It’s hard to believe that our month in Greece is coming to an end. We’ve explored many ruins, had some amazing swims and managed to empty all the Retsina from a few grocery shores shelves! The weather is finally starting to become fall-like. We’ve had some rain and it’s getting cooler at night.
Early this week, we visited Kalamata and Voidokilia beach (which is said to be the nicest beach in Greece). The beach was truly beautiful and the water was the warmest we’ve had in Greece. It kind of gave me a taste of what our winter beaches will be like⛵️🏝
On Saturday we leave our Astros house and head to Athens. We’ll meet up with Matthew, Margie and the boys at our hotel and then fly to Melbourne on Sunday. Matt and Jonah are making a 3 day stopover in Dubai while Margie and Oliver head directly home.
Next blog will be from down under! Get ready!!
We went on a crazy drive above the clouds on a very rainy day.One of 2 mountainside towns were drove through on the crazy drive day.Kalamata’s old city centre.These outdoor variety shops are everywhere in Greece.Evelyn, Lucas and Mark go for a swim at Voidokilia.Voidokilia beach from the hillside.A very secluded beach near Voidokilia.
We’ve had a full house in Astros this week – Jim, Lisa and Lucas joined us. We’ve done some more exploring, this time to Korinthos and back to Nafplio. The crazy ones among us (that’s not me!!) even climbed one of the stony hills/mountains near the house.
Matthew, Margie and the boys head to Santorini on Sunday and then we will be 6 in the house. Next week we are planning to visit Kalamata and maybe do a little more swimming. After that, it’s off to Australia🇦🇺
one of the crazy hikers at the top.A typical Astros morning.Checking out the Korinthos ruins.Lucas, Mark and Evelyn pose infront of the temple of Apollo in Korinthos.Some Roman ruins in Korinthos.The Korinthos canal has a crazy bridge that lowers into the water.
We’re at the end of an amazing week with Caroline, Matthew, Margie, Oliver and Jonah. We did more awesome exploring, this time driving further away from our Astros villa. Caroline’s goal was to see as much of Greece’s history in one week and I think she did well!
Our first visit was to the ancient ruins of Mycenae where we walked through the Lion’s gate and learned a lot about the Mycenaean period. Some great views and a very interesting museum were part of this archeological site.
Our next major ancient site visit was to Olympia which is about 2.5 hours from Astros on the west coast. It was our first day of rain but we still explored the ruins of Olympia. It was amazing but a little hard to find. After a bit of searching around, we noticed many buses traveling along a fairly major road and sure enough, they were headed to Olympia.
Our last visit was to Athens. Man it’s crazy driving in this city!!! Cars, buses, streetcars and worst of all, the motorcycles and scooters who don’t obey traffic rules or lanes. But all the craziness was worth it when we visited the Acropolis site and museum. It was quite spectacular and very impressive.
Tomorrow Caroline heads back to Toronto. It has been a very fast week and we have loved traveling as a family again! Jim and Lisa arrived on Wednesday, so we’ll be 9 people until Monday when Evelyn’s friend Lou joins us for a week or so.
Lion’s Gate marks the entrance into this ancient Mycenaean site.Taking a break at the top of the Mycenaen ruins. Some of th ruins at Olympia.Heading into the Olympic arena..in the rain!The museum of Olympia was very good. These Olympian wannabes pose infront of the temple of Zeus. The Parthenon is undergoing major restoration.The Parthenon, in all it’s scaffolded glory.Taking a selfie infront of the Parthenon.The temple of Athena Nike.An interesting view of the Propylaia.These lovely ladies adorn one side of the Erechtheion.
All of us here in Greece wish all of you at home a very Happy Thanksgiving. Eat lots of turkey for us and we’ll raise a glass for you. We’re having a great time visiting ancient ruins and eating yummy food.
After a rough departure from Paris (Air France had some technical issues with the luggage conveyor belts), we landed in Greece and met up with Christine and Rob. We had a great drive to our Greek house in Astros. The last part was quite spectacular as we curved along the coast. The house is very much with tons of Greek charm. We are slowly discovering where everything is and settling in for our month stay here. Unfortunately, we are back to no wifi. We have to sit in the town square to find some free wifi so blog posts will be limited for the month.
We have had a few adventures already. We’ve been to the theatre of Epidavros (very exciting for me because I have talked about this theatre for more than 15 years in my gr 9 drama class) and the city of Nafplio. We also ventured to Sparta and the ruins of Mystras. One of the best parts of our Greece visit is the swimming. We’ve splashed in the sea 3 times already and hope to do more.
On Saturday, Caroline arrives and Christine and Rob head to Italy. On Sunday, Jim and Lisa and Matthew, Margie, Oliver and Jonah arrive for part 2 of the Greece expedition.
Walking through the square at Nafplio.We had lunch on the beach near Leonidi whichmis close to our house.Evelyn checks out the view as we drive from Astros to Sparta.The ancient site of Mystras which is near Sparti.
Crimson Kathryn and her crew 