Poros to Nafphila with the "help" of a GPS

We wandered down along the waterfront this morning for an average coffee and an an awesome Pain au Raisin from the French patisserie :)

 We watched a normal day unfold as the island of Poros slowly woke. A mother taking her two children off to school on a scooter....no helmets. Young girls riding along on scooters and talking on cell phones and painters riding off to their painting jobs with pails of paint hanging off each handlebar. There seem to be quite a lot of yachties in port and that made interesting viewing....and listening.

We decided to head off west towards Nafpila but first thought it was best to pump some air into the rent a dent in an attempt to make it drive better......it was an attempt. We took the ferry back to Galatas and captured the last sights of Poros. The GPS lady was kind to us and pointed us in the right direction and we faithfully followed what she said. We do think now that the GPS has been set on the shortest distance possible and it turned us off the main road into a small little settlement where we wound our way on skinny little alleys. Then we hit the gravel........ and crossed what seemed the equivalent of the Southern Alps. We climbed and wound our way up a bumpy, dusty gravel road and achieved 40km in an hour and a half. It was an adventure and we were rewarded with a stunning view from the highest point around. We saw the sum total of two houses right at the very top so clearly there was a need for the road to be there..........probably Roman.

Back down at sea level we passed through Adami but by this time we were trying to outsmart GPS lady. There was a fear of her sending us back over the mountain top. We stopped at a very large 80 seat taverna with three old guys sharing one Amstel. Only one spoke a very little English. They knew where Australia was but had difficulty with NZ. We taught them some English and they taught us thank you in Greek.....along with pointing the way to go. They were so nice to us we felt that we had to buy a coffee, probably the only sale of the day. Regretfully it was pretty disgusting ....something called Nescafé!

In another little settlement (10 houses) all of which were in pristine condition.

Smack in the middle was a lovely bakery with a huge amount of bread and goodies....we just don't know who they were going to sell them to.

Nafpilo is different again and has both an old town and a new town. We are staying in the old town area and have wandered around the small alleys in the old town. We finished up in a cafe in the square and watched the locals out for an evening stroll, children playing and a large number of tourists coming out for dinner. They come out late by our standards for the evening and the square got busier and busier as the night wore on.

Nafpilo is well known for the Palamidi Castle which sits high above the old town. The fortress commands an impressive view over the Argolic Gulf, the city of Náfplio and the surrounding country. There are 857 steps in the winding stair from the town to the fortress. However, to reach the top of the fortress there are over one thousand. Locals in the town of Nafplion will say there are 999 steps to the top of the castle.

We are taking on the challenge tomorrow!