Friday, November 28, 2008
Thanksgiving
I never realized how much I loved Thanksgiving until I moved here. Originally we were going to go out to dinner, but didn't book far enough in advance, so they were all booked up when we called. I was devastated! And totally surprised by my reaction. Needing desperately to do something for Thanksgiving, on Wednesday I went to Whole Foods in search of a bird. I was thrilled to find tons of turkey, pre-made side dishes, and a bunch of other Americans shopping for their Thanksgiving dinners as well. I decided to cook a duck, since the turkeys were all too big. This was my first time cooking a duck and I was really pleased with how it came out...and how the whole meal came out. We invited some of our English friends over to share the feast with us, and although we didn't get to spend Thanksgiving with our families, it still felt like the holiday I love so much.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Just a few more photos
The obligatory picture in front of the Parthenon. 
One of the two places Socrates may have possibly taken the hemlock...if he even existed.
An odd sculpture in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
What once were rabbits hanging in the central market, where we ate our lunch one day.
Leo pondering the awesomeness of the Temple of Zeus.THE END.
The rest of the trip...in photos
Us at the top of a mountain (ok hill) we climbed on the island of Delos. 
The amphitheater in Delos. 
Sunset from our hotel way up the mountain in Mykonos. 
Yes, we did eat at a Chinese/Thai restaurant in Mykonos. It was the closest restaurant to our hotel and we were tired from going up the big hill to get to the hotel and didn't want to walk down again (and then back up) to find dinner. 
A cool bar we found in Athens where they make all their own spirits.Sunday, November 16, 2008
More Naxos
In an effort not to bore you with long entries and few pictures, I'm going to try another approach, more photos and short captions...so as to finish this section on Greece before our next trip. On our second day in Naxos we rented a car to drive around the island. The island is so small with so few roads, there are no real road maps...which you think would make things easy, but somehow we ended up in a small town driving down a pedestrian street with an old man laughing at us, trying to direct up to Demeter's Temple in Greek. 
We eventually made it to the temple. 
We ventured further and arrived at Apiranthos, which is a small own perched upon the side of a mountain and made almost entirely from marble. 
Not only did Leo have to contend with driving on narrow, winding mountain roads, he also needed to contend with goat roadblocks. 
Naxos has always been a large exporter of marble. We passed this large quarry on our road trip. 
One of the goals of the car trip was to find on of the abandoned kouros statues which again, after a few wrong turns, we eventually got to.
We eventually made it to the temple. We ventured further and arrived at Apiranthos, which is a small own perched upon the side of a mountain and made almost entirely from marble. Not only did Leo have to contend with driving on narrow, winding mountain roads, he also needed to contend with goat roadblocks. Naxos has always been a large exporter of marble. We passed this large quarry on our road trip. One of the goals of the car trip was to find on of the abandoned kouros statues which again, after a few wrong turns, we eventually got to.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Naxos
John flew home out of Santorini and we caught a ferry to Naxos. Originally it had not been on the itinerary, but we were so happy we ended up there. When we pulled into the port we had decided to look out for people from specific hotels that were recommended in our guidebook, so as to avoid the chaos we found when we got to Santorini. 
Our choice of the Pension Sofi was perfect, and even better than the guidebook had said. The hotel owner's father drove us to the hotel, just a 5 minute walk from the port, and her husband sat us down, gave us raki melo (raki with honey, which is a specialty in Naxos) and a plate of tomatoes, cheese, and olives (all homemade/grown) and gave us an extensive description of everything to do and see on the island, which was mostly in Greek. Not even Leo was able to pick up on everything he said, so we just nodded and drank our raki. 
After dropping off our bags in our inexpensive, big, beautiful room with a lovely balcony, we headed to the main street along the port. We were a bit dismayed at how empty the place was. But we found out that this was just due to it being Friday, during siesta, and things began to pick up later in the evening. We walked all around the port 
then back to Appolon's Gate and watched the sun set,
then found a nice taverna for a quick meal before heading back to our lovely room for some much needed sleep.
Our choice of the Pension Sofi was perfect, and even better than the guidebook had said. The hotel owner's father drove us to the hotel, just a 5 minute walk from the port, and her husband sat us down, gave us raki melo (raki with honey, which is a specialty in Naxos) and a plate of tomatoes, cheese, and olives (all homemade/grown) and gave us an extensive description of everything to do and see on the island, which was mostly in Greek. Not even Leo was able to pick up on everything he said, so we just nodded and drank our raki. 
After dropping off our bags in our inexpensive, big, beautiful room with a lovely balcony, we headed to the main street along the port. We were a bit dismayed at how empty the place was. But we found out that this was just due to it being Friday, during siesta, and things began to pick up later in the evening. We walked all around the port 
then back to Appolon's Gate and watched the sun set,
then found a nice taverna for a quick meal before heading back to our lovely room for some much needed sleep.
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