Vasilis, the caretaker who lives with his wife upstairs, warned us that Easter weekend in Greece is a huge family affair, noisy and full of traditions.  After a busy and late night, ending with firecrackers after midnight Mass, he was up bright and early preparing the lamb to be roasted.  He couldn't do it on the spit, though, as a good friend of theirs had died only 3 months ago, and they must remain in the mourning period for one year.  Traditions are very strong here still!

The day was bright and sunny, so after breakfast on the balcony, we headed out to Nafplio, just north of us.  We can see its lights at night, and were eager to learn about its history for ourselves.  

Because of its strategic position at the head of the Gulf of Argola, Nafplio was often under siege during the struggles between the Venetians and the Ottoman Turks who both wished to control the Peloponnese ports.  Tom and I spent most of the morning climbing to the top of the Akronafplia castle, known as the Inner Castle in Turkish.   It was so interesting to see how each conquering army built new castles on to the existing one, four in all, from west to east.  At the top, we could see all the way south, down through the gulf and into the Mediterranean Sea.  The colour of the water in the gulf is a spectacular shade of turquoise.  

At the bottom of the hill, we wandered through the medieval town of Nafplio.  Greeks were just emerging from Easter Sunday festivities.  Cafes and stores only began to open after 2pm.  There were families out enjoying the sun, eating and drinking, a real feeling of the beginning of the summer season, shrugging off the last of the winter weather.  Families shared huge Easter breads, with red shelled eggs baked on top. Lamb was being roasted on spits outside most restaurants, the smell of woodsmoke filled the air.  We wish you could smell the sweet scent of orange and lemon trees in full blossom.  It's heavenly, and unforgettable.  And even more amazing is that there are some ripe fruit on the tree while it's in flower! The town square, Plateia Syntagmatos, apparently looks much as it did 400 years ago.   All the narrow streets in old Nafplio town are made of marble.  There's a couple of mosques built by the Ottomans after their first occupation (1540 - 1686), and a Catholic church, which was then converted to another mosque after the second Ottoman occupation (1715 - 1822).  We definitely had the feeling it was, and still is a multicultural city. 

 We arrived back at our apartment around 4:30pm, and were greeted by Vasilis.  He had a plate of traditional Greek food for Easter Sunday supper.  There was a leg of lamb, some pork, some roasted potatoes, red pepper and a cucumber/garlic dip his wife, Christina, had made.  She also sent down some of her homemade sweet bread, and half a litre of the special Easter wine.  I looked it up and it's called retsina which is the first wine opened from last year's harvest. And, he brought down some Easter biscuits, to celebrate the end of Lent.  

I don't know what we've done or said, but we have been treated like family by Vasilis and Christina.  They want to show us the best side of Greece, and we're very appreciative of it.