Christmas Card Fiasco

So I tried to be proactive and order Christmas cards really early this year, but I made the mistake of sending a photo with slightly blurry Christmas lights. Well, time passed and they never showed up....and when I finally tracked them I found an email in my junk mail about how they had held the order b/c they thought the blurry lights were a mistake. So we lost a week or so to blurry lights...and other several days to the blur of life. Here's to hoping you get a chance to enjoy a few special moments this Christmas season. Below are a few of my new sweet holiday memories.

Merry Christmas!

JC

Savoring every bite of my first Oreo

Decorating a gingerbread house


Finding special ornaments on the Christmas tree

Singing songs to Baby Jesus

All Bundled Up

Hayden & Richard at the Pumpkin Farm

Happy Birthday Hayden

We first went to Karen's City Diner, where they made me some special pancakes.




Later that day, Mommy brought in some special treats for my class.



I am just rockin' out with my buddy Meade

Athens- Ruins, Ruins, Ruins

I was very happy to find out that JC has booked flights back to Athens, as opposed to another ferry ride! Of course, the 45 minute ride was on an actual airplane from the 80's. Hmmmm.

So we finally saw Athens in the daylight and it was really hurting. It is speckled with wonderful things but the basic infrastructure seems dated and deteriorating. On top of that, we were ready to get home and see Hayden. We decided to splurge a bit on this leg of the trip and use some rewards points to stay at the Marriott. Oh and it was glorious to stay in an amazing American style hotel bed.



Saturday's big objective was to score some tickets for the Olympicos match on Sunday. So we spent whatever remaining daylight we had metroing to the stadium and grabbing the tickets. On our way home, we jumped off the metro early and found a cute little late night market. We also happened to be close to this fabulous grill that specialized in lamb chops. So we filled ourselves up and headed back for a wonderful night of sleep.

Sunday AM we finally did the Acropolis stuff. I think when it comes to ruins, I would rather them recreate as much as possible, because I have a hard time appreciating rocks sitting on the ground. it was still cool seeing layers of history before our eyes. We then walked over to the Agora and Mars Hill. Pretty similar stuff.

JC was determined to go the National Archeological Museum. This place was years and years of recovered artifacts. We Finished it in 45 minutes.

ON TO THE SOCCER errrr.... FOOTBALL MATCH.

This was brialliant. We were seeing Greece's best and most storied club in Olympiacos. They have a recetly renovated stadium that fits 30,000 fans and I would say there was about 25,000 this Sunday evening. The place was rocking as they won the match on 2 second-half goals. It was an electric atmosphere and a definite rocomendation for anyone travelling over there.



We tried to hit up the lamb chop place on the way back but it was closed. Instead, we found this hipster joint in the same vicinity. They told me about a meat variety plate and I was game. Nothing like a huge plate of meat.



We flew home on Monday. It was long and I won't go on my how much I hate US Airways soapbox. But everything was alright when we hugged Hayden.

More Mountains...... Seriously

I apologize for the lack of updates, there were not adequate internet facilities available to me in Athens.



Since we last talked (Thursday afternoon)... That evening we walked back into Fira. JC was gracious enough to give me an hour to myself which I then spent at Murphy's Irish Pub. The barman was a man named James, who was British, go figure. I was desperate for a good beer because the Greek beer Mythos was awful. They had Murphy's Stout and Murphy's Red on tap and that was plenty good for me. James had lived in Santorini for 14 years so it was nice to chat with him and get some perspective.

I followed my three pints with another dining experience at Taverna Nikolas. I was really chatty with part-owner Thomas that night, and we had a blast and another fine meal.

Friday was our 10th Wedding Anniversary. So what better way to celebrate than renting a car and driving around roads where you can't read the signs. It really wasn't that bad. Well that was until we drove to the site of ancient Thira which was situated on top of another mountain. 1 very narrow road and 22 switchbacks later, we made it to the parking area. It was a bit scary driving that. Once in the parking area, we had to walk another mile up hill, and someone decided to do it in flip flops. Not a good idea. The view was breathtaking and the ruins were neat, but the drive up and the eventual drive home consumed our thoughts. obviously we made it back in one piece, but JC had some serious white knuckles on the way down.



We stopped at the some beach down for a quick lunch and saw that European beaches are definitely better.... different than American beaches.



Friday night we celebrated by going out for a fabulous meal at Selene in Fira. It was an unbelievable meal and a great way to cap 10 years of marriage.

Saturday AM, we had a quick bite to eat at Mamma's House. Mamma is this crazy lady who yells at you, but makes a great American breakfast. The rumor is that Mamma is married to Thomas from Taverna Nikolas, and boy do I have some respect for that man. It was a fun diversion for an hour.

The Fellowship of the Travelling Pants

The view is spectacular. The huge crater is filled with water and separates the once large island into a circular bliss. All this from our hotel room.



The first evening in Santorini was just one short jaunt between our hotel and the beautiful town of Fira. We watched the sunset. Drank mojitos. Ate a glorious meal. Rested well on the first night.

So JC decides hike 5 miles to the town of Oia this morning. I was very timid, especially since I didn't bring hiking shoes AND the path to Oia involved climbing two mountains. So off we went with no breakfast and it was nice and it was pretty and JC was feeling all energized and then came the first mountain. It was brutal as every part of mean screamed in agony. But we made it and down the first mountain we went. It was at this point that I told JC that I would rather face the dark evil that existed inside the mountain, and that I wanted to pass throught the Mines of Moria. She said there was no way that she would do it without Gandalf.

Fortunately, there was a little dive of a cafe on the side of the road. To call it a dive would be generous. We are talking about a rusted out trailer with a very sketchy old man on the inside. We ordered an omelette and it was the most glorious omelette that I have ever eaten. But Frodo (JC) said it was time to go and so we braved the second mountain.

Finally we arrived in Oia and it quickly reminded us of the movie that sent us to Greece in the first place- The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. We recognized the areas from the film and JC shopped and we frolicked like 18 year old girls. It was perfect (really JC shopped and I blogged). We were told of a little fishing village at the bottom of the cliff and that the food there was amazing. So we went and we were delighted after about 600 steps that the journey was over and that the village was a key filming location for the movie. In our own goofy way, that made us happy.



Lunch was wonderful and after a long rest, it is now time for some more adventures.

More Mykonos

The second day in Mykonos was more to my liking. We chose to stick around town and look at the same shops as well as take time for journaling, reading and drinking wine.

I was finally successful in finding my restaurants. We found a great little sandwich shop called Piccollo, a good crepery, an amazing bakery, and a ridiculous French-Greek fusion restaurant called Chez Katerin. JC made a point of saying that the Mykonian creperies were better than the Athenian creperies.

We had gelato at some point. I'm shocked but JC is not forcing me to stop for gelato every night. I made a point of trying the seductive sounding Vanilla de Madegascar. It wa excellent but it tasted like vanilla. Not sure what I was expecting just because the vanilla was from Madegascar.

We woke up early on the 3rd day in Mykonos. We wanted to to get some supplies before our day of travelling to Santorini. We found our bakery and loaded up on baklava, tarts, bread, pizza, and spanikopita for the trip.

NEXT UPDATE: Fira and THE HIKE TO MOUNT DOOM

The White Washed City

I've been able to process Mykonos for a 24 hours.

We have stayed in the main town of Hora. Most people travel around the island for varying beaches but the weather is way too windy to enjoy a beach. Still, it is amazing sitting in this all white town and looking at the crystal blue waters of the Aegean.

One of the issues we are having in Mykonos is that the town is in the process of shutting down for the season. There are already 2 restaurants that I scoped out that are closed for the season. However, this means that many of the stores are trying to sell off their remaining inventory so there are deals to be had.

This is totally a tourist island. At moments its amazing because you feel like you are the only person in the island. At other moments, the cruise ships have docked and things get crowded.

We have found some abolutely fabulous stores. One in particular was this honey shop. They had 6 types of honey. Varities included honey from fir trees, honey with tea and thyme, etc. They had a little sample area where they had 3 types of honey and a product called propolis. What one of us didn't realize was that propolis is a skin care product and not food. However, one of us decided to try to eat it and she didn't like it so much. JC did notice that shop worker had the softest skin on any man or woman she had ever met. That was nice or wierd.

So it's been a lot of walking and shopping. JC has been busy looking at sculpture pieces from the dude responsible for designing the Athens Olympic Medals.

We are having fun and more importantly we are relaxing.

Again it is good to hear from you all.

Finally Settling In

The trip started off in a blur or a long wait. In typical US Airways fashion, our flight out of Richmond was an hour and a half late. This meant we would miss our connection in Philly. They were gracious enough to still get us to Greece on the date we had planned, but it was six hours later. So instead of going to Rome and then to Athens, our layover was in Munich. They also gave us 1st Class on the flight over the Pond. It made sleeping a lot easier.

My plan was to take advantage of Munich while I was in Munich. We unboarded the plane, and 10 minutes later we were in a bar drinking some sort of German Lager. Boy, was it good. They only served .5 litre instead of the tradtional 1 litre. That was disappointing. It was however, 5 AM EST. and I really didn't need a full litre of beer.



We left the bar and I saw this really tall blond bombshell walking toward us. I was really impressed with Germany. I then realized it was Olympic Volleyball Champion KERRI FREAKIN' WALSH. I was then really impressed with the US. I pointed her out to JC. Her reaction was to stalk her in the women's restroom and tell her "Good Job!"



After 4 hours in Munich, it was off to Athens. We arrived in Athens at the local time of 6 and were on are way to dinner at 8. Sundays in Athens are hurting when it comes to restaurants. We made our way to the tourist area and found an adequate joint. Beatiful scenery, great people watching, and annoying vendors. We were so tired and the last thing we wanted was to be sernaded by some toothless man. I felt rude, but it is US Airways fault.

So we went back to our tiny, sketchy hotel room. This room was 2 small single beds, a bathroom smaller than my closet, and 2 windows with security blinds. So one thing I don't get about Euro showers is the lack of shower curtains (and built in shower heads). It's like the whole bathroom is fair game for showering. I prefer to walk away from my shower and not feel the after-effects if I choose to remain in the bathroom.

So it was a rough night of sleep. on top of that we left the hotel at 5:30 AM to make our ferry. We rushed in some crepes that JC deemed not as good as Parisan crepes. Then it was ferry time. And this was one large ferry. I chose not to really appreciate the experience because I fell victim to motion sickness. Sleeping was really the only option.



Anyway, we are in the beautiful island of Mykonos. I'll write more about this place later in the week. Look forward to hearing from you all.

Crossing the Pond!

JC and I are about to embark on our 4th trip across the Atlantic. This time we actually have good reason as we are celebrating 10 Perfect Years of Marriage! LOL. I do think it is worth celebrating that she hasn't gotten rid of me yet!

So we are on our way to Greece, specifically Athens, Mykonos, and Santorini. Home of Philosophy and Athletics. It is right up my alley. I have heard a rumor that the Greek's think they can cook. I am a bit suspect, but I'm sure that I will let you know either way!

So feel free to keep up with us. I will be attempting to post at least 3 trip updates. When I get back, I will do all out food reviews on The House of Marinara.

Water Boy

Flower Child

Oh Wow!

For Me!

Uncle Nate

My 1st Christmas Pageant

Under the Tree

Messing with theStockings