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Date: April 28, 2004
Cities: Corinth, Nafplio
 After another leisurely start, we drove to the Corinth
canal where we all walked along the pedestrian walkway on the older
bridge to look down at the canal. Allan got a new water bottle and one
of the chocolate-frosted, creme-filled pastries which featured
prominently on his first trip to Greece. He had probably gotten one at
that very shop 15 years before. Allan navigates by food landmarks
whenever possible.
 We
had lunch at a restaurant next to the canal, overlooking a very low
bridge which sinks beneath the channel when boats need to pass it.
At Corinth we visited the museum and the archaeological site with our local
guide, Patty. Eirini arranged the Corinth stop as an extra excursion since we were passing this way, and Corinth is well worth seeing.
Many tourists don't understand not to lean on historical artifacts
in the museums, even if they are big hunks of stone. This was one of
the few problems we saw at the museums. Greek museums do not have
anywhere near as many barriers around antiquities as US museums have,
which makes them more accessible, if somewhat more at risk.
When we got to the Amalia Hotel in Nafplia, Heidi and Allan
compared notes about our fellow travelers, so now we had a better
frame of reference. Allan introduced himself to the last couple of
women traveling together who we didn't know while we waited for the
bus into town for dinner. Allan counts learning all 31 people's names
in 10 days a success.
 When we got into Nafplio, we could not find a currency
exchange place open near the square, so Allan planned to take a taxi
into town when the banks open at 8:00 the next day to change some more
traveler's cheques. Apparantly everyone who goes to Europe uses an ATM
card now instead of cheques. The hotel only had enough cash to change
$150 in cheques.
We wasted enough time looking for an exchange that we missed the
bus after dinner and had to take a taxi back to the hotel. It was the
most luxurious car in which either of us had ever ridden -- a full
size Mercedes Benz sedan. Dinner was worth running late, though, and
the ride in the Mercedes was very pleasant.
Allan did laundry before we went to dinner since this was the last
hotel before the ship, and we had no idea what the facilities there
would be like. Apparantly we would be getting up very early on
Friday to travel to the port.
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