Athens

Where do I start? How do I put into words, heaven on earth? Okay, maybe I'm being a bit dramatic but spending four days in Athens with just Jeff was..... dreamy.

The before work was overwhelming. Getting four kids ready to go to separate families for four days was making my brain hurt. Every kid needed rides to school, bus schedules coordinated, clean clothes. Every family needed phone numbers, email addresses, supplies, thank-you gifts. But when we landed in Greece...... priceless!

We headed to Greece on Monday morning. Monday and Tuesday we were on our own and then on Wednesday and Thursday Jeff attended meetings for Deloitte's Global Tax Planning Conference which he was invited to.

DAY ONE:

We landed around 3pm and headed for our five star Intercontinental Hotel in Athens. The reason for the pampering? Because this was a business trip, Jeff's work would pay for the two nights that we were there during the conference. We just had to pay for one extra night. This hotel was certainly not in our normal vacation budget! Fluffy bath robes, soft white slippers, spacious room... 35 Euro breakfast buffet!!! What? We didn't pay for that!

After dropping our stuff in our room, we headed out to walk to the Acropolis. Along the way we were lured into this ice cream shop:

We had never seen such fun presentation. It tasted good too.

Just below the Acropolis we walked through an olive tree orchard. Jeff and I were fascinated by these trees because we've read so much about them in the Bible but had never seen them before.

Here is a close-up of some small green olives starting to grow:

The last sight before ascending to the Acropolis was the Odeion of Herodes Atticus, or the Herodian Theater which was being prepared for a live opera that night. Later we were even treated to a bit of serenading by one of the performers.

Here is a little panorama to show how high up we already were.

One of our guidebooks said that the Acropolis, and particularly the Parthenon, was the single most influential architectural achievement in Western Civilization. It is easy to see why:

The building is so massive, and the mathematics so advanced. It is hard to imagine that this was done so long before Christ. It is also amazing to think that these buildings were here when the apostles visited Athens. Amazing. We read that the columns are actually sloping inward just a tad, and that the outer columns are fatter then the inner columns - all to make it appear straight and true to our eye.

Here is Jeff and I with the Erechtheion behind us. In the left of the photo you can see the famous porch of the Caryatids.

And another shot to prove we were there together.

This is a panorama atop the Acropolis (which means high city in Greek):

Then we left the Acropolis. You will notice that it is actually a very green city. There isn't a lot of grass around (I suppose it is too hot) but there are a lot of trees and park space. We thought it was beautiful.

Right beside the Acropolis is Mars Hill or Areios Pagos. This is where Paul gave his famous sermon about the unknown god. You can see the Acropolis behind Jeff. To the left of the photo is the Agora (ancient market place) where Paul found some Athenians who wanted to know more about his teachings. Paul invited them to climb up Mars Hill with him so that he could teach them more. Later that night Jeff read the sermon to me. It is striking to think of Paul preaching against idolatry there in the shadow of the most massive of idolatrous creations.

After spending a bit of contemplation atop Mars Hill we descended into the Plaka - Athen's traditional neighborhood - for dinner at The Old Tavern of Psara.

Of course it started with a Greek salad. Jeff and I decided we love feta cheese.

DAY TWO:

Jeff and I are Rick Steves fanatics. So day two started with Rick's walk of Athens, which began at Syntagma or Sindagma square:

We passed churches:

And tourist shops. This lady was trying to teach me how to wear a scarf.

One of our favorite parts of the walk, was through this tiny cottages that lie directly at the rock base of the Acropolis. So cute.

The walk ended at the Agora, which was the ancient Athens market place. Have I mentioned the weather yet? It was 31 degrees Celcius and sunny = perfection!

This is the Temple of Hephaistos or Theseion:

Here is a shot looking back up towards the Acropolis. Mars hill is at the far right edge of the photo. It is amazing to think of Paul preaching there in the Agora, looking for followers.

After a souvlaki lunch we decided on a whim to visit the central market. It was so fascinating, the highlight of my day! What fun to see all the fish and meat and walk amongst the Greek men trying to sell it. They were yelling at us in Greek as we walked by - I'm sure telling us how great it would taste when we took it home for dinner. In the fruit section we saw fresh strawberries for 1 Euro per kilo! Reread that! 1 Euro per kilo! That is about $0.60 per pound! I wish I could have taken some home. Food was certainly cheaper there then in Brussels. Here I'm paying 3 Euro for about 0.25 kilo.

Our last stop for the day was the Temple of Olympian Zeus. This was the biggest of all the temples, with a total of 140 columns. Now only 15 are standing. It was easy to see how much bigger they were then the columns on the Parthenon.

This photo shows one of the columns that fell down during a storm in the 1800s. Shortly after the column fell, Athens was devastated by the plague. Locals said that the plague had been held inside the column and was released when it broke apart. Click on the picture to see it bigger and then notice the way the columns were made using individual slabs of marble held together with iron rods - like rebar. It looks like a line of checkers.

This photo is looking back up towards the Acropolis. You can see how it was built right on top of a massive rock. And people say that Nephi couldn't have built a boat to cross the ocean in 600 BC!!

Tuesday ended with a fabulous evening reception at the hotel. This was the welcome reception for the beginning of the Tax Conference. There was loads of good food and a nice band. We sat by the pool under the stars. Jeff mostly talked business with a few colleagues, but there was some family talk too.

DAY THREE:

Wednesday was a full day of meetings for Jeff so I went on one of the guest trips - a cruise to Hydra for the day. Hydra is a Greek island out in the Aegean sea. No cars are allowed on the island, so all transportation is by boat and donkey.

Here I am in Pireas boarding the FlyingCat 1:

While I was sitting in the boat, I started talking to two women who happened to be from SLC. What are the odds??? One of them was the wife of a former college of Jeff's. It was great to find a few friends to share the day with. I had been worried about being lonely. (Mom, notice the handbag? I got lots of nice comments about it.)

A few photos of Hydra:

Seeing a place like this makes me wonder why on earth we all live in crowded cities. Maybe we should all just pack up and move to a Greek isle. The water was turquoise blue, it was everything I had heard and seen about the Meditterean.

After a short walking tour, we were free to shop until lunch. We met for lunch at a restaurant overlooking the ocean on three sides.

My highlight purchase was this piece of canvas art from a modern artist, Gregory Christeas, who lives on Hydra. I love it.

After arriving back in Athens, I quickly got ready for our fancy dinner and entertainment at the Vorres Museum in Peania. I got to wear a new gray dress that I got second hand for free just two weeks ago.

After dinner there was a band, dancing, and lots of Greek desserts.

As we explored the area, Jeff and I happened to meet the man who owns the museum, Ian Vorres. He was a very generous man, it was a pleasure to talk with him. He explained to us that museum is designed to showcase every part of Greece - the modern art, the ancient artifacts and furniture, the beautiful gardens and trees.

Later Jeff tried to get a nice photo of me in my dress:

The only drawback of the evening was the smoking. In general, smoking is more common in Europe then in the USA, but I had never seen it as bad as I saw it in Greece. There people are allowed to smoke everywhere - indoors, in restaurants, in shops. During the dessert part of the evening there were huge cigars out on the tables and lots of people lit up. Yuck.

DAY FOUR:

Our last day! On Wednesday, Jeff had a few more meetings so I went on my second guest trip: a Greek cooking class. The bus dropped us off at the bottom of the Plaka and we walked up to the base of the Acropolis where we had our class on the rooftop of a restaurant.

Here I am with one of my new friends:

Then they gave us chef hats:

The chef first discussed olive oil, olives, and feta cheese. Then we made Tzatziki, the yogurt dressing that is eaten with grilled meat. Ours was okay, too garlicy I think.

Here is the mess we left on our table, along with the finished Tzatziki.

So that was it. Jeff and I had to race to the airport to zip home and meet our kids before bedtime. All the kids survived our absense. Jeff and I arrived home much refreshed and renewed. It was just perfect.