The flight to Athens was of the "through the night" variety so we had already had a full day on the run before we left London as we'd been leaving Broadway, visiting Blenheim Palace, dropping the car off at Oxford etc then getting to the airport for our flight which arrived in Athens 4am local time. It was crazy in one sense and we were pretty tired and wiped out by the time we arrived in Athens but it had actually been thought out......This way we were picking up the hire car and beginning the whole "getting out of a major airport driving on the right (well OK maybe it's the right hand side of the road but it's oh so wrong I every other way!) side of the road" etc......so we get in the car and plug in Jane, our ever so helpful Tom Tom girl we'd used in England, only to discover she didn't know Greek.....well actually she didn't know
GREECE ..... there were all sorts of countries there - she knew Croatia and Andorra for heaven's sake but not the one we were currently in, sitting in a car in a major airport with a two hour drive in front of us, ...... We did have pages and pages of notes and google maps printed
out as well as old fashioned fold out maps etc but we really wanted all bases covered so after a short discussion it was decided that I would run back into the airport and hire a GPS..... We still call her Jane as our chosen narrator is a very pleasant English lass who sounds remarkably like the first Jane but yes actually it's a whole other device! Now came the hard part and may I preface this (a few days down the track) by saying that Liane is like Xenia or whatever her name is: some sort of warrior princess/amazing person. You heard my pathetic
reaction to driving just in England and here is Liane prepared to do it under these conditions .....she puts me to shame and I admire her immensely! She asked us to both say "keep to the right" on a regular basis, particularly as she's turning to remind her which side of the road to stay on but she seems to have gotten the hang of it amazingly fast. Getting from the airport towards Corinth really posed no problems and we were travelling along really well. We did notice that, as we kept to the speed limit, cars were overtaking us left right and centre but of course we were still getting acclimatised and also by this stage had already been up nearly 24 hours so that was fine. Liane said she did nap occasionally on the plane but it couldn't have been much at all really yet she was firing on all cylinders and coping great. She had researched a viewing area off to the side of Corinth Canal and the plan was to get there around dawn so we could both see the Canal and stop for breakfast.....problem was we didn't have an exact address to give Jane so we were flying just a little bit blind as the google directions
weren't much help in the dark where reading road signs was only possibleafter you'd passed the turn off! Larn had it in her head where it was though from her study of the maps so we decided to risk getting off the motorway to try to locate the place. This of course was our first real go at right hand side of the road driving as up until this point we'd been on a divided highway. We weren't one hundred percent sure where we were and had to double back around a block and there was a slight incident of accidentally entering through the incorrect side of an
intersection......so yes if one was to be pedantic I would have to admit that we were indeed driving on the wrong side of the road at that point...... Fortunately there was virtually no other traffic around, and extra fortunately none at all around at the time of the above manoeuvre
and we found the right place without too much stress and or trouble.....May I just repeat, Liane is amazing?!!! It was a fabulous view of the Canal which I had only seen fleetingly last time through the window of the train so it was a great stop and yet again Gwendols and I were appreciative of Liane's pre-trip efforts and her amazing ability to remember maps she'd looked at months ago enough to get us there! From Corinth we were heading straight to Nafplio and it was pretty much a case of following signs. By the time we arrived there we were all pretty much completely shattered and in the interest of honesty I have to admit it......there was a little teensy bit of attitude and antsy from every one of us at the stage of decision making as to where to park and finding a room etc. I think we all just wanted someone else to say "right go here and do this"..... Mind you whomever it was would have to have made the EXACTLY the right choices for us all to be happy at that point! As it was we went into two places asking prices and seeing rooms; in one of them we couldn't book in until 2pm (I think it was around 10am ish and we weren't sure we could last the distance) and then, with the second, their idea of a three share room was a double bed and a fold out so not that comfy......even though the view was fabulous.....We were just TOO tired and couldn't make a decision to save our lives.....As we walked back out from that one we had a chat about it and decided that, problems with our exact requirements notwithstanding, given the bargain basement prices, perhaps we'd look at getting two rooms. Our thinking was that if we asked about prices and got a twin and a single room each stop in Greece and took it in turns to go solo that way, it would be a nice "mini break" occasionally. So the next place we went to we asked those questions (along of course with the $64 question - and can anyone tell me why 64 as it seems kind of random? - but yes we HAD to know if they had wifi.....I mean a girl does have an Ipad you know!) and yes they had everything we wanted and also the guy, Kostas, gave us a
fantastic deal..... AND this place was RIGHT on the square so no worryingly long walks back "home" after post-dinner ouzos which of course is how everyone picks their accommodations ........isn't it? We still had to wait like a half hour or maybe an hour (it seems so long ago now it's hard to remember) until the room was ready so sat and had something to eat but it was a great feeling to at least know we had it sorted. Unfortunately we really were all so tired that we were hardly registering that we were actually finally in Greece but it soon sunk in ...... .especially once we'd slept a bit!!!!

(L) The flight to Athens was with Aegean Airlines and I had logged in to check there was no changes to the itinerary because none of us could have lived through that again!! The moment we stepped on board we really knew we were off to Greece with the Flight Attendants saying a cheery Yia sas ( hello ). Pretty uneventful 4 hour flight in which I slept most of the way but did wake up for the dinner service because I was starving but of course it was a meat dish so I picked out what veggies I could and ate the bread roll. Our arrival into Greece was much the same as coming into Heathrow, we got our passports stamped at immigration,collected our bags and then just walked out with absolutely no customs control whatsoever.. weird!! Our plane landed at 4 and the hire car place didn't open til 5 so we got a cup of tea and some nuts to keep us going. I was starving by this time and feeling a little sick but really nothing was open. The car hire was EU383 for the nearly 3 weeks which is pretty good however we have a rather old Hyundai Accent, well not old but 5 years and not much oomph! The drive to Corinth was easy enough although the speed limits seem to mean absolutely nothing to the average Greek driver. The canal was certainly worth stopping for even though it is so very narrow and deep it's quite amazing to think it was originally attempted in the 1st Century AD but wasn't actually really started until 1881 and finished in 1893... unfortunately it's a bit of a "white elephant" as it is too narrow to be of any real commercial use. So... somewhat refreshed after our stop ,which is about halfway from Athens to Nafplio, we continued on chanting "stay right, stay right" as we found our way back to the correct road. I'm sure Jane brought us into town the back way as we went down some extremely narrow suburban looking streets but using the imposing Palamidi Fortress perched high on the hills above "Old Nafplio" ( which is where all the tourists go! ) we managed to find our way and the next problem was trying to work out where to park and most especially which roads we could drive down and which were one way streets, honestly we can't make head nor tail of the road signs. Finally after a few goes around the block we parked and walked into town, just as well greek drivers are so laid back and accepting of whatever goes as I'm positive I drove up a one way street or two!! As Deb said we went into a few Hotels for prices, the first offered us a triple room with 3 single beds ( a rarity ) for EU 65 but we couldn't check in til 2pm .. not bad... we'll think about it, 2nd one the room with Queen and sofa was EU 60, cheap enough but not ideal bedding, then we found the Hotel Athina and he started off a little high but we then asked about a twin and a single room and he gave us the 2 rooms for EU 70 per night!! What a bargain... sold!! We did have a wait for the rooms to be ready and by this stage I was so incredibly tired and hungry, I did eat and then as soon as it hit 12 noon, as he'd told us, I went to get my room and fell into bed.... I woke up at around 3pm feeling much better and ready to go out exploring Nafplio. GJ wasn't ready to head out so Deb and I wandered down to the waterfront where we stood oooing and ahhing at the gorgeous vista laid out before us. It truly is a gorgeous place. We strolled down lane ways, that are just like all the pictures you've ever seen, lined with shops, tavernas, lovely potted plants and lots and lots of cats.. but even prettier and found a taverna to have a wine before going back to meet up with Gwendols for dinner. Dinner was at what we called "our local" as it was just outside the hotel and directly under Deb and GJs balcony. OMG... what a delight to order all the yummy Greek dishes we've been dreaming of.... Tzatziki, Greek Salad (which is always topped with a whole block of feta), Souvlaki (for the others) and so many other wonderful dishes, there are so many amazing vegetable dishes that I know I'll eat very well for the next 3 weeks! Tonight we ordered 2 Greek Salads, Tzatziki, Oven roasted peppers, Chicken Souvlaki for Gwendoline and Deb and a 1/2 kilo jug of red wine, total bill was EU 34.50 ( around $49.50 ). Before bed we wandered a bit, had some Gelato and finished off with an ouzo. Tomorrow we have a full day to explore Nafplio and climb up to Palamidi.