Greece 2014

Thursday, May 9, 2014

I have finished the blog by adding pictures taken during our trip. I hope everyone enjoys the pictures and memories, including those who faithfully followed us on our blog.

 

A few pictures in review of our trip to introduce you to our Greece Blog:

 

A little rain never hurt anyone. Plaka day one.

On the steps of the entrance to the Parthenon - Acropolis-Athens

 

Temple of Poseidon in background

 

 

 

At the base of Mycenae Fortress-Acropolis

 

 

Climbing up to the Temple of Poseidon

 

 

 

 

A friend of a friend in Greece...connection on the ship!

 

 

Relaxing on the deck of cruise ship!

 

 

Sunset, with bird, on Mykonos

 

 

 

Climbing the steps inside the Terrace Houses-Ephesus

 

 

 

Relaxing in the Odeon in Ephesus

 

 

Enjoying a stroll around the Odeon-Ephesus

 

 

On stage area of Odeon - Ephesus

 

 

Connie feeling the silk thread from cocoon

 

 

 

Relaxing on the Tender on way to Santorini, or was it Patmos?

 

 

Tim Nyce (Pilgrim Tours) and daughter

 

 

 

Enjoying food and drink in Crete

 

 

Crete and dancers

 

 

The Greek flag representing the blue sky and the white waves of the sea

 

Monday, May 5, 2013

I would like to say "Thank You" to my daughter Heidi, resident of Eden Prairie, Minn. for entering May 3 into for us. I called her to help since she traveled with us on our last visit to Greece back in 2011. So "thank you Heidi"

 I asked everyone on our trip to voluntarily write down their thoughts on the trip, their experiences, etc. Two travelers responded and their comments are entered below.

(From Susan Weimer)

HAGGLING WITH THE SHOP OWNER

"Location, small tourist ship in the Plaka. The owner senses my interest in some wooden painted items. He wants to know which ones I like. They are marked 65 Euros. I also was buying two t-shirts. He made an offer to sell me the two t-shirts and the icon for 65 Euros. I pulled out a 50 Euro bill in front of his nose. I said, "How about the icon and the shirts for this?" Bingo. The sale was done.

Filming of "The Changing of the Guard" in Athens in front of the Parliament:

"Lois, Bernice, Susan Ledesma and I were hustling through the Plaka to make the 4 p.m. Changing of the Guard. (in front of the Paliament for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier). We were around the corner at 3:58 p.m. I finally got myself in position to videotape the changing. A Japanese tourist stepped out and was in the way of my viewfinder. In a somewhat annoyed tone I said, "Aw, come on! Can you move back". Since I applied my best "school teacher voice" to my statement, he immediately stepped back.  This provided a good clean line of view for the whole ceremony."

(From Jim and Kay Hebel)

"This is the first trip with Someday Travel & Wayne & Valerie and we couldn't be more pleased. Wayne and Val take great pride in planning interesting tours and providing all the information you will need to make your vacation a dream come true. Everything is well organized and well planned out. We're looking forward to the next trip we can take with them and Someday Travel. All the hotels and accommodations were wonderful. Opa! Jim & Kathy Hebel. PS - We also enjoyed the people we met who we can now call our new friends.

THANK YOU SUSAN and JIM & KAY.

There is so much to relate from our experience here in Greece, and over the years we have found that most readers idenify and relate to pictures to enjoy or enhance the trip as it unfolds. The pictures sometimes are out of sequence but hope you don't mind.

As our guide pointed out to us, "If you came to Greece and only see Athens you will leave incomplete." Well, we are all coming home "completed" travelers from our traveling and sightseeing from Athens to Corinth to Delphi and five Isles. Our final day of our trip being was scheduled purposely as an open and free day to relax, shop, re-energize and recoup our former selves. In fact, as I write this, that is exactly what all are doing...doing their own thing in Athens, Greece on May 5, 2014! Well almost all, I will be going out soon.

Joanie, Jeanie and Valerie toasting their adventure

Valerie and Barb Murray doing likewise

How about a delicious dessert?

Jeanne Nordstrom and a shop owner

Now for some pictures and highlights of the trip at our island sites. They are a little out of sequence but I think you will still enjoy them.

 

Boarding our Cruise ship. It only had a capacity of 1500 passengers.

 

 

Enjoying a drink on deck as we traveled in beautiful sunny weather!

Barb, Kay, Jim, Valerie & Mary Jo.

 

 

 

Mykonos....Pictures follow a bit later as you scroll down. It was the firt stop of our 5 island itinerary. As all islands in the Isles, it is a barren and rocky island. Most of these isles/islands were formed by vocanic action thousands and hundreds of thousands of years ago. Mykonos used to have about 15 wheat and grain mills on the island but now are only for show. Today it is an island that attracts many people because of its beautiful beaches and resorts, protected from he wind by the mountains because there are constant winds, 200-300 days a year. That is why most of the homes are protected by courtyards with high walls. It has about 250 days of sunshine every year and is very, very hot in the summer months so these high walls are a blessing. This tiny island, about 68 square miles in size, has about 365 churches and chapels.  A story Valerie & I heard during our last visit to the island was that if an unmarried man sets foot on the island and drinks water from the Three Springs he will marry a girl from Mykonos "because the force of the winds will cause him to lose his mind so he can't say 'no'."

Kusadasi, Turkey...We had three options for our travelers in Ephesus. Two went to the House of the Virgin Mary/St. John's Monestary and also to Ancient Ephesus (Susan Ledesma and Susan Weimer). The rest visited Ancient Ephesus and the newly excavated Terrace House.

While Valerie & I did not travel to the House of Mary this trip, we did go there in 2011. The Virgin Mary lived there with St. John the Apostle. Whether Mary actually died in Ephesus (around 35 AD) is highly debated but it is recognized as a UNESCO World Historical Site. Her house had two rooms, a chapel and a small bedroom with a spring running through it. It is located about 9 km from Ephesus, a place that St. Paul preached during the times after the Crucifixtion of Jesus. Muslim people honor and respect Mary and she is even mentioned in the Koran. St. John was exiled from Ephesus (to Patmos) for a period of time. It is on the Island of Patmos, while in exile (about 95 AD), that St. John wrote the Book of Revelations in a cave which is preserved to this very day as a UNESCO World Historical Site. He did finally return to Ephesus when it was safe and lived out his days there. They mention Patmos in the Book of Revelations.

The remainder of the group explored the ancient city of Ephesus and the Terrace House (to call it a house is truly a misnomer...it is two houses and both consist of many, many, many rooms). Our pictures, to be posted, will illustrate this to you. Only the rich people lived in the houses....as in tax collectors and politicians, etc. Only about 13% of the city has been excavated since work began 140 years ago. All floors were made of marble and in the summers, being so hot, were very cool to walk on. But in the winter months they were cold so the Romans actually had heated floors. They had a central furnace with the hot air then circulated below the floors. 

On the Ancient Ephesus Tour we heard about the Amazon Women Warriors, fierce fighers who actually had their breasts removed as youths so they would not be restricted when pulling back their bows. We walked through the Roman "Men's Club"...which included "for pay" toilets. They did not have toilet paper in those days so they actually used a sponge on the end of a stick and dunked it into vinegar when done to clean it....really! There was a fast moving stream under the seats to continue to wash out the...well you know what I mean. We learned that the theater in Ephesus is the only one mentioned in the bible and that St. Paul's friends put him into prison "to protect him" since he was very zealous in his preaching of Christianity and had many enemies as a result. Marc Anthony and Cleopatra actually traveled down the very main road in Ephesus. Ephesus truly was a very interesting site.

 

 

Our group entering the Men's Club in Ephesus

 

 

For the non-believers amongst our readers.

 

 

The Odeon in Ephesus seated over 40,000

 

Crete (Heraklion)...Here we had the option of 3 tours. Most of us went on a Cretan Countryside and Lifestyle Tour. We experienced the old Cretan countryside and its values. We had a demonstration of the "old way" the owner crushed his grapes to make his wine (not for sale, just for their family). Fascinating, and the owner was just a "hoot" as he spoke in his native tongue and the guide interpreting it for us. Then we went inside and along with olive oil, bread, wine and other "cretan drinks", sat down to witness about 30 minutes of authentic dancing in the Cretan style. I have videos of this and all I can say is I couldn't even think as fast as their feet moved, except when the ladies did a slow dance with their feet....that I could relate to. What an exciting experience!

 

 



 

The owner demonstrated how wine was made in the old days....by foot presses.

 

 

Wine would drip out through this opening into pan for future consumption.

 

 

Local dancers put on quite a show while we sipped wine and ate snacks and Greek bread. If anyone wishes to see it on video, ask Wayne for a copy.

 

Crete doesn't feel like an island. It is in a strategic location so in WWII the German's destroyed so much of it has been rebuilt and offers little "authentic" houses and buildings. There is no fresh water shortage on the island. Tourism is at its peak from April through November. Their main agriculture is Olive Tree production. In fact the island has over 35 million olive trees on it. They produce both wine and olive oil on the island.

Santorini...There was only one tour offered and 3 took advantage of it. They took a spectacular bus ride to the Ola Village perched on the Caldera Rim. The remainder of has a brief tour of the city by our guide during which we learned that there is an active volcano right below the very bay our ship was floating over. It seems unreal that a volcano is sitting right below our beautiful ship, but it lies unseen beneath the surface. We also had the  good fortune to see a wedding party and beautiful bride enter her church. We were then free to walk around and shop and eat and we all agreed the food was excellent. The only drawback from all was we had too little time to spend there.

A view from Santorini and our cruise ship in background. Hard to believe there really is an active volcano beneath the water

 

 

 



Santorini is built on top of volcanic rock and from a distance the white houses look like snow capped mountains...until you get close or use a zoom lens.

 

 

We had the option of walking up to the top of Santorini, taking a tram or riding a donkey. Here Jim & Kay are shown at the top of the trail used by walkers and donkeys...both using same trail. We all took the tram up but Jim & Kay, Mary Jo, Jim & Connie nnd Wayne walked down...all 600+ steps as we avoided as best we could the donkey "dung" on the steps.

Yes, walking down was a challenge but missing all that "stuff" was equally challenging

 

Well, it is about 2:50 p.m our time, 6:50 a.m. your time, so maybe you'll be reading this while I go out to enjoy the rest of this beautiful day. We depart the hotel around 9:30 a.m. tomorrow and our flight departs Athens for Paris at 12:20 p.m. and departs for Atlanta then on to Chicago, arriving in Chicago about 10:52 p.m.

Remember to mark your calendars to read the updated blog May 9th, the 10th the latest. 

It's been fun doing this and truly hope you enjoyed it as much as we did in experiencing it.

   

Saturday, May 3, 2014

On Saturday we visited Kusadasi on Turkey. Two of our travellers went to the House of Mary in Ephesus were St. John & Mother Mary lived. These two travellers & the others also visited the ruins of Ephesus.

 

 

Arriving at the Port of Kusadasi in Turkey.



 

 

Statue of Mother Mary near House of Mary near Ephesus

 

 



The preserved House of Mary - Ephesus

 

There is a lot of great history and great stories about Ephesus and we will share this site with some great pictures.

 

 

The Odeon in Ephesus which seated about 2500 people

 

 

 The Terrace House of Ephesus. Actually is was two houses and had many, many rooms. and even had heated marble flooring, We learned that The Apostle Paul was actually put into prison by his friends in Ephesus to protect him from his enemies and that the Odeon on Ephesus is the only theatre mentioned in the Bible.

 

 

 





One room with tile marble floors and mosaic walls inside the Terrace House

 

 

 

 

This furnace forced hot air under the floors to heat the marble for comfort.

 



 

 

We also enjoyed a carpet demonstration plus saw  silk being extracted from silkworm coccoons and Turkish rugs being made right before our eyes!

 

 



Owner holding up a silkworm cocoon and showing us how they extract silk

 

 

The cocoon's are soaked in water before and during the extraction of the silk.

 

 

 

Jim Hebel asking what was the proper way to sit on his Magic Carpet

 

 

Mary Jo Keating, Sharyn Grider and Lois Pfum enjoying the softness of carpets.

 

 

Library of Celsus in Ephesus

 



 





 

 

Valerie and others walking on the soft Turkish Carpets in Kusadasi

This afternoon we landed on the island of Patmos and some toured the Monastery of St. John the Theologian and the actual cave within which he wrote the Book of Revelations.

 



 

Tablet pronouncing this to be the cave where Book of Revelations was written

Friday, May 2, 2014

Mykonos was beautiful and is called the Island of windmills. It is now the second best island for surfing and is known for social life with its beautiful beaches.  We landed on Mykonos at 6 PM and had until 10 PM to enjoy the island and windmills and eat and shop and enjoy the beautiful sunset.  When we get home I will post more pictures of the sunset on the blog. 

It is a law in Mykonos that you have to have a house painted white if it is facing the sea.  A few reasons they must be painted white are, 1) For their charm since they are seen by travelers on incoming ships; 2) To hold down bacteria since the temperatures in the summer are 90-98; and 3) The white reflects the heat.

Here are some beautiful pictures while we were on Mykonos:

A fantastic sunset in Mykonos

 

 

Just beautiful to observe

 

Alan & Jeanne Nordstrom

 

 

This is the same grandmother that we met while visiting in 2011. She even jumped behind her loom for this picture. Last time she was with her granddaughter, pictured below.

 

The country colors are blue & white. Connie & Jim Molbeck stand in front of a window that shows off the contrast between the while and the stark blue that cover doors, church tops and shutters.

 

 

Joni & Gary Greenfield enjoying the visit & windmills on Mykonos

 

 

 

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Woke up relaxed on May Day since we had accomplished two sites on Wednesday. What a joy. We got to sleep in "late"....bus didn't leave until 9 a.m. We took a leisurly ride to get out of the mountains (first hour) then hit the 4 lane highway and headed home. This was fantastic since when Valerie & I were here in 2011 it wasn't done. Just imagine driving through twisting single lane  roads through those small villages. It was beautiful scenery but the excitement only last so long before you realize you have another 4 or 5 hours of it. But back to 2014.

We made our usual stop for snacks, bathrooms and stretching the legs and arrived in Athens around 12:30 p.m. We re-checked into the hotel, same one we had left, then met our Tour Escort to review the boarding instructions for the cruise ship on Friday. He explained the excursions available on each Island we would be stopping at, we made our decisions and then left to enjoy the entire afternoon and evening in Olde Towne Plaka, which is within walking distance of the hotel. Actually for the Holiday everything closes, stores, markets, etc. but not the Plaka. The Plaka is a tourist spot and has shopping (very reasonable), restaurants, & of course, "walking til you drop" and on and on. I can't speak for the other 10 whom I didn't see from where I was sitting (Valerie & I had been out shopping and eating earlier), but those I did speak to that night enjoyed such things as "Taking a break in the room before venturing out to eat" (Meyst's), "Taking the Hop On-Hop Off sightseeing open top bus" (Nordstrom's and Greenfield's), "Walking and walking and walking" and eating and shopping (Hebel's). I can only presume that the other 10 will have some stories of their own.

 

  
Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Two of the most important sites in Greece in one day...that is a productive day! Due to May 1 being a legal holiday in Europe, and we were scheduled to visit Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympics on April 30 and Delphi and the Temple of Apollo and the Oracle on May 1, we managed to alter the schedule and see both today, check in to our hotel, and still have dinner together and time to have social time in Delphi!

We spent our overnight in Olympia and by 8:15 a.m. were about to enter the sacred grounds of the home of the Olympics. I will enter pictures first, just in case.

These areas were for practicing and warming up for the athletes.





This building used to be over 35 km high. It was built for the person making the statue of Zeus who agreed to do the job but only if they gave him a building that measured the same inside dimensions of the Temple of Zeus. This is where the statue was created. Later it become a church.





Inside the building you can see how the inner parts were sectioned off for use as the church. Sharyn posing so nicely. Mary Jo ready to take her place.

Mary Jo takes her best "posing position"




This area held a building in which another statue of Zeus was placed. Athletes had to pledge to the God not to cheat or accept punishment prescribed.



Jim and Connie say "Hi Mom"






A lone pillar from the Temple of Zeus was assembled and erected for the Olympic Games in Athens for the 2004 Games.




Posing in front of the Temple of Zeus.






A picture of what the Temple would have looked like.



A rendering of what the Statue of Zeus would have looked like. It was made of ivory and gold with man precious jewels embedded. All was lost after an earthquake by looters.

Jeanne Nordstrom in new "raingear". Very colorful don't you think?



A little drizzle doesn't dampen the spirits as our group stands under the arc leading to the Olympic Field.






Our group were ready to run the distance on the same field that all the athletes ran on for over a 1000 years....and run they did...or some of them did, some sort of jogging.






There go our spirited runners...the actual Olympic runners would run one way for a single race and later ran 2 lengths and eventually even 5.
 



Our winners were... Kay, Jim, Sharyn, Mary Jo (partially hidden behind Valerie) and Valerie. But wait...who is that person disguised with the zany hat on the left and wearing a colored scarf? It seems we have a "cheater" for this Olympic event...Jeanne Nordstrom. Actually she ran the race even though she was banned by the Gods. Any Olympic athlete who "cheated" and violated their oath to Zeus made prior to their event had their name and their offense spelled out in writing and then placed at the foot of a statue of Zeus and these statues lined the path into the stadium for all other athletes to see as they entered the stadium, to make an example for all to see. Jeanne's offense was using the gas "Methane" from the Apollo Temple in Delphi and it powered her to a 6th place finish in our race...beating only Valerie who stopped to take pictures. Was it worth it Jeanne?
 

Some Olive Leaves were found and were placed on the head of Mary Jo. The original prize was an apple and eventually was replaced  by the wreath of Olive tree branches.



Proud moment standing where so many great athletes entered the field. The arch actually was a one time a complete tunnel when the Games were held.





Sharyn stands before the fire pit in front of the Temple of Hera. The Olympic still is lit from this spot. It began in 1936 with the Games in Berlin.



Crossing the longest suspension bridge in the world.





When we stop for breaks on longer bus rides, we really pick the right places...unless of course you are on a diet.




The largest suspension bridge in the world

James, our guide, and Alan direct our attention to the "Navel" which marks the exact center of the earth. How do we know? Zeus wanted to find the exact center of the world so he released two eagles that flew in opposit directions and where they met was the Center of the Earth...at Delphi. Zeus decided to build his temple there and it was the beginning of the Oracle. Oh, Alan, don't mess with the Gods.





Five PEO Sisters from Fond du Lac traveled and had this picture in front of the Treasury of Athena.



At the entrance of the Temple

Dena, Bernice, Lois and Barb post above the "Temple

Susan Weiner a traveler with us who lives in N. Carolina. She used to live in Fond du Lac.



Last picture outside the Temple grounds. Inside story: Jim said "Back up Wayne" which I did with a "stepping down" experience....but I survived!



Sitting and enjoying the end of another successful day, this time on the patio of our hotel in  Delphi





They even had a pool...which we did not use. Who thought of a swimming suit when we left Wisconsin in 40 degree weather? 

Because we did two sites on Wednesday, Thursday will be our May Day as we'll have most of the afternoon and entire evening to enjoy Athens on our own. With my computer not able to charge we will have (hopefully) comments from our travelers which will be added to the blog, perhaps during and maybe following the 3 day cruise of the islands.



Tuesday, April 29, 2014

We completed day 3 with sun shine, but even with some "drippy" weather forecast for tomorrow, we won't let it "rain on our parade" We left Athens for Corinth, traveled west to the best accustically constructed theaters n the world,. It is the Epidaurus Theater and it was constructed around 1200 BC.. From there  we traveled to the Acropolis of Mycenae. before heading to Olympia for our overnight stay.

Today we will portray our trip using pictures since they always say, "A picture is worth a thousand words", so why try to  express all we did in words?

I will give a brief historical accounting for each site then proceed with pictures from our great trip..as pronounced described by our very own traveler.

Corinth was the city that St. Paul wrote  the Letters of Paul to the Corinthians. First we stopped to see the breathtaking Corinth Canal. It cuts though a narrow Isthmus and actually turned Peloponnese into as island.. The canal is four miles long and 70 feet wide and was skewed from a rock base at a 80 degree pitch..Today it  currently accommodates mostly cruise chips not more than fifty-our feet wide and 24 inches deep.. The canal saves about 430 miles using the sea route.

The Epidaurus Theater was built n the 4th century BC. The theater was considered and became  the most  accustically sound theatre from the world of antiquity. At no point in is any spectator unable to see or hear all that is happening on stage.

Mycenae was a culture that flourished  during the Bronze age and was one of the oldest
'European Nations in the middle of the Cradle of Civilization. Due to their location they were the regulators of trade from about 1200  to 800 BC. The iron age ended their rule with the introduction of iron weapon's

.



Jim & Connie say "Hi"' from Corinth



  Lois & Bernice said "This is fantastic!"



Susan Lesesma was fascinated!

'

When Kathy & Sharyn are smiling ALL IS GOOD! WHAT ENJOYABLE TRAVELERS!

 This little old lady was a good sales lady selling us good luck tokens for "only" 2 Euros....or were they fertility tokens? Time will tell. But either way it is a keepsake of Greece.

So proud and a keepsake as well!

Temple of Apollo in Corinth

 Corinth headless statues. Made without heads and not actual body, so then the head, which was the person's real head, could be switched to another body if it pleased the person.

 See the line where the head is affixed. Obviously when a statue is broken or destroyed the headless statues are no longer a mystery.

Kay, Sharyn & Kathy enjoying the sunny day in Corinth. Jim & Connie are in background.

Sharyn, Valerie and Kathy singing over the noise of all the people visiting Epidaurus, which was not quiet and serene on this day, but always a memory.

Kay & Jim Hebel, lower left, and Jeanne & Alan Nordstrom waving as they descended the many steps on their return from the top of the Epidaurus Theater.



Wayne & Valerie take a sitting break while the more active travelers took the step test.



Of course eating is always a nice break and a chance to sit down together.







Bernice & Lois LOVE those desserts and like Paul Cunningham says at Schreiner's, Eat Dessert First! And they do.





A group shot before climbing to the fortress of Mycenae, also known as the Acropolis of Mycenae.



Valerie and Susan Ledesma helf way to top...offering some beautiful views and you can why the fortress could not be penetrated by enemy forces.



Mary Jo at top.



Our resident mountain climbers, Jim & Connie, say hi to Elaine and wishes she was here.



Kay Hebel isn't lost. Jim & her along with Mary Jo Keating decided to go the long way around the back side of the mountain.

Gary & Joni Greenfield stand inside the only gate leading in and out of the Acropolis.



Monday, April 28, 2014

Our guide James led us off on a tour of Athens in the morning. He is a licensed guide for Greece and will spend his time leading us on our land adventures until May 6. We found out he met a married his wonderful wife while leading a tour in Athens. She lived in Ohio at that time.



We got to closely observe the Stadium that the first modern Olympics were held in 1898.



The weather was picture perfect on Monday even with the drizzle of the day prior.Today we traveled to both the Acropolis and then the Temple of Poseidon.  While the climb up to the Parthenon on the Acropolis was strenuous, the weather was great so the trip to the top was well worth it. We stopped for a group picture at the entrance gate of the Acropolis for two reasons. One was for the picture of course and to capture that precious moment with our travelers and the second was to capture our breaths after the climb. .













We made it to the to the top and really enjoyed the sights and the excellent descriptions of the various sites on top by our guide James. These included the Parthenon, pictured behind us. Some interesting facts about the Parthenon are that the pillars were 34' high, the massive statue honoring Athena was 12 km high and was made of Gold and Ivory (all looted) , there are no straight lines anywhere to be found inside or outside the structure, all pieces of the Temple were made to perfection, off site, then transported to the Acropolis, the inside is 23,000 square feet inside (1/2 size of football field), no mortar was used in the construction with every block trimmed perfectly by hand, the columns were constructed using mathematical ratios and relationships so the columns actually "bulged" slightly outward at the center for stability and to create an optical illusion to make the columns look perfectly straight. As a result it was almost earthquake proof.

Other sites we observed and were the Erechtheion, built over the rock where Poseidon's Trident struck the  ground generating salt water and where Athena's spear stuck the ground producing the first olive tree. As a result, the Gods proclaimed Athena the winner of the contest which resulted in the city of Athens being named after her. We learned about the Columns of the Olympian Zeus that took over 400 years to be completed and about the Odeon of Herodes Atticus that still hosts the Athens Festival of Music each summer.

The Erechtheion

The Columns of the Olympian Zeus

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus

 

 

 



Temple of Poseidon

We traveled about 45 miles east of Athens to see the ancient Temple of Poseidon in Sounion. The views of the Aegean Sea were breathtaking but the God Poseidon must have been upset with us because the winds, which blow constantly on top of the mountain, were tremendously strong, and even cold on a fairly warm afternoon, but we enjoyed it anyway.

Greek Mythology is always interesting. James informed us that the original male and female were made with one body but with 4 arms and 4 legs. When they wanted to challenge the 'Gods they climbed Mt Olympus to reach the Gods but Zeus split them in two, making a man and a woman. Why did he do this? Because since then we are always searching for our other  half to make us whole again.

 We learned that Athens has over 5000 stray dogs. They are either left alone if their owner dies, are kicked out of the house, etc. The city actually sets up feeding areas in the city that the dogs learn to come to. They are then cared for by the people & by the city who gives them the necessary shots, etc. If a stray dog comes to be fed at a feeding area, they are given a colored collar (red for female, blue for males) and checked over by a vet and released.

We enjoyed other interesting stories during the tours and afterwards we returned to Athens for some free time until our 7 p.m. dinner. Tomorrow we pack up and depart for Old Corinth and the Corinth Canal, Epidaurus and Mycenae, the birthplace of one of the oldest Europeans cultures dating back to the Bronze Age. We then head for Olympia where we will spend the night.

  





Corinth Canal

 

 

Epidaurus Theater

Acropolis of Mycenae



Sunday ,April 27, 2014 - ATHENS GREECE

We arrived safely at 12:55 pm to a sunny day, but also one with a few showers and had a delightful bus ride to the beautiful Divani Hotel Acropolis a few blocks from the Acropolis itself. Many of us walked to the Old Towne Plaka or just walked the beautiful area we were located. We were and are exhausted from the traveling but all still took time for a wonderful welcoming meal which brought us all further together as a traveling group. Tomorrow we'll all walk the hallowed grounds of the famous Acropolis as well as visit the 5th Century B.C. Temple of Poseidon, 40 miles east of Athens situated on the cliffs of Sounion.

Susan L, Susan W, Valerie, Lois P, Bernice P, Sharyn G & Kathy M in a slight drizzle walking and shopping in Old Towne Plaka, and this after being up for over 24+ hours.



Barb Murray, Valerie Graczyk & Mary Jo Keating in front of the New Acropolis Museum

 





Dinner with group - Alan/Jeanne Nordstrom & Gary/Joni Greenfield

Barb Murray & Dena/Will Meyst

Lois Pflum, Susan Weimer, Susan Ledesma & Bernice Patt

Sharyn Grider, Kay Hebel, Jim Hebel & Kathy Mertes

Valerie Graczyk, Mary Jo Keating, Jim Molbeck & Connie Molbeck

Yes, although not pictured yet, Wayne Graczyk is there but is busy capturing the moments we have had so far and those we will be creating over the next 10 days.

 



Thursday, April 24, 2014

One more day and we depart for beautiful Greece and the Islands. It seemed so long ago that we were first planning the trip and now everyone's "Someday" is upon us. We always encourage our travelers to place their own thoughts and comments on the blog to make it more interesting for our followers. One of our travelers asked that the following be placed on the blog.

"I am really impressed by your care for us travelers with emails like this and the last two. Wayne,  'Don't forget your medications, bring a spare umbrella, bring your insurance forms...'. Val, 'We will take care of you.' (You know I have vertigo). You treat us like you are our father. No other travel gig does this with their passengers. I would really like this to have this in the blog!" Halleujah! Halle. (Susan Ledesma)

Monday, March 31, 2014

We leave for Greece on April 26th! We had our pre-trip meeting, packets will go out to those unable to attend then all we have left to do is prepare for our trip.

The Parthenon atop of the Acropolis in Athens

Poseidon Temple