Nafplion, Mycenae and Ancient Nemea, Greece

Today was the last day we had left in the islands. We headed towards Peloponnese, and everybody was curious to see the mainland. It was so beautiful in the Aegean Islands!

When we woke up this morning we could see outside the picturesque town of Nafplion. It was beautiful, very different from the Cycladic architecture, its Italian influence was obvious. A very large Venetian castle lay at the top of the rocky hill. As soon as we got into our busses we had to forget Nafplion, because the morning was dedicated to ancient Greece! Prehistoric Greece to be more exact! Mycenae was the first place to visit, the kingdom of Agamemnon, the king of the Greeks who led the expedition against Troy. Homer gave us all our information about the Trojan War. Mycenae is a quite ruined place, but still one can imagine what it was once upon a time! We first visited a tomb which has the shape of a huge bee-hive and it is known as the “Treasury of Atreus.” Atreus was Agamemnon’s father and this construction, which dates back to 1250 BC, was his tomb. No treasures or ornaments have been found there because ancient thieves were the first ones to discover it! It was very impressive. We continued to the Acropolis of Mycenae where the main entrance is decorated with two big lions and is known as the “Lion’s Gate”. We heard about the 19th century excavations of Schlieman and how much gold he discovered in the royal graves. We explored the Acropolis by ascending to the top of the hill where the palace was, and we continued to the underground cistern and the storage area. It was hot, but we enjoyed the visit and the legend connected to it.

We got on the bus to go to Nemea, the place where Hercules did his first labor and killed the lion of Nemea! The sanctuary of Zeus lies there in ruins, but the ancient stadium was very well preserved. It was an ideal opportunity for our “panoramic” teams to gain points! The effort was what counted; everybody was a winner and got an olive wreath on their head!

We all sure enjoyed the Panorama for lunch and in the afternoon we drove up to the Venetian Castle! Many of us walked down to explore it. Many of us walked down the 900 something steps!

The rest of the evening we had the chance to walk around Nafplion, enjoy the narrow streets and try the number one gelato in the area!