June 20, 2021

Greece

Athens DAY 1:

School's out and borders are opening! It is time to travel! A friend (Erin) and her kids along with my kids and I planned a trip to Greece. Our hubbies were both unavailable to come with us, so we decided to not wait any longer and get on a plane! We left on Saturday morning bright and early and we were excited about what we were going to see.

After arriving and checking into our hotel, we had to go fill our bellies. We found a Greek restaurant and we immediately were able to experience how kid-friendly the Greeks are. Embry was telling the waiter that she wanted octopus in vinegar, and he was telling her that he didn't think she would. He brought her a plate just to try it.

I soon found out that the feta tastes a tad different there and SO MUCH BETTER! I literally could eat pieces plain with a fork. My first food order was a Greek salad. It was so delicious.

I also ordered Moussaka. I didn't prefer it very much, but it was super soft for Evan to eat since he had just gotten his braces on the day before.

They brought us out complimentary desserts.

After dinner, we walked around and explored Athens.

There were Greek sandals for days!

Hadrian's Library

This is over by the Roman Agora and our first full view of the Acropolis.

Here's a bunch of goofballs.

We found some really neat graffiti.

Having another adult along means that I make it in some of the photos!

...and gelato to end the evening. YUM!

Athens DAY 2:

The next morning, we set off for the Acropolis. This was the one thing I was looking forward to in Athens.

Cactus!

First sighting that morning.

We entered the gate of the Acropolis that was right by the theater Odeon of Herodes Atticus. This was built in 161 a.d.

We then approached the Propylaia which was built as an entrance to the Acropolis.

While walking through the Propylaia, I could look up and see the small Athena Nike temple.

Here it was after we exited it.

Next up was the Parthenon in all of its glory! As you can see the sun was shining bright, and it was HOT!

To the left sat the Erechtheion with has ladies as columns (the Six Maidens). These amazing columns are called Caryatids. I think this was one of my favorite things to see (I have more pictures further down). All of the rubble in this pic was where the old temple of Athena sat before it was destroyed by the Persians.

I didn't want to go to the Erechtheion quite yet, so I focused on the massive and beautiful Parthenon. It was neat to see where Athena would have sat. The kids had watched a video on this before we came, so it was more of interest to them knowing the history of it being a treasury and such.

I then went back to the Erechtheion and walked around it. I was going to find out later this day that these Caryatids are replicas and the real ones are in the museum (all but one--one is in the British Museum).

On the other side of it, we found the olive tree that supposedly had been offered to the people as a gift from Athena. Poseidon had offered water, but the legend has it that the Greeks accepted the olive tree and that is why the city is now named Athens.

I then walked back over to the Parthenon to take some pictures of the columns and go to the viewpoint for city views as well.

Athens is simply huge. It stretches as far as my eye could see.

We then started heading out of the Acropolis. I took a couple of final pictures.

You can see the Athena Nike temple a bit in this picture.

When we had almost reached the exit, the girls were so excited that Eli found a tortoise!

Embry named him "Tommy."

Here are some pieces of statues that they had found and preserved.

We needed a break after being in the hot sun and headed to the museum. We wanted to eat and relax at the cafe first in order for the kids to build up some more energy.

As we walked in, there was a choir singing.

I loved this Greek food--it was eggs with tomato sauce and feta on top.

They also had spinach pie.

Gyros (with corn tortillas).

...and fish soup for Evan.

The museum ended up being pretty cool. It consisted mostly of the pieces that had fallen off of the Acropolis temples and buildings or found around the city and preserved.

Here are the original caryatids (minus one that is at the British museum). The one in the very back had been hit by a Turkish cannon ball.

This room was super cool to see. All of these slabs would have been taken from the Parthenon and temples and put here for preservation.

We then went below the museum to see the excavation sights of actual homes and such that they had dug up.

After leaving the museum, the girls decided that they wanted Greek headbands.

For dinner, I got the tzatziki sauce I had been craving. It was scrumptious! The pita bread was the best I have ever had.

We wanted to check out Hadrian's library but we were too late and they were closed. We just did what this man did, and took pictures over the fence.

We then walked to the Roman Agora. The sun was beginning to set and it looked beautiful.

We then trekked a ways to go and see Hadrian’s arch and Zeus' temple. I was really sad we couldn't go in, but they seemed to be doing a ton of construction on it anyways.

You can see the one column that fell over. There used to be 104 columns, but now there are only 15.

We then headed back to our hotel, stopping for a cool snapshot in front of this "painting" and also grabbed some gelato.

On our way back we were able to see and experience the Acropolis lit up at night.

We also found a saxophone player that the kids enjoyed. The girls even danced while he played.

Athens DAY 3:

We started our morning off by going to the food market. I enjoyed looking at all of the different foods. My kiddos had never been to a butcher's meat market, either, so it was a good experience for them.

We couldn't figure out what these were and finally had to ask. They are lamb.

We saw dried fruit...

nuts and grains...

I'm not sure what these were, but there were olives too...

candy...

cereal...

snails...

pasta...

lots of herbs and spices...

pies...

breads and cookies...

and pizza-looking things.

Here was the candy that the kiddos picked out to try.

They also enjoyed some dry kiwi.

We then took a quick break and I fed my kiddos the pizza across from the hotel.

Afterwards, we had to get the kids covid tests to board the ferry the next day. It was a long 30 minute walk and we had to hurry to get there in time. Along the way, we saw streets like this just lined with motorcycles. It should be called, "The City of Motorbikes."

There were also orange trees everywhere.

After the covid tests we relaxed in a park area while the girls chose to chase birds.

We then headed to the National Gardens and the changing of the guard. We moved slowly because the kids were worn out. We stumbled upon the first modern olympic stadium (Panathenaic Stadium) which was made completely out of marble. The first modern olympic games was held in 1896. That was really neat to see! We then reached the gardens and had to stop for a snack to help them gain some more energy.

After walking through the gardens, we came upon the Parliament building and where they guard their tomb of the unknown soldier. It was interesting to see their uniforms and how they marched. A soldier there even let the three girls up next to one for a picture!

After resting at the hotel, we had one last dinner in Athens. We also found a toy store and Embry was excited to buy a toy.

Santorini DAY 4:

Erin and I matched the next day, so we had to snap a photo. Taxis came to pick us up and drove us to the ferry port. We took a speed ferry that would take 4.5 hours to get to Santorini. The two littlest had gotten sticker books from the museum gift shop and enjoyed doing that for awhile.

The others read and played on electronics.

We made it to Santorini! Our driver picked us up and took us to Oia where we would be staying the whole time.

This picture shows our hotel room (the one at the top). We went up the flight of stairs to get to it.

After we checked in, we went exploring in the beautiful town of Oia.

The views were spectacular (and also very hard to narrow down for this blog post).

This "eye" was everywhere in Greece. These are good luck charms and are supposed to ward off any "evil eyes."

We ate a very late lunch (and pricey) with wonderful views. I had the best ravioli I've ever had. It was spinach ravioli and had dill in the sauce. The boys ordered shrimp. Embry just always gets portions of everyone’s plates.

...and more tzatziki sauce.

There were adorable shops everywhere.

We then took a hike down to Katharos beach to see the black sand.

It was high tide, so it was very rocky rather than sandy. The water was freezing, but Eli and Embry didn't seem to mind.

We enjoyed the Greek cookies and I even took a short siesta.

There was volcanic rock everywhere.

Back in town, we got some gelato and enjoyed a few more views before heading to bed.

After the kids showered, Eli and I enjoyed the sunset up on the hotel roof.

Santorini DAY 5:

The next morning, we ate at our hotel. I enjoyed the vine leaf wraps with rice especially.

We decided to go to Oia castle and then hike down to Ammoudi Bay for an early seafood lunch. The castle offered some spectacular views. The first few pictures are just on the way to the castle.

This is looking down on Ammoudi bay.

Windmills!

This is when we started down the path to the bay.

Donkeys!

This restaurant caused me anxiety, but was beautiful! We literally could drop anything or scoot our chair very easily into the water.

Greek coffee wasn't my thing, but I LOVED Greek frappes and iced freddo coffee.

Eli ordered octopus for lunch, and Evan ordered squid (calamari).

We then began our journey back up the side of the cliff. The picture above shows how far the path goes. It was tempting to ride the donkeys but we didn't.

Once we got back up to the top, I decided it was time to buy a sun hat.

Erin, I, and all of the kids then took the bus to Red Beach. It was beautiful!!!!

The kids loved being able to play in the water.

The only negative of our little trip was that there was little seaweed EVERYWHERE. It ended up all over our bodies, including in pockets and in shoes. Embry's hair got the worst of it. Erin called it mermaid hair!

The rocks and sand had a red and black combination. It was pretty to look at.

We had to wait for our bus to take us back for about an hour. The kids climbed all over this tree while we waited.

After we made it back to Oia in the evening, we found a really yummy gyro place and it was so tasty!!!

Santorini DAY 6:

Day 6 had us meeting up with the Vines family (who were also vacationing in Greece) and doing a volcano and hot springs tour. We met at the bus station and we all went to the old port in Fira. There we took a cable car down the side of the cliff to get to the boat for our tour.

It was a tad terrifying.

Evan was happy to be with Jackson!

Our first stop was the Santorini volcano. It was hot and was a lot of walking, but it was cool to see the craters.

We finally made it to the top and even though this picture looks like the black rock is flat, it is a huge crater. We even found a spot that you could smell a sulfur and feel the hot steam from underneath the ground. It was also interesting to see all of the equipment up there that keeps track of any volcanic activity.

The white hole here had a ton of heat and steam coming out of it.

Our next stop was to swim in the hot springs. Unfortunately by the time we jumped in the water and swam to the hot springs with 9 children, it was time for us to turn around and go back to the boat. I had my phone in a waterproof case while taking pictures, so most of the pictures are pretty fuzzy. The green/blue water was FREEZING, while the brown water was so warm (like bath water).

I'm so glad I brought her life vest, or she wouldn't have been able to do this.

I love that they gave the kids pool noodles to help them swim out there.

I was sad to be back on the boat, not having gotten to experience it for very long.

Back at the port, Embry wanted her picture taken with the donkeys she found. We also ate at a really good restaurant with a good view and nice breeze. It was nice that we were mostly alone in the restaurant with our large party of 13!

The frappes were yummy!

We stopped in a couple of shops on the way to the bus. We found this painter with his work and he was happy to take pictures with the kids.

We hung out in the shade waiting for the bus.

Back in Oia, the kids persuaded us to get them gelato AGAIN. I don't complain at these requests ;).

We then went to my hotel pool for the kiddos to swim.

After the kids all showered and went to bed, I snuck out for a late night snack and a peaceful walk. These moments are rare, and I enjoyed it.

Santorini/Athens DAY 6:

It was time for us to start our trek back to Athens so we had to go get covid tests once again for the kids. We woke up to no electricity, second time on this Greece trip for us, and got ready with our hotel doors open for light. While waiting for our driver, I took a picture of these beautiful flowers that I kept seeing. Erin also snapped a photo of how they grow grapes here. It's really interesting that they stay low to the ground, and they wrap the vines around like a basket to keep the grapes in and protected from the sun.

After receiving our covid test results, we headed to the ferry port and waited for our speed ferry. We were excited that this ferry was a lot nicer and more luxurious then the last one.