Pre-Nauplion

Prior to leaving for our group weekend trip to Nauplion, I woke up to the sound of bells (it has to be from the church). I got up and went exploring once again and came across a street lined with different types of venders. It turns out that every Friday and Tuesday a street market is held. Anything that came from the ground, sea, and factory could be found there and everything was extremely fresh and looking delicious.

Realizing that the best deals would most likely be found at the market, my suitmate and I searched for toilet paper, paper towels, and garbage bags. Although these items were initially supplied by our program, the supply quickly ran out. (On a side note: because the plumbing is so bad in the city, no toilet paper is flushed.)

Scouting the market and picking up the supplies, we ran into a vender who recognized the William and Mary sweatshirt worn by my suitmate. This orange vender apparently lived in Washington for many years and cooked at an award winning Greek restaurant. He told us to google-search for the name of the restaurant and said we would find a newspaper article praising his cooking skills. We told the man we were traveling to Nauplion and he told use of a taverna where his "wife" played piano. He told us to tell his "wife" that he said hello; when we asked his name he told us in broken english that he would rather not say. We parted ways and headed back to our apartment, happy at how stereotypically friendly this Greek man was and glad we were able to find a bargain.

Yesterday there was a procession for the Head of the Greek Orthodox church. It was quite a moving ceremony. After walking past the Olympic Stadium (used in the 1989 Games) we arrived on the main street where the procession was occurring. Near the front of the procession a band was playing. The song played set the tone for the 2-3 battalions of solders that followed; the atmosphere was somber but not depressing. After the soldiers passed, 3 more large groups of orthodox priests passed. You would think that they would be the ones that would show the most respect, but surprisingly they were the ones that seemed to be the most distracted today - during the parade we saw one priest answer his cell phone and later we saw many priests at restaurants having a good time. Following the priests, came the coffin containing the fallen minister. It was located on a trailer that was pulled by a military truck that held 15 or so seated soldiers. While passing the crowd began clapping; it was a really moving experience.