Monday
Time to move on. Athens is big and other than the few must sees, is not the place to linger. The economy doesn't seem to be taking much gas out of the bustle of Athens but more on that when we here from the folks out in the Greek countryside.


The Hertz rental car was scheduled for a pickup at the airport, so another successful navigation of the Metro and we were ready to receive that Hertz Platinum card service - NOT!! After some upgrades to get a car large enough to accommodate 4 and our carryon luggage is not a big deal in the US but Europe - thats another issue. Efficiency wasn't part of the service model. We waited nearly a half hour for the car. It was beat up so bad that we asked for another. The Hertz attendant suggested we go back to the airport and have lunch while they cleaned another. All in, about a 2 hour pickup experience. The delivered car was a hot rod turbo Saab that the attendant said was driven by "the boss". Armed with an iPad app for a Greek highway GPS we took to the roads in "The Boss".


The roadways around Athens were modern and well maintained. Everyone seems to go about 20 km above the speed limit. We joined the crowd. Passing through Corinth, apparently "The Boss" was going so fast that we missed our look see at the Corinth Canal. - Next trip


We turned south heading for Nafplion. On the way was Mycenae, one of the oldest ruins in Greece and one of our must sees on the historical list. The Mycenaens were the earliest advanced society in Greece dating back to the bronze age and a big part of the many legends you here in Greek history. The ruins are impressive and with the "Lions Gate" entrance you wonder for the umpteenth time, who did their engineering and how did they lift those big stones?


Rule number one in Greece is to read the travel books before you pass a must see. We hadn't read far enough in advance and passed the signifiant ruin of Tiryns. Lesson learned - read ahead -- Next time!


Nafplion is a beautiful little seaport town cascading off a mountainside. Picturesque with narrow streets bustling with cruise ship tourists and lots of tavernas and stores in "old town". Our first big hotel selection process was the first big group decision. We drooled over the 5 star Nafplion Palace at 330 Euro per night and selected the Pension Marianna for 55 Euro, a small inn owned by 4 very involved brothers. Great views, breakfast included, good advice from the brothers and well situated in the city. This set our pattern for hotel selection.


We took our time to enjoy Nafplion, discussed staying an additional night and chose to take off in the morning for Epidavros and then determine where we would go next - south or west. More good Greek food but we are beginning to realize that the menus are amazingly similar. So variety is probably not going to be available until we hit the islands later in the trip.