Trip to Athens, Greece - Day 6

Our last full day in Athens was on Thursday.  We had one site left on our tickets that we had bought.  We left in the morning after we ate breakfast and took the subway to find the Kerimikos Cemetery and Pottery sites. We didn't realize that it was very close to the ancient Agora site and we ended up getting off at the wrong stop and then walking in the wrong direction (we did a lot of walking on this day!).  When we did find the spot we were on the back end.  We walked all around the site and could see it.  We decided not to go around to the entrance and walk the whole thing again.  The kids (and me a little bit) had done enough walking by that time.

The site, looking through the gates.

After our long walk in the morning we got back on the metro and rode downtown and went to the National Archaeological Museum.  The museum was very large and had a lot of interesting exhibits.  It was like the archaeological version of the Hermitage - too much to see everything and too much to concentrate on for the whole time.  We especially liked the pottery (from the Kerimikos site) and the statues.  There was a large section with Egyptian mummies - those poor Egyptians really had everything taken away from them - and the kids were surprised to see the real mummy and not just the sarcophagus that they had seen in other places (like the Vatican museum).

Satisfied museum customers

Horses - Yulia couldn't resist a statue with a horse! This one was lifted up from a sunk ship.

Reading and learning

Egyptian section

Our favorite style of pottery.  The black relief designs were so amazing.

After we finished with the museum (about two hours worth of browsing) we stopped and got some pastries that we ate right outside the shop and then took the metro home.  We went home and rested for a while and then went out to the first little pita shop that we had gone to on our first day and had our last big meal in Greece.

Pastry shop with everything from savory to sweet treats.

Enjoying our last big Greek meal.

Some baklava treats for the road.

Friday morning we woke up and had breakfast and packed.  At about 10:00 we went out.  While I bought tickets for the trip to the airport, Yulia went and got some pastry treats for our lunch later in the day.  Our trip to the airport was smooth and after waiting for about fifty minutes we were able to check in and wait.  Our trip back to Kazakhstan was smooth.  A brief one hour layover in Istanbul and a late flight (arriving at about 2:30 a.m.) into Astana.

The view from the metro station at the airport. It reminded us of Utah so much!

Reading and waiting for our flight!

We had chosen to go to Greece rather than Hungary because we thought the weather would be better and because our kids had learned quite a bit about ancient Greece in school.  It ended up being a very enjoyable trip and we were very glad that we went.  We loved the food. The people were very nice, and we were impressed with the sites.  Athens isn't like Rome where everything is dense and there is ancient art and sculpture and architecture all over, but the sites that are there and preserved are very impressive.  We took things a little slower than our usual vacations since I was recovering from my surgery, but it was a perfect trip with perfect weather and a perfectly lovely time.

Trip to Athens, Greece - Day 4

On Tuesday we decided to go to the sea.  We took the train (as usual) to the last stop at the piers.  The station there was above-ground and quite nice.  Right outside of the station was a lot of construction.  We walked across the street and walked around the pier and looked at all of the Ferry ships and cruise ships that were docked.  We got to see one ship come in and dock and that was quite fun. 

At the station exiting the train.

Walking on the pier.  Looking at the schools of little fish in the harbor.

Looking out at all the ships.  Many were ferries that go out to the islands.

 

A cruise ship (Italian flag)

 

Lina posing more or less willingly.

These were smaller ferries, and we assume much faster than the normal ones.

A ferry parked and unloading cars.

After we had seen the harbor, we got back on the train and rode back a few stops to a stop near some of the Olympic stadiums from the 2004 Athens games.  We went to get on the trolley to go along the coast and out to the beach areas.  We had to wait for awhile for the trolley, but it was a nice day.  This area was much more rundown and the economic difficulties were more visible.  One of the stadiums was shuttered and in disrepair.

We took the Trolley almost all the way to the end of its route.  We got off at a public beach.  The beaches were more rocky than sandy (gravelly) but the kids all kicked off their shoes and waded, threw rocks, and generally had a good time.  We spent about 90 minutes kicking around at the beach and then walked from there over to the city area and found someplace to eat. 

We wanted to have one seafood meal, so we figured the day we were near the beach would be a good day to do it.  We were walking and saw an "all you can eat" fish place.  We probably should have known better, but we went in.  The food was okay, but not great.  The prices were also okay, but not great.  Everybody got enough to eat, though so in that sense it was a success.  We took the tram back to a subway stop and from there home.  On the way home we stopped for pastries (notice that there are only 5 of them.  I am trying to cut back) and went in for the night.  We had been from one end of Athens to the other by Subway and then by trolley.  It was a fun day and a nice change of pace after our long day of walking and seeing sites the day before.

Waiting for the tram (this was the wrong number!)

Riding (getting ready to go)

At the beach!  The light was soft and the day was warm.

Kids, rocks, and water.  That always equals success and fun!

Skipping rocks.

This was a beach club just down the beach from us - a bit fancier than the public beach.

 

Heading toward town for some food.

Night cap pastries for the ladies!

Trip to Athens, Greece - Day 2

Our second day in Athens was a Sunday.  Normally we have been traveling or arriving at our destination on Sunday or in areas where there isn't a congregation of our church nearby.  In Athens, however, we were not traveling and there is an English-speaking branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, so we planned on attending.  We didn't pack regular church clothes, but figured that people wouldn't mind if we showed up - and we were right!

We took the subway (after purchasing a five-day pass for each of us) and were able to find the church building without too much problem.  There was a bit of an adventure because the walk from the metro station to the church building took us through a Roma encampment.  We walked through without causing any problems or having any sort of confrontations.  

The church building was recognizable and when we entered we were met by a couple of missionaries - they need to keep someone in the lobby because there have been some issues of theft because of the neighborhood.  We did introductions and then met the branch president.  He and his wife are from England and were on a mission in Greece.  The church service was nice - it was fast and testimony meeting - so there were a number of testimonies.  One was by a young woman who was traveling around Europe with a friend - so they were in the same visitation boat as us.  The best part of the meeting was a baby blessing for a family where the husband was African (I think from Ghana) and the wife was Greek.  The blessing was beautiful and sincere and the little girl was darling!

It was General Conference in Utah so everyone was buzzing about the announcement that church will change from 3 hours to 2 hours.  We were happy that the rest of the church would finally be doing what we've been doing here in Kazakhstan for the past 4.5 years!  We only needed to change the days when we have Sunday School.  After the meeting there was a little linger longer with the English branch and the Greek branch that also meets in the building.  We were given a few cookies and had a nice visit.  We met some people who knew some of our members here in Astana - they are both defense Attaches!  

Walking from our apartment to the metro station in Dafni. Beautiful citrus trees lined our quiet street.

Outside the church.

After church we got off at the Syntagma station and walked around the botanical gardens.  We loved the quiet walks.  Some places reminded us of the parks we visited in Barcelona.  It was a bit shabby - but just enough that it had a charm to it.  Our favorite part was seeing the large nests of parrots who were busy stealing nest materials from each other, the tortoise we found on the path, the pond full of turtles, and just the beautiful quiet, shady peaceful feeling.

Palm trees in the botanical gardens.

More beautiful trees in the garden.

In the park.

We always do a lot of walking on our vacations.

Parrot nests hanging from the trees.

Parrots everywhere!

This bowery was a nice touch!

A pond full of turtles!

Turtles just don't care how they get their sun!

Enjoying looking at the turtles.

Our wandering tortoise friend!  Our kids named him/her Bob.

After we had walked around the park, we came around the side of the parliament building just in time to see the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier.  We have seen similar ceremonies in Moscow and Prague, but the one in Greece was very unique.  They wear distinct uniforms and the way that they march is really very interesting.  The ceremony was very nice and we were glad that we were there to witness it.

Tomb of the unknown soldier at the Parliament Building.

Changing of the Guard

More of the ceremony

Checking that everything was right after the guard was changed.

Lina watching the change.

After the ceremony we walked around downtown a bit.  The stores were mostly closed on Sunday (which was unusual in Europe, but nice in a lot of ways) so we got back on the metro and headed back to "home".  We stopped at another little restaurant that served Gyros and Pitas and had a nice lupper (lunch and supper).  Afterward we went to the pastry shop next door and the kids all had an ice cream - and Yulia did too. 

After that we went back to our apartment and spent the rest of the evening reading and just resting.  It was a very nice day.  We were very glad we had found the church and that we had a nice quiet Sunday.  We knew that we would be going hard the next day, so a quiet day was just what we needed.

Getting ready for more walking!

Rewarding ourselves after another long day!

So many yummy pastries!

To be continued...