Greece with the Frankovis Family!

We left for Greece from August 28th-September 2nd. We spent a few days in Athens and then took the high speed ferry to the beautiful island of Santorini! We had a wonderful time and took many many pictures. Here are some highlights.

Athens: The City you can see in a Day!

Matt, Meg and Dylan Frankovis joined us for our trip to visit the country of Greece. With two little guys we quickly realized how many hills are in Athens and how some places are very stroller friendly and others (like the Acropolis) are not.

After we arrived in warm, sunny Athens we decided to venture to the grocery store and wondered the streets a bit. The Greek alphabet was everywhere! It was interesting seeing the Greek words written out. We had no idea how to pronounce anything, again we were thankful that English is a universal language. We also could get far pointing and nodding.

We were told by others and I think we would all agree that Athens is a city that you can see in a day! It was a busy few days and the boys were troopers as we loaded them up with sunscreen and made sure they got a little time in the hotel pool to get refreshed! We walked around the Acropolis, visited some major market streets, and saw the view of the city from the top of Mt. Lykovitos. We were also thankful for our cab drivers who gave us some great tips and instructions of where NOT to visit in Athens.

At the top of the Acropolis

Dogs & Cats & Greece

I also need to note that Will the dog and cat lover was so pleased to see how many of these animals roamed free in the streets of Greece. We would see dogs laying in the metro stations and along side fences. Most of these animals did not have owners and simply did not bother people. Poor Will just wanted to pet them, but his mean parents did not allow it. He would constantly point and yell "OGG."

Greek Salad Update

Another noteworthy thing to point out, thanks to Meg, not all Greek Salads are created equal! Meg ordered her share of Greek salads throughout our time in Greece. The tomatoes were wonderful and the Feta Cheese was tasty! However, Greek salads don't have many green leaves but rather olives, tomatoes, and green peppers covered the plate.

Chad and Matt getting off the Ferry at Santorini

Santorini and Ferry Information

We had many fun stories to tell about our adventure on the Greek Island of Santorini. :) We learned from our taxi driver to the port that we should rent a car and that we did. After talking to several of the men holding signs we decided on a squeaky car that when Chad pointed out some scratches and dents he was informed it was "not new." The air-conditioning worked and Chad did a great job driving up the narrow, steep, curvy roads. It was like a clown car when you saw all of us in the car with our luggage.

We were also given a map of the 5 major road on the island. These roads really weren't labeled and when we tried to find our hotel, thank goodness Chad and Matt pulled over and asked for directions. They found a great coffee shop and the owner called the hotel and they met us a Church with a blue roof. We had to walk to the hotel down several stairs that really function as public streets as well. It was part of our adventure! Had we not met the owner, we would have never found the hotel on our own.

Overall we enjoyed this beautiful island and got our exercise on the stairs and hikes to and from the beaches. We visited a black and red sand beach and I don't believe we saw a cloud in the sky. The views were amazing and we would recommend a visit! We also frequented the coffee shop that provide us with directions! They LOVED smily Dylan and Will LOVED the dancing rapper (by the end we were ready not to hear the dancing rapper). We always had room for crepes, waffles and ice cream!

On the day we departed, we arrived an hour before our ferry to discover (while waiting in line) that our ferry was delayed about 2 additional hours. We waited patiently and the boys were troopers. Once we found our seats on the "high speed" ferry, we heard an announcement that we couldn't quite interpret. Meg thought she heard 9pm...we were supposed to arrive by 4pm and with the 2 hour delay we thought 6pm. Chad asked and yes, Meg was correct. We were running on one less engine and would be arriving 3 hours later at 9pm! Thank goodness we had enough diapers but the water was a bit rough and Meg and Chad did have to share the last Dramamine pill. Moral of the story...hope for the best, plan for the worst and in the end...we're on vacation and it makes a good story!

Will getting his butt cleaned at the Black Sand Beach of Santorini.

Will in his Traditional Greek Shirt!

View outside our Hotel!

The Frankovis and Neumanns at the top of Mt. Lykavitos