Greece

Sorry for my absence. We have been so busy having a most fantastic summer. Theo finished and graduated from Kindergarden on June 8th and we left for Greece June 11th. We got back to the United States just in time for the 4th of July and just now I am updating the blog. I max-ed my cameras memory card, 500 photos... don't worry I am not uploading all 500 photos but just creating another Little Paynes Greatest Hits list. We went to Greece because Tim's best friend from high school, Nate, is living in Greece and was Christening his baby boy, an event I felt we could not miss. So we traveled for (I think) 22 hours and found ourselves on a little beach island in the Mediterranean, called Naxos. We rented a villa and stayed for 7 days. We went from Naxos to Santorini for 4 days and then Athens for another week. And on the way home, we stopped in Paris because I love Paris and can't stand the thought of flying over it without stopping.

The Little Paynes woke the first day in Greece at crack of 2 in the afternoon and discovered the most excellent patio at the beach house.

We came home from a delightful sidewalk cafe dinner in the town of Naxos to discover a total lunar eclipse. So Tim, Connie, Nate and I stayed awake until the early hours of the morning watching it and the Little Paynes slept. You can't actually see it in this photo, but maybe you can imagine it.... it was red and inspiring. And I kept thinking it was a sign but still can't figure out what my take away message is supposed to be....

It was really fantastic and a lifetime highlight.

The Aegean Sea is really this blue.

Lunch on the beach

Olive Grove

Marble quarry, Winged Victory and Venus De Milo came from here.

Delos, Greece

From Naxos we took a day trip to check out the island of Delos, which was apparently a huge international market back in the Golden Age of Enlightenment. Also I think a lot of human slave trade took place here, although the informational signs seemed to really gloss over it. The island is less than a mile long but was at one time the commerce center of Europe. All the nations of the time had a temple built on the island of Delos. So we were able to see the remains of the Persian Temple, the Arabic Temple, the Roman Temple etc. Also we saw the Temple of Artemis (the moon goddess) which really set my brain into overdrive after witnessing the total lunar eclipse the night before. Seriously, it must be a sign right? Anyway, the ruins were almost like modern day embassys...

Fascinating.

So I could not help but to gravitate toward this one, apparently the entrance to the "Men's Temple".

Santorini

We left our little beach paradise of Naxos and took a boat to Santorini. The island (Thira) is much more commercialized compared to Naxos and $$$ but so worth it. The Little Paynes and I love love love Santorini!

The Town of Oia at night from our hotel patio

We hiked to the top of the volcano at Thira which is still steaming

The ferry terminal

Photo by Theo

Athens

After Santorini, we headed to Athens to see the sites and attend the baby Christening

Paris

We just had one day and one night in Paris. So we spent the day in Luxembourg Gardens. We rented these little toy sail boats and sailed them around the fountain pond for hours. They were a big hit with the Little Paynes. We had perfect wind and they sailed beautifully.

So that pretty much sums it up. We attended the baby Christening in Athens and the whole Greek orthodox baby christening sort of blew my mind. I will make a separate blog post with the details. Also, two days after we left Athens, over 1 million Greeks protested and rioted in Parliament Square (where our hotel was located) over new "austerity measures" imposed on the Greeks by the EU. It was an amazing time to be in Athens. I could and maybe will write volumes later about it all. I was really hoping that the Greeks would leave the EU and stand alone, but that did not happen. What did happen, however, is I completely fell in love with Greece!

Opa!

Daddy Daughter

Mothers Day

Mothers day walk in my Backyard.

We Did It Again

11 Years Together

Photo by Vasey

I love this man and he loves me right back, and at the end of the day, does anything else really matter?

Happy Anniversary To My love

We had to go back.

Dolphins

It rained the entire time we were there. Even when the sun was shining, it was raining!

Sand art by Theo