Sept 15

Got up at 5:15 this morning and showered again because my hair was standing straight up and there was no easier way to get it done. Woke the guys up about 5:40 and we were all out the door by 6 am. Stopped for diesel for our rental car and headed for the airport. Very small airport and very clean. We were told to arrive 2.5 hours early but it was unnecessary. We got through security quickly and had an hour and a half to chill. Bought coffees and just relaxed. Safely arrived in Nafplio and got our rental car, also very easily. The trip to Nafplio is a couple of hours, about 170 km. But no traffic at all and it was a beautiful drive. Had to pay toll four times along the way. Our host told us his mother would meet us in Cafe Prego to show us where to park when we got here. We immediately found ourselves in one of those narrow alleyways that had a dead end and David had to back the car up for a ridiculous length and I honestly cannot believe the things this man can do with a car. He has parked in ridiculous spaces and driven on ridiculous roads and most of the time, I just close my eyes and trust him. He somehow always gets it done. While we were backing out of this area, a woman ran out to our car and said, "Are you Melodie?" How she knew this was us, I have no idea. But she directed us to a parking space and showed us where our AirBnb was. What an amazingly beautiful and spacious place! Definitely the nicest place we've stayed. AND the bed is reasonably soft. I'm in heaven. We dropped off our bags and went to find some food. Ended up at a place that was serving breakfast even though it was after noon. We had eggs, bread, cheese, fresh squeezed orange juice and more coffees, done in only the way the Greeks can do it. Delicious. Went back to our room and got our swimming suits on and set out to explore. We wanted to see Castle Brutzi and you have to take a water taxi to get to where it sits off the coast. The man running the water taxi told us the Castle was closed but for five euros we could see it close and also go around to the back of the mountain to see a church. We thought that sounded great. And it was. Except the smell of the diesel fumes off the water taxi. Ugh. Not our favorite part of Greece. After we returned, we walked along the water and found a place that was a protected cove to swim. The wind was blowing so hard but we all went in. It was like a swimming pool there with rock enclosures and ladders to get into the water. The water felt delightful but I didn't last nearly as long as the guys. There was a wonderful shower to clean up with though. The water was hot coming through a hose that ran off the hill and felt so good. After the guys finally got out of the water, we headed back. Our plan was to walk by the water to the other side and walk the Arvanitias Promenade. We walked a bit and then David said something was really hurting his foot. We stopped and I took a look and realized he had stepped on a sea urchin. I pulled out the ones that were really poking out and we went in search for vinegar and antibiotic ointment, realizing that our long walk was not going to happen with this new development. Found our products with multiple stops and then decided to eat before we headed back to the Airbnb. Soaked a paper towel with vinegar and had David rest his foot on it during dinner. Ate at a Gyros place. Good grief. The amount of food!! Greek salads again that were huge and then none of us, even Avi, could finish our food. Ended up boxing it up. Good but I'm not sure I need to have chicken gyros again. My stomach isn't sure either. But I'll never get too much of these salads. I will miss them so much. I've blown completely out of my diet. The only thing I'm not eating is sugar. I'm eating gluten and fried foods and boy, oh boy. I've had some interesting digestive stuff going on. But mostly feel really good. Came back to the apartment and David soaked his foot in vinegar for an hour and a half. It is supposed to dissolve the sea urchin spines. It looks a lot better and I hope he will be OK. So hard to know with him. I washed three loads of laundry and hung them out to dry. We are all out of clothes. Tomorrow we plan to hike and swim but the day will be somewhat dictated by David's foot. Hoping he will be OK. And I hope we all sleep tonight.