Years Later... Greece.

 

Had it really been over two years since we'd been back?  When Covid hit we hadn't quite realized how long it might be until we could all make our way to this little corner of the world. Friendships had been put on hold (in-person anyway), bills had been piling up, our experience there has reverted to the memories and hopes we had. In time, we sort of got used to not being there and one day turned into ten, and on and on it went. As Covid came and variants popped up all over the place so too did ways to deal with it. Our living in the UAE meant that vaccines came early and often and as the world's economies looked to 'open' we were afforded the opportunity to return. 

And return we did. To a country both backward (in terms of a public bureaucracy one would hope they would learn to make efficient) and beautiful (in terms of it natural beauty. We returned to friends and family (uncle 'Eko, Olga and Alice joined us for a short while!) and were able to reconnect.  

The plan had been to "go somewhere new" but one thing led to another, and the holiday season was in high gear, meaning our ability to get out of the city was confined to just two days. We rented a car and drove off, to daddy's favorite area within a two-hour radius: Nafplio.  The day we chose to visit, however, was one that most other Greeks had also chosen, so we found ourselves trying to keep physical distance from everyone else. Though the town continues to be beautiful, the amount of people really challenged our Covid hopes for physical space.  

So, after a short stroll to reacquaint the girls to the old town, we got back into the car and headed to Tolo, where the far left edge of the beach provided the quiet, natural solitude we had been hoping for. We climbed a small rocky outcrop that stretched out form the rocky beach, positioned ourselves along its ridge and watched an incredible sunset that filled our souls several times over. We continued to watch the growing darkening of the colors until we decided to make our way back to the car and onward home.  The darkening sky in the evening provided a couple more glimpses of the symphony that is nature at dusk before darkness enveloped us before we returned home. 

On the way the Peloponnese had provided us with an array of olive groves - that daddy loves so much - to run around and climb on. That too was a wonderful connection to the land and mountains around us. Nature really does do wonders for us all, doesn't it.