Great Happy Canada!

We are back at work after a fantastic weekend. We have been out of the country and so haven't been able to use our cabin. This weekend, though, we spent most of our time there. The weather cooperated and we managed to take the boat out quite a bit. Tubing, skiing,and swimming was had by all. Even my mom tried skiing after she got over her initial fear of the water and realized how warm the water was! So brave of her!! My grandma turned 93 on the weekend as well. We had ice cream cake, and fireworks to celebrate. And although she didn't ski, she had a great time on the boat watching us tube! All in all a really fantastic weekend! Life is good.

home is where the heart is

On the flight home I watched a movie called "One Week". It is about this guy who decides to drive from Toronto to the Pacific Ocean after his diagnosis with cancer. The videography in the movie is amazing!
As I watched the scenes go by about one province to another, I got really homesick. I thought to myself, Gee our home really is beautiful! I kept thinking about all the scenes they showed and the road he was driving, and thinking that I had been on the same roads many times.
Then, today we couldn't sleep and so we were up really early. I went for a morning run. It was SO lovely! The sun was shining, the shy was blue, everything here is SO green (on account of all the rain, what a good month to be away, by the way), and it all smelled so fresh. It was a great run, and I missed it so much. I missed the sky - it seemed like there was always smog or a haze in the sky and it was never really blue. I missed the weather - not too hot or too humid. I missed the space - I ran for 10 minutes and didn't see a soul.
Travel is wonderful. Seeing new places magical. Experiencing new things amazing. But one really appreciates one's home even more after they have been away for awhile. Home is, afterall, where the heart is.

We took a sunset cruise to the volcanoe and hot springs. Walking around the volcanoe was like being on the moon! From the top you can see a panoramic view of Santorini.

The next day we went to Ancient Thira. It is on the top of a mountain. It is huge! An entire city of ruins complete with sewage system and theatre! Truly amazing! It was, however, very hot at the top and there were many steps to climb to get up. We keep thinking that if we never see another set of steps it will be too soon! Everything here is built on the hillside with many steps.

This is the windy hairpin turn road we had to take to get up to the top. So scary. At points there was just a sheer cliff with nothing to restrain you, and barely enough room for 2 cars to go by. Good thing the cars in Europe are all small, no way you could get Jurgen's FJ by!

Sorry about the sideways pic.

I have just about had enough of greek food. On the way to the beach we found Senor Zorba's - a Mexican restaurant in the middle of a greek island! So good to have some nachos!

Perissa beach is very busy. There are many bars, waterskiing, and a ton of people. The "sand" is not really sand but many hot black rocks. We walked on it and swam with our shoes. Still nice to cool off in the water, though, as it is 35 degrees with 95% humidity!

Santorini

Cats are everywhere in Greece. In Athens there are more dogs, but here there are cats. This one came to visit us one afternoon, so I gave him a little drink. Cute, but not as cute as mine!

This is the view down from our room. They call this the "Old Port".

Yesturday we rented a car and went all over. First wine tasting at about 4 different wineries. So lovely!

This is the famous Red Beach. It is a treacherous walk down, and no services, but definately worth seeing.

The sunset in Oia is amazing. This is the view everyone talks about. I have to admit, though, if you pretended this was wheat instead of water, it would look similar to home.

Cruisin'

In Istanbul, buying rugs.

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul.

The Windmills in Mykonos.

Standing at the "Wailing Wall" in Jeruselum, Israel. We had to go to separate areas to wish/pray.

The Great Pyramid, Egypt. This was the best day ever!

I just love cats, especially this one!!

Our last stop on the cruise, Crete.

The "Big Boat"

I haven't blogged in a few days because the internet on the "big boat" is very expensive (15E for one hour). So, now that we are on Mykonos and it is windy, I thought I would give you an update on how things are going.
We left Athens on Friday to embark on our 7 day cruise around the islands, Turkey, Israel, and Egypt. We have now been on the boat for 2 days. At first I thought the boat was very weird. Our stateroom is TINY. Two twin beds, a tiny TV, and the smallest bathroom I have ever seen. There is only a shower curtain between the shower and the toilet. The whole bathroom gets wet when we shower, so we leave the door open after to help it dry out. Luckily, this happens very quickly. The boat, by cruise boat standards, is small. There are probably only about 1800 passengers in all. It is easy to get to know people, as you keep running into them. That is nice, at least. The food is good, and we bought the "all inclusive" deal for drinks, which are also good. All in all, it is still a pretty good boat, but not to the same opulence that I think some of the other cruise ships are like.
Yesturday, we visited Istanbul, Turkey. It was a whorl-wind tour of the city including the Blue Mosque, the Hagid Sophia, and the Palace. It was a busy day. At the end of the day we did some shopping in the Bazaar, which was fantastic!! I tried my hand at bargaining, and I think I got some OK deals, although I am certain my mother could have gotten a better price! ;) The Turks are really good salesmen.
Today we are in Mykonos, and as I said, it is too windy to be at the beach. It is a cute little town with windmills and white washed buildings. We are only here a short while, but I don't want to do all of my shopping here as we have a lot of time in Santorini to do that as well. We were hoping to go to Paradise Beach today. It is a famous party beach with music and bars and lots of people. Jurgen would have hated it! haha. Lucky for him, the weather did not permit.
Tommorrow, we have a "day off" where we are just at sea, and then it is off to Israel. I am a little nervous to go there with all of the problems they are having right now, but I really don't think there is a good time to go. We'll see, I guess. Then, off to Egypt for a day, and back to Athens. Talk about whirlwinds!! but I am sure it will all be amazing - Turkey definately was. I would go back there.
Will write more when we have cheap internet again.

Athens to Delphi

The temple of Apollo in Delphi.

Romantic dinner at the habour.

Visiting the Acropolis.

The view from our hotel - the Temple of Zeuss.

The sprawling city of Athens.