Part 3: The American takes a road trip.

I hope everyone's holidays were very merry! Things have been busy busy busy for me over here on this side of the Atlantic. Until yesterday, Nick and I were sharing the house with Grandma and Aunt Aphrodite, which meant there was no end to my amusement. Imagine two Greek women in their eighties, one sassy and one a little out of it, neither of whom you can understand a single word that comes out of their mouth. No matter, their tone of voice told me everything I needed to know. One morning I heard Grandma yelling at Aprhodite in the kitchen; apparently she'd gotten in her way -- and there's NO getting in Grandma's way in the kitchen. Another example of Grandma: Nick's sister was making a salad with red leaf lettuce, and Grandma told her that it must be rotten and she should throw it out. Nick's sister tried to explain that it was a different kind of lettuce, but Grandma was having none of it, and finally said, "Fine, if you want to eat rotten lettuce, eat rotten lettuce."
Christmas day was spent at Nick's sisters', playing with kids and having a lovely meal. The day after Christmas we had a night out on the town, taking in an opera concert at the Greek National Opera and dinner at a fancy bistro in Kolonaki, the posh district of Athens. The singers were rather underwhelming; the soprano was quite good, but the tenor and mezzo were struggling. The orchestra was fantastic though, and they ended with a very funny "Symphony of the Toys" by Leopold Mozart that had unusual instruments such as bird flute and triangle, which was very holiday appropriate.
Wednesday we took Grandma back to the village and then took a road trip to Nafplio, a darling little town on the sea about 120 kilometers south of Athens. We booked a room at this quaint pension:




There was lots to explore in this little town. It reminded me a a bit of Italy: narrow cobblestone streets, flower boxes in the windows, and...GELATO! We found not one, but TWO amazing gelato places:

The nippy weather did not stop me. The peanut butter gelato at this place was to DIE for.

The main attraction of Nafplio was the gigantic 18th century Venetian castle perched on a mountain that looks over the city. We spent nearly two hours exploring the castle and taking in the magnificent views:
















It was a great little road trip. Now we are back in Athens, and last night I had the best souvlaki in town at this place called Three Pigs. Stay tuned for my next post on Greek junk food...