Friday, November 17, 2023

Italy Summer 2023

Italy holds a special place for us. Kacey is one quarter Italian. We love the food. We visited in 2006 and really fell in love with the country and way of living. And then, we were lucky enough to live in Siena in 2010 during Kacey's internship. While we could have revisited the county while living in Dublin, we were still holding tight to the memories and wanted to visit many other places. So, while we have wanted to return to Italy for a couple years now, this summer was finally our chance to spend 2 weeks there with the kids.

We decided to fly in to Rome, then drive down to Pompeii and Amalfi, then up to Tuscany (with a stop over in Orvieto), visiting Pisa, Florence, Siena, and a couple others in Tuscany, and end in Venice for a return flight home. We figured having a car would enable us to be more flexible with small towns and setting our own timetable since we have 3 kids with us. We are also pretty comfortable with driving in Italy. I decided to not take the big zoom camera, as I have those types of pictures from other trips around Italy, and it would be one less thing to carry. Plus, phones take great close up pictures now! We took 7 days worth of clothes, knowing doing laundry in Florence wouldn't be too hard. We only booked our flights about 6 weeks in advance, making it a little more difficult. I was just barely able to find hotels that far in advance that allowed free cancellation and could fit 5 people.

Roma

We landed in Rome around 8:30am Sunday morning. Between passport control, and lines for taxis, it took about 3 hours to get to our hotel. We took a fixed price taxi instead of the train to termini, as it was actually cheaper and faster. Our plan for the first day was to not have anything in particular planned. Maybe a bus ride, some mild walking, and some rest. We arrived at Residenza Flaminio Gaio around noon to drop our bags. Finding a room that definitely holds 5 people was not easy only 5 weeks in advance. I also wanted a room pretty close to the metro. We asked the hotel manager which way to walk for food and he said walk south on Via di Ripetta from Piazza del Popolo and rattled off a couple restaurants. We stopped at PizzaRé and liked the look, so sat for lunch. The kids got orange Fanta and Lemon soda and some pasta. Colin got a hamburger (that didn't have a bun). Kacey and I got a (heart shaped) pizza.

After lunch we walked down toward Pantheon and stopped for gelato at Della Palma, home of 150 flavors. Pantheon requires reservations on Sunday, so we headed toward Trevi Fountain instead. We took it in for a while and headed back to the hotel via the metro for some rest. After a couple hours, we headed toward the Spanish Steps via the metro. We used that as our starting point for finding dinner. After walking a few back streets reading menus, we found Le Grotte and were pretty pleased. We tried fried courgette flowers and anchovies for an appetizer. I got pork cheek bucatini and Kacey got Cacio e Pepe. After dinner we walked back to Trevi for more gelato and to enjoy the fountain lit up at night. Since it was a Sunday night, the metro had stopped so we just took the bus to our stop.

Monday morning we had a cut-the-line entry to the Vatican at 11am. So that gave us time to eat some breakfast at the hotel and metro to the Vatican without much hurry. We didn't plan on spending too much time looking at art, as Kacey and I had been there twice before. We first went out to the Pinecone Courtyard and then walked the forced pathway through to the Sistine Chapel. There were an insane amount of people. It was hard to get around! At one point we tried to get out of the queue for bathroom and had to start over. We spent some time sitting in the Sistine Chapel showing the different areas of the ceiling to the kids (with the help of Rick Steves). We started to exit and was hoping to quickly grab a bite at the Vatican cafe, but soon realized we would not be able to shortcut back to St. Peter's. Kacey was able to get back and then I was able to follow when I said my wife and child were still in the Sistine Chapel.

We made our way down the long hallway to exit the Vatican. In the past, there used to be a group shortcut straight in to St. Peter's. Now, you do exit, but are let out right at the point of the St. Peter's line where you go through security. Our wandered about St. Peter's for a short while, and Kacey went down in the crypt for a quick walk. We then bought tickets to go up the cupola. We bought the elevator pass and didn't have to wait too long in line. We were pleased to find a small cafe where the elevator lets out! So we bought a few things and had a drink. After eating and toilet on top of the church, we started the stair part of the walk. First up is the mosaics inside the cupola. Then, the tilted, narrow stairs up the side of the cupola. It took us maybe 10 minutes to do that part. Next is the 360 degree views of Rome! At our visit in 2006, it was mostly open. Now, there is fencing up and over the whole walkway. We spent maybe 15 minutes walking around looking at the city before heading back down. We started walking toward the Vatican metro stop, looking for some fast food. We found pizza slices that I knew the kids would like at Pizzeria Casali. We sat on the curb for a bit eating some pizza. Then walked up to Pompi for gelato and Illy creamy iced coffee. We don't remember this delicious treat from our last visit to Italy, but it is delicious! Think coffee smoothie/milkshake that is made in a continuous machine like a slushie. We went back to the hotel for some more rest before dinner and walked close to the hotel down Ripetta again. We found Il Melarancio and picked it because it had pesto. After dinner we walked north up Via del Corso toward Popolo and found gelato and shopping. We sat in Piazza Popolo while eating our gelato.

Tuesday was our tour of the Colosseum. In the past you could use a cut the line pass, but, like several sites around Italy, you need reservations through tours to cut any lines. And the lines are all crazy long. I had originally booked it in the afternoon but got a notice it had been moved to a 9:35 meet up time. Luckily we still had time to eat breakfast at the hotel before getting on the metro. The huge group of people at termini switching to the blue line had me worried but we wedged ourselves on the metro and made our meet up time for the tour. Our tour guide, Paulo, was Brazilian, and guided us through headsets around the Colosseum. We got to walk around the bottom of the arena, not open to all tours and guests, which was pretty cool! (Not the part below the arena floor, those tours must include an archaeologist and only do about 1 a day, and cost a lot of money, and book up really far in advance). We spent about 90 minutes walking around, learning a few extra, interesting facts about the Colosseum. Paulo then guided us past the Arch of Constantine to the Roman Forum. He took us up Palatine Hill for a great view and some nice cold water. We slowly walked out toward the entrance, learning tidbits along the way.

After our tour we started walking toward Pantheon to find some food. It took a while to find an area that would work, but finally found Il Vicolo Nel Corso. It looked a touch touristy, but it was actually not too bad. A musician stopped by during our meal and played while the staff danced a bit. Liana liked the outdoor decor and luckily it was shaded to help keep us cool. We continued walking around a nearby government building and ended up at Della Palma again, while Kacey stopped at Giolitti for gelato. We then headed over to the Pantheon around 3:15 to walk around and study it for 20 minutes or so. The light was shining in strong and you could study how it came in and hit the wall really well. The boys walked back to the hotel while the girls shopped a bit. We walked to Al Vantaggio for dinner, again near our hotel.

Wednesday was our morning to wake up a little early, eat breakfast a little early at 7:45 so we could get to termini by 9 to pick up our rental car. Finding the rental car office was a bit tricky, and then we had to hike to the car park to get the car. We were able to get on the road by 10 to start the 2.5 hour drive to Pompeii.

Pompeii

We parked at the Zeus lot and walked over to Sgambati to eat lunch. We spent about 3 hours walking around Pompeii. We followed the Rick Steves guide so it was easy to read things to the kids about what we were seeing. They of course thought it was interested to see things preserved, as well as the bodies. We had about a 45 minute drive to our parking lot in Salerno to meet the owner of the B&B.

Salerno

We parked and walked to our B&B, Maison Lumière. We met the owner at 5:45 and he was pretty nice. The apartment had 2 bedrooms, kitchen, and nice outside seating area. We also told us when our breakfast delivery would come. We walked down toward the water looking for dinner. Most places were not opening until 7 but we ended up finding Pizzeria Giagiu’. The pizzas and appetizers were quite unique, and before your pizza comes out they bring a little plate appetizer with the ingredients of your pizza. After dinner we walked out to the water and then found gelato on the way back to the B&B.

Thursday was our day to drive the Amalfi Coast. We were on the road a little after 9 and Kacey had picked a route to drive toward Ravello, then Amalfi, Positano, and finally Sorrento, based on information from Rick Steves. The drive started out narrow as expected, but not too much traffic. The road is very windy and narrow; if you haven't much experience driving roads like this, I don't advise that this is your first. We made the turn for Ravello and waited for 15 minutes or so for the light to change on the one-way part of the road. We found parking near the Oscar Niemeyer Auditorium. The walk up the hill is steep but we made it ok. We hung out around the duomo for a bit taking in the sites, then entered the museum and church. Kacey took a couple kids to find another site while Colin and I hung back as he wasn't feeling well. The views were nice up on the hill town.

After an hour we decided to move on to Amalfi for lunch. Traffic got pretty bad real fast and we were barely moving for a while. Amalfi town is quite small and the only road north was marked ZTL (can't drive there) and the only parking lot is a small area by the water, which was blocked off by police and marked as full. Police were moving you right out of town! We slowly crept out of town in the traffic realizing we would not be able to stop. Apparently, only a taxi or the boat system can get you in to Amalfi town reliably.

We made it to Positano around 1:45. This town is a bit bigger and we were allowed to drive in toward the parking lots. There are a few, and they are expensive. But we took the first one we found and walked down the hill in to town. There is a single one-way road that runs down and back up. So missing a spot meant starting all over again on the drive. We found Caffè Positano for lunch and it had awesome views! We also obtained a really nice pasta bowl with their name on it. We walked further down the hill toward the water. There was also some shopping along the way. We found La Gelateria della Buca di Bacco for gelato and cold lemon treats. It was really refreshing on a hot day. While Kacey stayed by the water with the kids, I went up to get the car and drive down to pick them up.

We headed toward Sorrento and arrived at the carpark around 6:30. No one was hungry due to late lunch. We walked around a little, Kacey did some shopping, and drove back to Salerno after an hour. Between some snack and a pizza we grabbed next to the hotel, and that was our dinner. The next morning our goal was to be on the road by 10 to head to Orvieto.

Orvieto

We fell in love with Orvieto back in 2010. We used to drive by this magnificent town on a hill while driving to Rome and wanted to visit. We really enjoyed the town and the food when we finally visited, so we wanted to stop in again on our way north during this trip. We arrived around 2:30 after a lunch stop at the AutoGrill. We parked and took the escalator system up and walked to our B&B. I found Nel cuore di Orvieto and it was quite nice. Two bed 2 bath was nice and spacious. We walked toward the west edge of town for views of the countryside, then back toward the duomo. We paid our entrance ticket fee and walked around inside. Liana liked the rose window. Afterward we stopped by Il Gelato and it was pretty good. The pink grapefruit was delicious.

We walked toward the east side of town to visit St. Patrick's Well. The kids did enjoy the trek down and back up, counting steps and peeking over the side. Once back up we wandered in to Porta Rocca park next door for views of the country side. While walking back toward the center we stopped in a grocery store for some breakfast items; fruit and snacks. We also stopped at the nearby Pam grocery. Nolan and I decided to walk up the tower for views while the others shopped. The views were great and it was quite windy. Nolan really liked the view. While shopping Kacey found a restaurant we had eaten at and loved back in 2010. We didn't remember the name or the exact location, but we remembered what the alley looked like and what was on the menu. Kacey found Antico Bucchero and as soon as I saw it I too said "Thats it"! We went back at opening which was 7:15 and ordered a lot of good food. Umbrichelle homemade for Nolan, Gnocchi pomodoro for kids, Affettato di petto d'oca con insalatina di sedano - Cold sliced smoked goose celery salad appetizer for me, Ravioli ripieni di caciocavallo con cime di rapa burro e salvia - Ravioli with inside caciocavallo and turnip tops butter and sage for me, and Gnocchi di Patate ai 4 Formaggi - potatoes dumplings with 4 different cheeses for Kacey. Then, Tirimisu and Semifreddo al Torrone con Cioccolato for dessert. We still stopped at Il Gelato again for the kids, as Kacey and I ate most of the dinner desserts. Kacey and Liana went out for more shopping and night pictures while the boys went back for bed. In the morning we got on the road to Florence by 10.

Florence

We got to our hotel around noon, after a little detour (because we were supposed to enter a ZTL). We dropped our bags and headed to the center for some lunch. We found Cacio e Pepe and the menu seemed decent for us. The place was quite small, but we were seated in 5 minutes. While no one got the dish of their name sake, it was all decent. We walked around looking at a few shops, including the Lego Store. We got some gelato after that and then headed to the hotel to check-in and get ready for our museum entry. The room had an AC, but it was not working. In fact, the condensor was on our balcony and it was not turning on. So about 5 minutes before leaving for our entry, they gave us a new room. A touch smaller, but it was cool and had enough beds.

We hurried up to Accademia Gallery for our 4:30 entry time (overheard it was a 3 hour wait without reservations). We first went toward the Instrument museum area, but it is small. We walked around the paintings for a few more minutes before walking to David. Pictures are now allowed, but most of the tours pass through quickly. We sat on the benches for 10 minutes or so after we studied the front for a while, we spent about 30 minutes with David. We headed back to the hotel so I could prep and do laundry at Dexter. I lucked out and the big machine was available. It all didn't take too long, but was way too hot to wait there! Liana and I had pizza in the room for dinner (late lunch made me not too hungry) and I grabbed a prosecco from the Pam. Kacey took the boys out for a more substantial meal.

The next morning we had no rush. We ate some breakfast and headed toward the basilica. The cupola was sold out and basilica closed on Sunday, but we bought bell tower entry at 1:15 and could visit the small baptistry too. Our ticket would let us see the duomo Monday morning before leaving. We headed toward Palazzo Vecchio and saw the David replica outside. We showed the kids the Uffizi (and the line), but we had decided to not take the kids there. We learned about All’Antico Vinaio for lunch and decided to check it out. It looked good and had a line but didn't seem too bad. We got a Tri Color (Beef carpaccio, pistachio cream, stracciatella and chopped hazelnuts), Veg 3 (Gorgonzola, courgettes, dried tomatoes and rocket), and a caprese. Also, a glass of prosecco! It was very good and unique! We headed back to the Bell tower for our entry reservation. The views were nice. After about 20 minutes we headed down the tower. We walked toward Ponte Vecchio. We bought a piece of pizza for Nolan, another creamy coffee, and some cold water. Kacey looked at some shops in the area, mostly leather. We found a blood orange slushy, they are so good! I took the kids back to the hotel while Kacey did a bit more shopping, and we got more gelato along the way. We ate some dinner after walking around for a while, but Nolan really wanted some Indian food we walked by. He got some take-out and ate it in the room.

The next morning we got ready and checked-out by 9:30 to line up for the basilica. There was already a long line! We entered at 10:45 and were able to go in the catacombs as well. We got to the car and headed to Piazzale Michelangelo for awesome views of Florence. We also grabbed some cold drinks while taking in the view. Next was our not too long drive to Siena!

Siena

We were pretty excited to finally revisit Siena. We lived there in 2010 during Kacey's internship. It was amazing, and we detailed those adventures on this blog. We started off driving straight to Villa Il Pino, our apartment we lived in. We thought we may first enter the car gate and look around, but couldn't get in the gate. So, we drove to the Coop (grocery store) as there is a parking lot there, and a walking path to Villa Il Pino. We went in the Coop and reminisced our trips there for food. We bought some snacks as well as new grocery bags. We headed down our walking path (Passeggio Piero Calamandrei) toward Villa Il Pino. The playground along the way, of coarse, has changed and looked different. We walked up the stairs and to the back gate. Luckily a manager was outside and we told her why we were there. She let us in to walk around, that was really nice. Our old unit was rented (I had tried in advance to rent it) but we got plenty of outside pictures. We walked around the gardens and walked through the main building. We just wandered around and soaked it in for a while. We decided to walk toward the other playground Nolan and I visited. I couldn't remember exactly how to get there, but after a few minutes, it started to come back to me and we found it! It was also quite different, but the kids played for a few minutes before walking back to the car.

We headed in to town to park the car and walk to our B&B and meet the owner. I found B&B Palazzo Bulgarini as it is only 4 minutes walk to Il Campo, could fit us all, and had some breakfast. We rested for an hour at the hotel before walking in to Il Campo. The gates were still up from the Palio. We kept wandering the streets past the duomo, just remembering things as we went. We headed to our favorite restaurant, Nonno Mede for dinner at 6:30. We had a great meal with wonderful views, and also enjoyed some desserts there. We stopped for gelato and sat at Il Campo for a while

Tuscany

 The next day we woke up to do a driving loop through Tuscany. We started by driving an hour to Montepulciano. We parked at the lot on the north side of town, right before the ZTL. We started walking up the hill toward the center of town around 11am. Kacey looked in a few shops along the way. We ended up all the way at the top at Piazza Grande. The kids played in the piazza for a while. The duomo was closed, but I had been there before. We picked a restaurant from our travel guide and walked down to La Pentolaccia. Kacey got the seabass, the kids all got pomodoro pasta, and I got Pici alla norcina. I normally don't like a lot of truffle, but the dish sounded intriguing and it was good. Kacey did a bit more shopping on our walk down out of town. We loaded up around 2 to head towards Pienza.

The drives in this area are all beautiful. We decided to drive the southern route through Monticchiello toward Pienza. There was some gravel road but the hilly drive was pretty and remote. The drive in to Pienza was quite nice. We found hour parking for free and took that spot. Pienza is small and doesn't take much time to walk around, and we have visited the museum before. We went in the duomo, got some gelato, and did some shopping. This included going in the same cheese shop we took pictures in 13 years ago. We got some pecorino and panforte. We next headed toward Montalcino.

We arrived in Montalcino around 4:15. Kacey wanted to do some wine tasting. We went to the fortezza first, as it is next to parking, and they now have a winery there. So I took the kids on top of the fort for views and then running around the courtyard while Kacey sampled some wines. We walked around town for a little while just wandering. We decided to get back to Siena for dinner and left around 6pm. We had another great dinner at Nonno Mede and more gelato, including a gelato slushie thing.

Siena, day 2

On Wednesday we slept in a little and went to Il Campo to get tower tickets. We got tickets for 1pm, so we headed to the duomo to buy those tickets as well. We got in the duomo around 10:30, but Nolan's and mine cupola tickets were for 3pm. The floors were uncovered in the basilica, which does not happen very often. Usually the mosaics are covered to preserve them. We spent about 30 minutes walking around the duomo and enjoying the floors. Afterward we grabbed some quick lunch of sandwich and pasta at Bibo and got to Torre Mangia at 12:50 for our entry. The entry wasn't really organized, you had to start walking up to then find the entry point.  It only took about 5 minutes to walk up, and the views were amazing. I had come up 13 years prior but Kacey never got the chance. We spent almost 20 minutes walking around taking in the views. Next we visited the duomo crypt and then the baptistry. Nolan and I had an entry time for the cupola tour at 3pm. This was a pretty neat tour. You are guided along the top, going in and out of the church along the way. It was a lot of views you don't normally get to enjoy. When we finished up we met the others in the Facciatone. This is the panoramic overview of the city from the unfinished expansion of the cathedral. When we finished there (they limit your time), I walked out of town toward the Horse Monument with Nolan and Liana; this was the old route we would walk in and out of town when we lived there. We met Kacey and Colin at St. Catharine's church, where her relics are located. We went back to the hotel for some rest before back to Nonno Mede for our last meal there. That night we ended up talking to a young man from Mozambique we had seen at dinner each night who was in Siena studying. We finished the night at Il Campo eating gelato and playing with a family from Cordoba and their daughter Sophia. The next morning we got on the road pretty early for a big day of driving and our detour through Pisa.

Pisa

We got to the duomo around 10:45 and we booked a tower entry for 11:15. The area was pretty crowded, but that was completly expected. We got separated after leaving the tower and Nolan, Liana and I stopped in the baptistry on the way to the car. We heard one of the workers sing at noon, a famous activity they perform there due to the incredible acoustics. We decided to stop at an AutoGrill for lunch rather than finding food in Pisa. We started the drive to Venice and found some food a little after 1pm.

Venice

On our drive to Venice we had our first traffic reroute. We got to our hotel around 4:30. I picked a hotel by the airport as a bus line services the area from the bus station on the island, and it would help us make our very early flight Saturday morning. VCE House is a nice little spot where you rent out the first floor and the owners live upstairs. It is a 2 bed 2 bath with kitchen, and a couple chairs to sit outside if you like. Once checked in we drove the car to the island to drop off by 6pm. Once we figured out where to go and got to the office, it was 5:55. We started walking toward the Rialto bridge. We wanted to explore just a little instead of taking the water taxi in to town. We found some pastries to have for breakfast. We weren't expecting much for dinner, so we found a recommendation from our travel guide and went to Madonna for dinner. It was just ok. After dinner we did some shopping, gelato, and listened to a street musician for a bit. We ended up at San Marco and took the water taxi back to the bus station. Some boats were not running and it took forever to get wedged in to a boat. We got to the hotel by 11 and got to bed by midnight.

On our last day in Italy, we slept in and ate some snacks and pastries in the apartment. We also packed our bags to be ready for the very early departure the next day. We got to San Marco by 12:30 and ate at Pomodoro Rosso at 1pm; it was actually pretty good! We walked toward Rialto bridge and said if we found a gondola ride on the back streets we would take it. We found an interested area and Liana really wanted to do it, so we got on. It was about a 25 minute ride through the narrow alleys, and we went out to the Grand Canal to pass under the Rialto bridge. It was a good ride! We decided to then eat our last gelato of the trip by returning to Fantasy Gelato, which had amazing dark chocolate. I also had a coke slushi as it was hot. We walked around just a bit more before heading to the water taxi to get back. Our plan was to grab some food to eat at the apartment and go to bed early. The bus was detoured on the way back due to a concert, and it took forever. We grabbed a quick pizza to eat and got to bed, as the next morning we had to be at the airport around 4:15. Venice airport is not great and takes forever!

Summary

Colin's favorite things were gelato and the leaning tower of Pisa. 

Liana's favorite things were gelato, our gondola ride, and Orvieto.

We picked our itinerary based on things we loved seeing in the past and things we thought the kids would enjoy. We decided to drive as we are comfortable with driving in Italy, it lets us stay more flexible with our schedule, and lets us explore areas not easily serviced by trains.


Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Mason

We laid Mason to rest Monday, April 17. He had a great 17 years with us. He was a great annoyance/companion to Stella. He caught mice in Ireland, lizards in California, bunnies in North Carolina, more mice in Rhode Island, climbed on the house a lot in California, and got very close to Liana once Stella passed. He often slept with her and she is heartbroken that he is gone. He loved being outside, smelling the air, watching birds, eating grass, and drinking from the faucet. He hated having his claws trimmed, and hated being in a carrier. He put up with kids quite well. Farewell, Mason Thomas, aka May-May.









Monday, April 17, 2023

Utah and Arizona National Park Tour

For Spring Break 2023, we did the National Park loop through Utah and Arizona. I had traveled this area in high school and was excited to show the family the beauty of the area. Since we have a fourth grader, we got a national parks pass for free. We gave the kids the small canon camera to use on their own. We landed at 9:15am. We had placed a Walmart pickup order of snacks, food, and water for the car. We also grabbed some In-N-Out in Vegas before our drive to Zion.

Zion National Park

March 31

We arrived to Zion National Park around 4pm after losing an hour of time change along the way. It was cold, but sunny. Luckily we packed hats and gloves and long pants, so the cold didn't affect us too much. We first stopped at the visitor center. I had thought about Watchman trail but after talking to a ranger we decided to do it in the morning and instead do Lower Emerald Falls.

I next checked in at the Zion Park Lodge. I got basically the last room when I booked last fall. The lodge isn't super nice, but nothing at all wrong with it. The views are nice, and staying at the lodge lets you drive in to the park and not be 100% reliant on the shuttle, and not wait in line in the morning to enter the park.  Staying at the park lodges is recommended to save time during the trip.

After checking in we walked Lower Emerald Pools hike. You get a little wet under the falls, and the hike was pretty sloppy with mud near the falls. We then drove back to town for dinner at Zion Pizza and Noodle. Liana did gymnastics with a girl in the grass outside. The food was just ok. On our way back to the lodge, we saw a group of Mule deer along road.

April 1

I woke up and took two kids to breakfast around 7:30, and the views are quite nice from the Red Rock Grill. They only have a larger buffet, and no longer offer a continental breakfast, and we don't eat a lot of heavy food for breakfast. But, we made it work. On the way back to our room, I saw some friends from church checking out! We drove to the visitor center to hike the Watchman Trail as the sun came up over mountain. We started the hike around 10:30. It started out chilly but once the sun came up over the mountain, it was nice. A Mule deer walked right in front of us at one point! It changed from cold shade to sunny nice view at top. And, it started to get quite crowded after we reached the top. After our descent, we drove back to the lodge to eat leftover pizza and pasta for lunch. I also checked out the lodge beer garden (surprised to see one). Drafts can only be 5% ABV in Utah, and you are usually required to buy food with beer.

After lunch we took the shuttle north to Weeping Rock. It was a short, steep walk to the waterfall that 'weeps' out of the rock. We then took the shuttle to Riverside Walk. The Riverside Walk turns in to the Narrows when the path ends at the river. We walked back to start of the Narrows, but didn't hike in to the river.  People wore boots and chest-high rain gear for that part of the trail.  On our way out, we saw wild turkeys!

We took the shuttle back to the Lodge. We bought some soft serve ice cream and the kids ran around in the grass. Next we walked to Upper Emerald Pools. We had to cross middle falls stream. Upper Pools were very crowded. We took the same trail back down, as the middle falls crossing was too deep to cross without boots.

We went to Zion Brewery for dinner. There we tried a local dish, chimichurri fries. Flavor was good, but a  dip would be better than soggy fries in our opinion. Outside dinner, the kids ran in grass for a while.

April 2

I took two kids to breakfast again. After packing up and checking out, we drove toward Bryce Canyon. That drive goes through a tunnel on the east side of the park. From there we hiked the Canyon Overlook Trail. Not much parking but a great view at the end. This hike is a little tricky in places, but doable. The tunnel entrance was quite backed up the other direction.

Bryce Canyon

It is about a 1.5 hour drive to Bryce Canyon City, a pretty and easy drive. We even stopped once to throw snowballs for a minute. I spotted people photographing an eagle on a fence post but it flew off before I could stop and get a picture. We had lunch at Ruby's (about all there is is Ruby's owned-stuff). Then drive to Bryce Canyon visitor center for maps and stamps.

We parked at the lodge, but could not check in early. We first walked to Sunrise and Sunset Points. Packed snow paths lead to the rim trail, which was also a snow packed trail. Sunrise Point was tricky to get up due to slick icy snow. Queens Garden trail was open but needed crampons, which we did not have and chose not to rent. Hoodoos, which are tall thin rock formations, looked great with snow. Nolan and I walked through 2-3 ft snow drifts to get the car and pick up the others from Sunset. We drove to Inspiration Point. Then drove to Bryce Point (had to wait in line to park). Bryce Point was awesome. We checked in Sunrise Lodge.

We then drove to Mossy Cave (had to wait 20 minutes to park). It was a nice hike, not too long, snowy at points, and kids liked the frozen waterfall. Kacey found dinner in Tropic at Stone Hearth Grille. It was fancy, food overall good, and way out of the way. Once back from dinner, Kacey and I walked out for the end of sunset over the canyon.

April 3

We decided to wake up early and drive through Capitol Reef on our way to Arches. It was a nice peaceful drive north on 22. We watched the sun emerge among the mountains. Then we took 62 to 24. This took about 2 hours.

Capitol Reef

We stopped on the western edge at Chimney Rock and Panorama Point. The Fluted Wall looked interesting and then we realized it was also an official pullover spot. We stopped at the visitor center for a map and stamp. We stopped at Petroglyphs and also stopped at Capitol Dome viewpoint.

The drive from Capitol Reef to Hanksville was really nice! We enjoyed watching the scenery and the Henry Mountains in the distance. There were many rock formations and colors and types of rock along the way. The rest of 24 north to I-70 was straight and easy, and quite dusty at points. We were able to make it to Moab for lunch. We ate at Antica Forma and liked the pizza as it was authentic Italian. We had a 2pm entry to Arches so we had time to check in at our hotel first. 

Arches

We entered the line at 1:50 and pulled in at 2. We stopped at the visitor center first for maps and stamps and bathroom. Our first stop in the park was Courthouse Towers briefly. The kids were spotting arches and formations from the car. We next walked to Balanced Rock. It was very windy and blowing dust, so the kids put on masks. Next we parked at end of Windows Rd and first saw Turret Arch. Then walked over to North and South Windows Arches. We decided to walk the primitive trail around back of Windows to see Spectacles; the two Windows Arches look like glasses from the back. Then walked the other way from the parking lot to Double Arch and Parade of Elephants formation. Next we drove to Delicate Arch viewpoint parking area. Walked the trail to Upper Viewpoint; it was a bit steep at points but not too hard. On our way out of the park we spotted Pothole Arch from the car. We went to Moab Brewery for dinner and had gelato next door. Kacey got Thai take-out instead, after being tired of the many brewery-style meals.

April 4

We had 9am entrance time, got there around 9:45 or so. We started back at the Devil's Garden and started the hike around 10:30. Landscape was first, that walk was easy. The next 1/2 mile was steep and narrow and climbing up a rock wall. It was intense. Then it opened up for a while until right before Black Arch overlook. Another rock cliff edge that was also pretty intense. The walk beyond that to Double O was easier until right at the end, descent was a little tricky. We could see Dark Angel pillar from there so we didn't walk to it. I helped Liana and Kacey skip part of the return walk near Black Arch overlook. We ended up near Partition Arch on the return so walked there and it was an amazing view! Very under-rated with a portrait view of the horizon. We had to crab walk back down tricky section near Landscape Arch. Nolan and I ran out to Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch quickly before the car. Pine Tree Arch was ok, Tunnel Arch not great after so many other sites. We ate lunch in the car a little after 2, late as Devil's Garden took longer than expected. Instead of the long trail to Delicate Arch, we changed plans and drove out to Canyonlands. We could see Skyline Arch from the car on way out.

Canyonlands

We got to the Island in the Sky visitor center around 4pm. We stopped at several view points and drove out to Grand View Point. Kacey really loved the landscapes of Canyonlands, and we were very glad to visit last minute! The park is very vast and beautiful with wide landscapes.  Some of the other parks were a single large canyon and this was a nice change to broad landscapes.  We tried a fancy Italian place for dinner but were denied our booking so ended up back at Antica Forma with great food and nice people.

April 5

We got up to drive to Page, AZ for lunch, about a 4 hour and 15 minute drive. Leaving Moab is slow, lots of trucks and no passing lanes. But, the road opens up after 30 minutes or so. We took a slight detour to Mexican Hat balanced rock and driving through Monument Valley.  We took pictures of the famous end of running scene from Forrest Gump. The scenery was nice in Arizona. In Page, we went to Horseshoe Bend first. It is pretty crowded but you can easily get a turn near an edge for pictures. We tried to go to Grand Canyon Brewery for lunch but the kitchen very backed up. Kacey found Dam Bar and Grille. It was good! We went to Glen Canyon Dam visitor center but it was closed that day. And Glen Canyon Rec Area visitor center was just offices. After a quick stop at a dam overlook with Colin, we headed to Antelope Adventures for our 3pm tour of Upper Antelope Canyon.

Antelope Canyon

Came highly recommended. The Navajo Nation runs tours through their canyons. Tour operators are found here. We used Adventurous Antelope Canyon Tours. Irene was our driver and tour guide and she was really great. The tour is multiple small groups, slightly spaced out. We were the first small group in and Irene set up photo scenes for everyone. She also adjusted everyone's phones and cameras for ultimate shots. She kept calling Kacey "Samsung" because of her phone, and said she had the best camera.  Irene's pictures from Kacey's phone were amazing. She shared a bit of knowledge and shared that while she is retired, she still enjoys doing these tours. When we returned to the car, we had a 2.5 hour drive to Grand Canyon Village.

Grand Canyon

When we passed through the gate, we stopped in Desert View parking lot and saw a coyote! We decided to not get out and look as it was late and we were hungry. Check in at Maswik Lodge was a little confusing in the dark; we could not figure out where to go. The signs were misleading and things are not well lit (which is fine, but good signs could be fixed). We checked in to Spruce cabin and went back to the main building to eat at Pizza Pub. They were quickly running out of food at 7:30, so we just ordered a cheese pizza and ate other snacks in the room.

April 6

The lodge breakfast is only really some hot food, which we really don't eat much of. So I drove to the General Store for milk, OJ, and donuts for breakfast with our car food and cereal. We walked out to Bright Angel Trailhead for first look at canyon. We headed east on the rim toward Verkamp's visitor center (the main visitor center was closed for staff training). We decided to shuttle back to the car and drive to Mather Point. While walking out to the point, we saw elk up close. We then drove down the road to Yavapai Geology Museum. Looked around at information areas for a while. We decided for lunch at Fred Harvey Burger in the Bright Angel Lodge. Finding food in the village can be hard, everything seems to have big waits or no available reservations and not enough kitchen workers. We got lucky and were seated almost immediately, though.

After lunch we took red shuttle west toward Hermit's Rest. There was a long line (morning was longer but they were putting more people on buses) and they weren't filling buses to make room for people along the way. So, we walked to walk the rim to the first stop, Trail View overlook. From there we got right on a bus. We got off at Powell for views. Then started to walk to Hopi as a bus pulled up, so we took the bus to next close stop, Hopi Point. We realized we had plenty of time, so we also stopped at Mohave Point. Then bussed to The Abyss. From here we spotted California Condors! Also, the Abyss didn't seem as dramatic a drop as the next stop, Monument Creek. We continued on the bus to Pima Point, and finally bus to the end of the road, Hermit's Rest. There was a neat little old cabin here. We took the shuttle back to Transfer station stop. Along the way we saw more elk along road, and even spotted a Javelina on the road from the bus. Too quick for picture, though, it kept walking off in to woods. With some time to spare, we drove out to Desert View for views. We could have maybe gotten some tickets to go up the tower, but would have had to wait 30 minutes to do so. We drove back to Grand View Point for some sunset views. We decided to drive to Mather Point for more sunset views. This was a good spot. For dinner we decided on Fred Harvey Tavern, as the restaurant was booked up. The tavern was first come first serve and the line wasn't too long when we started. But, once we ordered, we waited an hour for our food due to kitchen backups. The food as a whole in Grand Canyon park was frustrating and disappointing due to lack of availability.

Decided instead of a whole other day at Grand Canyon, to go Vegas early via Valley of Fire and show kids the strip and lights.

Valley of Fire

April 7

We left the village around 9:30 or so. The line to get in to the park on the south side was pretty long, but that is where most people stay who can't get a spot in the village. We found Chipotle for lunch in Kingman, AZ.  After the lack of food in the Grand Canyon park and the overabundance of breweries, Chipotle was almost refreshing. Chris just had a PB&J while driving. From Hoover Dam (which you can't see from the Interstate by design), we drove north through Lake Mead National Recreation Area to Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. We started at the east entrance at Elephant Rock. Next was the visitor center. Here, we attempted to recreate a picture from 2012 with Nolan. There was a wedding party getting ready for their ceremony here. We did the scenic drive to Silica Dome, then White Domes trailhead. On way out saw sheep near the road on cliff. Last we drove by Petroglyphs, Arch Rock, and the Beehives.

Las Vegas

We drove to Park MGM for our room. We had to quickly get unloaded and walk to Caesars, as Kacey got a dinner reservation at Water Grille. It was pretty nice and fancy, and the kids did well. Sushi, oysters, fish, mac n cheese. We walked by the Bellagio to watch a couple light shows. We finished by eating gelato at Eataly at our hotel.

April 8

Kacey scheduled lunch at Eataly when they opened at 11. We drove by Omega Mart the week prior when we arrived and the kids went crazy. So, we bought an entrance time for 12:40pm. We had no idea what was going on, but the kids really enjoyed it. It was weird but an experience.  After, we drove back to the strip and parked at Cosmopolitan. We walked in Bellagio a bit. We finished off with dinner at Rainforest Cafe before heading to the airport.

Approximate Route here

If you would like to see our pictures, just ask me for a link!





Monday, February 01, 2021

Grandpa VanHook

 These past few days I have been flooded with good memories of my grandpa. He lived a long and wonderful life. I have memories of growing up and loving going to my favorite place, grandma and grandpa's house, the house he built with his hands. Looking through all the tools in his workshop, playing basketball with cousins on the gravel (no blood, no foul), kickball games at the sidewalk corner, his awesome tire swing, catching crawdads in the creek, baseball with the walnuts, and learning how to properly play with fire while camping. I have memories of high school, running down to Bloomington to walk the par 3 with grandpa after school, getting a quick dinner at grandma's during band camp week, and playing a little band music with him at church. Getting to visit his home in Texas and seeing all the areas he had built down there too. And I will never forget when staying at their house one Christmas in 2010 when I discovered the hidden closet area he built under the stairs and how he hid/designed the entrance. When grandma and grandpa sold their house, all I wanted was some tools and odds and ends from his workshop. Now, a piece of grandpa goes in to many of my projects.

I learned a lot from my grandpa. We taught me to work hard, but not to forget to enjoy the world around you. He helped inspire my love of travel, and I loved talking to him about places we had both been, and places I had not yet been to that he told me about. I learned how to loudly sing the bass part of hymns in church, especially the ones with an echo in the bass line. I will forever think of and hear grandpa when I sing "I Surrender All". 

Thank you God for the blessing of grandpa in my life. I am sure you have already joined the band in Heaven, and inquired about where the workshop is.

 

https://www.costinfuneralchapel.com/obituary/richard-dick-van-hook

Richard "Dick" Van Hook

December 22, 1928 - January 27, 2021

U.S. Veteran

Richard Lee “Dick” Van Hook, 92, of Martinsville, passed away Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at IU Health Bloomington Hospital.

He was born December 22, 1928 to the late Jesse and Effie Zee Van Hook in Fountain County, Indiana.

Dick served his country in the United States Navy including a tour with the “Seabees”. He also served as a firefighter in Indianapolis and worked as a tool and die man for Jenn-Air Products. Dick’s passion was music. He played trumpet in bands in Martinsville, Greenwood, and Texas. He was also a skilled artist who loved painting, working with stained glass, pastels, woodworking, and even sculpting, having successfully restored the fountain at the Soldiers and Sailors Children’s Home by re-working fiberglass and re-casting. Dick was also a skilled craftsman. He designed and built his home for himself and his wife Marybeth where they spent several years of their life together. Dick was a devoted family man and a Christian. He was a member of Eastview Christian Church and spent much of his life traveling the world with Marybeth.

He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Mary Elizabeth (Hunt) Van Hook who he married February 4, 1951; son, Richard Lee Van Hook, II and wife Charlene of Washington state; daughters, Karen Lynn Phillips and husband John of Mooresville, Marylee Maxwell and husband Kelly of Martinsville, Kimberly Kay Atnip and husband Bob of Westfield; sister, Mary Katherine Moody; 10 grandchildren; 18 great grandchildren.

He is preceded in death by his parents; sister, Ruth Ellen Bryant.

Private services for the family are Tuesday, February 2, 2021 at Costin Funeral Chapel.

Entombment with military and fire department honors will be at Nebo Memorial Park Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Eastview Christian Church, 2745 Old Morgantown Road, Martinsville, IN 46151 or to Camp Allendale, 4605 South Allendale Drive, Trafalgar, IN 46181.

SERVICES
Private Viewing

Tuesday, February 02, 2021

Costin Funeral Chapel
539 E Washington St.
Martinsville, Indiana 46151

Private Service

Tuesday, February 02, 2021

Costin Funeral Chapel
539 E Washington St.
Martinsville, Indiana 46151

Saturday, June 08, 2019

Santorini

We were really looking forward to spending a relaxing few days on the island of Santorini, and celebrating our 15 year anniversary! On Tuesday we caught our early 6:30am flight to Athens from Rhodes and ate some breakfast during our layover. We arrived to Santorini airport at 10 and even though we had to wait a while for our bags, we got outside right as a bus to Fira was getting ready to leave. We arrived at the bus station and in general I knew which way to walk to our hotel, but knew it was downhill too. After a slow decent down the steps, we arrived at Hotel Keti. I did something I don't normally do; I splurged on a nice hotel with an amazing view and didn't tell Kacey about it. It was a great room to relax for a few days with probably some of the best views in town; we could see both the caldera and town, but it was very private as well. The first day we just walked around and enjoyed ourselves. We ate an ok lunch at Select Cafe. Food, in general, is expensive due to Fira being a cruise ship town, but the view and food were ok. We found the supermarket south of town and bought snacks and drinks for the room; bread, olive oil, cookies, crackers, juice, wine, and beer. We also bought a little delicious Easter cupcake pastry from a small wine shop. We had a forgettable dinner at Fanari at the top of the port steps. While we didn't get a sunset due to the weather, it was still nice to watch the town go dark at night while sitting on our terrace. We also walked around a bit at night for views of the town. We stopped at a crepe place; the owner was quite fun and interacting with customers, and we talked with a couple from NC.

Panoramic view of our room and town view

The next day we just relaxed and hung out. I took a load of laundry for service, only 10. I went for a walk along the coast up to Imerovigli near Skaros Rock. The path was closed at one spot due to it completely collapsing but there was no warning and it took about 20 minutes to get around it, but I found an awesome view of the Three Bells of Fira. Kacey did nothing and basically hung out in the hot tub all day, with a book, a little knitting, and some of the snacks from the grocery.  She enjoyed this because doing nothing is a very rare occurrence.  For our anniversary dinner, we went to Oia and walked around town shopping and looking for nice views. Then we walked down to Ammoudi. This is supposed to be one of the best sunset dinner views, but alas it was again extremely cloudy. We still enjoyed our trip and walk around Oia. We called a taxi to return home and ended up taking a van up the hill and then shared a ride with an American family who had booked the van. We enjoyed some ice cream and baklava at Solo Gelato. I had the traditional baklava with Mastic ice cream (a unique acquired taste from tree sap - however it looked similar to vanilla) and Kacey had a baklava milkshake.

Three Bells of Fira

Thursday was another slow day, but we wanted to see a bit more of the island. Kacey found a yoga class at a hostel inland.  She enjoyed the views of the coast and ocean from up higher during the very non-challenging class. We then took the bus out to Santorini Brewery. They had 4 or 5 beers on tap but nothing was that great. At least they didn't charge for the tastes. Around the corner was Canava Roussos winery. We planned to walk around a try a few wineries since many are out in this area. We enjoyed sampling here and talking to the employees. We walked up the road toward Volcano winery and stopped at Chatiri for lunch. It was a small mom and pop place and we were the only ones there. We got a few sides and it was nice. We walked up to Volcanic Slopes but they really only offered high end tastings for like 45 each. Not really our thing so we walked toward what was supposed to be a nice, famous church. Panagia Episkopi was pretty neat and the caretaker let us in as Kacey was snooping around. There is a small blue-top church along the way that we took some pictures of. We then walked down to Argyros winery (and accidentally walked around their entire property). Kacey did their sample menu and I just relaxed. The tour here was nice too. We caught the bus back to Fira and ate at Naussa. It was once again cloudy for sunset and even tried to rain. We peeked in the large Orthodox church right before it closed.

Small church next to Panagia Episkopi

Friday we decided to drive south on the island. We had heard Greek police can fine Americans for driving but were assured by many people that on Santorini, this doesn't happen. So we got a Fiat Panda and first stopped in Megalochori as this was supposed to be a neat little village. Well, we didn't really find anything of note and moved on. Next we headed to Akrotiki Lighthouse. We stopped at a beautiful church along the way. The lighthouse had what seemed to be a bunch of Americans walking around the rocks, but it was still really nice. We could not go in as it was chained up. Next we went to Red Beach. People were parking quite far away but we kept driving and parked basically at the start of the hike. Many people carry stuff to go sit on the beach but we just enjoyed taking it in and listening to someone play the accordion for a while on top of the hill with views of the beach. On our way to Vlichada beach we stopped at bakery and loaded up on lunch food and delicious snacks. We were going to just relax at this beach and eat, but it was kind of run down and empty, and not really anything around except a small fishing port. So after we ate we decided to go relax at Perissa Beach. This was a great idea and the area is really built for just relaxing on the beach. Lots of food places and a long beach to pick our favorite area. I was interested in getting a jetski especially as no one was really using them; that was because they were terribly expensive. After a couple hours and relaxing and fruity drinks, we next drove up to the tallest peak, Profitis Ilias, which has a monestary on top. You can pretty much see everything and it was a nice view. After taking it in for a bit, we decided to get back to our hotel room to watch the sunset from there. On our way down, the road was closed through town for the Easter celebration parade. So, we rerouted south and around the town. Luckily, I was able to leave the rental car at the small lot super close to the hotel. We watched an amazing sunset from our private spa. It was so relaxing. Afterward, we went up and people were starting to congregate around the church, including a small marching band. This was the part of Easter week where people march around with relics from the church and a band plays some music. As it was getting late, I grabbed a street gyro and then we stopped in Dionysos for some meze appetizers and a large bottle of Donkey White from Santorini Brewing (this beer is only available in large bottles).

The view of Red Beach

Saturday, our last full day, we decided to do the hike to Oia. After a slow, relaxing morning, we started off around 11:30. We walked by Volkan on the Rocks to ask about Volkan beer. This is the better beer I had tried on the island and I learned that they were still building their large bottling and tour center. As I had already done this part of the walk, I knew how to get around the closed part of the path quickly and got Kacey up to the Three Bells of Fira. It is a really pretty sight and as there were no cruise ships as it was Saturday, the views were not obstructed by big ships. We stopped in Imerovigli for some lunch; I got a sandwich from a deli/convenience store and Kacey got a risotto from a restaurant named Vigla, that was so new they had only a verbal menu read by the server.  The server and Kacey jokingly agreed they would swap and live in each other's countries.  We left for our hike around 1:30 and made it to Oia by 3:30. The first hill climb had a small church on the cliff just down the cliff off the path. We didn't go down as it looked really small. Halfway up the hill path was a small church that we walked around the outside. At the top of this first hill climb was a beautiful blue topped church. The hike down was pretty rough with desert-like conditions and a loose gravel path. At the bottom we had to walk the road for a quarter mile or so. Before getting back on the path there was a small snack shop selling cold water bottles for only 2 euros, so we got one. At the start of the next hill climb we were offered a donkey ride but declined. There were some abandoned cave homes partially built. This was a pretty big hill climb but not too treacherous and at the top we were rewarded with a cozy little church and great views of Oia and the caldera. Once we got in to town we found the first place with toilets and a cold smoothie and stopped there. We walked to the bus stop and while waiting for the bus looked for another cold smoothie but could not find a good one. Once back I stopped at a bar and got 2 for 1 mai tais and Kacey bought rose and lavender liquour (to take home) and a little cake. We could not find any good take away dinner so we just got a little ice cream and went to watch another amazing sunset. After that we went to Nikolas for an amazing dinner; potatoes, cheese dip, octopus, pork souvlaki, Ouzo, and vino. We talked briefly with one of the owners (we think) and she was very nice and friendly and spoke some Italian too. Afterward we stopped for more yummy ice cream at Zotos; very interesting and delicious flavors, I wished we had found it sooner! We were up until midnight when the Easter fireworks started. All the bells were chiming songs and each village was setting off fireworks. It was quite a show!

Our sunset view

Sunday was our day to leave. We checked out and walked down the path to the port. We bought some tiles and a picture. We took the cable car back up and stopped in a few more shops as we hadn't bought much stuff at all. I got one last gyro and Kacey got a falafel. We also bought some wine, raki, and ouzo. We caught the 2pm bus to the airport and sat in this very small airport for an hour or so before flying back to Athens to catch our flight home.

Friday, May 31, 2019

Rhodes

Our direct flight to Rhodes has us landing around 9:15am. We learned the taxis in Rhodes are mostly based on a fixed price system, which was really nice! We were dropped off pretty close to our hotel in the old town, but I knew going in we would have to walk just a bit. We arrived at Petrino hotel around 10:30 and were greeted with orange juice and room that was almost ready. Our room here was amazing. I had purchased a deluxe room with a city view, but had no idea it would be a huge 2 story condo with a kitchen and a large roof terrace. This was possibly one of my favorite hotel rooms I have stayed in. Panos was super helpful in helping us plan out our stay. We decided to go to Lindos on our first day and stay in the Old Town the second day. We walked to the bus station and after checking the schedule for a bus, Kacey found good homemade spanakopita and they offered us both some yummy dessert for free that kind of tasted like persimmon. We got the 1pm bus to Lindos and arrived there right around 2pm. We were not quite sure how long the Acropolis would be open as it was a Sunday, so we headed down to town and straight back up to the entrance. It was open later than we thought, but a nice start to our visit of this town. We took in the views and wandered the ruins for an hour or so. We headed back down to town to check out the shops and hunt for a place for late lunch. We ended up at Kalypso and the view and food were both good. I had to run back down to a shop to buy new sunglasses as mine were missing and the sun was just too bright (they broke a few days later). After an enjoyable lunch as we were leaving, we ended up talking to an older British couple for about 20 minutes. They vacation in Lindos every year for a month or so and were sharing stories of Easter traditions and finding Greek yarn (she told us that we were just next to a hidden yarn shop in Athens - the only place she has found good yarn in Greece.  Sad to have missed it.). I was craving a nutella crepe, so I found one while we visited a couple more shops. We realized we were getting short on time but Kacey really wanted to visit the beach, so we ran down, took it in for just a few minutes, then ran back up to catch the last bus to Rhodes town at 6pm. The ride back took about 15 minutes longer due to more stops for people returning to their hotels, but we had a good rest. The Old Town was pretty dead by this time but we went to Taverna Kostas. This was a family run joint and while the food was just ok, we enjoyed talking to the owner and his son for a while. We stopped at the 24 hour bakery, Phournariko, and got a little sweets, including a very yummy orange cake.

Lindos Acropolis

We slept in a bit and packed our bags, as we were staying near the airport that night for an early flight. We walked west toward the clock tower and the Hafiz Ahmet Library. We stopped in a few shops along the way. A cruise ship had obviously arrived in the morning as the streets were filled with people. We walked north to tour the Palace of the Grand Master. After buying tickets, we decided to go grab a bite to eat first. After a pastry and a Greek coffee, we then toured the palace and its museum. Our combo ticket then had us walk east down the Street of the Knights to the Our Lady of the Castle church. We poked our heads in a special museum exhibit about death jars, but no photos were allowed. We then toured the museum, which was a lot of rooms full of ruins. We were a little tired of these by now, so we walked north toward the port. We walked around the windmills and the Fort of St. Nicholas on the east pier. Then after another (forgettable) snack at the Yacht Club we walked north along the west pier toward the beach. We saw a diving board out in the sea and two swimmers heading toward it. We waited while we watched them dive and then headed back to the hotel to get a dinner recommendation. Panos directed us to Pizanias "The Sea Star". We had a nice seat outside in the sun and next to the little charcoal grill where some food was prepared. It was a good meal of fava bean dip (traditional), smoked mackerel, symi shrimp, and grilled haloumi. We got a cab out to our airport hotel and arranged for someone to open the hotel at 5am for us to leave. We also walked toward the water and ate some dessert at Cake Box.

Rhodes Port, and possible location of the Colossus of Rhodes

Athens


Thursday was a very early start but we landed around 7am and took the metro to Syntagma Square. We arrived at Plaka Hotel around 8:30am and went to enjoy their breakfast! I booked a room with an Acropolis view and it definitely did not disappoint. The hotel also had a rooftop bar with amazing views, especially at night. Our plan for the day was to not do too much and relax and enjoy the day; we were planning on walking the Acropolis early the next day. We walked around the shops near Monastiraki Square and got a glimpse of the hustlers near the metro station (selling bracelets and roses by putting them on you without asking). We walked by Hadrian's Library and noticed people just walking in and out. We went to investigate and learned all monuments and historical sites were free today! The library was mostly a few small ruins, but we decided to go ahead and check out a few sites as we were not feeling too tired. We went to the nearby Ancient Agora first. Our guide book mentioned a few things and we strolled around the park looking at the ruins. It tried to spit a little rain, but it quickly cleared and the day was very pleasant. The views of the Acropolis the entire time really made the walk quite enjoyable. I then found a gyro street vendor, Bairaktaris, and enjoyed a big sandwich (with french fries inside) with a beer. After a little rest, we decided to walk to the Roman Forum and Tower of the Winds, as it was only a couple blocks from our hotel. The Tower of the Winds is in good shape for its age and used to house a water clock. We were feeling good so we decided to walk toward Hadrian's Arch, through the winding streets of the Plaka area. We walked down an alley and saw it straight ahead, across a busy intersection. We took a couple pictures and j-walked across the road to the park where the arch is located. Also in this park is the Temple of Olympian Zeus, which was also free today. We entered and walked around the grassy area for a bit. There is nothing much here except the large columns that still stand. We checked a map and saw that we were not too far from the Panathenaic Stadium, so we walked there next. This is the site of the first modern Olympics in 1896. This site was also free so we wandered around, took photos, and checked out the small museum containing a lot of cool Olympics stuff. We were wanting a snack so we started walking toward the area of the Acropolis Museum. We found a place called Veganaki that looked good. We got a couple drinks and a falafel snack and rested for a bit and chatted with family while we waited. We then wandered toward the museum to investigate, as well as check out the southeast entrance to Acropolis. Along the way we found a dessert shop that was selling little baklava rolls filled with ice cream, they were so good! The Acropolis entrance was closed off for some reason, so we checked out the museum. It looked like we should probably visit at another time as it was getting late, so after using their WC we went to walk around a bit more. We were thinking about walking clockwise around the Acropolis toward our hotel, but noticed the entrance had reopened, and it was free, and had no line. We discussed and decided to go ahead and walk the Acropolis now as the crowds seemed to be reduced due to it being late afternoon. This seems to have been a good decision as we still had plenty of time to go at a slower pace if we wanted, but the crowd was smaller. We stayed up until close to sunset and walked down the northwestern slope to leave, toward Mars Hill, or Areopagus. We rested on the rock for a bit and slowly made our way down the paths back toward our hotel. We talked with the front desk about dinner options and were recommended toward Taverna Tou Psirri. This place was very good and were we first had tirokafteri (spicy cheese dip).  The table next to us told us that it is also in Rick Steves book as a restaurant recommendation.  Well earned!  After dinner I picked up some chocolate baklava from a dessert place called Nancy's Sweet Home in English. It was also very good. We did about 33,000 steps today!

View of the Acropolis from our room
Panathenaic Stadium

The next morning, since we didn't need to get up early for the Acropolis, we slept in. Kacey tried to go to yoga in the park, but couldn't find it and it was probably cancelled. She did find the Changing of the Guard ceremony at the Parliament building on her return walk to the hotel. After some breakfast, we decided to go up Mount Lycabettus. We stopped in the large Metropolitan Orthodox church next to the hotel. We lazily made our way east and saw another changing of the guard. We also walked by some sort of protest, but couldn't figure out what it was about. We walked up the hill a few blocks to the cable car. It runs in ground, which seemed a bit weird. On top of the mountain is a small cafe which didn't seem great. We peeked in the small St. George church and took in the views of Athens. We could see the sea from the top as well. We took the cable car back down and searched out some food. We ended up at Kolonaki, a restaurant shop for Kostarelos dairy company. The food was pretty good here. We did some window shopping on our walk back toward Plaka. I ran ahead for coffee and rest while Kacey looked at a few more shops. With our new found extra time due to changing schedule, we decided to book a tour or event of some sort. We ended up booking a Greek Cooking Class, so we met at Chocolat Royal at 4:30, not really knowing what to expect. We were greeted by our host Sofia and lovely views of the Acropolis. There was another American family also attending the class with us. Five people was a great size and we lucked out that there wasn't 12. We learned several simple Greek techniques on things we have attempted to make before. Sofia was not a professional chef, which I think helped, as she talked about cooking experiences with her mother and grandmother. We learned about grape leaves, spanakopita, Greek potatoes, and made lamb, zucchini fritters, salad, and yogurt dessert. We then ate everything after the kitchen cooked it for us, with ouzo provided while cooking and wine with dinner. Once dinner was complete, we looked outside to realize we had the perfect view of Acropolis with a full moon behind it, quite amazing. We went back to the hotel and sat at the rooftop bar just relaxing and taking in the view of the Acropolis until 11:30.

Full Moon behind Acropolis

Saturday we slept in and packed our bags in the morning. We were going to spend some time at the National Archaeological Museum and walk around a bit more. We decided to taxi up to the museum and along the way we spotted the central Athens market. There was a pretty long line to get in to the museum, but it wasn't super crowded when we got in. We lazily walked around and checked out a few highlights. We decided to just grab a bite at the museum cafe which wasn't too bad. We got fresh squeezed orange juice and Oregano flavored Lays chips... they tasted more like garlic. We starting walking back toward the Plaka area and walked through the central markets a bit. There were dozens of meat markets selling whole and half sheep (for Easter) and lots of entrails.  Then we walked through the very busy fish market. It was an experience walking through both markets.  Lastly, we gazed at all the herbs and spices, wishing we could buy a bunch and bring them home. Next we went to the Herakleidon Museum, the science and math museum.  (We skipped the 'technology of war' side of the museum). This was a small yet pretty cool museum. We then walked around the Monastiraki Square to pick a touristy place for dinner. I wanted something with music, and we ended up at Dia Tauta. It was ok for the touristy area, but the ambiance was nice. We then grabbed our bags and took the metro to the airport and then attempted and mostly failed to take a taxi to our airport hotel.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Ephesus

We had a short flight to Izmir at 7pm and took a short taxi ride to the DoubleTree. They had a restaurant next door so we got pizzas and went to bed.

Wednesday morning our tour guide Ozge met us at the hotel. I had prebooked a tour through a reliable company on trip advisor and as in the past, this worked out well. To our pleasant surprise, we ended up also having a separate driver, and our tour guide went through the exhibits and sites with us. We first toured the House of the Virgin Mary. Then we walked around Ephesus for a couple hours, including the Terrace Houses. Next we quickly stopped by the Temple of Artemis, which is mostly ruins. They took us for lunch at a little farm shop place. It was a nice, quiet, delicious outside lunch. We then watched how silk yarn is extracted and spun up, which was kind of cool. We were then shown a bunch of rugs and talked about the historical importance. We had no interest in buying an expensive hand knot rug, but Kacey did talk them into selling some silk yarn (something they hadn't done before). We got on the road to the Archaeological Museum and spent some time in this little museum. We ended our day at St. John's Basilica (which was pretty big) and the castle on the hill. We saw John's tomb and enjoyed the views from the castle. Our driver then offered to drop us downtown Izmir (instead of our hotel outside of town) to see the city and eat dinner. We walked along the water, saw fishermen, and then ate at Deniz Seafood restaurant. The food was ok but the place was full of men in suits eating multiple courses, while we had walked through ruins all day. We took a taxi back out to the airport hotel and got to bed so we could wake up early for our 5:50am flight to Athens.

Ephesus was a great site to visit and I feel fortunate that we were able to work it in. Getting in and out quickly can be difficult to work out, but it is possible.

House of the Virgin Mary

Library of Celsus
Fishermen of Izmir