WORDS | JON REID
This was a strange one for me. Strange in that I had never heard of this town in Greece. It's the first time I've been sent off the mass tourism route. My first sighting of the old town was enough to convince me that I would love Nafplio. Some places I visit are difficult to photograph. They take time and effort to find good images.
Nafplio is the opposite. I could point my camera anywhere and be happy with what I see through the viewfinder.
The most striking feature of the town is Bourtzi Castle, located on an island in the harbour of the town. The castle takes up the entire island and seems to float on the turquoise water.
On the subject of castles, there are another two, directly above the Old Town, offering spectacular views of Nafplio. The view from the castles reveals Naflplio's position on a headland with the ocean either side of the town. A beautiful, secluded beach lies just next to Nafplio on the opposite end of the headland.
My highlight was exploring the Old Town. This consists of narrow, marble lanes lined with historical buildings, covered in all sorts of Mediterranean flowers. It has the effortless beauty that hotel designers try mimicking but can never quite match the authenticity of. As the major industry of the town is tourism, the buildings house mostly bars, restaurants and boutique stores. I was pleasantly surprised by the style and taste and wasn't surprised to hear that the town draws large numbers of Scandinavian tourists.
As I travel around the world, I make a mental catalogue of places I want to go back to. I have filed Nafplio under 'places to stay to write a novel', 'places to stay to inspire photography' and 'places to imagine being a pirate'.
Another town, another beautiful set of images from Jon Reid. We can't wait to see where his adventures take him next, stay tuned for more travel updates and check out his other work here at www.nomadicvision.com and amazing Instagram updates here www.instagram.com/jonreid.
