Split Croatia

Okay, so I started this post about 3 weeks ago and I'm FINALLY getting back to blogging to finish up details of our trip. Things have been so busy and I'm now back in the States visiting family... anyway, here's Croatia:

Our final destination port was Split, Croatia. We were surprised and impressed by this clean, energetic, tourist-friendly city. The old city, beaches, good food and dollar to kuna (or tuna as my dad refers to them) ratio makes the city a perfect place to vacation. We definitely would like to go back someday. One of the main historical highlights of the city is the palace which was built at the end of the third century AD by the Roman Emperor Diocletian. The palace walls now enclose many of the Split's historical and cultural buildings, as the walls were a refuge to many over the centuries.

We also enjoyed the giant outdoor market found in Split. We walked around the vending booths and bought some delicious, plump blackberries. Fruit and nuts of every kind can be found there. We also saw some beautiful flowers for sale as well as many tourist items, clothing and shoes. After exploring downtown Split a little we walked over to the main beach area. We were surprised to find that the swimming area was only partially surrounded by beach. The rest of the area looks like a giant outdoor swimming pool as the ocean meets with man-built concrete walls and even a few diving boards mixed in. We didn't get the chance to go swimming but the water felt very warm and it seemed shallow for quite a long way out. It was definitely a family friendly atmosphere.
After checking out the beach we walked back to the main city and found an old church with a bell-tower. We paid a fee and walked to the top to see the surrounding city. It was a beautiful view, but I was a little nervous walking the the steep stairs. We had a wonderful day, though we ended up having to trade back some of our Kunas into Euros because we needed far less than expected (the bonus to using a currency that is actually weaker than the dollar!). Beautiful city and very kind people. We will be back Croatia!

Corfu

Ahhh, the beautiful island of Corfu. We loved this pretty, picturesque little island. After walking down the port about a mile we rented a car for half the price of the ones being rented next to the port. We were able to get a car-seat and all, much to Jay's disappointment (he hates his car-seat). We drove to the town of Palaiokastritsa which had a great beach, perfect for families. Jay had fabulous time splashing in the warm water. He even met a cute little Greek friend while we were there. It was funny trying to communicate, knowing none of the language, but we understood the meaning behind the words. While we were there we took a little boat trip around the cove and were able to see some of the fascinating caves dotting the coast. The clear, blue-green water was spectacular! We had lunch at a great restaurant over-looking the water which served delicious mushroom chicken and Greek salad. After lunch we drove up to see the Byzantine monastery of Panagia Paleokastritisa, founded in 1225. The views from the monestary were wonderful. After the monestary we drove back to Corfu town and shopped around the old city. Papa Lee found, yes you guessed it, jewelry! Very pretty Greek design jewelry, to be exact. Mike and I found a neat olive wood shop and bought a few things there. We quickly went on to see the town's famous fortress and then back to the cruise ship.

Katakolon: Olympia

Finally... more time to write about our trip! Our third cruise stop was a little island called Katakolon. The cruise port itself was not very exciting, but on the island is the ancient site of Olympia, which was very interesting. Olympia is the place where the origional Olympic games were held in the 7th century, B.C. Back in ancient times the place was actually unoccupied most of the time. Every four years when the Olympic games took place, people came from all the surrounding areas to take part. Our guide told us that even if a war was happening, arms were put down so that the games could be played. Back in classical times the Olympics were much different than they are now. Only men could participate in and watch the games. The story goes that there was once a woman who snuck in to see her son compete. Her husband and father had been great athletes who had died heroically at war. After they died her son had no one to train him, so she dressed up like a man and did the job herself. When her son took first place she was so happy she cried, which tipped off everyone else in the stadium. The penalty for a woman who snuck in was death. In an attempt to explain herself she made a speach in front of the men telling them exactly who she was, the wife and daughter of their great heros. She must have made quite an impression because they pardoned her of her "crime." From then on all spectators and athletes had to go naked during the duration of the games, to make sure nothing of the sort ever happened again.
Olympia has a wonderful museum with several ancient statues in it. One of my favorites was Hermes of Praxiteles. It looks very similar to Michelangelo's David. Jay liked the bull best. We enjoyed touring around the ruins and even had a photo op at the origional starting line for the forty yard dash!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!!!!!!

Actually, I should say, "Happy Birthing Day mom!" I had a great day today eating at TGI Fridays, shopping and hanging out in Sevilla with people I love! I miss my sweet husband, who's away for work, but all in all it was a great day.

Athens

Our second cruise stop was in Athens. It was hot, hot, hot, hot!!! Still, the experience of seeing the Pantheon was incredible. We hired a private taxi through Spiros taxi services before we arrived, based on a few recommendations. It was well worth it! We had a 15 seat taxi-bus complete with a car seat and air-conditioning. We met 2 nice couples on the cruise who came with us. Jacques and Suni were from South Africa and Olivia and Stephen were from New York. All were very nice and interesting people to meet. We first saw some sites from the bus before heading to the Acropolis. What was impressive was that the Pantheon was visible from almost every spot in the city. It was awesome (in the true sense of the word) to see the 2,500 year old temple still standing proudly above the city. We walked up the path to the Acropolis along with about 5,000 other tourists. There are several ancient structures on site including the Pantheon, Nike Athena, The Erechtheion, and The Theatre of Dionysos. Many are being reinforced to make sure no further corruption takes place. The buildings have actually been taken apart, stone by stone, had titanium run through them and painstakingly put back together exactly as they had been found. Apparently other attempts to reinforce the Acropolis have taken place twice before. We'll see if this is the last. Jay was pretty unhappy with all the heat and people, especially because we lost his binki at the bottom, until Nona started fanning him with our guide book. He laughed like crazy when she did that! Of course, then he wanted the chew on it (did I mention it was our taxi-guide's book and not ours?) and screamed his protest when we took it away. He ended up compromising for a pack of postcards bought for 1 euro. You do what you can. We enjoyed seeing the sites with the heat, crowds, Jay's compliants and all.
After the Acropolis we went on to see The Temple of Olympic Zeus. In it's hayday it was actually larger than the Panthenon. There are currently only 15 of the origional 104 columns remaining. A few that have toppled over still lay on the site. It's interesting to see how the round cut rocks were stacked to create the enormous columns.
We also saw the old Olympic stadium built in 1896 for the first modern Olympic games. While there we learned the history behind the sometimes deemed most famous Olympic event, the marathon. The marathon was thought-up for the first modern Olympic games. The marathon race commemorates the run of the soldier Pheidippides from a battlefield near Marathon, Greece, to Athens in 490 B.C., bringing news of a Greek victory over the Persians. Pheidippides collapsed and died at the end of his historic run. When the first modern Olympic games were held in 1896 in Greece, the legend of Pheidippides was revived by a 24.85 mile run from Marathon Bridge to Olympic stadium in Athens. This event was especially important to the Greeks. Greece was hosting the first Olympics, but hadn't yet won a medal. Spiridon Louis, a Greek postal worker from village of Marusi and veteran of several longmilitary marches, crossed the finish line a full seven minutes ahead of the pack. His time was 2 hours, 58 minutes, 50 seconds for the 40 kilometer distance (average pace of 7:11 minutes per mile). When it was all over - nine runners finished (8 of them Greeks), the host nation was ecstatic, and the marathon was born. Interesting bit of history for all you crazy marathon runners out there.
After the stadium we went on to see the city Palace, complete with a statue-like gaurd and all, and the Plaka district, part of the old city where all the tourist shopping takes place. We had a wonderful Greek lunch with our new friends. The food was wonderful! Another good day. We were exhausted after everything, except for Jay who rolled around our bed like a crazy man until he finally zonked out around 11:30 pm. Goodbye routine!

Mykonos

Our first port was Mykonos (heads up for all y'all who've read or watched The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Mykonos is the island Lena goes to to visit her Greek grandparents). Mykonos was absolutely beautiful! It looked just like you might picture Greece to look - little white stucco houses accented with bright blue trim. The people must white wash them about once a week to keep them such a brilliant white. We ate some delicious Greek crepes, some with chocolate and banana and some with cinnamon and sugar in them. It's was almost as fun to watch them being made as it was to eat them. After exploring the town Mike and I caught a bus to Paradise Beach while Nona and Papa watched baby Jay. We definitely recommend taking vacations with grandparents! While we were gone they saw this cool pink pelican! I guess they're pretty popular on the island. Mom and Dad were so wonderful to us! Paradise Beach was very nice; the water was a rich, blue color. It's definitely a big tourist party spot on the island. There was a large, mostly under 30 crowd dancing and drinking at the outdoor bar/club on the beach. It was fun to hang out for awhile and wade in the cool water. We made it back to the main town just in time for a beautiful sunset. We also got to see some lovely, old windmills up on a hill above town. Very picturesque. All in all it was a great day!