Greece

We just returned from a short but sweet visit to Greece, the second week of the boys' two-week spring holiday.

We flew to Athens on Saturday afternoon, picked up a car at the airport and drove to Nafplion, a seaside town on the Peloponnese peninsula, arriving in time for dinner with friends at an outdoor restaurant in the town square.

After dinner, we set off again into the mountains, arriving in the village of Dimitsana after midnight. The hotel we were staying at was a small, ancient village house. We awoke to fresh mountain air, lots of birdsong and the view above out the bedroom window.

We spent the morning lying around. It was a beautiful place.

The ceiling.

Then we went out to explore the tiny village.

That afternoon, we took a very winding road through the mountains to the ancient site of the original Olympic games. It was beautiful, full of spring flowers and nearly empty. I didn't take pictures. This is one from the Internet of the stadium where many of the games took place. We walked the length of it.

True is fascinated by growing food and on the way home he insisted we stop so he could pick an orange. We had to find a tree far from any houses. The air, particularly in the evening, was filled with the smell of orange blossoms.

True after his shower, reading Charlotte's Web.

The breakfasts were nice, especially the thick, strained Greek yoghurt with honey.

Sky at the breakfast table.

Our hotel is the tall building. Our rooms were along the top right. The open shutters next to the balcony were outside the main bedroom.

Anna's eyes are shut, which is why this is reproduced small.

A distant view of the village as we drove away.

We visited the amazing theater at Epidavros, in the east of the Pelopennese. The acoustics are so good that you can hear a coin dropped at center stage clear up at the top where Sky is sitting. The theater was built in the 4th century, B.C. The Romans added the last 21 rows.

We also visited the ruins of the ancient city of Mycenae, which flourished from about 1600 to 1000 B.C. According to legend, it was the home of Agamemnon, who led the Greeks in the Trojan war.

Sky went down into the cistern, but turned back when it got so dark he thought he might be fainting.

The Greeks believed the walls of Mycenae had been built by Cyclopes.

We went back to Nafplion for a couple of days. Our friends were gone and the town had emptied out from the weekend but it was very relaxing. They boys played soccer in the town square while Anna and I sat and ate and drank in the outdoor restaurants.

They played for hours.

Finally, we went back to Athens. We had a hotel near the old quarter with a view from the rooftop of the Acropolis.

There was a tiny church surrounded by buildings beside the hotel.

One of our bedroom windows looked out at it.

We went first to see the temple of Zeus. It was empty and very peaceful. True was a bit bored.

But it is an amazing place. The ground cover, whatever it was, smelled like honey.

Sky enjoyed it.

The brood.

The next morning we went to the Acropolis.

Again, Sky found it more interesting than True.

We had to go back to the hotel to give True a rest before tackling the Agora.

He was perky by then.

We walked a lot.

I tried to keep track of what we were looking at.

The boys are normally very patient with their parents.