Our time in Greece was great. I think the best way to describe Greece is diversified. It is an amazing country and there is still a lot we didn't even see. Again, like Turkey, I could see us going back. Of course I say that about most places we go, and each year also add more places that we haven't been to the list, so who knows. Anyway, we really enjoyed Greece and really saw quite a lot of it.
Our first night in Greece we stay at a beach side hotel in Asprovalta which is just outside Thessaloniki, in the northeast of Greece. We arrived here late and were quick to get the kids (and ourselves) to bed, and in the morning planned to just have breakfast and go, but the beach called to us (or most of us), so we walked down and played in the Mediterranean water for the first time a little.
We didn't stay long though and got into our cars to head toward Kalampaka; a small city almost right in the middle of Greece. The driving in Greece was incredible. Mountains and farming land everywhere. It was just bright and inviting. When we got close to Kalampaka, we quickly hit some real mountains though, and had about an hour of steep curvy roads to drive. Once crossing over the mountain and dropping back down into the valley, we started to see the reason we came to this little city in the middle of nowhere; the awesome rocks (and monasteries) of Meteora!!! Wow!!! Incredible!!! I can't use enough words to describe it. Antarctica is still my favorite natural beauty of the world, but Meteora, with the combination of natural beauty and the incredible works of man together were breathtaking.
We spent the night in Kalampaka at a great hotel just at the base of some of the Meteora rocks. What a great location. We easily could have stayed there a couple of nights, but as was always the case (well until the last day...) there was so much more we also planned to see. Anyway, the first day in Meteora we visited the Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron, which is the largest of the monasteries. It was incredible, like a small community built on a rock several hundred feet above the ground level... We explored this monastery for a couple of hours. It is really crazy to think people would build something like this even with the technologies of today, but 600 years ago? Wow. The steps that were carved into the side of the rocks were only added for tourists, the monks hauled everything up by rope, rope ladder, or a simply built rope trolley. Totally crazy!
On the second day we first visited the Agia Triada (or Holy Trinity) monastery, which was a long climb up. It is a slightly less touristy one, I think because of the climb up, but also because the area outside the monastery itself is not well fenced in if at all; you can literally walk to the edge of the rock and look down several hundred feet. Great for adults, a little scary with a lot of small children. But it was worth it. The views were unbelievable, we could look down on Kalampaka and even easily make out our hotel.
Zac led us to a little field just under some of the rocks where we were able to have a nice picnic in the sun, and enjoy our last couple of hours in Meteora before driving again. While there we found a couple of turtles (that the kids played with) a some crickets. It was great.
Our next stop was Athens (southeast mainland Greece). Our hotel was actually just out of the city to the south, which worked out great; it was less expensive and we were able to take a train into the city without worrying about parking. When we arrived our car and Zac's was ahead of the other, so we detoured and drove right through downtown. It was cool to get a first glimpse of the Acropolis, but the traffic (while not horrible) wasn't fun. In the end the other car beat us to the hotel by about 20 minutes. We got settled in to the hotel and ate at this great little restaurant (called Pita Time) about a block from our hotel. We actually liked it a lot and the prices were really good, so we had dinner there the next night also, and then lunch the following day...
The following day (day 11) we took the train into Athens. Our plan was to see the Acropolis, have lunch and then head over to the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian's Arc. We got a little late of a start though and changed plans thinking it would be better to do the Acropolis after lunch to give us more time. That was our first mistake. The Temple of Olympian Zeus was huge. Most of it has fallen down, but you get a feel for the size, which is just incredible given it was started in the 6th century BC. Those ancient Greeks were crazy!!! Anyway after an okay lunch, which was slower than we had hoped, we headed toward the Acropolis. However, we stopped at a shop selling leather goods, so all the girls could look at sandals and purses; mistake number two. Finally, we got out of there and wound around through town arriving at the entrance to the Acropolis; 20 minutes after it closed for new admission for the day... Who would have thought that the most iconic man made structures in the world would close for admission at 2 in the afternoon!!! Oh' well, we ended up hanging around on the top of Areopagus (Mar's hill) and then went and found a Geocache (another country!) before heading back to the hotel for the evening.
Obviously you can't go to Athens and not go onto the Acropolis, so we headed back into downtown Athens the next morning. The plan was to get there early, enjoy it before any crowds, get back to the hotel and pack up, head to a beach for a while, and then drive to the Temple of Poseidon, before heading north to Delphi. Two out of three wasn't bad. The Acropolis was not what I expected. It was huge, with some amazing ancient temples, the Parthenon of course, but also the Propylaea, the Temple of Athena Nike, and the Erechtheum. Plus lower on the hill side is the Theatre of Dionysus, and the Theatre of Herodes Atticus. Their is actually more, these are just the ones I remember.
So after lunch we headed south a little found a decent beach and played. We decided that trying to to the make it to the Temple of Poseidon also was not going to happen, so we spent a little more time at the beach and just had a good time. The water was cold, but it was the Mediterranean so, we had to go in, right?
Anyway, it turned out really good that we didn't go to the Temple of Poseidon, because we got to our hotel in Delphi, which is north west of Athens by about 100 miles, at around 5. This was perfect, but the hotel had lost our reservation, which was not. It would have really been bad to have to deal with that late at night when everyone was tired. It ended up working out really well for us, we got put up in nicer hotels owned by the same group at our reserved rate. That night we had dinner at this great restaurant in town. Julie and I had a homemade wine with dinner that was excellent. It was, I believe, the best meal of the trip. Although, doners (Bulgarian and Turkish) and giro's were all really good too!!! Below is a of picture from our hotel room balcony in the evening and then the next morning. Not bad, eh?
Our day in Delphi was the final day on our first road trip of the vacation; day 13. What a great day, extremely long, but great! Delphi is a like a fairy tale town. Up in the mountains, totally beautiful, quiet, peaceful, and it has a great archaeological site. The Oracle of Delphi in a lot of ways is the most incredible place we visited. The area is huge, built almost completely on a hill side, and is on the top of a mountain. Not exactly in a place where you would think "Hey, I have an idea, lets build a crazy city up there!" I couldn't imagine hiking all the way up to built the city in the first place; it was a crazy drive getting there. Anyway, it was incredible. The site has a few temples, a theatre, and a stadium way at the top. After visiting the site, we had lunch, and left on what was to be a really long drive. The GPS had us at 7 hours I think, but the curves of the roads in the area, stopping for gas, stopping for food, crossing a border, we didn't get back to the Rollins house until 2 am the next day, about 12 hours later. Literally, as we were pulling onto there street, their odometer clicked over to 1700 miles. Quite a road trip!!!
Our first night in Greece we stay at a beach side hotel in Asprovalta which is just outside Thessaloniki, in the northeast of Greece. We arrived here late and were quick to get the kids (and ourselves) to bed, and in the morning planned to just have breakfast and go, but the beach called to us (or most of us), so we walked down and played in the Mediterranean water for the first time a little.
We didn't stay long though and got into our cars to head toward Kalampaka; a small city almost right in the middle of Greece. The driving in Greece was incredible. Mountains and farming land everywhere. It was just bright and inviting. When we got close to Kalampaka, we quickly hit some real mountains though, and had about an hour of steep curvy roads to drive. Once crossing over the mountain and dropping back down into the valley, we started to see the reason we came to this little city in the middle of nowhere; the awesome rocks (and monasteries) of Meteora!!! Wow!!! Incredible!!! I can't use enough words to describe it. Antarctica is still my favorite natural beauty of the world, but Meteora, with the combination of natural beauty and the incredible works of man together were breathtaking.
We spent the night in Kalampaka at a great hotel just at the base of some of the Meteora rocks. What a great location. We easily could have stayed there a couple of nights, but as was always the case (well until the last day...) there was so much more we also planned to see. Anyway, the first day in Meteora we visited the Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron, which is the largest of the monasteries. It was incredible, like a small community built on a rock several hundred feet above the ground level... We explored this monastery for a couple of hours. It is really crazy to think people would build something like this even with the technologies of today, but 600 years ago? Wow. The steps that were carved into the side of the rocks were only added for tourists, the monks hauled everything up by rope, rope ladder, or a simply built rope trolley. Totally crazy!
On the second day we first visited the Agia Triada (or Holy Trinity) monastery, which was a long climb up. It is a slightly less touristy one, I think because of the climb up, but also because the area outside the monastery itself is not well fenced in if at all; you can literally walk to the edge of the rock and look down several hundred feet. Great for adults, a little scary with a lot of small children. But it was worth it. The views were unbelievable, we could look down on Kalampaka and even easily make out our hotel.
The second monastery we visited was a small one, and it was actually a nunnery named The Holy Monastery of Rousanou (St. Barbara). It was funny to walk in, because it was obvious that it was for women, not men. Everything was brighter, cleaner, more organized... We didn't stay here long as it was small and everyone was getting hungry.
Zac led us to a little field just under some of the rocks where we were able to have a nice picnic in the sun, and enjoy our last couple of hours in Meteora before driving again. While there we found a couple of turtles (that the kids played with) a some crickets. It was great.
Our next stop was Athens (southeast mainland Greece). Our hotel was actually just out of the city to the south, which worked out great; it was less expensive and we were able to take a train into the city without worrying about parking. When we arrived our car and Zac's was ahead of the other, so we detoured and drove right through downtown. It was cool to get a first glimpse of the Acropolis, but the traffic (while not horrible) wasn't fun. In the end the other car beat us to the hotel by about 20 minutes. We got settled in to the hotel and ate at this great little restaurant (called Pita Time) about a block from our hotel. We actually liked it a lot and the prices were really good, so we had dinner there the next night also, and then lunch the following day...
The following day (day 11) we took the train into Athens. Our plan was to see the Acropolis, have lunch and then head over to the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian's Arc. We got a little late of a start though and changed plans thinking it would be better to do the Acropolis after lunch to give us more time. That was our first mistake. The Temple of Olympian Zeus was huge. Most of it has fallen down, but you get a feel for the size, which is just incredible given it was started in the 6th century BC. Those ancient Greeks were crazy!!! Anyway after an okay lunch, which was slower than we had hoped, we headed toward the Acropolis. However, we stopped at a shop selling leather goods, so all the girls could look at sandals and purses; mistake number two. Finally, we got out of there and wound around through town arriving at the entrance to the Acropolis; 20 minutes after it closed for new admission for the day... Who would have thought that the most iconic man made structures in the world would close for admission at 2 in the afternoon!!! Oh' well, we ended up hanging around on the top of Areopagus (Mar's hill) and then went and found a Geocache (another country!) before heading back to the hotel for the evening.
Obviously you can't go to Athens and not go onto the Acropolis, so we headed back into downtown Athens the next morning. The plan was to get there early, enjoy it before any crowds, get back to the hotel and pack up, head to a beach for a while, and then drive to the Temple of Poseidon, before heading north to Delphi. Two out of three wasn't bad. The Acropolis was not what I expected. It was huge, with some amazing ancient temples, the Parthenon of course, but also the Propylaea, the Temple of Athena Nike, and the Erechtheum. Plus lower on the hill side is the Theatre of Dionysus, and the Theatre of Herodes Atticus. Their is actually more, these are just the ones I remember.
So after lunch we headed south a little found a decent beach and played. We decided that trying to to the make it to the Temple of Poseidon also was not going to happen, so we spent a little more time at the beach and just had a good time. The water was cold, but it was the Mediterranean so, we had to go in, right?
Anyway, it turned out really good that we didn't go to the Temple of Poseidon, because we got to our hotel in Delphi, which is north west of Athens by about 100 miles, at around 5. This was perfect, but the hotel had lost our reservation, which was not. It would have really been bad to have to deal with that late at night when everyone was tired. It ended up working out really well for us, we got put up in nicer hotels owned by the same group at our reserved rate. That night we had dinner at this great restaurant in town. Julie and I had a homemade wine with dinner that was excellent. It was, I believe, the best meal of the trip. Although, doners (Bulgarian and Turkish) and giro's were all really good too!!! Below is a of picture from our hotel room balcony in the evening and then the next morning. Not bad, eh?
2 comments:
What a great looking trip! Makes me want to travel but traveling totally scares me since I am such a picky eater. How did Julie do eating? Love all the pictures.
What a great trip!!
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