Happy Turkey Day from Nauplio and Olympia!

This past weekend we got the opportunity to visit the beautifully historic cities of Nauplio and Olympia. We started out the journey by stopping at a GIANT theater in Epidaraus on the way to Nauplio. It was engineered in such a way that you could hear a coin drop from anywhere you were sitting in the theater. After our quick pit stop we were on the road again and spent much of Thursday on a bus.

Later we arrived in Nauplio which is not only an adorable city but also the original capital of Greece. I'd say that was my favorite city so far in Greece. It was a coastal town so it had amazing views, ideal for picture taking. There were giant sea-bearing cliffs and cacti growing out of the rock. Dana, Mary and I went on a little adventure around the outside of the city and found some amazing castles at the top of a hill we had been hiking. You could see the entire city from up there and could climb on all the ruins (just like an ancient playground of sorts!).

Beautiful cliff/sea views

After our little adventure I came back for our Thanksgiving dinner with my CSB/SJU family. It wasn't your typical Turkey Day celebration but it was still full of more group bonding and lots of laughter. The Greek cooks at the hotel were given some tips on what to cook for us so they made a reasonable attempt given the circumstances. We had a turkey with something that was to resemble stuffing (beef, rice, and orange peel mixture), along with sliced potatoes, bread, and a cabbage salad. They even attempted a sort of spice cake for dessert. Everything was delicious and we were stuffed. Even if our families couldn't be there with us we all had so much to be thankful for.

Bill carving the turkey for our side of the table

After spending two nights in Nauplio we headed to Olympia for the last night of our Thanksgiving "break" (which sounds deceiving seeing as we had class every single day...). But Olympia was incredible as well. We toured several historic sites (lots and lots of rocks to sum it up). We also saw the Olympic museum filled with with artifacts from some of the first Olympic games, which was definitely a highlight for me as I demonstrated my discus skills from high school track and field! My coach would be so proud I was able to critique this horrible throwing form.