Spring Break

We have been waiting for this one for a while. The kids have been cooped up inside the house and Britain has long winters with little daylight. So, we finally had our chance to take a break and get away. We were able to take a little vacation and see some places that we had wanted to see since arriving here.

So, on April 6th, we hopped in the plane and flew down to Athens. We found a taxi driver who promised to take us to all the sights. We were concerned that he might just take all of our money and drop us off in a back alley. Well, he did take our money. We spent the whole day sight seeing in Athens and were able to see the Acropolis. We also took a picture of the Nike Temple near the Parthenon, that was for Uncle Steve. Lizzy was ready for the Nike Temple. The Parthenon is really neat. It was mostly destroyed by the armies of Venice while the Turkish people used it to store gunpowder. The Greek people are rebuilding the temple now slowly. You can see bright white areas on all the major monuments where they are rebuilding.

We also saw the changing of the guard. This was really different from the changing of the guard in Washington, D.C. The guards are still not allowed to move but their outfits are a little different, as are their marching styles. It was a sight.

The next day we went on our cruise. We went to Istanbul, Mykonos (greek island), Jerusalem, Cyprus, Santorini (another greek island). Our ship was smaller than a regular cruise boat and therefore, more prone to motion. No one in our family had any problems, but it did make the onboard ping-pong tournament more of a challenge. The swimming pool also had whitecaps.

But the best part was seeing everything. Istanbul was great but I had to learn to bargain better. They always say offer half the price and walk away. They will follow you and accept your price. This is not a great idea with taxi drivers. I told him my price, he didn't accept, and I turned and started walking. I kept walking and looking over my shoulder and one mile later, no offer. Next time, I'll just pay for it. Behind us is the Blue Mosque. The minarets are the towers that you see behind us and five times a day the speakers give out the call to prayer. There are six minarets, which was scandalous because only Mecca is allowed to have six minarets. So the Sultan at the time decided to send his architect down to Mecca to build another one, problem solved.

Next stop was Mykonos. We walked around and tried to find a quiet beach. We finally found one with no people on it at all. We had our own private beach for about 3 hours and the kids loved it. The beach came furnished with authentic looking rowboat at no extra charge. We also saw the infamous (for those of you who watch The Three Amigos) pelican. After a mother peeled the pelican off of a small girl, a store owner grabbed the beak and our children tentatively petted the animal. No blood noted.

The next stop was Jerusalem. This was a really different place. All road signs are in English, Hebrew, and Arabic. Our first stop was Bethlehem, which is in the West Bank. Our Jewish tour guides had to get off the bus because they were not allowed there. We visited the Church of the Nativity where a star is placed where Christ was supposedly born. The church was built 500 years after his birth so it might or might not be right but still very interesting. We then went to the Mount of Olives and Garden of Gethsemane before going to the Wailing Wall or old temple walls where Christ walked. Kris was holding Katy while walking and got tripped up near the Garden of Gethsemane. Katy hit her head on the sidewalk and had about a 1/2 inch cut on her head. It bled a lot and our Palestenian bus driver grabbed his medical kit. No stitches needed but let's just say that I have had some medical training. While I stayed with Katy and applied pressure to her bleeding head, the others still went to the Wailing Wall, Via Dolorosa, and walked through downtown Jerusalem.

Cyprus was boring and would have been better if we had more time to go to a beach, which is what everyone else does. We only went to a city named Limassol, which had a crusade castle that housed Richard the Lionheart. We have some wonderful pictures of the outside of the castle. We didn't pay to go in. Come on, if you were there you wouldn't have gone in either.

Final stop was Santorini. Supposedly, thousands of years ago, a volcano exploded in the area of Santorini that made the civilization of Atlantis sink the ocean floor. You can still hike around the volcano today and is on the right side of the picture below. The island that remains is stunning with cities built about 1000 feet up the sheer cliffs of the island. Most pictures that you have seen of Greece show the island of Santorini. It was amazing and the volcanic activity in the area made it so we were able to play on a beach of black sand. Amazingly, even in Greece, you can still find somewhere to buy ice cream and pull up a seat. The view just changes.