It was January 9th, 2024. We had left Athens after having one of the busiest, most fun free days imaginable. I’ll tell you about that day in another post đ
After an hour-long bus ride, we arrived at the Corinth Canal. I’m not even kidding you when I say this canal was so deep I thought I might pass out just by looking at it!
Hiking at Acrocorinth
Our next stop was Acrocorinth: the ruins of a medieval fortress that changed hands many times throughout Greek history. We spent some time touring the fortress and learning about its historical relevance. Unfortunately, I did not take very good notes, so I don’t have much to say about that đĽ˛. I do remember that the fortress was in a very strategic location, and that people locked themselves up there for quite a long time…
After our tour, we were given time to hike if we wanted to. I love hiking, so of course I tried to make it as far up as I could. It was really windy at the top, but the views were absolutely incredible.
As you can see in the photo above, the sky started getting really dark while we were at the top of the fortress.
All of a sudden, it started pouring rain.
We scrambled to get down the fortress before the stone pathways could get too slick. Towards the end, I was practically crawling down the path because it was so steep and slippery! When we all finally made it to the bus, we collectively let out a sigh of relief. What an experience!
Napflio BioFarms
Our next stop was an organic orange farm in Nafplio, where we toured the farm, baked cookies, and even played a little bit of basketball out on the patio of the estate. Petros, the owner and our tour guide for the day, picked and peeled fresh oranges as he told us about the farm.
They were the best oranges I have ever eaten in my life.
The best part was that as Petros peeled the oranges, he simply dropped the orange peels on the ground as “food for the trees”. This quote became a phrase that was repeated frequently throughout the rest of the trip.
After our tour, we went inside to the kitchen where we baked cookies with Petros and his wife. Instead of using cutouts like I do at home, we free-handed shapes ranging from a simple twist to a very complicated Ole the Lion. While the cookies were baking, some of us went outside to play the basketball game ‘lightening’. For not shooting hoops in several years, I was surprised how many buckets I made!
After a while, Petros came out with a plate full of freshly baked cookies. They were delicious! Oh, and we got to drink some freshly squeezed orange juice as well.
The whole experience felt like a day visiting with grandparents. It was really nice to interact with locals and make such wholesome memories! I was very sad to leave that day, knowing that I would probably never see Petros and his wife ever again.
I have probably mentioned this before, but I think that part of what makes meeting strangers so special is knowing that the time spent together is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Throughout my travels so far, there have been a handful of people that I’ve met and talked to anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of days. While the time with them was short-lived, I remember them very vividly and think of them often.
That’s all for now!
Until next time,
Clara