Peloponnesean Peninsula

Chris picked up our mighty Nissan Micro from the Hotel Pappas carpark below and we were soon on our way.  Once he had negotiated the perils of Loutraki we cruised down the Peloponnese Peninsula towards Nafplio and the free car parks where registration plates are hardly ever confiscated.  It is difficult to believe that our hardy Nissan Micro is traversing the same terroir as Richard Egan did in the 1962 Cinamascope epic where his gritty and artfully besmirched King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans had their date with destiny at Thermopylae, in a battle against the Persians led by the evil emperor Xerxes.

Google maps led us via a tortured route to our selected destination Nafplio Pargeggio Port which despite it's hidden charms, wasn't where we wanted to go, had we known it.  Retracing our steps and negotiating Nafpilo' undoubted charms, we parked in the Port Pareggio and sought an appropriate beverage purveyor.

Semingly unable to grasp the Greek language (have you seen their alphabet?), I have assumed my nom de plume Giovanni due Collini and begun conversing in Italian.  It is so much more effective.  Mi scuzzi ~ people get out of your way, Il conto per favore ~ your bill arrives etc.  Europeans can't absorb strine at close quarters and think we are Kiwis or worse Poms!  So I was wrapped today to see my enthusiastic suggestion of Greek roast lamb ordered by our nearest dining companions. The Israeli party who had occupied the table earlier had uniformly stuck to salad although I noticed one of the ladies had the good sense to consume a half kilo bottle of my favourite beer Mythos.  We have learned Greeks order beverages by weight ~ half a kilo equals 500ml.  You live and learn!

Driving on the opposite side of the road to what any good quiet Australian would do in his Kingswood HQ, we sailed straight as an arrow from a true Spartan bow towards our besieged Loutraki B&B.  Google maps, a recent Xerxes takeover target, attempted to twart our safe return home to Loutraki but Chris had its measure.  Our eta, prior to the reopening of the Greek pharmacies, was timed to perfection arriving home just before our B&B pool reopened.