Morning in Nafplio before Setting Sail for Santorini

12^thAugust 2018

When we woke this morning, we discover we are not alone in Nafplio, with two other cruise ships (small ones) now here, one in the port not far from us, and the larger one anchored outside the harbour area.

Club Med 2 at anchor outside the harbour

The girls with Club Med 2 in the background

Fishing boats along the shoreline

Todays plan is to spend most of to stay at Nafplio and set sail at 4.30pm this afternoon for Santorini. The wind had abated somewhat, but are told to expect a bumpy passage for part of the way. It will be an overnight passage, arriving at Santorini at 9 am, in time for an optional shore excursion commencing at 9.30am.

There is an optional excursion today, for those who are interested covering the surrounding area and the historic city of Mycenae. We decide not to go, as we have already organized a tour to Mycenae on one of our spare days in Athens in between this cruise and our next one.

Instead, after breakfast, we decide to go for a walk along the coastline west of the city, to see if we can find a beach or just take in the scenery. Just the scenery is enough. The walkway runs along the cliff face, is wide and paved with limestone flagstone. One thing that really stands out is the amount of prickly pear growing here, and it is laden with ripe fruit.

Swimming baths just out of the city area

Walkway along the coast

Healthy Prickly Pear laden with fruit

A bit further along, we found a swimming baths and a partly functioning restaurant above it. A few elderly locals are in the water or sunbaking nearby.

A few hundred metres further on and around a bend we begin to see lots of people swimming, off the rocky shore line. Periodically along the path, there are stairs leading down to the water line, but at this stage, no beaches.

Much further along, we finally spot a beach, with a bar and restaurant  above it. The beach and water is full of people, and the substantial carpark above it full of cars. If you are not into swimming, there is another hillptop fortress with a daunting climb up a zig zag stairway to the top. We had not come prepared for swimming, so headed back to the village.

The beach and resort

Or you could climb the hill to the fortress

We opted to head back to the town

John decided to go back around for a swim, whilst Carole and I went for a walk around the town and Sharon relaxed. We agreed to meet for lunch at 1pm. After an hour, it was getting hot and we had seen enough of the town, so went back to the boat for a bit of air conditioning and a cup of coffee.

Meeting for lunch at 1pm, John has returned with an injury, with cuts to the back of one hand. It turned out that going for a swim off the rocks is more hazardous than it looks. John told us, to his surprise, the rocks are razor sharp and difficult to navigate. The crew first aid team patched him up and we headed into town for lunch.

The town is quiet and this old mosque is a reminder of Turkish occupation

Streets are narrow and upper levels accessed by narrow stairways

We found a nice Taverna with a pomegranate tree at the entrance

As usual, the Greek fare is very appetizing, in particular, their salads. 

After lunch and a brief walk, we went back to the ship.

At 4.30pm, preparations were made to get underway, and we were soon motoring off the dock and were on our way to Santorini. Dinner tonight was a nice buffet dinner on board. As we continued on our journey we soon found ourselves in rougher water and the ship was moving around a bit. Most people were tired and opted for an early night.