After a fairly long day of traveling — starting with a crowded rush for the plane at Santorini because the previous day’s flight had been canceled, and ending with a several-hour, sometimes white-knuckled drive from Athens — we rolled up into pretty Nafplion to discover that the power was out throughout the whole town, courtesy of the striking unions and their supporters. We carried our bags up four flights of stairs. The water was out, too, of course, but that didn’t stop Will from making a beeline for the bathroom, and, um, going, leaving us with nothing to do but to throw open the sliding glass door, and pray that the power and water would be back on, as promised, in about an hour.

We spent the time wandering the town, and looking, with some eagerness, for potpourri. Thankfully, the power, and water, was back on by 7 p.m. Nafplion is a cool little town, the former capital city of Greece. It hugs a small harbor filled with tiny white fishing boats, and an ancient castle looms over back of the town. There’s a main town square surrounded by restaurants and tavernas, with kids playing soccer and tag well into the night. It’s filled with narrow little streets and pedestrian walks, lined with shops.

We had a seafood dinner by the harbor, and Will finished off with gelato before bed. I’m down in the lobby, late now, writing and downloading pictures from our stay in Santorini. Tomorrow we’re going to explore the ancient ruins at Mycenae, and the Theatre of Epidaurus, and I’ll get some pictures of Nafplion to post here. We’re promised electricity and water through our stay here the next two nights. This strike is something. I think that forever more I will associate piles of garbage, and now power and water outages, with Greece. Hope everyone is well back home.