Greece

We had a wonderful 9 days in Greece, filled with sunshine, baklava, swimming, and dancing. We flew into Thessaloniki and spent 2 days there exploring the bustling city. Liv said, “This place is a mixture of old buildings and new buildings, loud people and cars, smoke, water…but it all seems to fit together.” Part of the reason for our trip was to attend the wedding of Christina Vlahou (a former student of mine, who returned home to Greece after earning her PhD) and Chris (her Greek fiancé who attended Georgia Tech). We had a wonderful dinner with the lovely Vlahous (see picture) and the next morning everyone drove to Litohoro, the village where the wedding would take place.

Litohoro is a cute little village nestled in the foothills of Mount Olympus, home to Zeus. One of the highlights was when we met two of Christina’s friends at a café, and they were introduced to us as “Nick and Nick”. We had recently watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding and flashed back to the scene when half of the wedding party was introduced as “Nick.” The day before the wedding, we hiked in the Mount Olympus National Park, and the kids and I had an intense and prolonged pine cone battle on the rocks along and across a small river.

The wedding was held in the mountains at a tiny adorable church. If you looked up you could see snow-capped mountains and the view down went to sea. It was quite a spot. The wedding was all in Greek with a sort of chanting like rhythm. The ceremony was a blast and the dancing was wild, partly helped by the pitchers of Ouzo on the tables. Some of the traditional Greek circle dances came easy to Rachelle and me who had danced a Jewish Hora or two. The best man told me that after our dancing we could officially be called “Cohenopolis”. In addition to the traditional Greek music and dancing, the DJ spun some excellent 70s and 80s tunes.

The next morning around 10:30 we popped into our rental, turned on Emily, and dialed in our destination in Volos to catch the one-a-day 12:00 ferry to Volos. Our mouths dropped when we saw that our trusty GPS Emily estimated our arrival at 12:17. Emily is incredibly accurate. As I took off and joined the other crazy Greek drivers, Rachelle repeatedly said that we could just sleep in Volos for a night. I was determined to make the ferry and before too long Emily’s ETA was 12:16 and then 12:15! Rather than say I was driving like a maniac, I will simply comment that I was driving like the average Greek driver. They are total whackos behind the wheel and take all laws, such as red lights and speed limits, as mere suggestions. Go Greece Lightning Go! We pulled into the ferry place at 11:58. I jumped out to the booth the purchase the tickets and the woman told me that they did not take credit cards and the ferry was leaving. I high-tailed it to an ATM across the street and back and she honestly thought I had not moved and had just pulled out the cash. We spun over to the ferry and the guys waved us on and the ramp closed just as we pulled off of it and into the ferry. Phew.

The ferry ride was beautiful as we cruised through the blue Mediterranean and among the island. We found a great little bungalow in Skiathos with a huge deck that looked out over the beach and sea, and allowed the kids to be able to monitor the deterioration of their sandcastle in the evening. Each day we either stayed at our beach and swam, snorkeled, climbed the rocks around to other coves (Liv and me), relaxed in our chairs under the big umbrellas, and played in the sand. Some days we explored other beaches on the island, which varied from secluded coves to larger beach stretches with taverns. There are supposedly 61 beaches on the 19 square-mile island. One day we took a boat cruise, which allowed us to visit some of the coves that are not accessible by foot as well as some nearby small islands. The island is lush and green and quite hilly, and we spent one afternoon hiking and exploring the ruins of the village, which was the town center when repeated pirate attacks sent the Greeks into the hills. Another day we visited a hilltop monastery, and enjoyed watching the chickens and roosters run around within the stone walls. We also spent some time in the downtown area, especially at one café that had WIFI. The owner, Yannis, was sweet and we enjoyed talking with him. We had several great dinners, with one being memorable for the view over the sea and another for the tunes from the Greek musicians. at restaurants that overlooked the sea

The trip home was a bit harrowing because we arrived back at our hotel in Thessaloniki around midnight in order to leave the hotel at 3 to catch our 4:30 flight. If paying the hotel for 3 hours wasn’t annoying enough, they had an incredibly loud and smoky wedding that was in full swing when we arrived and when we left in our taxi a few hours later. We did catch some zzz’s on the flight to Heathrow and then on the bus back to bath. Of course, a Sunday afternoon back in our own beds didn’t hurt.

Jerry and Andrea visit the UK

Rachelle and I picked up my dad and Andrea on Friday from the train station and let them freshen up in their bed-and-breakfast before heading out to lunch. The kids were delighted to be picked up from school by the grandparents. When my dad saw our kids he laughed because he had initially thought that all of green uniformed kids were girl scouts. Later the kids showed their grandparents Sham Castle, and my dad was surprised that we would go for a walk in wet and windy weather. After 10 months in blustery England, we have gotten to the point where we barely noticed.

On Saturday, we all headed into the Cotswalds, visiting Lacock and Castle Combe. In the afternoon we showed them around our lovely Bath including the Roman Baths, the Circus, and the Royal Crescent.

On Sunday we split up. Rachelle and Andrea managed a two garden day- first they headed to Stourshead, an incredible garden about 40 minutes away, then to our local Prior Park. I think we lucked out, as Dad, Noah, Liv, and I headed to Longleat (www.longleat.co.uk), the 9000 acre home of the 7th Marquess of Bath and the world's first safari park. We had a full day exploring the safari park and driving among lions, tigers, a wolf pack, giraffes, and other animals. We were allowed to feed the deer who stuck their heads in our car. The Marquis prides himself on allowing the animals to stay as wild as possible. For example, he feeds the lions by pulling meat on a rope behind a car so that they have to chase it and catch it. My dad and I enjoyed the English manor house, and the kids loved the hedge mazes, and the enormous playground. We all had a great time on the boat, which took us by the island where a silverback gorilla resides, watched as sea lions barked for food by the boat, and hippos emerged from the water.

On Monday, the kids were dropped at school and the grownups headed to Wells Cathedral and the Glastonbury Abbey. It was another wet and chilly day, but we stayed dry inside the wonderful cathedral and then tucked into a yummy lunch at a pub. We were lucky to have some sun for a walk through the Glastonbury Abbey ruins and ground before we headed back to Bath to pick up Noah and Liv. Jerry and Andrea played with the kids until our babysitter arrived in the early evening. Yes, Rachelle and I were headed for a grownup night out, a too-rare occurrence for us. The 4 of us had a great meal that evening at the elegant and quaint Olive Tree restaurant.

On Tuesday, I had breakfast at dad and Andrea's B&B before dropping them at the train station, where they would be heading to London, then off to Provence, and then back to Scotland before going back to the U.S. We had a wonderful visit and we were reminded of the family and friends we would get to see come August.

Cohens in Cornwall

We picked up the kids at school on Friday and headed south. Cornwall is in England's Southwestern tip of the peninsula, and with its own language, culture, and history, many Cornish consider it an independent country. One of the highlights of Cornwall is that it is the home of the Currans, a previous Atlanta and Paideia family who visited us several months ago in Bath. Rob, Karen, and their 3 daughters (Megan, 11; Lannie, 9; and Jess, 6) moved to Cornwall (Rob's home) a few years ago.

Our first stop was the Curran's house. They live in a converted barn in a tiny village in the woods on a stream. Rachelle and I loved spending time chatting with Rob and Karen while the 5 kids played outside. After dinner we headed to our B&B, which was beautiful. It was a converted mill set on a fast-moving river, and we entered our accommodation, which used to be a stone barn, by crossing a small bridge over water. Our place was surrounded by water, and there was a little boat if you wanted to paddle around.

On Saturday, we popped into the Curran's and picked up Megan and Lannie and headed to Pendennis Castle. We were lucky that they were having a wedding and we witnessed the bride and her party arrive in carriage pulled by horses and the groom prance in with his top hat and tails on a horse. It was quite a spectacle. We explored the peninsula and climbed amongst the rocks before meeting up with the rest of the Currans. We followed them to a little beach tucked in a wooded cove. I helped Rob carry his kayak down the path and the kids helped tote the picnic, which was a treat of Cornish pasties and ales. While the kids scampered amongst the rocks and climbed trees, the grownups relaxed in the sun and sipped wine and ale. We took turns exploring the coves and caves with the kayak, and it was quite easy to imagine past smugglers and pirates hiding their goods amongst the rocks.

On Sunday we took the two youngest Currans to St. Michael's Mount (http://www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk/), which is a castle on the hill of an island only accessible at low tide or by boat. The 6 of us stormed the castle and feasted on Cornish food in a little restaurant. After having our fill of the fortified island, we drove through Penzance and headed to the cute fishing village called Mousehole (pronounced Mowzil). After exploring the cute shops and having some ice-cream, we headed to the beaches on the Northern coast. As we drove there, we found that you could see either coast from certain high points in the road. We stopped at a beautiful stretch of beach, which had a rocks for climbing and long stretches of sand for chase. As we explored, we came to a very fast-moving and wide stream that came from the rocks and flowed into the ocean. The kids waded in a bit, but it was Noah who braved through to the other side and ending up completely soaked head to toe in sandy salt water. We eventually had to leave as it was getting close to dinner at the rest of the Currans were waiting, so, after getting Noah into dry clothes we headed out. That evening, we had another lovely dinner with the Currans and a good nights sleep.

On Monday we headed to the Curran's for a wonderful pancake meal. On that particular day the Curran's village was having a street sale. All along the road were little tables set up with clothes, toys, books, homemade food, plants, and other things. Noah and Liv joined the Curran kids and a couple of other kids to man a table full of toys, kids clothes, and other odds and ends. They most definitely gave the "fairy cake" selling little old ladies a run for their money in the cute category. Eventually we had to bid farewell to the Currans and head out. On the way home, we detoured to the Eden Project (www.edenproject.com), which is a former clay-pit site converted into an enormous garden and several huge biodomes. We wandered through the rain forest biodome, which is the world's largest greenhouse complete with birds and waterfalls, before having an all-natural lunch harvested from the Eden Project land. After filling up on environmentalism and nature we headed back home to Bath.