Holiday - 2022

 Today we headed to Chora Sfakion. Part of the group planned to hike from there to Sweet Water beach while the others would meet them there via ferry. Chris parked the car on the edge of a windy cliff road and headed off on the hike with the girls. The rest of us headed for the boat and belatedly realized we had missed the boat and had some time to kill. Simo and Eileen set out in search of authentic Gyros while Matt, Suz, Annie, Steve, Emma, Patrick  and CJ hit a waterfront cafe. The next boat dropped us at the beach shortly before Chris and the girls arrived. The beach was beautiful! It’s not for everyone, but the lack of sand seems pretty popular with our group. Crystal clear water with pebbles instead of sand. The water was a bit cold but that’s from the fresh springs that also feed the bay, hence the name “Sweetwater.”  Chris and the girls had lunch at the lone taverna on the beach while the rest of us enjoyed beer and wine and naps! Food was delicious and Grace enjo...

 We originally planned to take the 8:30 speedboat back to Ermioni and hit Mycenae on the way to Athens. Around midnight last night we realized how silly that idea was! Instead, we slept in a bit and had a leisurely start to the day. 1130 boat back was much more palatable. that also meant there would be no ruins toward today which I’m sure only bothered a couple of us!  We returned our cars at the airport and sadly they did indeed notice the big dent on the side of Matt’s rental car. Oddly, they spent more time inspecting a microscopic paint chip on Simo‘s car! I’m pretty sure Matt got his dent in trying to avoid hitting a cat. That should totally count for something but I don’t think the rental car company saw it that way. 5:00 flight to Crete was uneventful. We picked up a new set of rental cars and headed to our house that we have rented for the next four days. The house is wonderful. We were a little scared as the owner led us through some sheep fields and single dirt roads...

 Everyone (shockingly!) enjoyed breakfast this morning at The Brunch Factory before setting out for Epidaurus. We were considering hitting Mycenae but the kids vetoed that. They actually started chanting “No Mycenae, no Mycenae!” So we went for a quick stop at Epidaurus before the beach. The great theater at Epidaurus is over 2000 years old and engineers are still studying it's acoustics. It is also still in use today. You can stand on the stage and speak in a normal voice and be heard at the top of the theater. Additionally, when you speak your voice sounds like it's in stereo. It was fun watching everyone test the acoustics! We left the theater and headed to the Sunken City. This is a set of ruins that is about 50 yards off shore in less than 10 feet of water. Sadly we didn't memorize the map of where all the ruins were, so we were blindly swimming around! We did find a couple of walls, the corners of several buildings, some old wheel looking things and lots of stones. Ve...

 Pretty lazy start to the day. Only 3 adults and no kids enjoyed the included breakfast at The Brunch Factory. Very nice breakfast. Today everyone is heading to the Acropolis and other Athens sites. Actually everyone but Annie. She is really struggling with her foot. It is now really swollen and she will be staying off it and icing it today. The Acropolis was a hit, even among those that refer to it as a “bunch of rocks!” We decided to try Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon again. This time we arrived in time to do some swimming before making way to the Temple for sunset. The sunset was beautiful and then we headed to an outcropping on the other side for a different perspective. Very nice time had by all. We then went to the same restaurant that Matt, Suz, Steve and Patrick went to the previous night. Fantastic food but most exciting is watching the kids try (and enjoy) food they have never had; ceviche, saffron mussels, roast octopus, spicy feta dip, risotto with sea bass...d...

 4:45 pick up was a bit rough. Especially for the boys, they never went to bed! They stayed up to watch the Celtics game and just never went to bed. Uneventful flight except for the landing, crazy cross winds. We had arranged for our rental card to be brought to us so we wouldn't have to shuttle and then wait in line. Great plan except out driver had the wrong name on his sign. Once we got the cars sorted out we headed to Athens.  Plan was to grab lunch and hit the Acropolis. Only the eating part came to fruition! We had a great lunch but only Grace and Steve managed to join the adults, everyone else was sleeping. After sleeping half the day away we decided to go to Cape Sounion for sunset. That too was foiled by arriving just after they stopped letting people in. One group had dinner in Athens, one had dinner out by the Cape, and one got snacks and went shopping. The car with Eileen, Simo, Annie, Emma and CJ realized they wouldn't make it on time and turned around. They watch...

Today we had tickets to the Scavi which is the underground excavation area containing St Peter’s tomb. The kids all slept in so a small contingent checked out St Giovanni in Laterano as well as the Scala Sancta. The Scala Sancta is the marble staircase from the palace of Pontius Pilate where Christ walked the day of his Passin. Pilgrims today visit and say prayers while ascending on their knees. Included in the same place was a very cool private Papal chapel. San Giovanni in Laterano is the seat of the Bishop of Rome, AKA the Pope! Church was beautiful! We headed to the Vatican to meet up with everyone else for our Scavi tour. Over 9 million people visit Rome each year but less than 200 people a day get into the Scavi. The history was fascinating. Our guide was an American grad student that has been living in Rome for 4 years. He really did a great job and everyone found it interesting. The tour  concluded at St Peter’s actual tomb. After the tour we planned to climb the Dome of St...