Awkward taxi rides and crappy rental cars

On our final night in Athens we had dinner at a lovely little restaurant with a view of the Acropolis. On our way back to the hotel we had the most bizarre and awkward taxi ride to date. Which is saying something considering all taxi rides are at least slightly bizarre and awkward. The driver was a lanky man with stingy hair. He wore all black and never made eye contact with us when we got into the car and never said a single word to us at all. just stared straight ahead and occasionally turned up his thumping techno music. I was pretty confident that he was going to drive us out into the middle of a vacant field and do unmentionable things to us. But, no, everything turned out ok.

The next day Scott and I checked out of our hotel in Athens and met with a man who dropped off our shitty rental car (it doesn't exactly purr like a kitten, more like groans like my father when we talk about money). For some reason Scott and I thought it would be a good idea to rent a car and drive in a country that has the highest accident rate in Europe. The first stop we planned to make along the way was at the ancient site of Corinth so we grabbed our map, turned up the Greek radio and headed south.

Except that we got off at the wrong exit.

It took us a little time and a little frustration before we got turned around and driving back on the highway. It actually helped that I took ancient Greek in college since I can read the Greek road signs without much trouble. Who thought that degree would actually come in handy?

Once we arrived at the actual Ancient Corinth site we parked and looked around the ruins. The ruins were honestly not anything super marvelous. Their little museum was better than I had expected though. Above all, we had some of tastiest gyros ever at a nearby taverna. That, alone, was worth the trip. Personally, I think the best part about or side trip to Corinth was the opportunity to see true rural Greece and see how the average Greek person lives.It reminded me a bit of Merida, Spain. After Corinth we hopped back onto the highway than took a few windy, "back-woods" roads to get to Mycene.
If you're one of those people who has trouble seeing past what is in front of them then I imagine Mycene would be a pretty boring experience. Little of the ancient city remains. The Lion's Gate is still mostly intact but the heads of the looming lion statues have long since been lost. Most of what remains of the city are crumbled building foundations. The most amazing aspect of Mycene requires a little more imagination and insight.




It requires you to think of the kingdom that is described in Homer's Iliad or think of all the kings and heroes mentioned in ancient texts and mythological stories. That's when you can truly appreciate Mycene.

We arrived late in the afternoon in the small port town of Nafplio and checked into our hotel. The hotel room is awesome. I now know what it would feel like to sleep in a cave or better yet...


a castle.