Greece, Hydra and Napflio

Welcome to Hydra (He-draw)!  Little island about a 2 hour boat ride from Athens where there are no cars and everything is done by walking or by donkey.  For us it was a beautiful Mediterranean experience.

Ice cream from the Cool Mule

Pedestrians and high tech donkey drivers take the same paths.

Hydra was a post to hold off pirates as well as the Ottomans.  The Hydra boat captain (below) developed the technique of setting a boat on fire and then sending it into the Ottoman naval fleet.  It was very effective and helped to free the Greeks from 400 years of Turkish rule.  They still commemorate his work by lighting a boat on fire during an annual celebration.  We enjoyed hiking around, playing in the refreshingly cool waters of the Mediterranean, and just winding down on this beautiful island.

An island with a small church in the background.

After 4 days of vacation within a vacation, we headed to Napflio where we played basketball with French kids and did more floating in the salty Sea.  We also visited a amphitheater built in 340 BC with incredible acoustics.  And celebrated yet another birthday in yet another country.  

Our balanced family.

Dropping stones in holes, and building towers are lots of fun.  Having stone towers fall on you, not so fun.

but still best friends

For Aaron's birthday Maggie cooked up chicken and potatoes.

Then we played the candy bar game with chocolate from our 

Belgium friends.  

Our last night in Greece we spent in a little hotel by the airport so we could catch an early flight the next day.  We all felt about like Max did given eggs swimming in olive oil (above), concerning the "good deal" Mom found on the internet.  Unimpressed.  They sold us leftover spaghetti for dinner and the guy who gave us  the shuttle ride to the airport was both drinking and smoking when he took us, but we made it out safe and sound and we're better for the experience.   

Morocco here we come!

Athens, Greece

Maggie and Max will both tell you that Greece was one of their favorite places that we have visited.  Why?  First response, the food.  They loved getting gyros and slouvaki on the street for cheap.  Then of course, there was seeing some of the sights that they had read so much.  I have much to say about it all, but I'm tired of being behind, so I'm going to post and then come back later to add descriptions so that I can do Asia in more real time.  

First stop, the Parthenon.  Maggie was in heaven.  She is very well read on Greek mythology and it was very nice to have her as a tour guide.  On the way to the Acropolis we saw the theatre that Yanni did his famous "Live at the Acropolis" concert at.  

These kids had the most fun smashing rocks until

the rock police made us stop.

At lunch this girl, who should have been in school, came to our table begging for money for a little simple tune on her squeeze box.  The waiter tried to shoo her away, but we saw her come by several times.  We are always very curious how things work with the people in the countries that we visit.  Why are their kids working at the streets?  What is the school system like?  What is the income and expenses of the average person like?  

Hadrian's library

We visited a great little free place called the Museum of Musical Instruments.  It was a lot of fun, and as a bonus they had a tortoise in the yard we got to feed.  Perfect break from old sites for the kids.

Next day we went to the Acropolis museum.  The highlight

was definitely the museums library.  The kids devoured the 

English books for hours.  

We took a break to grab some lunch and walk to a couple of sights, Temple of Zeus (left) and Hadrian's gate (right) and then the kids wanted to go back to the library.

Hephaestus temple

April 11-14, 2016