Santorini

We spent less than 48 hours on the island of Santorini. By the time we got there we were pretty exhausted. Audrey hadn't slept well the whole trip, so none of us had slept well. Audrey and I were still recovering from our colds. Luckily Andy and Rachel were pretty much over their colds, but still needing more sleep. So, we took it pretty easy on Santorini. We really liked the place we stayed at in Santorini. On Friday we got there just in time for a walk and some dinner. As we walked from our apartment to the town of Fira we definitely took a lot of pictures. Here are a few of them:

After we were done with dinner Rachel took it upon herself to clear our table because she was quite impressed with the dumbwaiter. Luckily we were the only ones upstairs so it really didn't matter.

Here's a picture of the sunset we got that evening as we walked back to our place:

The next day we figured out the bus system and headed to a black sand beach. Rachel and Andy got in the water while Audrey and I chilled in the shade. Andy's feet were stained black for several days after our adventure at the black sand beach. That afternoon we all crashed and took naps. We were quite surprised when we finally all woke up and realized it was 5 PM. It felt kind of ridiculous wasting our time on Santorini taking a nap, but we all needed it. We then caught a bus and headed to Oia. Santorini boasts have the most beautiful sunsets in the world. It must be hit and miss, because we didn't see that great of one that evening in Oia. The sunset was nice, but we've seen more spectacular ones elsewhere. Here are a few pictures of our evening in Oia:

The next day we then took a ferry to Athens, spent the night there, and then flew home the next day. This trip was probably the most stressful for us with being sick and not getting much sleep, but we tried to make the most of it. We learned that the Greek people truly do love little ones. So many people would just walk by us and reach out to hold Audrey. I also had plenty of people comment on how brave (they were probably thinking crazy) we were to travel with two little ones. There were moments on this trip that would have been a lot more enjoyable without two little ones, but we wouldn't trade them for anything any the world. We have to make the most of our experience while we are living out here in Europe. One day Andy and I will get a nice, long trip with just the two of us. Until then, we'll make the most of our trips with our little ones! :)

Naxos

The first island we visited was Naxos. We enjoyed our lazy beach days in Naxos. We stayed in a little apartment about a 10-minute walk from the Agios Prokopios beach. Our first day there we all crashed and took naps after being on the ferry all morning long. We had a rough night's sleep, an early morning, and a 4 1/2 hour ferry ride. After naps we did some grocery shopping, had some dinner, and then headed down to the beach. I was somewhat disappointed at the temperature of the water. I was hoping for warmer water. Here's Audrey dipping her toes in the ocean for the first time: The next two days were spent at the beach. You could rent 2 lounge chairs and an umbrella all day for 6 euros. So, we did that to keep Audrey in the shade. Here's Rachel all ready to go on our first beach day:This really was Rachel's first time going into the ocean and she enjoyed it. Andy and her were even able to spot some fish a few times. Audrey enjoyed chill time and play time with me. Audrey played in the sand for the first time and she never once tried to shove it in her mouth. It was nice being so close to the beach, because we could walk back for naps and then come back after everyone was rested. Here's a bunch of cute pictures of Audrey:

And then of course a bunch of cute pictures of Rachel as well... And of course we couldn't pass up getting some ice cream on our last beach day! :)

One night for dinner we went into the town of Naxos. The island of Naxos had a great bus system. It was easy to catch the bus and get where we wanted to go. Here are a few pictures we took while in the town of Naxos:

The next day we rented a car to explore the island of Naxos a bit more. We thought it was a pretty good deal - we paid 25 euros to have the car for the day and car seats were included. So, we loaded up in the car and drove around most of the day. Our first stop was at the ruins of the Temple of Demeter which was built in the 6th century BC.

We of course had to make a few stops along the way to feed Audrey. I believe this was the first stop we took. We just pulled out at a view area and after Audrey ate she took a picture with her daddy.

We made it clear to the other side of the island, but the beaches weren't as good there and the water wasn't any warmer, so I guess we were staying on the right side of the island!

It took awhile to drive anywhere because of all the windy roads. As we drove along we saw a ton of these churches up on hilltops. So, we decided to pull off at the side of one and Andy hiked up to it.

We had an early dinner in the little town of Filoti. The girls were ready for a break from the car. After Rachel finished eating she enjoyed climbing the marble steps right near the cafe. Here she is pouting when we told her it was time to go:After eating we headed to the Panagia Drossiani church, which was built between the 6th and 7th century. It it still used as a church today.

We then winded our way back to our place. As we were driving we ended up on the other side of a mountain where they must get their marble. The picture doesn't exactly do it justice.

Since we had a car that day we spent a little bit of time that evening at the Plaka beach. Rachel loved climbing up and running down this dune:

The girls had fun playing in the sand and we left our footprints on Naxos island (okay, so they were probably washed away 5 minutes after taking the picture).

Rachel didn't like her hands being all sandy, so Andy helped her dip them in the ocean. :)
Our final morning in Naxos we headed down to the port. Our ferry wasn't boarding until 12:45, so we had some time to explore that morning.
We went to check out the Apollon temple that was never completed. The only thing that remains is the frontal gate, which is called the Portara.
We walked through more of the town of Naxos and enjoyed some lunch at a cafe. We discovered gyros in Naxos and enjoyed them whenever we got the chance. There was a little playground right by the port. We let Rachel play there for the last 20 minutes before we had to get on the ferryboat. I guess she got bored of being pushed in the swing, because she thought it was great to push her daddy.

We enjoyed our time in Naxos. It was nice to have some lazy beach days and not be in a rush from one thing to the next. The next island we visited was Santorini...

Forgot One

I didn't notice this video the other day, so I figured I would include it as well. It's another one of Rachel enjoying the animals at the National Garden in Athens.

Athens

The first couple days of our Greek adventure were spent in Athens. It was pretty warm, but there was always a nice breeze. I enjoyed the warm weather even with carrying Audrey around in the baby carrier. We all had colds to start off the trip, so we tried to take it somewhat easy in Athens. We were still able to see quite a bit though and we enjoyed our time there. Our first stop was the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. You never know when it comes to museums how it will go over with the little ones, but Rachel quite enjoyed tromping around the museum and Audrey was a happy camper in the stroller. The next day Rachel kept on talking about going back to see the statues. :) We weren't able to use the flash on the camera in the museum, so unfortunately some of the pictures are a bit blurry, but here's a few photos we took:

We stayed right near Syntagma Square, so that afternoon we made a stop at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and then we headed to the National Garden. After Rachel's great job in the museum we figured she deserved a chance to play at a park and get some wiggle time. Rachel really liked checking out the animals at the gardens (see video below). Once again, Audrey was a doll in the stroller.

We then went in search of somewhere to eat and came across a really cool bell tower: We went to the Plaka area and cafes just lined the streets. So, all the managers of the cafes were out trying to get people to come eat at their particular cafe. It was quite interesting. Another thing about Greece, they must have a law against robbing people blind. You know how bottles of water can be quite expensive (considering how much the water and the bottle actually cost)? Well, you can buy a bottle of water in Greece for 30-70 cents. The most expensive, 70 cents, was at the airport. Not bad! I wish all the places we traveled to had the same policy about water. After dinner we all enjoyed ice cream - we probably spent more money on ice cream during this trip than anything else! :) As we were making our way back to the hotel that evening we came across the Ancient Agora. We just viewed it through the fence and took a few photos, since we were ready to head to bed.

We got back to our hotel and let the girls chill for awhile before bathtime. Here's a cute picture of Audrey chilling with her daddy:

The next morning we headed to the Acropolis. And as you can see, Rachel was so cooperative and gave such wonderful smiles when we actually asked someone to take a picture of all of us together! :)

After the Acropolis we headed to an ancient town that had the Temple of Hephaistos, which is the best preserved ancient Greek temple. The construction of this temple started in 449 BC. It was so amazing to see so many things from thousands of years ago.We then headed back to the hotel for some much needed chill time and hopefully nap time, but the girls weren't cooperative in the nap department. Instead, they thought it was pretty cool to hang out in just their shirts! Well, Audrey had to have a change of pants and Rachel wanted to join in.
That night we went to a great restaurant. It was so good, that we went back to it a week later on Father's Day. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and ended the day with a few games of UNO. The next morning we were getting up at 5 AM to catch our ferry to Naxos. We enjoyed our few days in Athens and kept ourselves pretty busy.