Rome, Italy

The alarm rings in my ear. It is 3:45 am on Saturday. Our taxi to the airport is expected in 45 minutes. We will leave Athens on a 7 am flight bound for Rome, Italy. Our trip is winding down but not before a whirlwind tour of Rome, Italy. It is a two- hour flight from Athens to Rome. Upon landing, we take a shuttle to the hotel and quickly check in. From there, we take the train into Rome. Our first stop is the Roman Coliseum. Its massive facade greets you instantly as you exit the metro station. It is a breathtaking sight. As we explore this 2000+ year old building, we are amazed at what the Romans built without modern machinery. Massive columns, pulley systems, latrines!

We exit the Coliseum and continue through the Roman Forum. The ruins here are beautiful. Our next stop is the Fountains of Trevi.. We don't stay very long because of the crowds. Blinded by hunger, we stumble onto a little trattoria. We order some pizza- yum! I will definitely be craving that pizza soon. Our final stop is Vatican City. We hang out in the plaza but do not do the tour through the buildings. Still, it is so impressive! It is a great place for us to rest in the shade and people ( and pigeon)- watch. We leave for the States the next day- Sunday. There's no place like home.

Ikaria

Tuesday morning, we flew to the island of Ikaria on a small "prop job". It was a short, yet beautiful flight. We did not climb much more than 5000' so the view was amazing. Ikaria is a small island, smaller than Andros. It sits in the eastern part of the Aegean Sea, closer to Turkey than Greece. There is one plane that flies from Athens to Ikaria once a day. If you choose not to take that one available flight, it is roughly a ten hour ferry ride. We stayed in a tiny, seaside town of Armenistes. It is a difficult town to get to. The road from the airport to Armenistes covers about 50 kms, but driving more than 40 mph is putting your life in your hands. The road winds along high cliffs overlooking the sea. Hairpin turns occur frequently. This fact does not seem to concern the Ikarians, who speed along and pass slower drivers on straight aways (rare) or hairpins (often) alike. The beaches are stunning. The waves break 20-30 feet from shore in sets of 3 or more. As soon as you recover from one wave, another one is instantly upon you.

We came to Ikaria with a specific purpose. Niko's family owns about 5 acres of land here. It has become a requirement to register land ownership in Greece recently. Until now, landowners simply pass on land to relatives or whatever, with a written or verbal agreement. Disagreements or protests were often handled by the parties involved. We had to walk the property with Niko's second cousin, a man named Spiro. With a can of red spray paint, he marked the edge of the property. Niko's dad (John) will then meet with a surveyor to make a map. The land is beautiful. It is hilly and covered with tall pine trees. Below, the torquiose sea shimmers.

It is here that we meet the only other Niko Yanouzas in the world! It is his cousin, Niko Yenouziz. (See photo above!)

We head back to Athens on Thursday. Saturday, we wil take an early morning flight to Rome. There, we will do a speed tour of Rome. We will have less than 24 hours. On Sunday, we head home.

Side Trip To Andros

Saturday morning we woke at the crack of dawn, piled into two taxis and traveled to Raffina Port. At Raffina, we boarded a huge ferry that took us to the island of Andros. Andros is a rather large island in the Aegean Sea. It is not very touristy, therefore, we experience the real local flavor. We spend much of the day at the beach in the town of Gavio. After a day in the hot sun, we take a loooong nap. After we awake (somewhat refreshed) we venture into the mountains for a festival. The festival featured traditional dancers and local grilled specialties. That evening lasts until 1AM. The next day, we travel across the island to the north side. This is Andros, Andros, which the locals refer to as "Hora", or town. This is the capital of the island of Andros. It is a beautiful and wealthy town where many of the Greek shipping magnates spend their winters there in stately mansions. Uncle Nick takes us to the part of town where he spent his youth. There we help him fill water bottles with fresh water from a mountain spring. Later that evening, it's back onto the ferry to Athens. Monday, we will just hang out. Tuesday, we will fly to Ikaria. More to come....

Athens- Day One

Today was a sleepy day! We started out to Plaka at around 10:30 AM. We took a very crowded trolley to the Plaka. The streets were bustling with merchants, tourists and children. After perusing a while, we sat down at a taverna that had two things on the menu- souvlaki and salad. Oh, and beer- I guess that makes three. As we ate, we were aproached by several gypsies hoping to sell us a tablecloth, a flashlight or pirated DVD. One gypsy was a little girl, nine or ten years old, selling little toys. After Plaka, we went back to the apartment for some much needed sleep. This evening, we also celebrated Lauren's name day with dinner and some sweets for dessert!

Good Morning From Athens!

Hello everyone!
We arrived in Athens on Thursday, at 5 pm Athens time (10 am EST). Our flight was good- we had a 2 hour layover in Rome. I have posted a photo of us outside the Athens Airport. Today is a "hang-out" day. We will venture to the farmer's market this morning and then on to the Plaka for some shopping! I will try to post more photos as the day goes on! Gotta go!