As Hivefest was getting closer the FOMO was getting real. And two weeks before the event i realized it is not happening for a lot of various reasons.
So there was only one logical thing to do. Go on vacation.
The plan was always to spend 6 days at one place and mentioned Parga some time ago. (more on Parga in another post) After few days there i still didn't have an idea where to go next and half jokingly asked him if he knows someone who is renting in Nafplio. Post about getting to Hive Fest were already out there so a mini Hive meat up was in my mind.
answer was no, but he will be happy to help me with picking a good location. Frist place i sent, his answer was "close to everything and not even 5 minutes from our place".
So if you randomly pick a place to stay and you pick the one that is in the neighborhood of and
, and the place is available for the days i planed to stay, 5 hours of driving will not stop me :)
5 hours of driving sounds ok, and it is for like 3 hours :) But i can say that the main roads in Greece are actually really good.
We got to Nafplio around 5PM, checked in, throw our bags and i sent Stef a message. Hive Fest Amsterdam was my first meeting people from online world and i can say it was a pleasant surprise.
My second one was about to happen, again because of Hive. And even you do have some expectations how will it go, you never know.
I am happy to say that after maybe 2-3 awkward sentences of hellos it clicked like if i know and
my whole life. And they were wonderful hosts. Nafplio is
hometown so she was the main tourist guide. A running joke was my f-up knee and will to avoid stairs and i must say she really tried to do that 😂.
4 of us (my sister , we still don't know did she lost the Hive keys or not :) ) spent 3 days together. On the second day, while hanging out at a beach Stef suggested a photowalk. I am always happy to take photos (walks make more sense with taking photos :) ), we got Fotini to pick up the camera and my sister had to endure 3 photographers on photo mode ON 😁
My curse of buying prime lenses and not owning a zoom is most evident on photowalks and after every one of them i say i will buy a zoom :)
It is always interesting to see what other people see through the lens when walking together, and how similar or different the shots will be.
I think there is an art in taking photos of these small narrow streets and i still didn't master it :)
At one point i got drown to these white and blue bots, i think i have 5-6 more in the archive.
We were really close to a beautiful sunset, there was just a bit more clouds than needed for that.
You will see the Bourtzi Castle in the photos a lot. It is kinda there in the middle of the sea, and it is hard to miss :)
The most important photo taken by my sister :) i look like an amateur there using the display :D
Some of the stairs we could not go around :D
Can you guess where this wonderful and not at all threatening looking hallway is leading to? :)
Another post with a lot of photos and not so many words, i am not great at words, maybe that is the reason i take phots.
Driving the extra mile (or few) to go to Nafplio and meet Stef and Fotini was definitely worth it (maybe i will fly next time 😂 ). Meeting new "real life" Hive friends was again a great experience (sad we didn't get Markos to join us on our walks, hope he is doing better). 3 days was just not enough, but that will probably be an excuse for the next trip.
Expect at least one more post from Nafplio, with all the facts Fotini shared with us. Till then check out this walk from two other perspectives:
Traisto: Meeting Hivers as large as life!
FotoStef: My very first hive meet-up
I was late with publishing the post so i could add links :) It is interesting how some shots from the walk were different and those few that were almost the same :D
This is my contribution to the #wednesdaywalk challenge, a great initiative, hosted by