today was our driving day. 3.5 hours to get us into delphi. we crossed over a massive new toll bridge at patra, though the fee was €10 i’m sure it beat taking the ferry. for most of the trip martin and i passed the time by talking politics and music, while katharine probably decided we are both morons, only interrupting us to ask if we were going to fill up the petrol tank any time soon. we made it despite martin’s insistence that it was worthwhile to drive with the needle on ‘E’ to look for gas a few eurocents cheaper per liter. fortunately i didn’t end up pushing the hyundai, he gave up and we ended up paying €0.998/l, only about €30 for a full tank.

delphi was surprisingly high up in the mountains – i guess that is a reasonable place for an oracle but for the center of the world? not surprisingly, it was jam-packed with tourists. we hiked to the top passing all the fine monuments and eventually reached the stadium. i tried to interest my compatriots in a foot race or perhaps a pickup game of soccer but they were more interested in taking pictures and the like. we headed back down the hill to the gymnasium and the three columns of the sanctuary to athena. we then hiked back up to the road again and went through the museum. it had a number of very impressive sculptures and friezes; in particular the roman work was exquisite. we grabbed a lunch of sandwiches and paprika pringles and continued on to kalabaka.

we made it to kalabaka with little incident and quickly found our hotel. exceptional for the price, and we made it early enough to have some time to kill. unfortunately the town seemed mostly dead, so we settled in to watch a little hercules the legendary journeys (with greek subtitles) and eurobasket 2005. we also found out that a day before the structure at akrotiri had collapsed killing a german tourist, quite chilling considering we had just been there not three days prior. we finished off the evening with a simple dinner at the taverna next door, and chatted basketball with the propreitor while eating fried cheese and baked lamb.

unfortunately my clever use of sms didn’t work out with the soccer team calling zoom to wish martin a happy birthday this morning (a clever surprise it would have been!) but dana was kind enough to mms along a picture of an even fancier dessert than we had the previous night. yay for global communications!

we decided to give corinth a miss and spend a rest day in nafplio. the last few days had a lot of driving (or riding in the car in my case) and our longest day – nafplio to kalabaka – is yet to come. a rest day meant decent breakfast, a quick call to arrange our hotel near meteora, and then hiking to the top of the palamidi fortress here in town. the palamidi boasted a number of excellent views and hidden cisterns. unfortunately most of the views over the old fortifications also overlooked an abandoned hotel, which had i known about before hand i would have seriously considered squatting in. after hiking all over the various bastions and redoubts, i decided to count the steps on the way down and reached 340 before i met a pair of french girls (the firebreathers from last night) doing the same on the way up. they had 550. so roughly 900 steps in all. i think that takes the cake for me, stair-wise.

after the fortress we made our way out to the boutrzi island fortress in the middle of the harbor. it used to be the home of the town executioner, but lately appears to be a disused party rental and minor tourist attraction. i would like to own such an island fortress, or at the very least it would make an excellent venue for a wedding and reception.

we did a little shopping but our hunger quickly caught up with us and we completely one-upped my meal from tuesday. roasted lamb, fish soup, baklava – perhaps the best meal i have ever had. we sat under the umbrella as it rained and ate & drank until full. we finished the night of with a bit more shopping and returned home joyfully.

monemvasia is a three hour drive from nafplio (further than from athens) but well worth it. the masive rock standing in the sea makes for an amazing sight as you approach it, and affords some fantastic views. we hiked through the lower city and traversed out the rocky sea-cliffs. of course, katharine and martin are a bit more nimble than me so they had a bit less difficulty climbing around. scott lynn would have been disappointed in me, though i did manage to find a decent route. we then hiked up to the summit, a massive hike with little shade. the fortress on top had a few structures still standing, but the real payoff was the amazing views – the rubble served as an excellent backdrop. unfortunately the church of agia sofia, the one well-maintained structure, was closed for restoration and we didn’t get to see the interior.

we then hiked back down and had lunch before driving to mystras. though it was to close at 6pm and we arrived at 530, we still went up and saw as much as we could. we saw a number of cool churches and palatial ruins that were undergoing reconstruction. unfortunately we didn’t make it to the museum or the fortress in time.

we made better time on the national road back than we had on the mountain roads on the way in, though it was an additional 30km. once we got back to nafplio we headed out for snacks and then capped the evening off with dessert in honor of martin’s birthday. the main square was entertained by a pair of travelling french students who spit fire and danced with flaming ropes for tips.