Nafplio

Nafplio (new city as in Napoli) a small city of 14,000 residents has a very long and somewhat brutal history including being named as the Capitol of Greece (1829-1835), and as a Crusader State during the Fourth Crusade.

We are in Nafplio, Greece for another 2-3 nights and then on to Mycenae and Eleusis on our way to Athens.  The travel values are great in Greece due to their busted economy marked by high unemployment and low productivity.  We booked a 5 star Athens hotel near the Parthenon for less than we paid for a Comfort Inn in a dusty town in West Texas last January.  Home late on Friday June 13 after a 24 hour three-legged flight through Zurich & Washington DC.

Bourtzi - Venetian design

 The Bourtzi, alternately a residence for executioners of prisoners at Palamidi Castle, and a hotel (1930-1970) is illuminated by night in yellow lights and appears as a small golden fortress; by day it's a larger fort in the channel into the harbor.  The main meal this date was fresh roasted fish, boiled vegetables (looked like chard or spinach) and fried potatoes.  Tonight we opted for an Ouzo Snack, a plate of tasty hors d'ouvres and a couple glasses of Ouzo with the customary icecube.

Palamidi (thanks to wikipedia) (Greek: Παλαμήδι) is a fortress to the east of the Acronauplia in the town of Nafplio in thePeloponnese region of southern Greece. Nestled on the crest of a 216-metre high hill, the fortress was built by the Venetians during their second occupation of the area (1686–1715).

The fortress was a very large and ambitious project, but was finished within a relatively short period from 1711 until 1714. It is a typical baroque fortress based on the plans of the engineers Giaxich and Lasalle. In 1715 it was captured by the Turks and remained under their control until 1822, when it was captured by the Greeks.

The bastions of the fortress were originally named after the Venetian provveditori. However, when it fell to the Ottoman Empire, the bastions were given Turkish names. Lastly, when the Greeks overthrew the Turks the bastions were renamed after Greek saints. One of the bastions, called the "Miltiades," was used as the prison cell of Theodoros Kolokotronis, a hero of the Greek Revolution.