Friday, May 18, 2018

Springtime heals my soul!

I have a hard time with Winter in Germany. I love snow, and hot cocoa, and sitting by a fire on a blustery night. But that isn't the reality of 95% of Winter in Germany. The reality is a cold drizzle, no sunshine for a week at a time, and only a few hours of daylight at all. Oh, and of course, muddy floors from kids' wet shoes. I may have seasonal affective disorder actually. Anyway, in the Spring, I begin to perk right back up again!  On the day we sat on the beach in Corfu recently, Rob pointed out to me that we probably enjoyed as much daylight as two Winter months in Germany. I needed that.

Springtime brings back Spring sports!  
This year Toby wanted to try golf.  The base has golf for kids 8-18 years old. They take them by bus to the nearby golf course where they have instruction and play for an hour, and then the bus brings them back.  This is fantastic, but means I have no photos of Toby playing golf this Spring. He says it is "interesting, but not that fun."  I don't think he'll be playing again next year, but I'm glad he tried something new and learned the basics.

Amelie has embraced the bike with pedals that she got for Christmas this past year!
She can start, and ride all by herself... but she still uses her feet to stop instead of the brakes.

 And Jake is back to t-ball this Spring playing for the Astros!
His favorite thing about t-ball, I think, is that it allows him a lot of time to talk with the other players.

I love watching my little slugger.

Spring also means the trees and flowers are blooming in the Fasanerie near our home. I love taking walks alone there after dinner.  It is one of my favorite things about where we live right now.

I may have mentioned it at some point in the past, but the walls of the park were built in the early 1700s with stones from our local Schloss Dornberg which had been destroyed by the French in 1689.

Storks are the symbol of our town, and their enormous nests can be found throughout the park.

I just had fun taking photos on my walk one evening recently.

One section of the park's trail is lined with apple trees that were in bloom this particular evening. Apple blossoms, sunshine, longer days... yup, I needed Spring to come in a major way. 


Amelie's class participated in a parade on base for the Month of the Military child in April. She thought this was big fun!  Her class played jingle bells and other instruments.  I love that the symbol for military children is a dandelion- because it blooms wherever the wind blows it.

Our yard is also in bloom!  These are our blackberry bushes in the backyard and by the looks of it we will have a ton of blackberries again this Summer.

Now the days are getting warmer, the school year is winding up, and we are getting excited for Summer. But I am thankful for Spring and don't want to miss the mild days that are left. Time moves quite fast enough some days.

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Med Cruise: Kotor, Montenegro and Home!

We were really looking forward to exploring Kotor as I'd been reading great things about the Bay, and kayaking, and hiking. But as luck would have it, our day in Kotor was our only chilly, rainy day of our cruise and we were all feeling pretty tired of the "get up and go, go, go" vibe of this trip, so our day went a bit differently than planned.

At one time part of Yugoslavia, and then in a partnership with Serbia after that, Montenegro has only been fully independent (in our modern age) since 2007.  Montenegro means black mountains, and the mountains surrounding the Bay of Kotor are dark and impressive.

The Old Town of Kotor.
The earliest recorded mention of Kotor dates back to 168 BC, however many of the fortifications and buildings in the Old Town date from the middle ages when the town was under the rule and protection of the Venetians.  The Clock Tower here dates from the 1600s.



We strolled around the Old Town in the drizzle and poked into churches when the rain got heavier.  This is inside St. Nicholas which was built in 1909.  Not old at all by Kotor's standards, but interesting to us as we don't get to see many Orthodox churches in Germany. Rob and I discussed whether it was Greek or Russian Orthodox, but upon looking it up learned that it is Serbian Orthodox.

The stray cats have their own souvenir shops in Kotor.

I love the medieval details of the stone work all over town.  We passed under this gate on our way up to the trail head leading above the town, to a church, the city walls, and fort above the town.  You can see them a bit in the first photo I posted.  However, the rain started getting heavier and the cobblestones were very slippery.  Still feeling foolish from my ill-advised donkey trail trek, I volunteered to stay in town with whoever didn't want to hike.  In the end only Rob and Jake made the hike, so here are the photos from Rob's camera.
 
  
They made it to the Church of Our Lady of Remedy built in 1518 and stopped for a rest.  They were only about a third of the way to the hilltop fort at this point.


Views of the Bay and town from the trail. 

Getting closer to the fort at the upper end of the medieval walls.  Rob was very proud of Jake because it was a challenging, wet walk, but Jacob said, "If I say I'm going to do something, I'm going to finish it."

And he did!  Way to go Little Bear!


That's our ship behind Jake on the trail back down.  He was wet and tired but perked right up when Rob bought him an ice cream cone to celebrate his accomplishment.

Meanwhile, Charlotte, Toby, Amelie, and I stayed in town.  The girls pet friendly stray cats.  And then we found a public restroom to wash up.
 
Then the kids and I checked out St. Luke's church built in 1195.  This church is neat because it has two altars- one for Catholic services and one for Orthodox.  The floor is also made of gravestones, as some of the citizens of Kotor were buried under the church in a collective grave until  the 1930s. 

 When we entered the church, the Orthodox mass was just beginning, so the kids and I stood near the back (there are no pews) and listened to the service.  Our kids don't often get the chance to attend other churches and it was really interesting and different from our own worship service.  Lots of good stuff to discuss afterwards!

The kiddos had been so patient with my taking them to church (on a Saturday!) that we found a covered table at a cafe in a square and ordered hot chocolates all around.  Hard to believe that just the day before we had been sitting in the sun on a beach!

Then we met up with Rob and Jake back from their hike and strolled a little more.  This is St. Triphon's Cathedral built in 1166.  The kids had quite enough of churches at this point, so we just enjoyed this one from outside and did a little souvenir shopping as the rain began to really come down hard again.

By the time we made our way back to the ship everyone was wet and cold and pretty done with this vacation!  We went to the top of the ship and enjoyed the views, without cameras, as the ship maneuvered through the beautiful Bay of Kotor. 

The next morning we woke up in the port of Venice and made the long trip home. We took a minivan taxi to Treviso airport,  then flew to Frankfurt, then took a train to our town.  Then I jogged/walked home to get the car, (usually Rob does this, but he was coming down with a cold by this point,) and then drove everyone home.  We were in the door around 8 pm! Cruising isn't ever going to be our favorite mode of transportation, but we are really thankful for the chance to do this trip, and love sharing these experiences with our kiddos.

Friday, May 11, 2018

Med Cruise: Corfu, Greece

Our next day's port was Corfu, Greece. While I am sure that Corfu Town is lovely, and the history, palaces, forts, and whatever are fascinating, we had one goal for Corfu: sit on a beautiful beach.

Paleokastritsa is about 30 minutes from the port, on the western coast of Corfu.  We made a beeline there by taxi and we were very happy beach bums.

This small beach in a protected inlet has perfectly clear teal water, restaurants, bathrooms, shops, and a teeny stretch of sand.

The kids loved digging, building, and looking for rocks.

The water was cold, but we all swam anyway.  I loved how I only had to swim out a little ways to feel like I was totally alone on the planet.

Our attempt at a happy jump shot.

Buried in the sand.

When we were finally exhausted by the sun and water, and really hungry, we packed up and headed to a restaurant across the street with a view of these sheep and the beach beyond.

Rob had souvlaki.

And I had a gyro plate. Three of our four kids were converted to gyros, but one still ordered pizza.

We took one more stroll along the beach before catching our cab back to the cruise terminal.

Corfu was the one place on this cruise that I think we would be happy spending an entire week exploring.  Maybe someday we will come back and do that.

Med Cruise: Piraeus, Greece (Athens)

Our next port was Piraeus, Greece, which is the nearest port to Athens. We disembarked the ship and piled into a cab and asked the driver to take us directly to the Acropolis.

He dropped us off at the bottom of the hill and we walked up, purchased our tickets, and began our morning sightseeing when there was hardly anyone there.  I love it when a plan comes together!  Our first stop was the Odeon of Herodes Atticus.  This "concert hall" was built in 161 AD, and renovated in the 1950s.  It is still used for performances, and you can't actually enter the Odeon unless you have tickets to a concert, but it was cool to look at from above. 

Then we walked through the Propylaea. This is a monumental gateway to the temple beyond.  On one side is the Temple of Athena Nike.  The kids thought it was interesting to see parts of the ancient ramp that allowed sacrificial animals to walk up to the temple.

The Parthenon!  
Completed in 438 BC, the Parthenon is undergoing major restoration work.

Originally built as a Temple of Athena, the Parthenon has also been used over the centuries as a Christian church and as an Islamic mosque. I loved learning in school about the columns of the Parthenon... in order to make them look perfectly spaced, straight, and for the facade to not look bowed, the architects mathematically figured how to alter them to make the facade look "perfect."  The base actually bows slightly, like a frowny face, and the columns on the outer edges are closer together than those in the middle section.  And so on.  I just find it amusing, like how people filter their photos on Instagram to make their imperfections look perfect.

No filters around here... or make-up for that matter. 

We did ask a nice lady to take a family photo of us in front of the Parthenon. 
This will have to do.

Even early in the day, it was hot and the kids were happy to find this bench in the shade.


The next thing I really wanted to see at the Acropolis was this- the Porch of the Caryatids.  This is on one side of the Erechtheion, which was a temple to Poseidon and Athena built in the 400s BC.  I love how the columns were transformed into female figures.  These are replicas as the originals are now protected in the Acropolis museum.

This is the other side of the Erechtheion.

  
This end of the Acropolis was a great spot to view the tallest point in Athens, Mount Lycabettus.

And on the other end of the Acropolis we could see Mars Hill (to the right of Rob) where the Apostle Paul preached to the Athenians.

Toby was particularly interested in columns on this trip and we discussed the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian styles which he documented in his sketch notebook. Jake and Charlotte decided this was a good plan and sat down to make some drawings too. (The Parthenon is Doric, the Temple of Athena Nike is Ionic, and we didn't find Corinthian columns until later in the day.)  The top of Acropolis hill was getting VERY crowded by this point, so we were happy to be heading downhill.

Our next stop, still at the Acropolis complex, was the Theatre of Dionysus.  Used as a theater since the 4th Century BC, the theater could seat up to 17,000 people. It is amazing to me that Sophocles, Euripedes, and other famous Greek dramatists would have originally performed in this very place.

Charlotte and Amelie are ready for the performance.

Our next stop was the Acropolis Museum to see the sculptures and artifacts housed there.  I was getting ready to take a photo insode when I was told not to do so by a docent, so this is the only photo we have from there.  The museum is well done, though I'm gonna be a snot and point out that the British Museum's collection from the Acropolis is more impressive, and they let me take photos of it.

At this point we were seriously overdue for some lunch at a sidewalk cafe. Spanakopita, sandwich, and some cream filled pastry for Rob and I, and we ordered the kiddos a pizza, which they were very happy about.

After lunch we made our way to the Ancient Agora, but first made a quick stop to appreciate the Library of Hadrian.  Built in 132 AD, by the Roman Emporer Hadrian, the library housed a collection of papyrus, as well as reading rooms, and lecture rooms.

The nearby Roman Agora (no, I am not confused, the Romans had their own "downtown" area when they took up residence in Athens around the turn of the century) looked interesting, but we only had a few hours left so we pressed on without more than a peek.

 
Ancient history can be so tough when you are little!  Sometimes you just need to find a tree to climb.

Finally!  We arrived at the Ancient (Greek) Agora. The largest building here is the Stoa of Attalos.  The original was built in the 100s BC, but this reconstruction was done in the 1950s and is now a museum housing artifacts.  In it's original state it would have been a commercial center, like a shopping mall.

We finally found a Corinthian column!  (Or part of one, anyway.)
The Agora was the place to shop, meet up, and hang out.  Everyone in Ancient Athens would have walked these streets- including Plato, Socrates, and St. Paul.

There were also some nice views of the Acropolis from here.

We walked all over the Agora and ended up at the Temple of Hephaestus.  Built in the 400s BC the temple is dedicated to the Greek God of fire, metalworking, and craftsmanship. The temple is very much as it originally stood due to being used as a Greek Orthodox church beginning way back in the 700s.

Athens is a treasure trove of ancient history and mythology and we are so thankful we got to see it and touch it!  But we were pooped!

I figured our best shot at finding a taxi was to go to a busy square near a train station so we made our way to Monastiraki Square, also known as the flea market district.

History is everywhere in Athens, and I couldn't help but take a picture of the Church of the Pantanassa, or "Little Monastery" that gave this square a name.  Built in the 1000s, this is fairly new for Athens, but still over 1000 years old!

On the opposite corner of the square is Tzistarakis Mosque.  Built in 1759, this building is now an annex to the Museum of Greek Folk Art. Athens just constantly reminded me where it stands geographically between the Near East and Europe and how it has been a gateway for travelers and cultures throughout history.

We had just enough time to enjoy an ice cream in the shade before hailing a cab.  These kids earned it!

We piled all six of us into yet another taxi, and Amelie immediately went to sleep.

Jake wasn't far behind.
I think we crammed a lot of Athens into one long day of sightseeing, but I also feel like one day was enough.  Athens was a crowded, hectic, kinda dirty city and we were ready for a break from that.