Yesterday evening, Christi finally started to feel better, which was a relief. She was really beginning to worry about it taking so long to recover. In the evening, we went out and explored town some more. We walked down some streets we hadn’t taken before and found a nice little short cut to the swimming beach and line of restaurants on the other side of the commercial harbor. Here is a shot of the marina from one of the streets we were on.

We picked a restaurant and sat down. We ordered the stuffed lamb, and we are happy to report it was unbelievably good. The lamb was stuffed with Continue reading →

This morning we took the 0945 flight to Athens to do some sightseeing. By 1230, we were in the very center of town, in a small park called Syntagma square. The parliament building is directly across the street from the square. The parliament building was originally built as a palace for the first King of Greece in 1836, shortly after Greece’s independence from Turkey. It is just shy of 7,000 square meters (75,300 feet). It is the first neo-classical building in Athens. In 1924, Greece became a republic. The “old palace” was used for an assortment of purposes until the end of 1929, when parliament and the senate were moved into the building. The building also houses a huge library and many offices for assorted heads of state, including the prime minister and cabinet secretary. The front of the parliament building is called Constitution Square, named for the revolution in 1843 where people gathered there and demanded a constitution from the king. There is still a lot of political activity at that spot, as well as festivals at Christmas and New Year. A monument dedicated to The Unknown Soldier is housed inside Constitution Square. Guards in traditional Greek uniforms are always in front of the monument, and every hour there is a changing of the guard, which is a popular tourist attraction.

Today the road in front of the parliament building was blocked off, and no pedestrians were allowed on that side of the street. There were zillions of police all around the building, some redirecting traffic, most just sitting there. Apparently, they were expecting a president of an Asian county’s arrival, so security was tight.

We checked into our hotel near Syntagma square, and then John took us on a walking tour of Athens. We headed west to Continue reading →

Every year, in the village of Aghia, they shear all the sheep on the same day, and then have a huge party to celebrate. Koralia’s father, Dimitri, had invited John, Eric and Christi to the party. He picked us up at 11:00.

Our first stop was in the town of Aghia. Koralia’s mother has a gift shop there, and Koralia’s grandmother lives above the shop. We quickly visited the shop, and then went upstairs to meet the grandmother. She is another incredibly sweet, generous person who loves to feed people. As soon as introductions were completed, we were served enormously large pieces of a dessert made with apricots, water and cornstarch. It was awesome.

Then came Continue reading →