Sunday - Athens:
We all woke up early and had a nice breakfast, included with our rooms. Delicious melon, rolls, eggs, halavah.
Andrea and Zachary are still sick so Ari, Joshua, and I went to the flea market, and the Zeus's temple leaving them asleep in the hotel. After lunch we returned to find them asleep, so we went back out to see the Roman Agora and assorted ruins.
The kids were endlessly fascinated by the communal cats and dogs everywhere. People leave water and food out for them; we've even seen a lady take a bag of cat food out of her purse to feed a stray begging at an outdoor cafe. The temple of Zeus had a half dozen cats, a few dogs, and a couple of large turtles, cared for by staff.
After lunch, and frozen Greek yogurt that was by far the best froyo I've ever had, we all went to the Acropolis. I wasn't going to have any, but Joshua wanted to try it. He almost backed out when they only had one flavor, "yogurt" but one taste (which I heavily encouraged him to take) changed that. Andrea made the steep climb to the top, saw the Parthenon, and retired to the hotel while I took the kids to dinner.
I did a lot of research on where to have dinner using Google, our guide book, and Tripadvisor, finally settling on a place three blocks North and four blocks West of our hotel. I walked up the three blocks and turned the corner and the neighborhood went from urban graffiti to scary. I lived in Flatbush and this was as gritty as anything there. We walked about 6 blocks looking for the place before I decided to turn around and head back to the main street. On the way back I looked around a corner into an alley and saw a couple of guys cooking heroin. We ate an uninspired Greek meal in the touristy Palaka, but we got home safe.
Monday:
Kosmos rent a car dropped off a car at our hotel and we drove to Napflion, a picturesque town that was the first capital of Greece. The kids loved it. We wandered up and down the streets, ate at great restaurants, and bought a few souvenirs.
Tuesday
This was the best day yet. We started by driving to Epidaurus where there is a remarkably well preserved amphitheater that seats 14,000. Andrea, Joshua, and Zachary all sang (in English, Japanese, and Chinese respectively). We looked at the medical instruments and Andrea was appalled at how they did things. I suggested that in 100 years SSRIs will be viewed in the same way. "Imagine just slowing serotonin re-uptake in the whole brain and hoping that it helps more than hurts," I imagine a future neurologist saying in a tone somewhere between bewildered and shocked.
From Epidaurus we drove to Delphi, so I spent about seven hours driving today. On the way we read the story of Kleobus and Biton from our guidebook, which summed it up as "This story is one of a number of Greek tales which show that death is a small price to pay for immortal glory." Greek drivers have taken this lesson to heart. All traffic rules are taken as suggestions. They breeze through stop signs and pause at red lights. I did a rolling stop at a stop sign at the beginning of our trip and the driver behind me honked with annoyance. They pass in no passing zones even though the main highway is one lane in each direction and a shoulder that everyone uses. It was like driving in a movie, dodging oncoming traffic at 120 kph. Andrea recorded a few minutes of video just for fun.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Day 5 -- Delphi
From the vantage point of the next morning all of yesterday seems to be nothing compared to a single hour on the road. We were barreling along a Greek highway at 130 kph when the car began to make a horrible sound. I pulled over onto the shoulder, verified that we had a flat tire, listened to Andrea and Joshua beg me to get help instead of trying to change the tire myself, called the rental company, called roadside assistance, and pulled out my kindle.
Five minutes and three interruptions from the kids later, Andrea who has the patience of a saint with our children but none for anything else (as if the children have used it all up), was at the back of the car with tools trying to get the spare detached from the underside of the car. I changed the tire with trucks whizzing past. Andrea called and cancelled road service.
When we got back to the hotel at 7PM, the car rental company representative wanted me to go get the tire fixed. I told him that I didn't think the tire should be my problem, bargained him down to twenty euros and was done with it.
Much as the day seems to be about a flat now, we actually saw a lot of interesting things in Delphi. The temple where the oracles inhaled gasses released from underground (ethane, methane, and ethylene) and made their prophecies and the famous statues of the phoenix, the twins, and the charioteer.
Delphi was a delightful town, but had horrible restaurants. Andrea and Joshua are really sick of Greek food. I have to admit I was ready for a change myself but we had another meal of salad, tzatziki, and dolmatas. Once we were finally back in Athens we ate at a vegetarian restaurant called Avocado and everyone was happy once again.
Tomorrow we wake up at 6AM to take a ferry to Santorini. and so to bed.
A General Rant About Greeks
Ever since we've been in Greece I've notice two things about the Greeks that I think add up to a real problem. First, the Greeks are really, genuinely nice. When Andrea asked at a restaurant that we had just eaten lunch at where there was a grocery store to buy fruit for the road they took her back to the kitchen and packed a bag of fruit for her. When we asked about a laundromat the woman we asked let us do a load in the hotel's machine. If you look lost, they stop and ask if they can help you navigate.
Second, every Greek person under the age of about 60 seems to speak English fluently. Unlike the French, they're happy to speak English. It's like being in Sweden; as soon as they realize that you're American, sometimes before you even open your mouth, they switch to English.
I was counting on an environment more like Japan, where it helped to try to impress people with the fact that you at least tried to learn their language and sometimes they genuinely needed to communicate in Japanese. How is Ari going to learn any Greek in a country that makes life this pleasant?
Five minutes and three interruptions from the kids later, Andrea who has the patience of a saint with our children but none for anything else (as if the children have used it all up), was at the back of the car with tools trying to get the spare detached from the underside of the car. I changed the tire with trucks whizzing past. Andrea called and cancelled road service.
When we got back to the hotel at 7PM, the car rental company representative wanted me to go get the tire fixed. I told him that I didn't think the tire should be my problem, bargained him down to twenty euros and was done with it.
Much as the day seems to be about a flat now, we actually saw a lot of interesting things in Delphi. The temple where the oracles inhaled gasses released from underground (ethane, methane, and ethylene) and made their prophecies and the famous statues of the phoenix, the twins, and the charioteer.
Delphi was a delightful town, but had horrible restaurants. Andrea and Joshua are really sick of Greek food. I have to admit I was ready for a change myself but we had another meal of salad, tzatziki, and dolmatas. Once we were finally back in Athens we ate at a vegetarian restaurant called Avocado and everyone was happy once again.
Tomorrow we wake up at 6AM to take a ferry to Santorini. and so to bed.
A General Rant About Greeks
Ever since we've been in Greece I've notice two things about the Greeks that I think add up to a real problem. First, the Greeks are really, genuinely nice. When Andrea asked at a restaurant that we had just eaten lunch at where there was a grocery store to buy fruit for the road they took her back to the kitchen and packed a bag of fruit for her. When we asked about a laundromat the woman we asked let us do a load in the hotel's machine. If you look lost, they stop and ask if they can help you navigate.
Second, every Greek person under the age of about 60 seems to speak English fluently. Unlike the French, they're happy to speak English. It's like being in Sweden; as soon as they realize that you're American, sometimes before you even open your mouth, they switch to English.
I was counting on an environment more like Japan, where it helped to try to impress people with the fact that you at least tried to learn their language and sometimes they genuinely needed to communicate in Japanese. How is Ari going to learn any Greek in a country that makes life this pleasant?
Day 6 -- Ferry to Santorini
Andrea had insomnia last night, which she thinks was caused by coffee being one of the ingredients in the delicious almond chocolate cake that she had for desert at Avocado last night. Nonetheless, the alarm went off at 6AM and we hustled to get ourselves and the kids dressed, packed, and down to the van by 6:30 to go to the ferry. We're on the Blue Star ferry now, 8 huge very luxurious floors. The kids are mesmerized by video games and disappointed by the fact that wifi is not free on the ship.
We arrived in Santorini and were met by a local travel agent who gave us a brief introduction to the island, while we were driven to Kamari, where we are staying. We introduced a game to the kids that we hope will keep them engaged. We give points, redeemable for prizes for completing quests like finding out what the dollhouse size churches along the highway are for, how to say crater in Greek, or what is the furthest shop on the beachfront. Six points got them a frozen yogurt.
We ate at our hotel. The kids made their own pasta from dough, at a table set up across the sidewalk from us, under the chef's supervision, while we sat next to the ocean. it was fabulous to have adult time and the kids had a blast. The restaurant treated us to wine and dessert (flan, vanilla ice cream, and lemon sorbet).
Seems like it is my turn to have insomnia tonight.
We arrived in Santorini and were met by a local travel agent who gave us a brief introduction to the island, while we were driven to Kamari, where we are staying. We introduced a game to the kids that we hope will keep them engaged. We give points, redeemable for prizes for completing quests like finding out what the dollhouse size churches along the highway are for, how to say crater in Greek, or what is the furthest shop on the beachfront. Six points got them a frozen yogurt.
We ate at our hotel. The kids made their own pasta from dough, at a table set up across the sidewalk from us, under the chef's supervision, while we sat next to the ocean. it was fabulous to have adult time and the kids had a blast. The restaurant treated us to wine and dessert (flan, vanilla ice cream, and lemon sorbet).
Seems like it is my turn to have insomnia tonight.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Day 7 - Sleep Deprived in Paradise
The previous night I tossed and turned, gave up, got out of bed and went to the lobby with my tablet, read the Times, posted on Facebook, read my e-mail. Finally at 2AM Ireturned to bed, tossed and turned for perhaps another hour and finally dozed off only to feel like I'd been run over by a bulldozer when the alarm went off at 7:45.
We ate breakfast at the hotel and set off for an organized tour of the island. We were bussed first to the archaeological site where a Minoan village was buried under 40 feet of volcanic ash in the seventeenth century BC. It was fascinating. Four story buildings, sewage systems, pottery, stores, frescos, all presented by a guide who knew her stuff. She taught the kids about linear A (an as yet undeciphered writing system) and I later challenged Joshua to figure out how Linear B was deciphered. He figured it out in a few minutes with a few leading questions from me.
We also visited a traditional Greek village (but it was a superficial walk-through), a red sand beach, a black sand beach (where we ate lunch), a winery (where we got another superficial walk-through and tasted 3 Santorini wines). Finally, we went Oio (pronounced EE-Oh) where we walked through one of the most picturesque towns ever built, ate a fine Greek meal, watched the sunset, and bought nuts. I also finally managed to buy a replacement memory card for my camera. I loaned Joshua the nicer camera for this trip, which he packed without the memory card, so I took the memory card out of mine and have been without a camera form the second day until now.
There was a Saudi couple on the tour with a 5 year old daughter named Aida who befriended Zachary and Ari. Ari let her draw on his sketchpad. I felt sorry for the little girls. Her mom was covered head to toe in black and would not let Aida go in the water at the beach despite the girl's obvious desire. Andrea offered to supervise, but her offer was firmly declined.
What I'm leaving out of the description is all of the complaining I heard about the lack of diet Fanta, the incredible difficulty of finding a decent place to eat, the fact that the public bathrooms charged 50 cents, the time I paused to look at something and my family kept going and we spent about 20 minutes looking for each other, and the argument about what to order for dinner, possibly making Oio both one of the most beautiful and one of the most miserable couple of hours I ever spent.
By the time that we got back to the hotel at 10:30 only the incredible beauty of my wife was able to keep me awake for a few more minutes. I slept very well that night.
We ate breakfast at the hotel and set off for an organized tour of the island. We were bussed first to the archaeological site where a Minoan village was buried under 40 feet of volcanic ash in the seventeenth century BC. It was fascinating. Four story buildings, sewage systems, pottery, stores, frescos, all presented by a guide who knew her stuff. She taught the kids about linear A (an as yet undeciphered writing system) and I later challenged Joshua to figure out how Linear B was deciphered. He figured it out in a few minutes with a few leading questions from me.
We also visited a traditional Greek village (but it was a superficial walk-through), a red sand beach, a black sand beach (where we ate lunch), a winery (where we got another superficial walk-through and tasted 3 Santorini wines). Finally, we went Oio (pronounced EE-Oh) where we walked through one of the most picturesque towns ever built, ate a fine Greek meal, watched the sunset, and bought nuts. I also finally managed to buy a replacement memory card for my camera. I loaned Joshua the nicer camera for this trip, which he packed without the memory card, so I took the memory card out of mine and have been without a camera form the second day until now.
There was a Saudi couple on the tour with a 5 year old daughter named Aida who befriended Zachary and Ari. Ari let her draw on his sketchpad. I felt sorry for the little girls. Her mom was covered head to toe in black and would not let Aida go in the water at the beach despite the girl's obvious desire. Andrea offered to supervise, but her offer was firmly declined.
What I'm leaving out of the description is all of the complaining I heard about the lack of diet Fanta, the incredible difficulty of finding a decent place to eat, the fact that the public bathrooms charged 50 cents, the time I paused to look at something and my family kept going and we spent about 20 minutes looking for each other, and the argument about what to order for dinner, possibly making Oio both one of the most beautiful and one of the most miserable couple of hours I ever spent.
By the time that we got back to the hotel at 10:30 only the incredible beauty of my wife was able to keep me awake for a few more minutes. I slept very well that night.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Day 8 - Fira / Thira
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| Our Room in Old Chania |
Our point system is working well, but we keep giving the kids things without charging any points which is going to mess it all up. The kids got a kissing fish massage; 20 minutes of having small fish eat the dead skin cells off of your feet. The amazingly helpfull Greek people, when asked about luggage storage pointed us to a restaurant that let us leave our suitcases behind the counter for free. We ate lunch there and it was delicious. As we ate in the garden I pointed out to the kids that some of the plants around us were eggplant and tomato and Zachary thought it very cool that the restaurant grew its own food.
We were picked up by the travel agent to drive us to the Ferry and were pleased that Aida and her parents got on with us. Zachary played tag in the Ferry terminal with Aida and a grand time was had by all until our ferry (the highspeed 5) arrived. I wonder how Aida parents would have reacted if Ari had been wearing his Camp Gan Israel t-shirt.
After two hours on the ferry we were met by Kosmos car rental and started the long drive to Chania. The roads were better than on the mainland and the drivers seemed less crazy, but it was a dark drive on twisting unlit roads with drivers who were unafraid to pass in no passing zones.
By the time we got to Chania it was 11PM. We checked into out hotel and it is the most beautiful place I
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| Aida |
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| Andrea in our room |
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| Antique radio in our room |
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| Rooftop garden at our hotel in Chania's old town |
Monday, August 19, 2013
Day 9 - Old Chania
We woke up, ate a breakfast served with fresh squeezed orange juice and Andrea went exploring. She came back happy to report that she'd fallen in love with a beautiful town and wanted to go on two snorkelling trips, meaning we'll skip the giant canyon. The first snorkeling trip was today at 2PM.
We spent the rest of the morning walking the town. The kids had quests (to find 5 examples of Venetian, Byzantine, and Ottoman architecture). The town was truly beautiful and pleasant to walk through.
At 2PM we went to sea with captain Evangelos. First we circled an island with a rare mountain goat (only 150 exist, all on this little island) and saw the cree-cree goats from the boat. We then snorkeled in three spots, including over a large troop transport airplane that was shot down in 1941. They served local Orange Juice and fresh fruit on the boat.
We gave the kids more quests, touch the bottom for a point, dive correctly with a snorkel for a point, bring back a rock, a sea shell, and a living thing for a point. We said, as a joke, catch a fish in your hands for 5 points. Ari surprised us by catching a fish. It flopped out of his hands when he brought it to the surface but we were impressed enough to give him the points.
There was a couple on the boat with a 4 year old boy and an 18 month old girl. They'd been living in Athens for two years, but were originally from Tokyo. They were tickled by our ability to speak Japanese and soon Zachary and Makoto were playing Jan Ken Pon.
After our trip I surfed the net for an hour while Andrea explored the jewelry stores and the kids redeemed their points for a trip to Starbucks.
We went to dinner. Found a nice restaurant, sat down, realized how expensive it was and decided we couldn't afford it. We explained to the waiter that we really messed up and would need to leave and he said "Oh no, all the prices on the menu are all for double portions. If you order individually we'll cut the price in half."
After dinner we went walking in Old Chania and I too fell in love with the city. Bustling with people; shopping, eating, drinking, talking... We listened to street musicians playing mandolin, guitar, violin, and a drum shaped like a box that the drummer sat on and got a surprising variety of sounds out of. We visited a Greek book store, ate crepes from a crepe stand, came home and put the kids to bed and Andrea headed back out to get her own fish massage.
We spent the rest of the morning walking the town. The kids had quests (to find 5 examples of Venetian, Byzantine, and Ottoman architecture). The town was truly beautiful and pleasant to walk through.
At 2PM we went to sea with captain Evangelos. First we circled an island with a rare mountain goat (only 150 exist, all on this little island) and saw the cree-cree goats from the boat. We then snorkeled in three spots, including over a large troop transport airplane that was shot down in 1941. They served local Orange Juice and fresh fruit on the boat.
We gave the kids more quests, touch the bottom for a point, dive correctly with a snorkel for a point, bring back a rock, a sea shell, and a living thing for a point. We said, as a joke, catch a fish in your hands for 5 points. Ari surprised us by catching a fish. It flopped out of his hands when he brought it to the surface but we were impressed enough to give him the points.
There was a couple on the boat with a 4 year old boy and an 18 month old girl. They'd been living in Athens for two years, but were originally from Tokyo. They were tickled by our ability to speak Japanese and soon Zachary and Makoto were playing Jan Ken Pon.
After our trip I surfed the net for an hour while Andrea explored the jewelry stores and the kids redeemed their points for a trip to Starbucks.
We went to dinner. Found a nice restaurant, sat down, realized how expensive it was and decided we couldn't afford it. We explained to the waiter that we really messed up and would need to leave and he said "Oh no, all the prices on the menu are all for double portions. If you order individually we'll cut the price in half."
After dinner we went walking in Old Chania and I too fell in love with the city. Bustling with people; shopping, eating, drinking, talking... We listened to street musicians playing mandolin, guitar, violin, and a drum shaped like a box that the drummer sat on and got a surprising variety of sounds out of. We visited a Greek book store, ate crepes from a crepe stand, came home and put the kids to bed and Andrea headed back out to get her own fish massage.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Day 10 - Chania Old Towm
Another great breakfast followed by a walk around town. Andrea gave each kid a quest, 5 facts for Joshua, 5 interactions in Greek for Ari, 5
informational signs for Zachary. We saw the agora (central market) and
looked for the Hamam Turkish baths but we're disappointed when we found
them to see that they were turned into a luxury day spa. I would have
been happy with a couple massage if the kids weren't there.We sat at a seaside restaurant and had drinks. Andrea was shocked when the bill came and each kid's Fanta was about seven dollars. I told her that we were paying for the view.
We went back to the hotel while Andrea shopped for jewelry. When Andrea rejoined is after successfully getting a starfish silver starfish pendant, we took the laundry to Oscar's laundromat and set off toward our car. Upon reaching the car we discovered that keys to said car were in Andrea's other purse. As we returned to the hotel to retrieve the keys we decided that it was so late that we should eat lunch first. n so we picked a restaurant, had a delicious lunch including fennel pie, which all the kids liked, octopus, fava beans, salad, and pumpkin ravioli.
During lunch Andrea and I made a bet, the first one in over twenty years and I lost 50 euros. Turns out that even though sharks have cartilage instead of bone they are still considered to be fish.
After lunch the owner, with whom we had been chatting, treated us to halavas and a bottle of raki (a local drink) sweetened with honey and cinnamon. I'm not much of a drinker but it was delicious.
Finally we set off for Rethimnos, where we saw the Venetian fortifications, some ottoman mosques, and a fountain from the 1500s. The kids whined about the heat and the amount of walking but we ignored it as much as possible.
The kids cleaned up on points which they used for gelatto. We ate some delicious beef and a chicken dish made with figs for dinner and headed back to Chania.
Tomorrow we are going to leave Chania and go to Iraklio to see the Archeological museum and Kronos's labrynth.
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