In 2014 we visited Europe for the first time but definitely not the last! We started in Greece and organised our trip so that we could be in Barcelona to watch the MotoGP in Catalunya. (Go Marc Marquez!) So many highlights.
Athens
Walk into the main Syntagma Square, the area of the Parliament House of Greece and take the obligatory photo of The Changing of the Guard- those guys are giants!
You have to go to I Kriti – a Cretan restaurant in Athens. You can find it at: Veranzerou 5, Athina 106 77, Greece. It is a little bit hard to find and is at the end of a little mall but it is worth the effort.
So many ancient ruins, so little time. The Ancient Agora and Roman Agora, Hadrian’s Arch, Tempe of Zeus, The Parthenon, Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Theatre of Dionysus and Hadrian’s Library are all just waiting to be explored. If you still haven’t had enough history visit the National Archeological Museum of Athens.
For something completely different visit Athens central market.
Nafplio
Nafplio is a coastal town 130 kilometres out of Athens. It is popular with local tourists as a weekend retreat. It has archeological ruins, narrow lanes, cafes, cobblestone streets, beautiful beaches and the laid back atmosphere that makes Greece so amazing to visit.
The drive was very interesting especially getting out of Athens. The traffic antics areamazing. The motorway was great and sign-posted for 120 km. People constantly flew past us. When we turned off the motorway the last 2 hours were a good drive along the coast with plenty of curves and bends – where’s the bike when you need it?
On driving into town the fun started. I attempted to drive the car up a lane that had me slowly backing down and around as the lane was so narrow the car was going no further. We had trouble finding the hotel as one of the roads given for the address was in fact a flight of stairs followed by a walk along a winding path and then down more stairs. The Pension we stayed in was really cool. No view from the room but there was no time to look at views as the afternoon was spent in the town exploring, eating and drinking. This spot is the best place to sit and people watch. All types of people, locals, tourists and kids still out at 11pm. The night only seems to begin at this time.
Epidavros
On route from Nafplio to Athens stop near Epidavros and the mind-blowing complex know as the The Sanctuary of Asklepios. It was all based around healing. Used as far back as 1000 BC but really pumped up in the 6th century BC to include sports stadium and the theatre shown in pictures. The sports stadium is still used by the local schools for sport days.
Drive was great, although the GPS had a mind of its own and took us on a precarious detour on a goat track complete with goats and a Coca Cola truck on the wrong side of the road at full noise, almost collecting us.
Delphi — Off to see the Oracle
Full disclosure we didn’t drive to Delphi. It is about a three hour drive each way and we were flying to Spain the next day. Against our better judgement we took a tour bus so that we could just relax and not be too tired for the next day.
The site is huge and contains remains of the sanctuaries of Apollo and Athena as well as a stadium and a theatre. The Delphi Archeological Museum contains artifacts found on the site.
Backroad Odyssey 