argos, last day

before leaving for athens today, we went to naufplio, and walked through bourdzi. it is a fort that was built in the middle of the bay of naufplio. it was neat to walk around the castle undeterred by any gaurds and what not. that is one thing that i really like about touring the ancient sites in greece: they barely block people at all from actually exploring the sites and looking closely. because we were tired, we decided to just go to the beach afterwards rather than explore more, such as the palamida, the famous castle at the top of the highest mountain in naufplio. after 8 straight days at the beach, we are very dark skinned, and appreciate the relaxation that a beach can bring.

another thing that i appreciated during our time in argos is the pace of life in a smaller place. i enjoyed watching the horizon with my uncle on his patio, while twirling koboloi (worry beads). it was also cool to just hang out, and not really care much about all the other different things that might be happening in the world. in america, people live to work; while in greece, people work to live. i have friends in new york who work 10 to 12 hours a day, six to seven days a week on wall street, and i am sure that they make a lot more money than i do. the problem is that if one works all the time too make money, there is no time to spend the money and enjoy life. i definitely could get used to laying about in argos or nafplio, and give up lots of the other luxuries and worries of big city life.

after a nap, heraklea rode with us while my uncle drove us to athens. on the way out, matula cried while kissing us goodbye. all and all, i think that it was a bit of an emotional leg of our trip. it has been my experience that it is always good to be with family, no matter how distant.