Ancient Stuff

Last week we went to Greece on our final excursion during our time here in Israel and our final "lets look at ancient stuff from Bible times" trip. When most people think of Greece they think of blue warm water, sunsets on the Islands, ancient temples, and the olympics. We were no different except we also think of Greek food, the world of the Apostle Paul, and will the hotel rooms have room for a crib and include breakfast.
I will spare you from every detail so here is a quick recap of our time:

Day/ Night One- Ancient Corinth which is an amazing place because of the size of the ancient city. It was nice to walk where Paul walked for 1 1/2 years and read through passages in Acts and Corinthians. Our hotel room had plenty of room but no breakfast, the owner of the hotel invited me to sit with him and enjoy a glass of wine. The boys climbed on ancient ruins, found rocks, and in the morning threw rocks into the Gulf of Corinth while eating local pastries.

Day 2-4- Drive across the Polopenese and take ferry to Zakynthos Island after morning in Corinth Museum/ town.
Nights 2,3,4 on an Organic Olive Farm on Zakynthos. We had a private cottage and learned that no one was staying in the other 6 cottages so had the farm to ourselves. In fact, every hotel on the Island (about 70) were all closed because tourist season begins in May so we shared the Island with the locals. Thankfully we had a kitchen and a car so we could get around and eat.

We went around the entire Island, saw the unbelievably blue waters on Shipwreck beach (photos on Rosenbaum Photography page), couldn't get any local fishermen to take us on a boat to see Blue Caves because the water was too rough, watched the boys collect rocks and throw them in the water on a beach. Our 5 year old learned to ride his bike without training wheels (I know, he is a typical kid learning to ride a bike in Greece), we had some good Greek food and spent a lot of time watching the boys relax in their element (living in the city made their sense of freedom on the Island more amplified). We had two bedrooms and plenty of room for the crib. The farm owner provided eggs from his chickens so I guess breakfast was included.

Day 5- Ancient Olympia with amazing wildflowers and warm weather for the first time on the trip. The boys raced Sara in the Olympic stadium but I think she tripped them so she could win. Oh yeah, they climbed on Ancient stuff (got yelled at by a worker once) and found rocks. They realized that the Greeks liked statues of naked people.
After this, drive across the Penninsula to Athens.

Nights 5,6,7 Hotel outside of Athens on the Beach. Typical for European cities. It was noisy, not real nice, the TV did not work, the AC did not work, but there was plenty of room for a crib and breakfast was included. We had to sell our cars and wash some dishes to pay for these three nights but it was a great location.

Day 6- Athens Stuff. The Acropolis, Mars Hill (which was our personal favorite in light of Paul's encounters there in Acts 18). We have some great photos of Ian there. Saw other temples, ancient stadiums, the ancient Agora (market), did not shop as much as Sara would have liked (tired kids didn't help with this one), ate decent Greek food, the boys found rocks and climbed on Ancient stuff. Isaac ordered a fish filet for dinner and the waiter told us that the "baby fish" was a fried filet with no bones. What he meant to say was "baby fish" was a plate full of whole fried minnows which did not go so well with Isaac. Ian did think it was funny that they would have to eat the poop of the fish... who wouldn't think that was funny.

Day 7- Leisure drive on the coast, lunch overlooking the sea and Posiedon's temple, boys spending hours collecting rocks, throwing them in the sea, and climbing on stuff. Halfway through the day our five year old asked if we had to "look at any more ancient stuff". I tried to explain that rocks were ancient but that didn't seem to amuse him.

Day 8- Sara spent morning shopping in an area that turned out to be way too expensive for her to enjoy (we regret not going back into Athens), I hung out with all three boys with local fishermen. They allowed me to take their pictures and showed the kids the Octopus and other tasty "catches" of the day. Then we headed to the airport and returned home to Israel.

All in all. A great family vacation but we have had plenty of time as a family this year and look forward to a time when Sara and I can return without our beloved children. Then we can collect rocks and climb on ancient stuff without wondering where the boys are. We could also not wonder if a crib will fit in the room and we might even eat a full meal without one of us having to leave early.

Extras: We had one tire blow out on the freeway but found a used replacement for only 30 Euros. The weather was cold and cloudy but no one got sunburned. Also... we were in Greece looking at Ancient Stuff!