The Joys of Retirement Production Company

We had a flight at 12:45 so we went to the airport via metro a little early to relax and have lunch in the business lounge,  one of the perks of our Chase travel credit card!  The flight was about an hour and we flew over several islands, and quite close to Santorini

We have an apartment for this next 3 nights.   It’s right on the harbor with a great view!  The top floor,  quiet,  and I’m ready for some relaxing quiet time. 

Our home for the next 4 nights.   The whole top floor, looking out onto the old sea fort and venetian harbor

We are already scoping out my birthday dinner place.   There are several restaurants just below us, along the waterfront.   Our sightseeing will be minimal for the next couple days,  but we will walk Heraklion and explore!

For those who know me well and are keeping track,  I’ve already had my fall this trip!  Just a small one,  nothing broken out bleeding!  Got that out of the way so now i can just enjoy the trip….. pun intended. 

We had a great home cooked meal in the home of Captain John and Mrs. Irini!  For 25 years they have been welcoming visitors into their home,  called the Anchorage, now that Captain John is no longer traveling!  The food was Cretean specials.   We had Saganaki, roasted red peppers with feta,  rabbit with onions and rice.   And a surprise treat for dessert,  greek yogurt with mandarin marmalade.

We walked a little after dinner,  to buy a bit of groceries for breakfasts, and some coffee.  The central park is surrounded by restaurants and shops and the people are enjoying the evening air! 

We just relaxed after breakfast sitting a but if rain. But ventured out for a late lunch and to watch a changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown in Syndagma square.

Their march is quite characteristic.

We had a nice late lunch and walked back via the ancient Roman Forum and Agora

Some of the oldest parts is Athens

We decided a coffee and roll for breakfast today would do us until lunch so we headed to a bakery close by and watched a young man making the very thin Philo dough for a type of pastry they eat here.   Tomorrow we will have to order it!  The capaccino hit the spot for me but Emmett tried Greek coffee…. very VERY strong stuff, it was like mud in the bottom of the cup. 

We walked the 0.87 mile,  1.4 km, to the museum, thru the narrow streets of the Plaka, at a great time,  few people there yet, just a couple groups of students on a field trip.   You can see on this map. Or hotel in the yellow circle,  and the museum indicated by the red box at the bottom.

The plaka area was still not quite open yet,  just a very few shops.  You walk by areas of ruins and monuments often here.

The acropolis museum sits below the acropolis with great views, from inside and outside.

Displayed are a few of the original statues and frieses of the Parthenon, the temple to Athena, but many many replicas of pieces that can be found in the British museum.  Unfortunately over the millenia since it was constructed,  many conquering parties destroyed much of its splendor.  The pieces remaining are just a hint at what it might have looked like in Socrates’ day.

The darker pieces are original marble,  and the replica pieces are stark white plaster models.

This piece would have stood at the apex of the roof of the east or west facade of the temple.  Parts of it are original but much is reconstructed.

There is a nice audio guide link available so you can go thru the exhibits at your own pace.

Outside you can look down at, and visit,  parts is the excavations of ruins found at the site is the museum.

We walked a but farther before lunch to visit Syndagma square and the guards at the parliment buildings, but we missed the changing of the guard so we will return tomorrow when there’s is more time to record that event.  Here are just a few more city sites.

Of course,  we had to have a Greek lunch!  Delicious pork Gyros!

We relaxed all afternoon and then walked to visit a couple rooftop bars for the view and then a fabulous dinner

Grilled octopus and a greek salad!  Delicious!

Our flight from Amsterdam to Athens was 3 hours over some beautiful country.

We took the metro into the city center.  Even in the station there are ruins!

Our hotel is very close to Monastiraki Square, within walking distance is the Acropolis. And our room,  on the 5th floor, is pretty basic,  but  has a great view!

We have 3 nights here,  too relax a bit, get over jet lag, and do a bit of sightseeing of things we missed on previous visits!  We did a little walk around our neighborhood, near the Monastiraki square, before bed.   Tomorrow we will explore farther.

Monday we had a quick lunch with our great grand Zuriah, and her daddy,  Trey, at her school.

Then Trey took us to the airport for our overnight flight to Athens via Amsterdam

Love the layflat seats and the food.

Dinner and breakfast

All served on darling delft dishes. And as a little souvenir, you get a small delft house.

Only 30 minutes thru passport conto but that have us time to relax in the lounge before our next flight to Athens.  We had a short break in the Amsterdam KLM lounge

New year celebration at Wu Chow with Rebecca and Joel

We will let this adventure unfold in sections,  since it is again a multi destination trip.   For now,  we are up early,  flying from our home airport to Austin for Chinese New Year celebration with daughter Rebecca and her husband Joel!  Stay tuned for pics! 

Sedona is beautiful in the bright sun.   We’ve had great weather and the views are stunning with the blue skies.

We stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Cross for the view of the Chapel and the valley

Lunch with cousin Laura in Jerome, but we forget to take pictures!  It was good to catch up tho.  Sunday we head home with a stop at Indio just to make it a shorter drive.   We’ve had a great week off sightseeing with Kath

We left the Grand Canyon village area heading east to our next stop.   The views along the canyon are not as spectacular as the rim altitude decreases,  but still amazing.   Along the way we saw more elk and deer!

A couple of the stops along this route are out on a point with spectacular 270°  views of the canyon around you!  the last point is the Desert tower. 

Inside,  there are these black mirrors use to view the canyon sites.   They were supposed to sharpen the colors,  but on our bright day, they were already sharp

We made 1 stop in the Navajo nation at an overlook.   There were very few stands open this time of year,  just 1 woman here with beaded merchandise,  but we didn’t stop to buy,  just for 1 last goodbye look at the canyon.

Our best stop is Sedona and we are lucky to have a great view from our timeshare!  We are sightseeing here Saturday

We are enjoying the historic lodge for dinner tonight and visiting the Hopi House Native arts while we wait.  Here’s a sample of the beautiful crafts

The historic El Tovar

We planned one grand dinner and it was delicious