Oh, what joy it was to once again get a full night's sleep without time pressures. We had nothing planned until late morning, following a delicious Greek breakfast in our hotel courtyard. First time to have honey-glazed orange cake (revani) and baklava for breakfast. 😋
We took a short walking tour through the old town of Nafplio, stopping first at the community Greek Orthodox Church. The building was dark, lit mainly by what sunlight came through the doors and few windows, a few electric candle lights, and several oil lamps. While looking at the art, almost all Greek Orthodox icon imagery, the priest came out to visit us. When he found out we were from Texas, he explained the etymology of "Texas" and "freedom" that both can be traced to back to ancient Greek words. Maybe so, maybe not. But it was reminiscent of a scene from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".
The town is a quiet and restful getaway after our "church camp" pilgrimage tour of Israel.
A great medieval fortress sits on the mountain, looming over the town, but much of the buildings date to the mid-19th century when Nafplio briefly became the capital of Greece at the beginning of their independence from Turkey. Sitting above the town square is an old Turkish mosque that was secularized as the home of the first Greek parliament.
We traveled from there to Epidaurus, home of the best preserved ancient Greek theater in the world. The view from the top of the theater was breathtaking, and the acoustics were amazing. From the center of the stage I could speak in a quiet voice to friends at the top of the seating section - 110 steps up - and they could hear me fine. Quite impressive engineering.
We finished the travel with a refreshing excursion to the coastal town of Tolo for time in the crystal clear waters of the Aegean Sea.
Then a long, relaxing lunch of 9 courses of great, home cooked, fresh Greek dishes.
We came back to the hotel with new energy for our last two days in Greece. All-in-all, the day was a reminder of God bringing me to a place of rest to be refreshed.
"He leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul." (Psalm 23)
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