day 15 - nemean pig

our hotel is rather old, and has some very creepy hallways and basements and such.  don't go wandering at night, redrum!  when we got up to go get breakfast, it seemed like the shining hotel.  so creepy, so we grabbed our food and went outside to eat it.

then we jumped in the car (we do that a lot, right?) and went to one of my most favorite places in all of Greece, the ancient city of Messene.  When JW and I visited it in 2013, we basically lucked into it, and knew right away it was a special place.  Nestled in a giant valley below a small mountain, and sprawled out below, this is what ancient Greece looked like, and they are still digging this one out.  JW and I left C&H to explore while we went straight to the bottom to work our way up.  It still was as amazing as the first time we saw it.

We hooked up with C&H after they marveled at the site, and drove down to the Arcadian Gate, another of my favorite places.

then back on the road, the new highway from Kalamata to Athens is AMAZING.  This drive in 2013 was hours and hours of driving, but with speed limit of 130 KPH, we flew down the road and arrived at Nemea for lunch in no time.  I stopped at the place with the pig on a spit out front, because, a pig on a spit, come on!

After lunch we went to visit the two Nemean sites, first the Nemean Stadium, where the Nemean Games were held.

and then to the Temple of Zeus.

From there it was a short drive to Naplion, where we checked into our fabulous hotel, the Agememnon, and freshed up before heading down to eat at the fabulous Noulis, where JW and I had enjoyed a wonderful meal in 2013, and it was just as good this time too.

After dinner we strolled down the waterfront and watched the sunset.

H went to bed and C & JW and I went to find a bar to drink in.  Inspired by a post from Matt Barrett, we went looking for the Mavros Gatos, which we found.  It was a delightful little bar, with yummy big beers and drinks, and a fantastic young man who entertained us throughout the night.  The bar was named after the owners cat, who came and went as he pleased, and even jumped on customers tables looking for attention/a snack/a fight???  It was an instant favorite like Rudi's in Chania, and we promised to return the next night, and the young man promised me a shirt when we returned.