In fact our time in Greece was not even enough for Attica which is the small region around Athens but Corinth Canal was a must for my son and I wished I could see Ancient Olympia. Both sites locate in the region of Peloponnese in the southwest of the country. So we decided to move our base from Athens for a few days to Nafplio in the Peloponnese Peninsula.

Nafplio is less than 3 hours ride in a public bus from Athens and it is said to be the most elegant town in mainland Greece as its remarkably homogenous archetecture were strongly influenced by the Venetian style during their occupation from 1686-1715. Nafplio also rose to fame as the first capital of  liberated Greece between 1829-1834. Nowadays this lovely small town lives on tourism as a very popular stop for the Mediterranean cruises.

At this point, I have to commend the citizen of Nafplio for the strict conservation of their town. Nafplio remains small, cosy, peaceful and affordable inspite of being a destination of wealthy tourists. We found shops selling all kinds of fashionable accessories for high-end custommers side by side small coffee shops, cosy restaurants as well as lovely Bed & Breakfast accommodation in the old town.

The old town of Nafplio

Castle Akronafplia seen from the balcony of our small B&B room.

On the day we went to Nafplio, the sky was so bright that we started to eagerly discuss about where we would visit later. We did not have time for everything Peloponnese offered, so it proved to be a hard bargaining between my son and me. 

For 40 minutes ride with a public bus, we could visit the Corinth Canal and further to the Ancient Corinth in the north. If we chose this alternative, we would need one whole day. 

To the east, we could ride a bus for half an hour to see the magnificent ruined Theatre of Epidaurus while in the northwest  lies the ruin of the fortified palace complex of Mycenae which was uncovered in 1874 by the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann. To go there, we would also need only half an hour.

 However, I personally had a stupid ambition to see the Ancient Olympia  in the far west which we would need almost 3 hours by bus because we had to go first to Tripoli and catch another bus from there to Olympia. This option would require one whole day even when we left Nafplio very early.

After a serious discussion during our second meal we did enjoy in Greece, we ended up with my son´s determination to visit Corinth for one day and another whole day for Ancient Olympia. We should see the Epidaurus Theater in the morning of the last day before we went back to Athens in the late afternoon.

Our plan didn´t sound too bad, did it?

Although Nafplio is a tiny town, it owns 3 castles. Akronafplia was only a few steps from our place. We could see part of it from our balcony. The fortified isle of Bourtzi floats in the town´s harbour. Our host, however, recommended us to visit the largest one, the Palamidi Fortress, first.

One can reach this Venetian fortress, which stands tall above the town, on foot but that would be too ambitious for me as there are 1,000 steps to climb and the way upward is pretty steep. One can also drive up with a car which should need only about 5 minutes and that one was me!!!! and my son who kindly accompanied me in a taxi ride which cost only 5 euro.

Palamidi, named after Homeric hero Palamedes, the son of Nafplios and Klimeni, is a huge Venetian citadel which was built between 1711 and 1714. Inspite of its size which is said to be the biggest in Greece, it fell to the Ottomans in 1715 and to the Greek rebels in 1822.

My son had a very good time running and climbing around the 7 forts inside the curtain wall of the fortress and I was very happy to see him being a child again. Being an only child in the family and always staying with adults, he has been too grown up for his age in my opinion.

Fortress Palamidi

Castle Akronafplia, seen from Palamidi

Tiny Castle Bourtzi in the harbour of Nafplio

Serene water of the Argolic Gulf

Nafplio´s public beach, seen from the fortress.

Fruits from Cactus are in abundance inside the vast area of Palamidi.

Since that evening, luck left us without warning. It rained cats and dogs for so many hours and I fell ill. We had to bitterly forget the whole plan we discussed with all seriousness on the day before. I felt so guilty that we could only remain in the room while my son said again and again that "It´s OK, Mom, it´s OK."

On the day we drove back to Athens, it still rained but softly. I decided to dropped by at the Corinth Canal although my son did not mention about it anymore. I knew that it meant a lot for him and the bus to Athens came, anyway, every hour.

The Corinth Canal

What is this narrow water way? Why was it so important for him? You may ask.

Well, the boy remains loyal to the Roman although he started to be also interested in Greek and Egyptian histories. 

It was Emperor Nero of Rome (37 AD-68 AD) who began the construction of this 6 kms long canal at the Corinth isthmus which should have linked the Gulf of Corinth in the Ionian Sea with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea in order to help the seafarers in the ancient world to avoid passing the dreadfully stormy Cape Matapan at the southernmost point of the Peloponnese Peninsula.

You see, for my son, the Corinth Canal was purely the brainchild and innovation of the Roman era, almost 2,000 years ago. 

 That is fascinating, isn´t it? 

However, the construction was unfortunately (for the Roman?) not completed until 1893 !!!!! And it was two Hungarian engineers Istvan Turr (1825-1908) and Bela Gerster (1850-1923) who planned, organized and supervised the construction  of the canal for the Greek government.

Back to Athens, on that late afternoon, we still had a bit time left to see a historical site and, as time was so precious for us, we decided to brave the (soft) rain to visit Zeus, the father of all gods who rules over them and all mortals from Mount Olympos.

Zeus (Jupiter for the Romans) is a son of Kronos and Rhea. Kronos overthrew Uranos, his own father. So he swallowed all of his children at birth for fear that they might overthrow him later like he did with his father before if they have chances to grow up.

Zeus was luckier than any other children. His mother (who might be rather slow at thinking !!) hid him in a cave on the Island of Crete. Goddess Adrastea and Ide brought him up. As a young man, Zeus really seized power from Kronos and forced him to emit other older children out of his stomach. Two of Zeus´ powerful elder brothers are Poseidon, who has power over the seas and Hades (Pluto), God of the Under World.

Although Zeus married Hera, one of his own sisters, he has uncountable affairs with both Goddesses and mortals. So, it is not surprising that he also has uncountable offsprings. Those famous ones include Athena, Dionysos, Hermes, the twins Apollo and Artemis, Herakles and beautiful Helena who caused the Trojan War.

But Zeus´s passionate love belongs to Ganymed, a young boy!!!, whom Zeus simply stole from his father who is a mortal king.

Hmmmm...we can´t be surprised why Roman Emperor Hadrian was a great lover of Greek civilization, can we? They obviously shared the same passion.

The Temple of Oympian Zeus is in fact the largest in Greece. The construction began in the 6th century BC but it was not completed until 650 years later. It was Hadrian who dedicated the Temple to Zeus Olympios in AD132, on his second visit to Athens.

Only 15 of the original 104 Corinthian columns remain but archaeologists estimated that the temple should have been approximately 96 m long and 40 m wide. And this was what we saw of the Temple of Olympean Zeus on that day.

The Parthenon can be seen from the Temple of Zeus.

The remain of the temple which was once the largest in the whole country and was dedicated to the mightiest God of all gods reminds me of a tale.

It is said that the only god who has power over Zeus is one of his own daughters. Her mother is Themis, the Goddess of Justice and her name is Moiren, the Goddess of FATE. 

It looks like the Goddess of Fate really has power over everyone and everything, mortals and immortals alike.