OPA! Our Journey to Greece

In April we took our first big vacation of the year ... Greece! This was a tough vacation to plan. We had originally planned to hike Cinque Terre, Italy but Al's work schedule leading into Spring was complete misery. He was working 14-hour days almost 7 days a week. On his "off" days he was flying or TDY .... we were all exhausted by the schedule. So we decided to hold off on an "active vacation" and opt for a slow-paced vacation in Crete, Greece with no "island hopping". We chose an all-inclusive resort on the beach and balanced exploration with lazy days at the resort playing on the beach, swimming, collecting rocks, drinking wine on our balcony, eating .... it's just what we needed ... time to unwind. Let's go ....

We flew from Frankfurt to Athens and chose a flight with an 8-hour layover before hopping over to Crete. We jumped on the train in Athens and ventured out to see the Acropolis! I have vivid memories of learning about the Parthenon in Mr. Staley's class in High School ... never did I dream that I'd be able to see it! Well sort of. To our disappointment, the Acropolis was CLOSED! What! The area is gated and they close the area at 2:30 in the afternoon! We walked up at EXACTLY 2:30 and the gate was literally closed in our face. Not the warmest welcome to Greece. We walked around the perimeter of the acropolis and enjoyed a view of the Parthenon and the ruins from a distance ... it was still beautiful.

"Memory" ... back in my first days performing at Disney, I had the pleasure of opening the "Hercules Zero to Hero Victory Parade" when Disney released there new animated film "Hercules". My role dancing in this parade was as a "Kid of The Acropolis" at the base of the Hercules float. I still remember bits and pieces of the choreography and still have the rehearsal music! I REALLY fought the urge to break into "routine" with the Acropolis as my backdrop ...


2 bids, 4 bids, 6 bids a drachma ... all for Hercules stand up and holler!

Ok, back to the Greece ...

Looking out over Athens ...

I wonder if the little stinker will ever remember these journey's ...

When I think of Greece ... I think of pottery!

Kelty climbing on the ruins ...

After a few hours of exploring Athens we hopped on the train back to the airport and continued our journey to Crete. We arrived LATE, grabbed our car and started our drive on narrow, winding roads to our destination in Rethymno.

We played on the beach ...

Collected rocks ...

We ate some AMAZING food like Greek Salad (which in Greece is only tomato, cucumber, red onion, green pepper, a slice of feta, seasoning and olive oil) ...

Cretan yogurt ... EVERY SINGLE DAY! Did you know there are no cows on Crete? Their yogurt is made exclusively of sheep's milk! It is seriously the most amazing yogurt I have had IN MY LIFE.

We enoyed stuffed olive leaves ...

... and traditional Greek coffee. This is apparently an acquired taste. Traditional Greek coffee is made one cup at a time and brewed using instant-style coffee. It's heavy, gritty and .... unique. I'll just leave it at that.

We visited Chania, a town Al frequently visits when he fly's. It was gorgeous! While in Chania ...

Ketly explored the rock walls ...

We admired the beauty of the little alley's ...

I purchased handmade pottery ...

Al took me to the shop where he purchases olive oil and soaps for me when he visits. I bought more! ....

I love the doors ...

Kelty explored a little more ...

We simply enjoyed our time together!

A day or so later, we explored downtown Retyhmno. It's another beautiful harbor village ...

We walked around the harbor and admired the boats ...

We strolled through the town and stopped for lunch and coffee. We enjoyed some lively conversation with Kelty!

Our outdoor adventure for the trip was a visit up to Mount Ida to explore the Cave of Zeus! According to Greek mythology, this network of caves is where the goddess Rhea raised Zeus to protect him from his father Cronus ...

The 3-hour drive took us through the mountains and a few sleepy little villages ...

We stopped along the way to get a closer look at the sheep and goats that were ALL OVER THE PLACE. At one point we simply had to stop on the road because they were blocking it. This drive was a little interesting. We were literally the ONLY car on the road, with exception of a few sheep/goat farmers ... we saw nobody. I think our little trek up to the Cave of Zeus could have easily been turned into a horror movie ... we were so isolated!

After our drive to the top of Mount Ida, we hiked about 45 minutes to the Caves of Zeus ...

It was beautiful! Just like our drive ... we were the ONLY ones at the cave. Weird. We climbed down to explore little, it was pretty creepy but awesome.

Sitting at the mouth of the cave ...

The view from the top was amazing!

We gave our Greek vacation, two thumbs up! The locals were friendly and loved children! Everywhere we went they were giving Kelty candy, free ice cream, and "pretend" shots of Ouzo and Raki while mommy and daddy enjoyed the real thing! The food was fantastic and the scenery was beautiful.

... and that's a wrap on Greece!