Day 12 - Knosos and the Labrynth

Breakfast was notable mostly because the centerpieces on the tables were olive branches in vases, some with olives still attached. As soon as we had eaten we packed up and headed for Knossos. The kids resumed their quest. Andrea added finding representations of six species of animals and six types of furniture.

We decided to get a guide, but a private tour was really expensive (80 euros) so we waited while they tried to round up 8 English speakers. It took half an hour out so. I told my children that after the tour there would be questions for bonus points based on what the guide had told us.

The Minoans had built quite a castle for their kings. 1,200 rooms with fresh water piped in via clay pipes from a spring on a neighboring

The kids picked up a dozen points including one for knowing that the word labyrinth comes from labrys, the sacred double headed axe symbol of the Minoans.

We headed for the airport, returned the car, checked in, went through security where they confiscated one of Andrea's hair products which I had at some point thrown into the laundry bag that we were now using as the carry on. Andrea was mighty pissed off with me.

A very short flight to Rhodes later, we were met at the airport by a travel agent who stuffed us into two taxis. On the road to the hotel Joshua video chatted with his brothers who were in the other taxi on his Nintendo DS.

We checked into Cava d' Oro, a boutique hotel right in the old city themed with coats of arms of the knights who ruled here for centuries. Our room is small, very small but the wi-fi is blazingly fast.

We walked through the streets full of souvenir shops to the castle but the exhibits closed at three and Ari was blowing a gasket over the fact that we wouldn't give him a point for the fake swords he saw in the souvenir stands, which he claimed counted as twentieth century weapons so we decided to defer the castle and go straight to dinner. We ate at a very pretty restaurant, which had a somewhat more innovative approach to Greek cuisine than most. We had a salad with beans, spearmint, leeks, cheese balls, and a bunch of green vegies, a wide assortment of breads, fish, chicken, chick pea croquettes with a cheese and red pepper sauce, cheese pies, and dolmatas. We congratulated ourselves on learning to order for the table instead of for each person; two or three entres and a few appetizers because the portions are always enormous, wasting food is awful, we get to try more things, and it is a bit more affordable.

At the end of the meal, they brought out panna cotta for the adults and cotton candy for the kids. I was jealous.

On the stroll home, we stopped to get Zachary a white nutella crepe. While we waited, we chatted with the owner, who, once the crepe was ready, insisted on giving it to Zachary as an early birthday present. Zachary immediately tilted the crepe, coating the front of his shirt, shorts, legs, and sandals with molten white nutella.

We returned to the hotel where Andrea and I sat in the courtyard, ate halavah, and gazed into each others eyes while the kids put themselves to bed. Another day in their happy childhood packages delivered.

mountain, a covered sewage system, and a rainwater drainage system. They had beautiful art, workshops for stonework where they cut imported basalt (from the mainland) with bronze saws and a potter's shop with pottery wheels and a school bench since writing was done in clay. The Minoans even traded with the Egyptians and their influence was clear in the art and customs.

Day 13 - Valley of the Butterflies (that are actually moths)

On the description of our car rental for today, the travel agent wrote "NOT A MINIVAN." When it was delivered, I saw that she was right. I could have started a bus line with the behemoth that would comfortably seat 9 and accommodate their luggage for a 3 week trip.

I drove the tank, first to the valley of butterflies, where the fragrant sap of a tree that is used to make vanilla incense attracts thousands of moths. We walked 3.2 km up the valley, though I lagged behind my family as I tried to take some photos. The walk was beautiful, along a small river with waterfalls. We saw crabs hiding in the rapid easing for food to float by.

After the valley, we headed to what was billed as a traditional Greek village but actually end up being a small town without much of interest. We ate at a small taverna and completely blew our theory on how well we'd learned to order. We ordered a couple of entrees and appetizers and as soon as they started coming it was clear that we'd made some mistakes. The plate of dolmatas must have had thirty pieces instead of the six we expected. the "grilled vegetables" was a plate of battered and fried veggies that would have been an entree anywhere else. The tsatsiki came in a huge bowl. The stefados came last and was too delicious to leave. I ate a 3,000 calorie lunch.

After lunch we headed to ancient Kamiros to see Aphrodite's temple. Andrea, not used to that large a lunch passed out on the trip. Fortunately the car was big enough that she could lie down in the front seat next to me. Unfortunately, she was my navigation system. When she woke up we'd gone 15 miles down a road with hairpin turns that was not pointed where we were headed.

Once in Kamiros, we saw the ruins and temple, which was less impressive than most we had seen but allowed the kids to pick up a few points more points.

Back in town, we went to another Greek restaurant, got crepes at our favorite crepe stand (where the proprietor took 2.90 instead of 3 euros when I couldn't quite come up with exact change), and headed off to bed. As Andrea and I lay in bed, we thought about the next two weeks apart. It will be the longest time we've been separated since Joshua was born. Since we've been married we have only been separated this long twice. It is going to be very difficult for me.

A few more notes about Greece:

A friend pointed out that despite the animals everywhere the streets are clean. When I mentioned this to my family the kids took it as a challenge and have managed to find a couple of messes, though still nothing like the number you would expect given the number of animals. We can add to that observation that we've seen almost no litter and few garbage cans. Clearly, there is an invisible ultra efficient army of street sweepers or Zeus and his family magic it all away.

Day 14 -- Abandoned by the Wife

In the morning we went to the museum and the castle that was the house of the Grand Master (and the administrative headquarters of the city) from the days when the knights ruled Rhodes. The children picked up points for weapons, writing, and eating utensils. Unfortunately, the Ottoman and Byzantine exhibits were under rennovation and the kids came up short on their quest.

I suggested to Andrea, within earshot of the kids, that perhaps if their behavior was good we could consider a consolation prize. Andrea, once we were out of the kids hearing range suggested that another year of feeding them would be a good enough consolation prize.

We decided to explore the newer part of Rhodes City and passed a "fast food Chinese" restaurant which had an odd combination of burgers and Chinese food. Andrea was unwilling to risk the Greek fast food version of Chinese so we ate traditional Greek food at a place that also offered pizza for the kids.

After lunch we returned to the hotel and saw Andrea, Joshua, and Zachary off. Ari was amazingly sad to see them go. I hate to admit it but he may miss the family more than I will.

Ari has decided that he'd like to be a game designer for Nintendo when he is an adult. I've told him that if he learns the basics of programming with me I'll get him the tools and a teacher who really knows game design so that he can build real games. So, after everyone else had left we sat down and worked on programming lessons. I have Php, MySQL, some code editors, and a webserver installed on my tablet, so we have an environment to work in. We started with a very basic game where we choose a number from one to 10 and the computer tries to guess our number. It let us cover input, output, basic syntax, and the random number function in half an hour.

After our programming Ari played video games while I caught up on e-mail and Facebook. While I was on the net I looked for dinner, searching for anything with one or two dollar signs that was not Greek cuisine. I got one result SaSaZu, a restaurant whose menu included Thai Papaya salad, Sambal, Roti, and dozens of other mouthwatering dishes. I showed Ari and we set out in search of the place.

We got lost, but a helpful man at exotic car rentals helped us out, ignoring his customers for a while and finally figuring out that the restaurant was in the Rhodes casino. In we went. When we inquired at reception they told us that it had been closed for a year and had been replaced by a Greek restaurant. Ari and I were both so disappointed that I'm surprised Rhodes wasn't lost in a sea of tears.

I explained to the kind reception person that we wanted something that was not Greek and she told us that there was one Asian place, a noodle shop, not too far away and gave us a map on which she drew directions with a pen. Map in hand we set off to find food that was not Greek.

A short walk later we found ourselves in front of "fast food Chinese." In we went. Ari and I shared a chicken in garlic sauce (spicy), rice, and a salad. I can't explain how something could be categorized as among the worst Chinese food I've ever had and simultaneously be among the most enjoyable, but it was. Ari was beaming. At 12 euros for the two of us it was also the cheapest meal we've eaten in Greece.

After dinner we returned to our favorite crepe stand, where I helped the proprietor open for the evening, putting out tables and chairs. We had crepes that couldn't be beat, left a huge tip (at least relative to the cost of a crepe), and headed back to the hotel for showers and a very early night.

I was dis

I set the alarm for 6:30 because our taxi (arranged by fell the travel agent) to the port arrives at 7:00AM and fell asleep at about 9:30 only to wake up around midnight and spend several hours of quality time with my tablet on Facebook and the New York Times.

pleased to discover that the kids had lost the cap to my tube of toothpaste, which I loaned them to replace the tube that they had lost. I had been sharing Andrea's but she took that with her so now I'll need to find a new one on Kalymnos.

Day 15 -- On Our Own

Woke at 6:30 feeling fine. brushed teeth, packed up and waited for the cab which showed up promptly at 6:55. The driver checked our tickets, our taxi voucher, loaded up our luggage, and drove us to the ship. The drive took less than 5 minutes. We could have walked it in 10. Now we had an hour and a half to kill, no breakfast, no coffee. I was not happy but Ari and I talked about the effectiveness of castle walls, why sieges worked, learning Greek, what Kalymnos will be like, and the time flew by.

The ferry to Kalymnos is a small local boat called the Dodecanese Pride. It is fast but makes several stops. From booking the tickets from Kalymnos to Athens I learned that I should have flown. Ari flies at half price because of his age and the inter-island fares are cheap. Ari and I are flying back to Athens for about $80 each. The two ferry tickets to Kalymnos were about $50 each, so I bet I could have saved half a day by flying and paid virtually the same price.

On the ferry they broadcast a Greek Orthodox Sunday service and I was struck by how much more similar it seemed to a Orthodox Jewish service than other Christian services; a lot of chanted prayer by men standing around, vestments that looked like they grew out of tallitim, no mehitsa but women in a group away from the men.

Ari and I both got a little seasick on the trip out, nothing bad just some queasiness. We soon recovered and read, played computer games, and even got a short programming lesson in. I'm afraid it was not my most shining moment as a teacher; I assumed knowledge of HTML that Ari didn't have and lost him. Instead of working through it, he gave up and I decided to let it drop for the time being and come back to it later.

We arrived in Kalymnos and were met by Elleni and Yannis, a charming couple. She teaches Greek language and literature at the local high school so I have judged her qualified to teach Ari a few more words and he is a civil engineer. They drove us to their house where we'll be staying the next two weeks. It is stunningly beautiful with views of the sea and the mountains. Ari, who is hour most socially adept child, immediately befriended the children Vasilis and Ireni, who to my delight speak mostly Greek. They played soccer, foosball, hide and seek, tag, jump over the ball, etc. while I wrote this.

They have goats, chickens, dogs, and cats. Ari is enjoying this.

Later in the afternoon Ari and I walked down to the local beach and had a late lunch. His left sandal completely fell apart so we had a slow walk back. We discovered that there is a restaurant that serves Chinese, Mexican, and Greek cuisine near the beach  which I can't wait to try it.

Ari went out with Vasilis to a friend's house but I insisted that he make the visit short so that he could get to bed at a reasonable hour but when it was time to go to bed Ari9 discovered ants in the bedroom and freaked out. Our hosts came up and sprayed, but Ari was so upset that he slept in the living room.

A note on Hungarians:

Until now I had trouble understanding some aspects of Hungarian language, culture, and thought. For example, in Hungarian the word for watermelon is Görög digne, literally Greek melon. I never understood where that came from, but when I arrived here my hosts showed me that they had a watermelon waiting in the refrigerator for us and thinking back to all of the Greek meals where they brought out watermelon at the end and the pickup trucks selling watermelon by the side of the road, I have concluded that maybe not everything Hungarian is designed only to confuse me. Watermelon is truly the Greek melon.

Day 16 -- A Lazy Day

Woke up at 5:40 to the sounds of chirping birds, cockadoodledooing roosters, bleating goats, and barking dogs or more accurately, woke at 5:40 because of the sounds of chirping birds, cockaddoodledooing roosters, bleating goats, and barking dogs. Ari woke up about 10 minutes later to the sound of... I told him he might as well come into the bedroom and go back to sleep on a real bed. I even offered to wake up with him for the day if he wanted me to. He climbed into the top bunk as I put in earplugs. The next thing I knew it was 7:50. Ari was in the living room playing with his tablet. We got dressed quickly and had a nice breakfast of eggs for me and a grilled ham and cheese for Ari.

The veranda where we ate breakfast

After breakfast we headed for the beach where Ari had a great time jumping in the waves until about one o'clock when we headed back for lunch with everyone, including the other guest family staying here (A children's book illustrator staying with her son).

At lunch I noticed something that I won't mention lest my wife take away my parenting license. As I sat talking to the adults after lunch Ari came running in because we had a Skype call from Andrea, Joshua, and Zachary. It was really nice to see their faces, even if the kids were too rambunctious to allow for a real conversation.

Ari with a view of Kalymnos in front of the house.

I forgot to mention one of the most interesting things from yesterday. Apparently, on Kalymnos it is customary, even though it's illegal, to celebrate with dynamite. Yesterday, we heard explosions echoing of the mountains. Yannis told us there that there had been the deaths and uncounted fingers lost over the last twenty years. Ari has suggested that we rent motorcycles. There are no helmet laws here. There's a reason I chose to put those seeming nonsequitors in a single paragraph.

Day 17 -- A day at the Beach

I woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of roosters who just came from China and must still be suffering horribly from jet lag. Put in ear plugs and went back to sleep. When I wrote up again it was light and everyone else was at breakfast. Ari was clearly not a fan of the goat's milk rice pudding but was trying to be polite. I quietly took his pudding and ate it.

Eleni asked him what he liked to eat for breakfast and he told her about banana bread. She was quite shocked and a bit horrified. I gave her the recipe. The cloves really threw her for a loop.

Ari and I took Sasha with us on today's adventure.  We went to town and walked the length of it in 15 minutes. It was beautiful but small. Then we went to the beach. The kids swam briefly and we went back home.

We had a bit of screen time and a programming lesson. We finished the guessing game and moved on to battleship, a great game for teaching arrays. Didn't get very far, but we're making progress and Ari's  learned some new concepts.

After programming we headed to the local beach, where the waves are higher because the kids enjoy playing in the waves more than swimming in calm water. I watched Sasha and Ari disappear under the waves, abandoned all hope of reading and stood watching them like a hawk. When they got too far out for comfort I went toward them to tell them to come close to shore and saw just how hard it was to get to them through the waves, so I decided that the only safe thing was to swim with them. We swam in the waves until I was cold and made them get out. By that time Sasha was so cold that he told me his fingers were numb.

Ari and I headed out to dinner at the Chinese, Mexican, Greek restaurant. The Greeks don't do spicy but it was nice to have a change anyway. On the way home from dinner Ari said "Today was a great day."

Ari fell into bed exhausted, or more accurately he fell onto the couch where he has insisted on sleeping since we arrived. I couldn't even rouse him to brush his teeth.

Day 18 -- The Best Laid Plans

We woke up early, ate some sort of Greek egg and filo dough pastry thing for breakfast and Ari started playing with his tablet, on which he has some new game that has become an obsession. I could not pry his eyes from the screen and so we missed the 10AM bus to Myrties from whence we could catch a ferry to the little island the of Telendos, which is supposed to be quaint, quiet and car free. So we went back to the room, played more tablet, worked on programming, and headed out for the 11:20 bus. Ari sent me back, at a run for a forgotten bathing suit. When the bus finally arrived at 11:30 the driver told us he was going out of service before Myrties and to catch the 12:00. Ari sent me back for my tablet and we programmed while we waited. The bus got there at 12:30 and we boarded.

Sadly, we missed the stop at Myrties and went over the mountain to Matsouri. We walked back. By the time we got to Myrties we were hungry so decided to eat before going to the island. I didn't bring a lot of money because we were just going to be on the beach most of the day but I had a credit card and so we selected a place that took Visa. In fact the bottom of each page of the menu said that Visa and MasterCard were accepted. At the end of the meal I tried to use my card. "Sorry, the machine is broken," I was informed. There went 16 of my 17 euros. Not enough left for the ferry.

No problem; I needed an ATM anyway. Where was the closest? Just one town over in Matsouri. So, back we trekked.

Once we had money Ari, who had endured up to then without any complaint, asked if we could sit in a cafe and have a drink instead of trekking back. So, we sat and drank Fanta and iced tea until the bus came and returned home in time for an hour of screen time before Ari's Greek lesson.

Our hostess appears to be a gifted teacher, getting Ari to pay attention and focus on learning. This place is great in other ways too. We have an entire floor with a bedroom, bathroom, full size kitchen, and a living/dining area that is huge. Two verandas stretch around the front and side.  The views are spectacular. Breakfast and cleaning are included, and our hostess interpreted cleaning to include things like doing our laundry on request. A delicious lunch is available on request. We are a five minute walk from the beach. I like the kids that hang around during the day and so does Ari.

After Greek Ari went to the beach with Sasha and his mom. I went to retrieve him an hour later and after he changed Eleni drove us to a restaurant and dropped us off. Ari had pasta that he thought tasted like Joshua's. I had grilled chicken. We were supposed to share but he liked his to much.

Another great day, except for the fact that I got no work done.