The view from our seats
in the theater at Epidauros

Well last week was certainly a busy week! Not that this one has been any slower. Last week at the museum we opened up a can of worms and gave ourselves a lot of work, but it was necessary and could only be delayed for so long. At Mycenae we closed the site, and that is a barely controlled level of chaos that thankfully usually only lasts for a day. This week has been continuing through that can of worms and working in stifling heat in Nemea. But more on last weekend. It really is the interesting part.

Just outside of where we had lunch
in Nafplio

Friday we journeyed to the ancient and beautiful theater of Epidauros to see a performance of Oedipus Rex. It's a sad story, and it's amazing how well emotion can be understood even when the language is not. The play itself is an interesting foray into the mingling of fate and free will, and the questions surrounding our lives. If you haven't read it, I heartily suggest it.
That was a rather late night and while I tried to sleep in, I only slept until 7. That did mean I got to enjoy two cups of coffee and a breakfast in silence. It was very refreshing.

A fountain with an Arabic inscription
Nafplio

The rest of Saturday was spent in Nafplio. It is such a beautiful city! It was founded as a Venetian stronghold and was the original capital of Greece after independence was gained from the Turks. It is so colorful and the sea is so blue. Granted, its location also makes it humid, but for the beauty of the area it is totally worth it. We spent the day shopping and eating. Eating a meal here is really quite the affair. It generally takes between an hour to two. It's meant to be enjoyed in good company, with good food and be a pleasurable, relaxing experience. So lunch was almost two hours. When we aren't on site, that's fairly normal. Dinner can take even longer. It's actually a good business plan as it tends to force you to buy more food!

More of Nafplio
The colors on the buildings are incredible!

Shops in Nafplio

After lunch we walked around the boardwalk and saw the fortifications on the cliff. The beach we got to was rather more full of cobbles than pebbles or sand, but the stones were warm and the breeze was nice. It didn't take long to get comfortable and enjoy watching the people. I had not brought my swimsuit and it was nice just to watch. I'm still trying to get used to seeing such small swimsuits on men, especially on the older men, but even those sights could not have spoiled my day!

The rocky shore of Nafplio

And then after we got home and cleaned up, most of us professed an interest in sleep that ended up being delayed until 2:00 AM by good Nemean wine. Go figure. Once you open the bottle...

Temple of Aphrodite, Corinth

However, that did mean that some of us were a bit tired for our whirlwind tour of the sites near to our current home. We visited Corinth, Isthmia, Lerna, and Tiryns, in that order. As the day got warmer, the tours got shorter. We came home to work on our final site write-ups, which were more of a chore. Damn that word school in "field school."

Corinthian Sgraffito
It's what I've been looking at
in the museum in Nemea

All in all, though, a great weekend that capped off a fun week. It was a great time. I cannot wait to visit Nafplio again!

The mighty walls of Tiryns

The Poseidon Mosaic at the baths
in Isthmia