The 2nd worthwhile sidetrip from Nafplio was to go see Mycenae, and it was conveniently located on the drive out of Nafplio when I realized that I had already done everything in one day, and it would make sense to push to Olympia instead of going back to Athens directly.
Got there bright and early soon after it opened, and got to learn about the Myceanaean culture, which predated the greeks by about a thousand years:

That was an interesing 1.5H+ visit, and then time to drive to Olympia, a longish 3h+ drive...

The Athens Archeological Museum had a good amount of artifacts from this location, including a nice overview:

After being ahead in Nafplio (1 day instead of 2), I realized that it was possible to add a long day trip to Olympia, so I did the drive there after finishing Mycenae. It was a somewhat painful 3H+ drive there from Nafplio and a bit longer back to Athens. It is true that by today's standards, it looks small and underwhelming, but it was still very much worth seeing. Thankfully it was just late enough in the season that the sightseeing times had moved from 15:30 to 20:00, making the side trip feasible and worthwhile.

The museum of the olympic games, was a good place to start and the archeological museum was next:

lots of things found in excavations

This is what the original amphitheatre that was used for over 1000 years, looked like. Yes, it's small and underwhelming compared to Roman theatres ;)

of course the area had fancy buildings which are now mostly gone

The archeological tour, showed what was left. Nothing much, if anything, had been restored

The tour ends with the arch to the main arena:

it looks quite flat

I went to compete for the original 2000+ years old olympics

It would have been nice if more had been restored, but even as is, it's a nice and peaceful area:

Before driving out, a quick stop in town to visit the very good Archimedes museum, showing all the excellent work he did, arguably one of the top geniuses of the world until Leonardo de Vinci, up to 1500 years later. He was sadly and mistakenly killed by a roman soldier. What a loss...

After leaving Mycenae around 11:00, arriving at Olympia around 14:00, the tour visit was mostly over 3H later, and with a 3.5H drive to Athens to return the rental car in time by 21:00:

It was a 30mn drive from Nafplio, and went early in the morning soon after it opened. Thankfully this was before tour busses arrived. It is not one of the most remarkable sites in Greece, but it has the best preserved ancient greek theatre to date. It is still used for performances today and the accoustics are fantastic, no microphone or amplification needed:

The grounds were wonderful at the time, but by now, unfortunately there isn't a lot left:

Of course it had a small museum with things that were found on site:

I say "in a day" because Rick Steves recommended 2 days for it, including the 2 side trips, but actually all of it was easily doable in a day. I just elected to put Mycenae the next morning on the way out to save some useless driving, but it did easily fit at the end of the day thanks to its later opening hours (20:00)

Day started with a yummy breakfast made by the pension:

Next to the pension, there was a very nice orthodox church:

So the day started with a side trip to the Ancient Theatre at the Asclepieion of Epidaurus (click me for blog). Best preserved theatre in greece:

After that, and finding a parking spot downtown, which was a tad challenging, managed to get to port just in time for a bi hourly boat to Bourtzi fortress:

lots of friendly cats everywhere

Back in town, the city walk went by some small churches and minor museums:

museums closed quite early, some around 14:30, so getting an early morning was a good thing

After the bourtzi fortress in the water, the 2nd one was Akronafplia's Castle, which you could drive up to, but there is also an elevator to it:

nicer view from up there

even a cactus garden

more friendly cats ;)

you can see Palamidi from Akronafplia's walls

a godo picture of Akronafplia from Palamidi

You can't really see that fortress from the fortress itself, but it had great views. Of course, the most impressive one is clearly Palamidi Fortress (click me for blog), which you can hike up, but it's a long ass painful hike. I went with the 10mn drive around ;)

even better view from up there

While this could have been pushed into the end of the first day, to get a bit of rest, a nice dinner, and avoid an extra hour of driving to Mycenae and back to Nafplio for the night, I moved Mycenae to the next morning on the drive out (click me for blog)

Nice dinner to end the day

While this could have been pushed into the end of the first day, to get a bit of rest, a nice dinner, and avoid an extra hour of driving to Mycenae and back to Nafplio for the night, I moved

Flying to Athens from Turks and Caicos was not an easy routing, but I managed to make it work via Montreal and Munich, which nicely avoided having needlessly go back through the US and its unnecessary customs and immigration when you are not actually flying to the US. Canada thankfully does this better and had legit transit:

I remember YUL, but this time around, didn't enter the country

nicely done, they check where you come from and if you come from an untrustworthy country, you have to go through security again. Fair enough

finally made it to the lounge

even got Poutine!

the Lufthansa plane was nice, but the flight was too short, barely enough time to sleep before landing in Munich

of course landed 1h late, with a 1h30 connection. I had to run through the airport to make my flight with 1mn to spare, and my luggage didn't make it

planey of snow in Munich still

finally arriving in Athens, lots of Islands visible right away

The Corinth Canal, between 2 seas, while of more limited importance today, was hand dug apparently 2000 years ago by 6000 slaves and is a remarkable achievement. It was later re-opened 2 centuries ago, although today it does not serve a purpose anymore for bigger ships that can easily go around

that almost seems like a wonderful idea :)

you can see the sea on both sides, and it's the same level, so no locks needed

We stopped at a few more minor archeological sites on the way that were all closed, but still able to get a peek:

not overachieving hours

looked inviting inside

fantastic view from up there

After that 2nd stop, it was time to head to Nafplio to end a very very long day (considering the flights that took over 24H)

Here is the blog with the week of diving

The shopping street was worth maybe 1H:

After that, the beach was indeed beautiful:

Nice drink and dinner with my partner in crime, Arturo:

I heard enough stories about the airport being a complete mess that I went there first thing in the morning, waited 15mn for luggage check in, got in before any lines started, and then worked 3H upstairs while waiting ror my plane:

Once you go to the plane, you just walk outside until you see a plane number that looks like yours :)

Err, Chinese and Japanese are different!

Next door, the botanical garden was quite enjoyable and had some bird houses and bird watching:

first time I see a cardinal!

I found another very cool bird with an unusual song:

The texas roads were quite good everywhere I went, and they keep building more:

I had a late night in Austin the previous night (lovely dinner and chat with Marc Antoine), so by the time I arrived at the Alamo and managed to park, it was already 11:00 and a total clusterf. Impossible to get any tour or audioguide or anything. I decided to abort and try Alamo again the next morning.
Instead, I started with the river cruise, which was lovely:

After the river cruise, went to check out a nice local market:

even found a friendly cat :)

While walking around some more, went to check out another poor bridge covered with locks. Silly custom that started in Paris :-

the cathedral is a bit basic, but has a nice projection light show at night

Next, I went to Historic Market Square, lots of nice colorful stores with a clear mexican touch

The last 3 activities of that day are on their own pages:

old, still working, aqueduc

From then, I finished the day by going to the Pearl District, nice to walk around and found a really great FRench Restaurant:

yummy beef, with seared foie gras

As an unusual sighting, I found a drive through Wells Fargo ATM. never had been through one before ;)

After that, time to head back home:

enjoyed some last BBQ before going to the airport

So long San Antonio...

(in real life, because SFO sucks, they cancelled my flight from SA to SFO, so I had to get an emergency uber back to Austin to catch a very delayed flight to SFO and made it home very late that night.

I originally flew to Austin for:

After those 2 were done, I had a day to spend in Austin, which turned out to be just enough for the main sights. I started with the state capitol:

From there, I went to the Blanton Museum of Art:

And the Bullock State History Museum was next (click for page):

I tried to visit the famous Franklin BBQ, but it was mostly sold out by the time I arrived (14:20). I was able to get some leftover "mixed meats", which was better than nothing:

The LBJ Library and Museum was a nice museum in the University, to finish the day. I learned a lot about the man, and he was one of the better presidents that the country did get:

When I was done with the LBJ libray and museum, I went to check out the 6th av district, including murals:

many businesses had these signs, saying anyone with any gun, was unwelcome

I went to check out the museum of the weird, but it was a lesser Ripley's Believe It Or Not, nothing to write home about.

The Texas Toy Museum and Arcade (click me) was a lot more fun, though. Good way to burn time until sunset, when the bats were supposed to come out under some bridge, but by then it started pouring rain, and they didn't come out anytime

everyone waiting and hoping, but no luck

nice views, though

After that, it was time to meet my friend Marc Antoine for a great evening together over some local BBQ:

And that was it for visiting Austin, outside of one museum that was closed that day, got to see all things on my worthwhile list ;)