Beautiful sites, wonderful weather, nothing but Greek...Yamas!!!

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My whole family, reunited in rome...who would've imagined we'd be meeting again in Europe for a family vacation what a treat!
Unfortunately they don't have the luxury of time quite like i do. To take in all the sites that Rome offers it was a packed few days, not much of a relaxing vacation like anticipated. Lucky for them, I'd already been and so research and oriantation was a bit easier!
It was enjoyable for me to be their tour guide in a sence and give them a taste of my so called backpackers holiday....langage barriers, public transportation, hard pillows, soft beds, mouth watering foods, discovering the unknown, embracing new cultures, feeling lost only to realize you never knew where you were to begin with!!! All part of the every day!! Paying for toilet facilaties seemed to be the biggest surprise, we as Canadians surely take advantage of a simple luxurious trip to the loo!!
To better understand the history that surrounds the Colloseum, our first adventure in Rome, we got a local guide. Explaining to us that contrary to Hollywoods Gladiator, the battles that took place in the arena were between trained Gladiators not slaves. They would only wound each other till one would surrender not finght till the death. It was a sport for entertainmnent not for bloodshed.
A long day of walking through Rome we also found the Pantheon, the best preserved building of ancient Rome originally built in 27 BC. The Trevi fountain, the pariament, gelati and stumbled upon the best local pizzeria, not a tourist in site and full of Italian life, just as expected!!
The following day we took a trip to the smallest coutry in the world, the Vatican. Unfortunately for us no stamp in the passport! Well our guided tour around St Peter's Basilica was packed with art information from great artists Bernini, Raphael and of course Michealangelo. It was amazing what they would do some 500 years ago considering we can't get anywhere near those masterpieces with the technology we have today! Getting a well informed explanation of Michealangelo's painting in the Sistine chapel helped us appreciate it all that much more.
We left Rome with soar feet and tired brains, looking forward to some time to relax on the Greek islands....first stop Santorini! Although extremely touristy it's a must stop as it's a very unique island. Having a volcano erupt ,spliting the island, this force of nature left behind stunning caldera cliffs lined with white, golden, red and black layers of limestone volcanic rock. The beaches are mostly black sand making it impossible to lay on. We managed to rent Quad bikes for a day to explore the island finding a red sand and white sand beach, visiting neighboring villages and making our way to the point for a beautiful sunset. The weather while on the islands sored to a sweltering 47C, a heat wave like they've never seen before, needless to say we spent a lot of time on beaches when we arrived on Naxos our next island stop. We also indulged in the gyros, tatziki and of course greek salads and baklava! Taking in some local entertainment before heading back to Athens for a quick look at the Acropolis and Olympian Zeus monumental sites!
My family's gone back home now after a wonderful 3 weeks, i thank them for a memorable holiday within my travels and if all works out well I'll be convincing them to come back soon!!!
It was great to see you again i miss you and love you.
Heading north with Malka from here i will keep you all in touch
Hugs
Bridge

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Comments

[Raymonde Shaw]

Family visit!
Hey there - me again.... heard all about your trip from your family and saw lots of photos and most important, for me of course, was all the wonderful food - what's life without fantastic food, friends and family; once again another memorable time to add to your 3 year journey abroad! XOXO