From Monemvasia, ancient Sparta is close by, and our group heads out for a day trip. Overlooking Sparti, on a steep hill is the archeological site Mystras. This is one of the six places designated by UNESCO, that we are able to visit during this trip to Greece. It's design as a Late Byzantine fortified settlement, makes it important enough to be on the World Heritage List. As do the frescos. For the art lovers, it's frescos are rare examples of the style and color range of Byzantine art. In each church the crumbling painted walls were gorgeous. It was entrancing [View Full Entry]

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On to Monemvasia. A most unusual place. The name means "single entrance". It is an iceberg of an island, jutting almost straight up out of the sea, connected to the mainland town of Gefyra by way of a causeway. Founded in the 6th century, the town saw most of it's inhabitants leave during the Nazi occupation of WWII, and the Greek Civil War, which ended in 1949. The lower town of Monemvasia is perched on the seaward side, and cannot be seen from the mainland. Once you pass through the old fortified gate, you find yourself in the maze of extremely [View Full Entry]

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From Olympia, we headed south to stay a couple of nights in the coastal village of Kardamyli. Not much to do in this tiny spot along the Agean Sea. The landscape is rugged. Hard to imagine making a living from the earth in these hills. Pirates and bandits hid here. Down by the water it is more inviting, though the beach is made up of stone and pebbles. We took a sunset stroll with our friends and ate at a charming outdoor taverna. It was another delicious Greek supper. In the morning, we headed out with a couple of friends, [View Full Entry]

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The drive up through the bare, sparsely inhabited mountains helped to prepare us for the granduer of the area. The day we were here, the sky was clear and the views made you stop in your tracks. This is Delphi. The Sanctuary of Apollo. This is where the oracle was said to have told fortunes and given advice. The oracle was a priestess who gave "advice" under the influence of the vapors coming from a huge crack in the earth. She was assisted by priests who interpreted for her. So little is left of ancient Delphi, but even so, the [View Full Entry]

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A good tour guide will instruct you on the correct pronunciation of the language. So here we are, in Athens, practicing "Kalimera!", meaning "good morning" in Greek. It is not pronounced "Calamari!" You always want to try to fit in when in another country, but saying "Squid!" first thing in the morning may give you away. One trip to Greece is not enough to see what this country has to offer. We thought of taking a beach vacation, but decided to see the ancient sites, and are still in awe of what we were able to see in such a short [View Full Entry]

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All we have to do is look out our window and we see history relived. This afternoon we were surprised to see soldiers in all kinds of custumes parading by the apartment. We quickly headed out the door and up to the square. There we found the stage set up and television crews. This was a presentation to commemorate the 325 anniversary of the Battle of Vienna. 12 September 1683, Jan Sobieski, Jan III, led 30,000 Polish forces, along with 50,000 or so, Germans and Austrians, to defeat the Ottoman Empire's advance across Europe. This "struggle" had been going on for [View Full Entry]

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We have dragged these kids all over the country. We've attempted to show them as much of our temporary home, in 12 days, as we could. So, no wonder that today, as I begin to write, we all are just plain lazy! We are either reading, catching up on emails, or doing laundry. Which by the way takes forever! The machine is a washer-dryer combination, and is supposed to be efficient, but it is being put to the test with the four of us! The day after we arrived back to Krakow we met one of our favorite town guides, Karolina, [View Full Entry]

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Once our bike trip finished up, we said goodbye to our friends and guides, and returned to Paris by the train. Little did the kids know that their Dad and I were looking to forward to "touring " them all over the city! They followed us around like the obedient children they are! The look on their faces tells you that they had periods of extreme "fatique"! Even I had visions of sitting in Luxembourg Garden all day reading and snacking, but Keith really did have a "plan" to see the city. Took a quick trip out to the flea market, [View Full Entry]

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Cote d'Or - "Hills of Gold" The hills of the Burgundy region of France, that we saw in this, the first week of August, were very green. But the hills were also colored with fields of golden wheat, and the bright gold of the sunflowers. Just when I was getting tired of pedalling my bicycle up another hill, our handsome guide, Matthieu ( or - our beautiful guide Christen!) would inform us that around the next hill we would be stopping for a break. And the scenery would be incredible! Sunflowers bowing their heavy heads to the overcast sky, or the [View Full Entry]

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Immediately after the trip to Gliwice, we hopped on a plane and flew to Paris to meet up with Katie and Hank!! We had planned for a biking vacation. Not something we ever dreamed of doing, but when the opportunity presented itself we took it. It turned out to be the best week we have had together in a long time. We were each out of our normal settings, and participating in something that none of us knew anything about - wine making and the subtleties of wine tasting! The tour begins in Beaune. A modern city whose old town center [View Full Entry]

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