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  Athens, Greece
Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Hello everyone,
 
This will be my last post from Greece.  We arrived safely and ON TIME!!! On an Olympic Airlines flight from Lesvos to Athens at 8am yesterday. (we were up at 3:45am...no comment)  We were stuck in the Monday morning Athens traffic, so it took us an hour to get to Plaka.  Sitting on the beach about a month ago, I decided that when in Athens, we should stay in a nice-ish hotel, rather than the family/youth hostel we had planned to stay at...when trying to book, the only place we found with vacancy, was a very nice place in Plaka...the only room they had was a 2 level, 2 bedroom suite, with 2 balconies ...(40ft x 12ft), on the top floor (6th floor).  Daan got over the 250€ per night charge and we reserved.  Our balconies and our bedroom have breathtaking views of the Parthenon.
 
So, we decided to go for it, and spend the entire day seeing all the important monuments and sites yesterday.  No, Shubalaka did not walk...she was carried on her daddy's shoulders, as a proper princess should be of course!  She sang everywhere she went, and complained that daddy's shoulders were wet!  Katie was really incredible, because she walked the entire day, never complained, and could frankly care less for all the sites we saw...she was just happy being together, and to people watch...in fact, I had to remind her to watch her step, because she would crank her neck around to watch some people one moment longer!  Daan commented that she was just like her Grandmalou!  Mackenzie did the commentary for most of the video I took of the monuments, I am very proud of his knowledge and interest in Greek mythology.  He was totally thrilled to be "touching history" as he put it.  It was quite a thrill to witness them learning, each at their own pace and rate.  Katie's interest in history and mythology is much more than it was before our trip.  And Mia, well, I guess we'll find out as time goes on.  We walked all around Plaka, had a nice lunch, and ice cream, and got back to our room at 5:30pm.  Most Athenians we met were very nice, one was very nice, but took us for 36€ of bogus Acropolis tickets...all ended well, we got our $ back, but have been pressured to call the tourist police.  We decided not to sour our time together, and maybe Daan will call after we leave each other at the airport tomorrow.  After that big day, everyone was so tired, we decided to have a family movie night, got chips and orange Fanta, and watched Willow together.  All were asleep at 9:30pm.
 
They must have been very tired, because we had to wake the children up at 8:30am!  We had a lovely breakfast at the hotel, and set off to visit the Children's Museum...to find out it was closed for renovations and reopening next Monday the 30th...oh well.  We had a nice lunch, and walked the charming pedestrian alleys of Plaka...bought a painting, fresh squeezed orange juice, earrings for the girls (Mia plans to pierce her ears...we told her yes, in 2 years)!  We decided to have a nice quiet family day.  Daan and I had a beer on the upper terrace, while the children played hide and seek...it's an awesome place for hide and seek, lots of little closets, corners and little hiding spots...and no dad we do not let the children on the balconies alone!
 
From our upper terrace, we can see the ravages of the fires in Athens, terrifying and sad.  In Lesvos, we were so isolated and disconnected from the rest of the world, we were living day-to-day and for the moment.  So in this moment, we are together, very happy, rested and content.  Looking forward to Christmas, when we'll be reunited for good.  Thank you all for reading our blog, it was fun to share our antics with all of you...you all know how much I love details and long stories!  Can't wait to reconnect with all of you!
 
Love Mylene
 
Hi All, Daan here.  Just thought I would add my two cents...like you, I have been an observer for much of this trip, but fortunately for me, got to experience the magic for a few weeks.  It really has been a whirlwind, both emotionally and physically.  It was really incredible, the combination of ancient sites, the rugged terrain and the variety of beaches.  The towns were all pretty similar - built in the weirdest locations and on mountainsides that no sane person would even contemplate scaling let alone living (that is not necessarily a comment on the sanity of certain in-laws who climb mountains for fun), and it is amazing how quickly you get used to driving with oncoming cars on streets built for one-way donkey traffic.  Even at the end, I did still get a little nervous about some of the roads with the cliff-face on one side and the sheer drop on the other, barely wide enough for you and the too-slow moped you are passing when you race up to the sign that indicates the road is narrowing and there is an oncoming truck - okay, that didn't happen.  But there were enough tight, narrow curves in the road with nothing between you and a 20-second one-way drive to the bottom but some plastic posts with reflectors on them...half of which were missing.
 
Our kids have really grown up.  I was amazed at how well all three are swimming.  They all go out into the sea by themselves, Mia included, and I really had no fear for them not being able to cope.  The last couple of days at Eftalou Hot Springs were extremely windy with large waves, which was the only time I ever really held on to any of them when we went into the sea.  Mack has become a lot more responsible and has been a great help when we can pry him away from a book or Gameboy.  Katie is trying to be a big girl with all that it implies and with the expected results...poor Katie and poor Mummy who has to deal with it.  Mia, in addition to growing gills and fins, has learned how to swing on her own and just learned how to blow bubbles.  She is now running around with a piece of gum trying to blow really big ones.  Here's hoping she manages to keep it out of her hair until Ottawa at least.
 
I'm sitting on the terrace writing this and just wiped some fingerprints off the screen when I noticed the screen was very hot.  I guess I should sign off before it overheats completely...thanks for all your comments, it made the connection with home a little stronger.  I'm not looking forward to the separation tomorrow and hope that the next few months go by quickly.
 
Daan

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