Baklava

The picture doesn't begin to explain how gooey and wonderful the baklava tastes.
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Santorini

Arrived this aftrnoon on the island of Santorini. Apparently there was a small earthquake here last Friday, but no one seems too concerned by it. We have been enjoying the company of our 6 travel companions. A couple from Australia, a couple from NY and to girls from Montreal. A nice range of ages, we fall right in the middle. Of the 8 of us, 6 are either current, retired or future teachers, including 2 (and soon to be a 3rd) Art teachers. I think Jen is getting a little tierd of listeng to all the shop talk.

Tomorrow we will sail to the small island-volcano that gave birth to Santorini and perhaps visit the ruins of an old Minoan city.

Hope everyone is well. Go Twins.
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Homies

FYI- the homies are dominating the Park National Baseball League.

We are having seafood and all the white wine we want...
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Lefkes

..Is the name of the town we are visiting today. We took the bus here after sleeping in! Christian got to throw pots with a potter named Kostas! Then we took a little hike on the Byzantine Road. We aren't exactly sure what is was used for because the sign was in Greek. It is very very hot, but we are always able to find a shady little outdoor restaurant for a snack and some iced coffee.
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Goodbye Athens!

Athens was quite enjoyable but after 3 days we are very glad to be on the ferry on our way to Paros. Our itinerary changed a bit because of the ferry schedules, so we swapped the order of the islands we are visiting. The ferry ride is about 5 hours long so we are just chatting with our new friends and eating delicious cherries.
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Acropolis!

So, we just spent the last 5 hours at the Acropolis and it was absolutely incredible. It dominates the city and is a constant reminder of the age of this place. Our experience was neither too hot nor too crowded as we were told it would be. It was sort of like being on the Great Wall of China in that every view was worth a photo and every moment we wanted to fully take in. One funny thing is that while we waited in line for the brand new museum, we were interviewed by a Spanish news crew about the museum and the controversy surrounding the Elgin marbles (does everyone know their art history?). No doubt the news guy chose us due to our stunning good looks and obvious intellegence! Now we are resting a bit before we have dinner with the peole we'll be travelling with for the next two weeks.
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Yogurt

Oh my goodness the yogurt is good here! It must be the real thing. 57% milk?
We had a great day! Woke up at 8:52 in time to slip down for breakfast. Some strange espresso making device had us curious, we will have to observe some more tomorrow. We got on the bus and saw Keramikos (sp?) where the potter's community lived approximately 5 BC, and they had a major cemetary there. We walked around for about 2 hours and just my left arm got sunburned. Back on the bus we toured Athens and then saw the Archaeological Museum. Christian took lots of photos for future teaching slides. I reminisced about my freshman archaeological classes. A good mix. After a 2 hour nap we hit the Plaka for some good touristy times. Ended up in the cheapest restaurant that we could find which turned out to be somewhat authentic!?! Lots of Greek folks and tourists eating, drinking, singing and having a nice time. Goodnight everyone. Goodnight Wampus!!!

MJ

Awoke for a quick breakfast at our hotel this morning and learned that one of my favorite performers had died at a very young age. Didn't know that it would bring me to tears--but man, I loved that guy's music. It was a big part of my childhood. It will be interesting to see the public reaction, especially in Europe where they seemed to love him more...

Off to go see some old stuff. Thank you for your comments and emails so far. Miss you guys.

Here!

After 26 hours of travel, an airport strike, a mad dash through De Gaulle airport and no sleep, we have arrived in Athens! The hotel isn't fancy, but it is nice and also central. Now it is time for a Greek dinner and a long snooze...

Not sure if you can see the acropolis in the background of the photo?
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So our flight from Paris to Athens was cancelled! The silly French love to strike. No. Big deal though, they put us on another flight. We might get to spend a little extra time in Paris. We are now in Houston waitng for our flight and celebrating the start of our trip (see attatched photo...)
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