The Yeates Family Goes to Greece

It has always been a dream of mine to go to Greece.  I can so remember learning the Greek myths in 4th grade, and then studying the Greek civilization in 6th grade world history.  I was hooked at an early age.  We had an amazing trip.  We rented an apartment in Athens not far from the historical district that had fabulous views and was in the middle of a very active city neighborhood.  We did some type of activity every day and tried to absorb as much of the culture as possible.  I think the best way to describe our trip to Greece is that I felt very humbled to be there.  We were surrounded by ancient sites that have been there for thousands of years.  When we were at the Acropolis we looked out at the rock where Paul preached to the Greeks about Jesus Christ.  We also saw the center where Greek men went to vote- the basis of our democratic government.  It was truly a wonderful experience.

On our first full day in Athens we went to the Temple of Zeus.  I loved it here.  The sun was shining and the weather was warm.  The Temple is in a park like setting, so as we were looking at the ruins the kids were able to run around and climb on rocks.  While I was feeding John, Colin went on a treasure hunt and was digging in the dirt around me.  No-one seemed to mind and he found what looked like an old tooth.  The kid was thrilled.

After a quick lunch at McDonald's (the only time we ate American food) we went over to the National Gardens (think Central Park in NY but smaller).  It was a lovely park to walk around and as a reward we let the kids play at the playground.  Here they are playing with a new little Greek friend.

Thursday was my favorite day in Athens.  We hired a guide, Popi, and she took us to the Acropolis.  It was a beautiful hike up to the top and we learned so much once we got up there.  The Parthenon was gorgeous as was the other temples up there.  And the view of the city was perfect.

Amalie adored Popi and she catered much of our tour to the kids.  Colin really listened and I think he learned a lot during our day. After the Acropolis we went over to the New Acropolis Museum.  This place was great.  Many of the artifacts that have fallen down have been taken over to the museum to be preserved.  Popi was great and we came away from the day much smarter!
On Friday we took the kids to the Panhellenic Stadium where they used to hold Olympic games.  The stadium has been restored and they recently held some of the olympic games here the last time Greece hosted the games.  Before we stopped at the stadium we came across a farmer's market near our apartment.  Fruit and veggies in Moscow are nothing to write home about, so the Yeates family went to town at this market.  The fruit was all so fresh- grown right there in Greece.  We stocked up on lots of grapes, bananas, oranges, and even some olives.  It was great to snack on this delicious food as we walked through the city.

Later on that day we hired a driver who took us about an hour outside of Athens to the Temple of Poseidon.  The Agean Sea is so blue and gorgeous- I will have to get back there someday during the summer so I can swim in that water.

Saturday was the only bummer of the trip.  The workers at the sites decided to go on strike that day, so the temples were closed.  And then of course they were closed again on Sunday because it was New Year's day.  It was a ridiculous strike to me- I saw no point to it.  They just closed the sites.  No one was standing outside with posters saying why they were striking.  It seemed to me that they just wanted another day off.  Boo.  But we did have a very nice day.  We went to the Plaka district and shopped and ate lunch. Later that night we did a Greek bbq on the balcony of our apartment.  What a lovely way to spend New Year's Eve, especially since this was the view we enjoyed all night.

Sunday morning we were up bright and early in order to take a boat to the island of Hydra.  This was a lovely small island in the Agean Sea that took about 90 minutes to get to.  We hiked up to the top of the island, where there was a small church.  I fed John while Jesy amused the other three kids.  This was my view- nice way to feed a baby, right?

Now, I know many of you are wondering, did we take baby Johnny on this trip?  Yes, we did and he was quite the trooper.  The poor kid stays at home all of the time in Moscow, so he was so excited to get some fresh air and see the world.  He was always looking around while in his stroller and would smile at us all the time.  He also spent much of the trip asleep- I think all of that fresh air really tired him out.  But here are a few pics to prove that he came with us.
We really had a wonderful time in Greece.  And I have to say that the kids were basically well behaved and cooperative.  I am my father's daughter, so when I go visit a new city I walk around that place till my legs are about to fall off.  We must have walked those kids about 5 or 6 miles every day.  There was no complaining about the walking and everyone did well at dinner at night.  Thank goodness for coloring books and ipads.

Colin said he is going back to visit with his girlfriend.  Amalie spent much of the time talking about her friend Toby, and that she would probably bring him back with her.  Kathleen had so much fun that on New Year's Eve she fell asleep on the floor and I had to pick her up and put her to bed.  What a week. I hope Italy is ready for us in April!