DAY 16: We ran around a castle. Again.

'...8,9—10. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9—20.1,2,3...' As a human abacus, JJ and I made the ascent to the top of the lofty castle in Naflpio. There are nine hundred and ninety-five steps to the top of the first bastion. Congratulations to me, I can count to almost one thousand. Why is this important? Because the guide book told us that there was no accurate count for how many steps there were to reach the top of the castle, so I accepted the challenge to count every step (not that I can guarantee full accuracy of my count either—there were a few debated steps, as we didn't use them but someone else may find them necessary). Thus began our third Turkish castle exploration and the sixteenth day of our Eurotrip.

Protocol must be followed in castle explorations, and JJ and I have developed quite a thorough method for touring castle ruins. The primary mentality of this protocol is as follows:

If you can see your next step, keep going. If not, find one.

We have even managed to develop a defensive strategy against our foremost castle foe, the stinging nettle. JJ has politely demonstrated our hands-on-head approach to avoiding these pests, which (of course) were abundantly gracing the castle grounds in Nafplio.

Even better, following our footwear faux pax(s) and run ins with other castle residents, we donned our knee high boots and jeans boldly as we dashed along the edges of the ramparts and through the tangles of the courtyards. The castle in Nafplio has multiple bastions and chambers, thus we made sure we were prepared to overtake any obstacles that would prevent us from viewing every area of the former Turkish fortress.

Aside from the mobs of highly irritating Greek students swarming through the main areas of the castle and screeching loudly in foreign tongues (apparently their preferred form of communication...?), our goal was accomplished. All ramparts were explored, all chambers discovered, all creepy tunnels entered (ok, maybe that last part is a lie... we didn't have a flashlight so certain tunnels were left alone. We did look into all of them though). No cliff edge was left unturned, as ensured by JJ, and no Byzantine look out posts were left unoccupied, as ensured by myself.

huthut

And...I'm not sure what else to say about the castle, except that it was big. Really, really big. And we got in for free, thanks to our student cards and the nice lady at the front desk! It was a bit difficult to find something more spectacular than castle explorations, thus we walked along a scenic beach front path (closed to pedestrians due to falling rock off the cliff face...oops) and wandered the 'old town' area to kill time in the afternoon, where we replenished our then empty stock of oranges. We proceeded to revitalise ourselves afterwards by relaxing our eyelids. Our evening consisted of even less interesting activities, such as finding a grocery store, buying bread, and eating sandwiches and oranges in the hotel room.

The fiercest of all castle residents. To quote JJ, 'He nearly bit my toe off!'

A chamber of the castle accessible only via unlit passsageway.

JJ 'Danger' Edge

The full extent of the cliff edge doesn't fit in one picture...

The view of the castle from the pier

Because one castle was not enough...a town this big needed three! (There is another that isn't worth taking a picture of...mostly because it has a hotel in the middle of it now.)

stinging nettles--WATCH OUT!!!