Greece: Athens and the Islands

BEST TRIP EVER. That is how I think I will always refer to these twelve days in Greece. It easily exceeded all of my expectations.

We flew from Stuttgart to Athens, where we met up with my parents, and then we all took a high speed ferry to the island of Paros, where we had rented a villa for the week. We usually rent apartments or homes when we travel and we have learned to expect that the photos of the properties are often much nicer than the properties themselves. Imagine my happiness and surprise when we arrived and the villa was just as nice, if not nicer, than depicted. Even better, it was in walking distance to the beach and a short car ride to the center of town.

We spent the mornings swimming and the afternoons exploring. We feasted daily on fresh fish, calamari, octopus, Greek salads and yogurt, and my favorite, spanikopita.

One day, my parents kept the boys and CM and I took a ferry over to Mykonos. What an extraordinary island. Paros is much more family friendly, while Mykonos is perfect for a couple or a group of friends looking to rage all day and all night. Definitely the party island. The landscape of Mykonos is unbelievably picturesque: the famous windmills, white stucco homes, crystal blue water. We spent the day pretending we were kid less, eating and drinking and soaking up the culture.

After spending a week on Paros, we checked out of the villa and headed back to Athens.
I have learned that having children means you stay at hotels that have pools. The Athens Marriott has a rooftop pool that overlooks the Acropolis. Quite a view.

Athens was hotter, dirtier, and not as beautiful as Paros but we had just as much fun. We walked to the top of the Acropolis and saw the Parthenon, and also toured the city, stopping to eat, shop and people watch.

I know that our travels will take us to many other places, all with wonderfully rich cultures. However, our nearly two weeks in Greece will be hard to top.  And until proven otherwise, this remains the BEST TRIP EVER.

Legoland Deutchland

When you have little boys, Lego's are introduced pretty early. You progress from the really large blocks to smaller and smaller ones. At three and a half, Griffin is only part of the way there. I don't think he really understood the types of things that Lego's can be built into. He was in for a surprise and in the end, we all were.

We were very excited to learn that we were living only about an hour away from Legoland Deutchland. This was Griff's first official amusement park visit and his excitement was contagious. He didn't stop talking the entire hour plus drive to get there.

Once inside the park, we narrowed down the rides and games that he was big enough for.  It was actually kind of limiting, but he was none the wiser. He drove a boat, a canoe, an airplane, a small car. He even drove his own jeep through a Lego Safari. Very cool.  He also rode on a topsy-turvy pirate ship. We attempted to get onto the tea-cups but he was pulled off because he didn't make the height requirement. Initially it was a bummer but the nice young girl who was working the ride gave Griff a little Legoman and that was even more valuable to him than the ride itself.

Poor Brogan spent most of the day in the stroller, with the exception of the Lego Train that we all took around the park.

At the center of the park is a large area that has Lego models of European cities, like Venice, Hamburg, Berlin, Paris, etc and famous German monuments and structures, like the Munich soccer stadium and the Frankfurt airport. It was incredible!

We lucked out with extraordinary weather. All in all, it was a wonderful day, like so many of our days have been while living here.