June 1, 2018 - Road to Nauplion

An early rise this morning as we say good-bye to Athens and head to Nauplion. Nauplion was the until recently the capital of Greece,  however, in recent times the capital was changed to Athens. On our way to Nauplion we stopped at the Corinth Canal, originally a small piece of land which joined the Greek mainland to the Peloponnese Peninsula.  In Roman times, boats would cross the land on a railway-type construction, rather than sail the hundreds of kilometers around the peninsula.  In the late 19th century, work on the construction of a canal began.  Today it is 6 kilometers long and 21 meters wide, with rock walls rising 90 meters above the sea.  Due to the narrowness of the canal, it is today used mainly by tourist ships. After our visit to the canal we continued to Epidaurus, known in antiquity as a healing center, the place where the god of medicine, Asclepius, was worshipped. The god, Asclepius shined down on us (actually it was by the hard work of our tour manager, Kostas and our two guides, Sophia and Kassandra) that we were able to perform “Why We Sing”and "May The Good Lord" in the  center of the theatre. It was a pleasant surprise for choir members and companions.  We're not done yet... one last stop at Mycenae, which was the home of  King Agamemnon, leader of the Greek Forces in Homer’s fabled Trojan Wars.  And.... to complete our banner day we visited the Tomb of Argamemnon. The Tomb  is one  of a number of “beehive” tombs found in the vicinity of the ancient site of Mycenae.  While visiting the beehive we had the privilege of singing “Let There Be Peace On Earth”  and “The Ode to Newfoundland”. The sound inside was incredible.  Two impromptu performances today in very special places followed by third at lunch.

Back on the buses and on to Nauplion to check into our hotel and enjoy our evening meal.