Rhodes & The Temple at Lindos

Fall is here, although it definitely doesn't feel like it. Summer has made its much belated arrival here on the Central Coast. Man, oh man, is it HOT! Like 110 degrees hot.

I guess it helps me feel not TOO bad about posting pics of beautiful summery weather. Okay, so technically, these are pics from the spring and our vacation to Greece. Yes, school is in full swing and I'm STILL writing about our Spring Break Trip. One day, I will finish documenting the trip. I am determined. Hopefully, it will be BEFORE our next Spring Break trip! Despite the delay, the pictures are just too pretty not to post.

See what I mean?

I've posted about our visits to Athens, Mykonos and Ephesus & Patmos. Next on the itinerary was the island of Rhodes and an excursion to the Temple at Lindos. When we were buying Ella's necklace in Mykonos, the saleswoman told us that, in her opinion, Rhodes is the most beautiful island in Greece. I don't know that I would disagree.

Early in the morning, we headed off on a tour bus for our morning excursion. After being ill the day before, I was a little nervous as to what the day would bring. Thankfully, it turned out that getting some fresh air was a wonderful thing...and it was an exceptionally beautiful day.

Our first destination of the day was the acropolis and the Doric Temple of Athena Lindia. The current archaelogical remains belong to a temple that was built in the late 4th century to replace an earlier temple that was destroyed by fire in 392 B.C.

If you know your Greek, you know that "acropolis" is the highest point of a city. Well, they don't exactly have escalators, or even roads for that matter, up to the top of the acropolis. So, I was extremely grateful for our trusty Beco Baby Carrier. It is THE thing to have when you're traveling in Europe. Strollers aren't exactly the easiest thing to use when traveling over cobblestones and up stone steps to the top of the acropolis. Thankfully, Lucie loved to "ride on Mommy" as she calls it.

It definitely was a bit of a workout getting to the top, but the view was worth it!

Ella enjoyed exploring the ruins and hanging out with her new "friends" (aka the sweet students who gave her some attention.

Lucie, of course, was more interested in the animals that she saw. There was actually a cat wandering amongst the ruins of the temple.

After taking lots of photos and enjoying the fresh air, we headed back down the winding path past many shops selling their wares.

We managed to resist purchasing anything on the way down, but we did stop for some drinks at a cafe at the bottom. The girls and I enjoyed juice and 7-Up, while Brett got a rather attractive coffee.

After another jaunt on the bus, we arrived at a local handmade pottery factory and store. I wish that I had video of the pottery demonstration. It was amazing! Having attempted to "throw a pot" back in Ms. Berge's art class, I have just a small idea of how much talent it takes. (Alas, I have no such talent!) In just mere minutes, this Greek man created a beautiful vase out of a lump of clay....and in just seconds, he destroyed it before our very eyes. A little voice inside me screamed at its destruction! But, he did this to show us the quality of his work and the even thickness of his pottery. Inside the store, a Greek woman painstakingly painted some of the finished pottery.

We couldn't resist bringing home a piece of pottery home with us. Thankfully, the store provided adequate wrapping so that our little decorative pitcher could make it home in one piece.

We ended our morning tour with a stroll through the grounds of the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes.

Situated near the harbor in Old Town Rhodes, the Palace was originally built in the 14th century but was largely destroyed in 1853. When the Italians inhabited the island of Rhodes in 1912, they rebuilt the palace in a grandise psuedo-medieval style as a holiday residence for Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and later Benito Mussolini. In 1948, Rhodes was returned to the kingdom of Greece and the Palace was turned into a museum.

Our walking tour brought us back to the harbor and our cruise ship. We headed back on board for a poolside lunch and then headed back into Old Town to explore the shops. Brett, still hankering for a silk rug after his failed attempt in Ephesus, led us into a rug shop. I got to see firsthand the beauty of a silk rug just as Brett did in Ephesus. Depending on the orientation of the rug to the light, the colors of the rug can change. It almost seems magical. The saleswoman wooed us with discounts, cool beverages and compliments on the beauty of our children. After much debate, we decided to bring one of the silk rugs home with us. Although the rug was not actually made in Greece, it is a nice reminder of our time there. A silk rug is a luxurious thing to walk on, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to keep it on the floor as a rug. Instead, we have it hanging in our bedroom.

After our lengthy visit to the rug store, the girls were in dire need of some rest. So, back to our cabin it was. I settled down with the girls for a nap and hoped that dinner wouldn't be a disaster like it was the night before. Well, dinner wasn't a disaster...it just didn't happen. The girls WOULD NOT WAKE UP! Despite our efforts, they kept sleeping. Brett headed solo to the dining room for the evening and I kept on sleeping along with the girls. Amazingly, they slept until 5:00am the next morning and were refreshed for our busy day of visiting both the islands of Crete and Santorini.

Ephesus & Patmos

Please don't be confused...the following photos are NOT recent. They are from our Spring Break Trip to Greece. Yes, I realize that we're now in July and this trip was in April. But, better late than never, right?

You'll recall that we started out in Athens on Easter Sunday and then began our island cruise the following day with a stop in Mykonos. Tuesday did not bring good things...at least not for me. It was scheduled to be a full day -- a morning stop in Turkey to visit the ancient site of Ephesus, followed by lunch on the boat while we sailed to the island of Patmos for an afternoon tour. What was unscheduled was sickness for ME. I woke up in the wee hours of the morning and could not get back to sleep. As the hours ticked by, I started obsessing over my lack of sleep and began to feel sicker by the minute. Suffice it to say, I did not feel well enough for the morning's excursion so Lucie and I stayed on board while Ella and Brett explored the ancient ruins. I was totally bummed, but there wasn't much I could do about it. Thank goodness for Greek cartoons and the Eeboo "Once Upon A Time" Matching Game that Lucie hadn't played with yet.

Although I didn't get to see Ephesus in person, I do have some wonderful pics to share that Brett took for us. If you didn't know, Ephesus is an ancient Greek city (and later Roman city) that is now a part of Turkey. You might recognize the name from the Bible as Ephesus was an important center for Early Christianity. Ever heard of Ephesians? Paul wrote that famous letter to the believers in Ephesus. Judging from the photos of the ruins, Ephesus must have been an amazingly beautiful city in its day.

(Note: You can see Ella's very important necklace from Mykonos in the above picture!)

The ruins of the theater are rather spectacular. It had a capacity of 25,000 seats. It was not only used for concerts and plays, but also for religious, political and philosophical discussions.

Not only did the Ephesians have a magnificent library and theater...but they also had toilets!

After the tour of the ancient ruins, Ella and Brett had some time in the marketplace as well as a tour of a rug making factory.

Brett enjoyed some tea and very nearly purchased a rug. Unfortunately, someone (aka, Janel) forgot to call our credit card company and tell them that we'd be in Turkey so our card was declined. Note to travelers, if you plan to travel overseas and use your credit card, tell your credit card company otherwise you just might be out of luck. After shopping, it was back to the boat.

Despite sleeping most of the morning, I was still not feeling well enough for the afternoon excursion. So, while the girls settled down for a nap with me, Brett headed out solo to visit the Monastery of St. John on the island of Patmos.

Patmos is a small island that also makes an appearance in the Bible. In the Book of Revelation, it is recorded that the apostle John was on Patmos when he received a vision that was recorded in the book of Revelation. The scene of John narrating his Revelation to a scribe is depicted in this mosaic which hangs above the doorway into the monastery.

Alas, these are the last pictures that Brett was able to take because photography is forbidden inside.

When Brett returned to the ship later that afternoon, the girls and I were still sleeping. We were quite amused to find Lucie napping like this...

I would like to say that the girls and I rallied for an evening of fun on board. Unfortunately, that just didn't happen. The girls were still incredibly tired, and it was a nightmare to wake them for dinner. After experiencing a rather grumpy dinner in the dining room, we headed back to bed with hopes that the morning would bring well-rested girls and a healthier mommy for our trip to the island of Rhodes.

The Aquamarine & Mykonos

Back to the long overdue recap of our Spring Break trip to Greece...

After visiting Athens on Easter Sunday, we woke up bright and early to head on over to the port of Piraeus to get aboard the Louis Lines cruise ship, the Aquamarine. When I began researching our cruise boat prior to the trip, I was a little disconcerted by a few of the news articles about Louis Lines. Just a few weeks prior to our trip, three 26-foot rogue waves hit a Louis Lines cruise ship and killed two people off the coast of Spain. Rogue waves are a rare and not something you can forsee -- just an act of nature. What concerned me more was the fact that Louis Lines had a ship hit a reef off the coast of Santorini and sink in 2007. In fact, it was the same itinerary that we were following. I believe that the cruise line blamed the accident on faulty maps. Of course, I didn't discover this until after the trip was booked by our tour company...not that we could have done anything about it anyway. So, I just told myself that they wouldn't make the same mistake twice and crash into the reef, right?

The afternoon was filled with settling into our cabin, safety drills, and having lunch. We didn't arrive to our first destination -- the island of Mykonos -- until the evening. The sight that awaited us once we docked was beautiful!

On Mykonos, our time was our own. We had just a few hours to walk into town, eat dinner and explore the many shops that lined the streets. In the first shop we went to, Ella fell in LOVE with a particular necklace. We didn't buy it then since we wanted to see what the other shops offered...but she didn't stop thinking about it all night and worried that we wouldn't find the shop again. We ate dinner a seaside cafe with a lovely view and followed it with a nighttime stroll around the island.

After continuing our search in various shops for a suitable necklace for Ella (no luck), we stopped for some ice cream and headed on our way back to the ship. Of course, we had to find that shop again with the necklace! The saleswoman was charmed by Lucie and Ella and also gave them each a freebie -- a small flower magnet for Lu and a lanyard leftover from the Greek Olympics for Ella. With our souvenirs in hand, we got back on the ship and into bed. The next morning's activities were to begin early as we had two desinations -- the ancient city of Ephesus (in Turkey) and the island of Patmos.

A Sunday in Athens

Now that June is almost here, I'm finally getting around to posting about our trip to Greece. Yes, nearly two months has passed since we departed for Greece. I guess I could just skip posting about it, but the family historian in me just can't do that. So, here over several posts, you'll get a glimpse at our first trip overseas as a whole family since Lucie was born.

We arrived in Athens, Greece on Saturday,  April 3rd. Greece is primarily an Orthodox nation, and the most important holiday is Greek Orthodox Easter. Typically, it is celebrated on a different Sunday that a traditional Easter. This year the two holidays happened to coincide. The Greeks begin celebrating Easter at midnight with a church service, fireworks and celebrating in the streets. Unfortunately, we arrived at about 7pm and were too exhausted to go out and see firsthand the celebrations. However, boy did we hear them throughout the night!

On Easter morning, we met up with our Elisabetta, NETC Tour Director and our local tour guide Thanos. Since it was a national holiday, all public sites were closed. However, Thanos still managed to provide us with an overview of the city. We began the morning with a driving tour of the city with stops at the Panathinaiko Stadium in downtown Athens and at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for the changing of the guard.

While we were entertained by the high kicks and pom-pomed shoes of the soldiers, Lucie was most interested by the "birdies" that were all over the place.

Then, we continued on with a walking tour of the area surrounding the Acropolis. One of the highlights of the day was the Areopagus, or the "Rock of Ares" (aka "Mars Hill) just northwest of the Acropolis.

It is believed that the Areopagus is a site in Athens that the Apostle Paul visited and saw an altar dedicated to the Unknown God. Upon seeing this altar, Paul gave his speech that was recorded in Acts 17:16-34. Knowing the Christian historical significance of the place made our visit that much more meaningful on Easter morning.

Although the climb to the top was rather treacherous because the rock had been worn smooth over the years, it afforded us with a wonderful view of the city.

Afterwards, we walked down to "The Plaka," a very old part of Athens that is full of restaurants, shops and well, thieves.  We sat down for a kebab lunch on an outdoor patio with some others from our group. We were warned by the restaurant workers to beware of pickpockets as we were sitting along a busy walkway. Several men from the restaurant stood vigilantly watching for both customers and thieves. Sure enough, before lunch was through, several of the men chased after a thief who was attempting to steal from one of their customers. It made for an interesting show!

Then, it was back to the hotel for an afternoon nap for us all as we were still adjusting to the time difference and recovering from our travel and the festivities that interrupted our sleep from the night before. We had a nice dinner at the hotel and the girls enjoyed traditional Greek Easter Eggs -- hard boiled eggs that are dyed a deep red. (You can see a half peeled one in Lucie's lap in the picture below). After dinner, we headed back out for walk around the city and back to the Plaka.

On our way, we were joined by a dog. Interestingly, dogs run loose all over the Athens. We had seen several during our tour earlier in the day, and they are out at night as well.

As Thanos explained to us earlier, these are dogs that have been abandoned by their owners. However, the Greek government has taken over their care. They have all their shots and are fed. They are well-behaved and almost serve as unofficial guides of the city. They spot groups of people and escort them through their territory. One particular dog joined us on our evening walk and even started barking at someone who dared to jaywalk across an intersection. These dogs know what they are doing!

Like with most cities, Athens is beautiful at night. As long as it is safe to do so, you should always try to do some sightseeing at night. Seeing monuments lit up against a dark sky is always especially beautiful. After snapping this somewhat blurry photo (sorry, no tripod), we headed back for some more rest. The next day, we were headed out on our cruise among the Greek Islands! First stop: Mykonos.

We're back!

We've returned safe and sound from our Spring Break Trip to Greece! In the coming days, I hope to post some pics and stories from our little adventure. But first, it is time to unpack and do laundry...and then my taxes. Until that time, here's a picture of our little family at the Parthenon in Athens.

Gearing Up For Greece...at the Library

In just four weeks from today, my family and I will be headed to Greece for 9 days! It's been three years since my last international travel experience, and I'm itching to do it again. I've been interested in visiting Greece ever since the 5th Grade. That year, my teacher Ms. Zazlov would read to our class from the beautifully illustrated Greek Gods and Heroes after lunch every day. I was fascinated by Greek Mythology, and oh, did I want that book! My sweet mother drove us all over Southern California to find a bookstore that carried it. (Thanks Mom! Now, if only I could find it!) Well, it looks as if my little Ella, at only age 5, has developed a similar interest in Greek Mythology as well. We've got a copy of D'aulaire's Book of Greek Myths that she loves to have read to her. It gives me hope that she'll really be interested in the sights we will be seeing -- Athens and some of the Greek Islands! It should be a fun and exhausting trip...but we're very much looking forward to it.

As with all of my trips overseas, I love learning a bit of the language and getting a Travel Guide. A few years ago, we started a collection of the Eyewitness Travel Guides by DK Travel. They are beautiful books with plenty of photographs and historical information. (If you're looking for practical info like hotels and such, a different brand of guide like Lonely Planet might better suit your needs.) But for us, the Eyewitness Books are great. So far, we've got the Eyewitness guides for Italy, France and a pocket-sized Athens Top 10. Since we'll be taking a cruise around the Greek Islands, I really wanted a copy of the Greek Islands guide as well. But seeing as we really need to save money for the actual trip expenses, I'm having a hard time justifying spending another $30 on a guide and language books.

Finally, it dawned on me to try the local library. Although we live in a small town with a very small library, our library is part of a wider system of libraries. I can search the online database and request books from other libraries in our system for a mere $0.50 each to have them delivered to our local branch. After a little searching, I found the Greek Islands guide as well as the Berlitz Greek Phrase Book and CD in our library system. So, instead of spending over $30 on travel books, I'm spending just $1. True, I would love to have these books in my home and maybe I will someday. But for right now, getting them from the library suits me and my budget just fine.

For other budget-friendly ideas, check out Frugal Fridays at Life As Mom.