Greece Vacation

(Disclaimer- I can't understand how all the words and pictures look perfect and just the way I want when I am blogging but after it gets "published" the font, words, sentences and pictures all do their own thing without my permission) Maybe someday somebody can show me what I am doing wrong!)

GREECE VACATION

Sept 18-Jon, me, Karen and Wayne flew this morning from SLC to JFK then on to Athens, Greece arriving at 9 a.m. the next morning.

We rented a Hertz rental car (Mercedes) and headed for Kalamaki and our Mermaid house about an hour away. It was a trick fitting 4 of us and all our luggage into that car. Talk about a wedgy! 

The beach was just steps away

                                                     

We stayed in this little "Mermaid House" for the first 5 nights. It has been owned by a Greek family for four generations. It is surrounded by olive trees as is everything in Greece.                      

 Karen & Wayne had a little bedroom they called, "The Crypt". They endured a few nights before being kicked out by a lizard. They moved into the livingroom.

The first of many great meals on our tower house patio. Here we have some mystery meat and melon with potatoes and bread of course. We ate a whole large jar of honey during the trip and probably each of us ate the equivalent of a loaf of bread with vinegar and oil every day.

Sept 20-Sat (Hydra)

The next day we caught a boat at Medoni which took us to the island of Hydra. No cars allowed. Just donkeys or legs. 

Karen ordered fish for lunch. She thought is was 2,80 Euros. Turned out to be 28 Euros. Probably the most expensive lunch she's ever had. I guess it's expensive to keep the head and tail on. We had a good laugh over it. There were 9 cats in wait to finish off the leftovers.

Snokeling at Vlychos beach

Sept 21-Sunday (Kalamata & Korinthos)

We found a nearby Greek Orthodox church service to crash. There was a lot of chanting, gestulating and candle lighting. It was fascinating. Afterwards we took a drive to check out ruins in Ancient Korinthos, watched somebody bungee jump at the Korinthos bridge, and helped some farmers pick grapes.....just for the fun of it. 

Sept 22-Monday (Athens)

We drove into the outskirts of Athens and took a train into the area of the ruins and acropolis. It was very alive and exciting getting off the train at Monastruaki Plaza with the open markets and street performers. We followed Rick Steve's guide to Athens and saw so many great sites and did a ton of walking. The Temple of Zeus was my favorite. 

 Temple of Zeus

 Odeon

View of Athens with the Temple of Zeus

Me and Jon in front of the Temple of Athena on the Acropolis

Sept 23-Tues (Mycynae)

We drove to the ancient ruins of Mycynae. There were 17 sites of ruins dating back to the 13th century B.C. It was really impressive. 

 Grave circle where many artifacts were found

Lion's gate

That night we went snorkling at our beach, hunted for incredibly beautiful rocks, (they look so amazing wet). 

Snorkeling

Hunting for rocks and shells

Showing off my collection

 Getting cleaned up for dinner

 Karen and I dressed up for dinner in our new Togas (tablecloths purchased in Athens by some very assertive old ladies).

Sept 24-Wed (Nafplio & the Mani Peninsula)

We drove to our next location on the South/Western part of Greece in Agios Nikalaus near Kalamata. We stopped in the village of Nafplio which became our favorite town. It was clean with much less graffiti than other towns. It was also a cruise ship stop. We walked through a farmer's market and climbed over 1000 steps to the Fortress of Palamidi. It was on an acropolis and was huge. 

 Huge outdoor market in Nafplio

 The Fortress of Palamidi

 Enjoying lunch at Nafplio

We met our hosts Jerry and Sandra Burrows who took us to the "Tower House" for our next week of fun. It was located in the village of Agios Nikolaos near the villages of Stoupa and Kardymyli. The Tower house was like a small castle surrounded by olive trees and was just a 10 minute walk from a beach. 

The entrance to the Tower House

The back of the Tower house

 Karen and Wayne in our cute little village of Agios Nikolaos

Sept 25-Thursday

We explored a walking trail nearby leading up to a hill top village named, "Pigi" and "Agios Dimitrios." 

After that we walked down to the beach (10 minutes away). It was a "naturalist beach." I did get one picture but it's probably not appropriate to put here.

Sept 26-Friday

Today we drove about an hour north to see the ancient ruins in Messini. It was our only rainy day and even then it only sprinkled for a few minutes. 

This was one of the theaters. It was hard to tell what was the original old and what was the original new.

The parts of Greece we saw were literally covered in olive trees (or grape vines)

There was a HUGE gypsy flea market. Karen bought a watch for 3 euros but it never worked. I bought some earrings and one of the stones fell out. Haha Afterwards we sat outside (so many outdoor eating areas!) and ate kabobs.

On the way home we stopped in Kalamata to take a walk along the seashore then on to Kardymyli which we loved. We did Rick Steve's walking tour and took a short hike up to another ancient hilltop village. 

 We got treats in this cute little shop then hung out in the back garden. It felt very "European."

Ruins at "Old Kardymyli

I tend to just take pictures with people in them but on a second walk through town snapped this one and it is just my very favorite. 

Sept 27-Sat

Today we drove about an hour South along the coast to the Pyrgos Dirou Caves. They were incredible. We took a 3/4 mile long boat ride through the water filled caverns. They were inhabited during the Neolithic era but an Earthquake sealed the opening and they died.

 I was so excited to "Finally" get to eat out since we had done most meals ourselves. I normally LOVE to eat ANYTHING and EVERYTHING but when this grotesque chicken was served on a bed of cold noodles I about lost my breakfast.

After lunch we took a loop around the Peninsula back to our house. We saw some interesting sights along the way.

That night we had dinner at "Eli's" where the server looked like a dark Brad Pitt. Cats were everywhere as usual.

We noticed a wedding procession heading up to the church so we hung out and pretended to be invited guests.










Sept 28-Sunday

Most of the churches were very old but this one is still under construction.

Jon went for a run while Wayne, Karen & I went to find a church. After a fascinating service at a Greek Orthodox church. It's no wonder they sing their sermons in those acoustical buildings. Afterwards we ran into our hosts Jerry and Sandra who informed us that it was a funeral service. The cemetery was next to the church. They hold a service 40 days after the burial. Later we headed up to Kardymyli. Jon had coffee and read his "scriptures" (newspaper) while the rest of us went for a walk past "Old Kardymyli" to an old hilltop church passing what is believed to be the tombs of the "genimi" twins.

There is a church in every village

Sept 29-Monday

Wayne had found a hike for us through a marble rock slot canyon. It was about 6-7 miles and really great. It followed a gorge and riverbed to an amazing arched bridge.

 Afterwards we spent a couple hours snorkeling and relaxing at a Stoupa beach.

We bought a whole cake in honor

of Amanda's birthday.

It wasn't quite as good as it looked. That didn't stop me from eating most of it.

That night we ate along the waterfront in Stoupa. It seems like the menus are all the same. We sure ate a lot of cheese, tomatos, red onions, cucumbers, olives, boiled potatoes, bread and lots and lots of olive oil.

Sept 30- Tuesday
Karen and I rented bikes and rode them to Kardymyli and back. Karen's was like a little girl's bike and we about aborted until we got her seat raised enough to be bearable. We would trade back and forth. We found a bike path between Stoupa and Agios Nikolaos on the way back that was so fun. Wayne and Jon were our SAG wagon.

We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, snorkeling, relaxing. 

Playing "Oh my heck" at a Stoupa beach. For one of the "hands" in the card game  you have to put the card on your forehead.

There were so many of these little shrines along the road, I just had to stop and get a picture.

Oct 1-Wed

Today was our last day in Greece. We drove back to Athens, turned in our rental car, checked into our airport hotel then took the train back into town to see some of the sites we missed the first time. One of those was the huge Archeology museum. There were over 60 rooms of statues and artifacts. 

 Many of the statues were found in a shipwreck which was heading to Italy.

Temple of Ares

Emperor Hadrian

Jon and I also visited the Ancient Agora which held the best preserved temples in Greece.

 Enjoying some people watching before hopping on the train back to our hotel. Athens was built on top of ancient ruins. In many places of the city there will be a glass floor so you can see the ruins beneath like just behind where we are sitting.

Oct 2-Thurs
Jon's alarm didn't go off so we had 15 minutes to pack and head to the airport. Good thing it was just across the street. Our flight took off at 6:30 a.m. and we landed in SLC at 1:40 that afternoon. Not bad! With the time change it's almost like getting to live the day twice!

We sure had a fantastic trip!!