Today we did the total tourist thing.. First watched the changing of the guard ceremony at the Parliament building and then went on a open top tour bus around part of the city.
Did stop at the New Acropolis Museum and tour that. kind of interesting to see what the Parthenon looked like when it was originally built .
Had a great lunch today. Pork Slovakia and potatoes. And dinner was pretty good. I had beef gyros, Mitch had meat-balls in spicy sauce. But tonight had Greek wine and liquor. Still dont know what she said it was ... But it was good :-)
Tomorrow we head to the island of Santorini.
Todays mission was to visit Athens ancient sites. Acropolis, Aeropagus, and Agora.
We had a hard time finding the entrance to the acropolis, but eventually found it. climbed to the top to of hill to visit the Parthenon and other various temples.
Today we took a bus tour to the ancient city of Corinth, including a stop at the canal of Corinth.
Were the canal is today there was once a paved road that was used in the first century to move ships and their goods from the Ionian Sea to the Aegean Sea across dry land. It was faster and safer than sailing around the Peloponnesian peninsula.
Made it to Athens today. Flight was only 3 hours from Amsterdam. Not sure what is going on, but this is the second flight were I have had a crying, kicking baby in the seat behind me?? At least this flight was quicker than the 8 hour flight to Amsterdam.
Finding the hotel from the metro station was interesting. It really wasnt very far, but always seems farther when you are pulling luggage along .. The streets here in this neighborhood are very very narrow. Hope to have some pics to post tomorrow. Just didnt have time today . Arrived here it was already after 4 in the afternoon.
Our hotel has a view of the Acropolis from the roof garden. Went up and checked it out after dinner.
Dinner was at a street side cafe in the shopping district, not far from the hotel. I had traditional Greek salad, which was mostly tomatoes. tomatoes are not one of my favorite foods, but the salad was good. Mitch had Cesar salad.
Well we both made it to Amsterdam. Our plan to meet at the airport lounge didn't work out. Because I had luggage to get at baggage claim and once you go to bag claim you cant get back in to the secure part of the airport with out a boarding pass. So I went to baggage claim and waited for Mitch to find me....
He did, and we made our way to the Ibis Hotel . Had lunch showered and took a nap.
After the nap we went for a short walk out side and because the weather here is cooler than we were expecting we decide to stay in tonight and catch up on our rest.
The hotel has a pizza and pasta restaurant so we went there for dinner. Now for a little tv and more sleep :-)
FUN Foreign TV game ; try to guess what the commercials are advertising.. cant understand one word they are saying. Sometimes we can figure it out other times have no clue! LOL fun....
We will have to save exploring Amsterdam for another time.
Fly to Athens in the morning.
Well it is time to start getting all the final details wrapped up and get ready to go. I think I have transportation arranged for all the family doctor appointments that are taking place while I am gone. Mail arranged for. Banking done. Everyone will have groceries. Hope I'm not forgetting something!!
Now it is time to get packed.
My packing strategy for this trip is pack light because of all the moving around we will be doing. So I'm taking a medium size checked bag and one carry on for the cameras and lap top.
I'll start with the essentials in the checked bag; bathroom stuff, snorkels and masks, beach towels, and meeting shoes, then fill the remainder of the bag with how-ever many items of clothing will fit. Starting with the swim suits.
I cant wait to see my husband again!!!
As of this posting.. Less than 24 hours to departure!
This trip was planned very quickly after a change in Mitch's work schedule required him to spend 6 weeks at work and then only be off work for two weeks. So we decided I would meet him in Amsterdam and we would spend the two weeks together in Europe.
We had thought about going to Italy , but we have recently been studying about the travels and ministry of the Apostle Paul in Greece. So we decided to go there.
It has been a challenge to plan a trip like this in such a short time. But we have done the best we can to get it all put together and just looking forward to being together again, after spending 6 weeks apart.
I leave for Amsterdam on Tuesday Sept 11, 2012. Our itinerary looks like this;
Sept 12; Arrive Amsterdam and over night there.
Sept 13; Fly from Ams to Athens, Greece.
Sept 14th; 1/2 day trip to Ancient Corinth
Sept 15th; See the sights in Athens.
Sept 16th; Hope to visit an English speaking congregation for public meeting and WT study. Then see more of the sights of the city.
Sept 17th; Travel by Ferry Boat to the Greek Island of Santorini for a 6 night relaxing stay.
Sept 23rd; Ferry back to Athens. Over night there.
Sept 24th. Fly from Athens to Ams. Over night there.
Sept 25th I leave Ams for home. Mitch leaves Ams for work. :-(
We do hope to be able to keep our family and friends posted on our travel and the amazing things we hope to see. One thing that I have discovered in planning the trip, is that internet access is not as readily available in some places as it is here in the US. But we will do the best we can to keep in touch.
As of this posting.... 24 days to departure...