Weekends Away

Weekend in Greece, guess its time for a road trip!  Don't think look so excited? ;)

In so many ways Greece has done nothing but surprise me, mostly in great and amazing ways.  We decided to head start with Nafplio, a seaport town in the Peloponnese.  The drive there reminded me so much of driving in Northern California.  

First stop is Palamidi, a fortress built by the Venetians in 1711.  The water was SO blue and the kids loved getting to climb all over the stones and explore.   

After the fortress we drove Galatas and caught a 5 min ferry to our first Greek island, Poros.

We checked into our hotel and realized that the views in Greece are amazing.

Our first night in Poros we walked down for dinner. We were on the dock for dinner and got to watch the sunset while we ate.

Ryan has been talking about trying octopus since we first started to talk about moving to Greece.  So this was his first time trying it.  He really enjoyed it!

 Officially and fully in love with Greece.

For our second day we discovered that on top of Poros is The Temple of Poseidon.  There wasn't much left, but considering it dates back to 520 BC its still pretty amazing!

 You can still see the markings on the stones, these are the marking of a game.

 The kids were more entertained by finding olives on the ground and trees then the ruins.

After the morning exploring ruins we figured the kids deserved some beach time.

 Another amazing discovery is the food, this is what the Greeks consider fast food, its full service at the beach and its so good! Greek yogurt with fresh fruit and honey.

 Fresh baked bread with olive tapenade, Greek salad (tastes nothing like what you get in the states), burgers and club sandwiches with wedge potatoes and dip.  We still get a laugh out of the bills for food, its SO good and fresh that its surprising how cheap it is.

We walked around downtown and then hit up a place downtown for dinner.  

 The kids thought it was pretty amazing that they place had octopus hanging up beside a grill and then they started cooking it on the grill.

 I will never get tired of the food here!

Last day and we were off too the Theatre of Epidaurus, this theatre has 1,400 seats and is famous for having almost prefect acoustics.  You can stand in the center of the stage and speak in a normal voice and be heard perfectly from every seat.

Just a normal weekend right?  

Real Life Begins

So we got home from the cruise on Saturday and Monday Sept 7th the boys started school.  We ended up deciding to send them to Campion School, a private British school on the outskirts of Athens.  They were pretty excited for the first day.  We managed to get their 'summer' weather uniforms ready.

We were pretty lucky that Sean had one more day of leave so that he could be there for the first day of school.  Poor Ryan burst into tears as we left.  And I can't really blame him, its his 3 year in a row starting at a different school and this time in a different country!  Of course when before Sean could leave Bryce's classroom he was already standing on a table being a goofball.  At least we are happy to say that we had a big surprise for them when they got home from school.  Our unaccompanied baggage had arrived, so 900 pounds of household stuff, including all their bedding and their lovies!  They got to hug their lovies and tell us all about how much fun they had their first day!  

Day two of their new school meant that they were going to ride the bus to school.  Buses are WAY different here.  All kids school buses have seatbelts and a chaperone!  So the driver just worries about driving and the chaperone helps take care of the kids.  Love it!

By day 4 of school, bus pick up time had become a bit silly!

On Friday Charlotte and I went back to the laiki (farmers market), I tried to get some pictures of just what a huge range of items you can find.

Pants anyone?

 How about some random kitchen items?

 Everyone needs underwear from the farmers market right?

 Of course there is lots and lots of produce.

After that we met a friend for a little playtime.  And I got decorated with stickers.  

 Then she decided that they looked better on her.

 Quick stop in a local chain bakery to check out what kinds of things they have.  I never realized with moving here how amazing all their baking and pastry was going to be.  

 Beautiful cakes and pies for around 15 euro, about 18 dollars, or about half what they would cost in Washington D.C., lol.

 The platia, square, that has lots of restrants and is where the laiki beings.

 Thankfully she decided to walk home so I could use her stroller for all my produce!

 So delicious, fresh and cheap!

On Saturday Sean took the boys to an airshow.  I stayed home with the little lady.  The boys had a blast getting to fly an F-16 simulator!

Sunday we decided to do our first Greek beach trip.  We drove over Penteli Mountain (this is the mountain right behind us) and down the other side.  The views were so amazing!  How did we get so lucky???

Thanks for another great week Athens!