Rhodes

It didn't take long for us all to agree that the Island of Rhodes, Greece is a place we could definitely come back and visit. Despite the fact that the morning started with a MAJOR middle child melt down.

The architecture varies on this island between the conquering empires of Romans, Byzantines and later by the Knights of St. John.

We spent the majority of our day exploring the Old Town Citaidel built in 1306 by St. John.

Even if this seem old it is nothing compared to the first city in Rhodes around 408 BC.

The Knights also built the Palace of the Grand masters. It was refurbished many years later by Mussolini when he was in power.

The palace is home to many priceless mosaics.

Around the grounds we found some, shall we say, more modern art. Which came at just the right time for the boys needed a distraction game to help them along our path.

Mom was also a bit over the medieval stuff by this point too and which Chris and I thought funny because that is what this region of the world is all about.

When it was time for lunch we were in search of a Gyro. We found a restaurant with balcony seating overlooking this square.

So other than trying to keep the boys from dropping things on the patrons below we enjoyed both the meal and the view.

The Street of the Knights is lined with inns found in the Old Town. Lively shops and markets, many of which opened just for our cruise ship, where all found in the New Town.

Lastly we passed by the Mosque of Murad Reis. We could see the minaret from almost every vantage point during our day but didn't get up close and personal until the end.

By this point, sadly, we had to return to the boat. Our day definitely left us wanting more. There were several other beach towns that looked amazing from the pictures we saw and are just begging for us to return to explore.

Christmas Thanks

On Christmas Eve we told the boys that if they woke up insanely early in the morning they were welcome to get into their stockings but not welcome to wake us up. At 4:50AM I heard the boys bedroom door open and then immediate rustling of paper. Expecting to see Ethan, our early riser, I was surprised when I found Zach. His stocking contained a new Leapfrog game and I assumed he would play that for a while but he misread it thinking it wouldn't work in his player so he just went back to bed. However, instead of sleeping he just watched the clock until 7:00AM and then came into our room announcing, "I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT ANY LONGER. WILL YOU PLEASE GET UP." Laughingly we obliged considering 7 a reasonable time to get up.

The boys gathered around the tree, we set up Skype with the Hamms and Slocombes in AK who were just finishing up their Christmas Eve dinner and then got down to business.
Of course the boys had no interest in breakfast but Chris and I enjoyed the hot wassail and cinnamon sticky buns.

Santa brought the boys just what they wanted and
Grandma S. (THANK YOU VERY MUCH) filled in the gaps by bringing everything else I ordered when she met us for the cruise.
Grandma J. sent some great art kits and a snap puzzle all the boys have enjoyed.
Aunt Megan sent Star Wars lunchboxes with Tie Fighter and
Millennium Falcon sandwich cutters.....SO COOL!
Just when I thought it was all over Chris said that I had somehow forgotten one gift under the tree. When I checked again I did find a double stacked box in the way back and it was for me. To my surprise he had purchased a Swarovski Crystal bracelet I had said I liked on our cruise. There was also some yummy French bubble bath and designer, yes designer, soap on a rope. Oh how I love surprises and I have to say Chris has done exceptionally well with this since I've known him. Someday just someday I'd like to do the same for him but I just don't know enough about electronics and bike gear.

A Few Firsts For Us

This Christmas Eve had a few firsts for our family including:
not celebrating it with our own family,
not cooking and serving a minimum 5 course feast,
and not eating PORK!

We tried to do the "best of the best" but sadly the peppers were only so so and the lasagna was a sad imitation of what we usually prepare due to the lack of pork products and good cheese. But we are delighted to say that the tirimisu was the best Chris has ever concocted. We have been gathering supplies all year throughout our travels and just hoped that the commissary would have the imported mascarpone that shows up every so often and.....it did!

When it comes to Christmas I say the more the merrier. After our Friday meetings we and around 15 others bringing salads, breads, and other goodies gathered to celebrate the season.

The children decorated sugar cookies.


After the main meal a white elephant gift exchange commenced. We ended up with a Ben 10 Monopoly game (which we stole amongst the Jenkins to be sure it was kept in the family), a talking parrot which no one would take from us, and...

a plunger (new at least) with coordinating fly swatters and candy canes for a short time. It proved to be too hot an item and was stolen from Zach after he stole it from someone else.
Ah the white elephant game....a time to come together with good friends and empty out the contents hidden deep in your closets. But it can backfire on you when you bring home others less desirables. Or when your child picks, unintentionally, your own gift to bring back home like Ethan did. I'm happy to say that we did unload an old Nikon film camera and some interesting incense burners.

Some traditions still hold true no matter the distance or who you are with. Before we packed up for our 2 hour journey home the boys opened one gift from Grandma S.
New PJs!

Ethan was delighted to receive HERO PJs as lately his favorite song has been "I Need A Hero" from the Shrek sound track.

All and all it was a wonderful evening spent with good friends. Thanks David and Tiffany for opening your home to all us who were far from homes and loved ones this holiday season.

A Day In Athens

A day in Athens is not much time. But I feel like I saw the things that I've always wanted to see. I know this country has treasure galore more to see but for now I've crossed Athens' highlights off my must see list.

I won't retell the history of this amazing site but it felt very surreal to be standing where democracy was born. Fortunately for us 90% of the scaffolding that has encased the Parthenon for the last 25 years had just been removed. The restoration work is nearing its end that corrected mistakes made during the two previous restorations. Previously metal rods were put into the pillars to stabilize them but have since caused more damage than helped. Now titanium rods have replaced them for hopefully the last time.

Of course when Graham and Ethan weren't throwing rocks.....

they were desperate to "cross the line" into the no tourist zone.

I know Zach and Ethan and especially Graham won't remember all the details of this day,

or understand the significance of where they stood for many years to come but someday they will think it's funny to hear that....

they played Indiana Jones among the rocks and pillars of the Acropolis in the shadow of the Parthenon.

Ethan made some fellow teenage tourists laugh when he announced, "This is the Temple of Doom!" after one of them had just finished a thorough explanation of the real name and purpose of these pillars.

As we stood on the steps of the Temple of Athena Nike we were told that the rock below was where Paul preached his sermon to the people about the Unknown God. So I guess that's Mars hill.

We did a quick drive by of the Panathenaic stadium where the Olypics were held.

Then the Presidential Palace where apparently only the most handsome of military young men are chosen to stand guard.


We also stopped at Hadrian's Arch and

and quick view of Zeus' Temple.

Then finally it was lunch time. We sat outside in a perfect sunshiny day and enjoyed a scrumptious Greek Salad and

some Moussaka which is a Greek version of lasagna with meat potatoes and a white sauce. Of course we ended it all with healthy portion of Baklava.

Our remaining four hours were spent roaming the Plaka or shopping district. I avoided most of the tourist traps but couldn't pass up some Christmas ornaments made from olive wood.

We didn't have time for any of the museums including the newer and bigger Acropolis Museum but we were told they were excellent. Now Greece is in the process of reclaiming many of their treasures from other museums around the city and world to bring them home.

Palermo & Malta

Palermo, Sicily, our first port of call, is known for many things:

the Mafia
the Beaches
the Seafood
the Arancini
the cannoli
the pasta reale (marzipan fruit)
and
the Strikes and Protests.

Not long into our tour we were informed that college students were protesting a tuition hike and it might disrupt a bit of our day. With that we drove up Monte Pellegrino to get a view of the city below.

I had waited a long time for this. A chance to return to the city I lived in for 6 months as a missionary for the LDS church. The city where I became a senior companion. The city where I finally began to speak and understand the Italian language. The city where I really began to love the people and all things Italian. The city that I loved.

I wanted the boys to walk the streets I had walked, eat the food I had eaten, and see the sights that I had seen. But with only a few short hours ashore we were very limited as to what we could accomplish. We did make it to the Sanctuary dedicated to Santa Rosalia the Patron Saint of Palermo.

Rosalia, dedicating her life to God instead of marrying, lived as a hermit in this cave. Five centuries after her death in 1166 her remains were discovered at the exact time a plague that had struck the city ended. So obviously she had something to do with that ;) Anyway this cave is now a shrine where holy water is collected via metal troughs and a golden statue lays here except twice a year when she is taken out and paraded through the streets.

The boys noticed this head hidden in the rocks. Not sure why it's there but it's was kinda creepy and funny. As you enter the cave, you pass by a giant anchor and other silver plated objects in the shape of body parts. They represent something that was healed or how someone was saved by praying to Santa Rosalia.

As we drove back down the mountain to the beach resort of Mondello it began to rain. Instead of strolling through the town we were taken to a bar for ice cream, coffee, or a beverage of our choice. Chris and I got our favorite: cappuccino d'orzo (a non caffeinated barley drink) and he had his first (but not last) cannolo for the day.
As we headed back into town things became worse. The rain was letting up but the student protests weren't. All the roads around the main tourist sights were blocked to traffic. Unfortunately we could only do a drive-by for some of the sights on our list. Even the roads back to the boat were temporarily closed. I desperately wanted to just hop off the bus, but they wouldn't let us. Finally when a few roads opened they just took us back to the boat and that was that.....for Grandma and the big boys. I had waited too long for this. Sicily just isn't a convenient side trip when we visit Italy. It was today or nothing. So Chris and I decided to hoof it back into town, protesters or not, and get some of that food I had been dreaming about for years and to find a box to ship some things home in. What I was in search of were these......

Arancini are fried (or, less commonly, baked) rice balls coated with breadcrumbs, said to have originated in Sicily in the 10th century.^[1] Arancini are usually filled with ragù (meat sauce), tomato sauce, mozzarella, and/or peas.

The main type of arancino sold in Sicilian cafes are arancini con ragù, which typically consist of meat, peas, rice and mozzarella. Many cafes also offer arancini con burro (arancini with butter), or specialty arancini, such as arancini con funghi (mushrooms) and arancini con melanzane (eggplant).

The name derives from the food's shape and color, which is reminiscent of an orange (the Italian word for orange is arancia, and in Sicilian, arancici means "little oranges").

(Thanks Wikipedia)

They were so good. Often I find I'm disappointed when I finally get to have a food I've been obsessing over for some time. Thankfully, on this day, I got my wish and was so very happy that it was granted.

In Malta, our last port of call, we also had a bit of rain. Of course, that did not deter us from having a wonderful day. It was so fun we wished we'd had more than a mere 5 hours. We would have gladly given up our second day in Egypt for more time here.

We first stopped in the fishing village of Marsaxlokk. Here colorful fishing boats line the coast for miles.

We walked the docks, tried some treats (only somewhat to our liking), and sampled their local drink, Kinley. It was bitter and tasted like cough syrup.

Our next and final stop was The Blue Grotto. All the boats traveling to The Blue Grotto enter under an immense arch into a 140ft high cave cut into the rock face.

As soon as we set out, the looming rains began to fall. Of course we had our rain jackets - but left them in the stroller at the dock.

We were wet but happy.

The tour consists of six caves carved by years of relentless pounding by the sea, of which the Blue Grotto is the largest and most impressive. The water seems an impossible cobalt color as the sky reflects off the white sand bottom. The caves sparkle both with blue reflections of the sea and orange, purple, and green of the various minerals present in the rocks.(Indigoguide.com)

Of course, with gray overcast skies we got the muted version of Blue Grotto splendor.

As we exited the small boat and searched for our stroller we were pulled aside by a local fisherman. We weren't exactly sure what he wanted. He put this postcard shown below in our hands and said "Wait, wait here" in his limited English. As we watched our tour group walk away we did in fact wait, feeling a bit confused as we stared at this picture of a 3 ton shark. The sailor quickly returned with his friend - the man pictured in the photo, who had caught this enormous shark. He signed our postcard, then told us to take our picture with him so we did....but they were blurry and didn't turn out. As they sent us on our way we thought it was a pretty funny ending to our day out and about in Malta.