in Langathia, a tiny village literally built into the side of a cliff. The pictures don't do justice to how vertical this town is. We walked into a local market and bought some honey, well-known in the region because the bees feast on the wild thyme that grows rampant in the area, giving the honey a very unique taste.

After more winding turns down the backside of the mountains, we rolled into Olympia along with a fleet of tour buses and walked through the ruins to the old gymnasium (the "stadium" where the original Olympic contests were held...our word gymnasium derives from the Greek word gymnos, which means naked--because that's how the original Olympic athletes competed). The place was truly magical; it turned middle-aged and even elderly tourists from all over the world into young children who wanted to sprint the length of the gravel track. It compelled Amanda to start limbering up (check out the photo). I suppose regardless of our age or our national origin, the Olympic Games are something we can all relate to and take pride in. It was really something to see.

One Canadian fellow even insisted on sprinting the track barefoot--"because that's how the Greeks did it." He had to send his wife ahead to hold their tour bus for him while he bandaged one of his mangled feet (I swear this is not an exaggeration). I'm just glad he stopped at barefoot and didn't decide to get all the way gymnos...

We were about to leave, but I had to go back and fill one of our empty water bottles up with dirt and gravel from the athletic field. Magic dust from a magical place.

Neither of us had ever seen the Ionian Sea, so we continued west to Kyparissia. Another great (and large) meal and yet another nice sunset. After breakfast we took a quick dip in the Ionian and hit the road to head back to Athens. Our trip back was slightly delayed when Amanda saw a sign for Kalamata, 34 km. We unfolded the map a little and realized how close we were to the southern coast of the Pelopponese. We made a spontaneous right turn and 20 minutes later we were walking along the Mediterranean, which made three seas in three days. We eventually and reluctantly turned Golfaki north, made a stop in Tripoli for a light lunch, and made it back to Athens yesterday afternoon.

Tonight, John, Iro, Dmitri, Amanda and I went out to dinner with our friends Costas and Kristina, whom we haven't seen since our wedding. It was wonderful to catch up with them and to meet their new baby Yanni. Check out the cute pic of Dimitri with his little friend.

We leave tomorrow for 10 days in the islands, and we promise to add a post and more pics when we get back. Hope everyone back in the States is doing well (and not dealing with as much flak as I am right now for Greece's upset over the U.S. in the world basketball championships...)

Yia sas!

Bill