Ancient Athens

 Our first Sunday in Greece we went to the First Greek Evangelical Church in Athens.  It was really something...as the service was entirely in Greek, we were given headsets with simultaneous English translation.  We felt like we were at the United Nations.  

As we exited the church, this was one of the first sights we saw, in a nearby park.  It is the Temple of Olympian Zeus, which is the largest in Greece (even larger than the Parthenon).  It took 650 years to complete, and the roman Emperor Hadrian dedicated it during the Panhellenic festival of AD 132.

It was surreal to have a picnic lunch here...

...between the temple and Hadrian's Arch, which marks the boundary between the ancient city and the new Athens of Hadrian.  (The kids were enjoying feeding --and scaring--the pigeons.)

We then decided to head to the Acropolis...on the way up, cut into the southern cliff face of the Acropolis, we spied the Theatre of Dionysos, which is the birthplace of Greek tragedy, and was the first theatre built of stone.  Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes all had their plays performed here.  The Romans enlarged this theatre to seat 17,000, and used it as a gladiatorial arena.  Victoria is sitting on the theatre's throne...the actual seat where Roman Emperor Nero sat for the gladiatorial contests...

This is another view of Dionysos' Theatre with the same three great kiddos and the Acropolis above...

Located just next to the Theatre of Dionysos, was the Sanctuary of Asklepios, founded in 420 B.C. and dedicated to the god of healing.  In every direction we looked were ruins of something historically significant and culturally relevant...

Also on the way to the peak of the Acropolis is the Porch of the Caryatids, where these statues of women were used in place of columns.  An olive tree (in the left of the photo) now grows where Athena first planted her tree in a competition against Poseidon.  Also in the background one can see part of the city of Athens among the hills...

This is thus far my very favorite picture of the trip...I feel like the caption should say, "Come Study Abroad in Athens" or some such...this is, in fact, the Parthenon...

Talk about the strength of Samson!!  Look what that Daniel Green had hold up!!

This is the Theatre of Herodes Atticus, originally build in AD 161.  It is used today for outdoor concerts...

This is the same theatre from a different angle...note the ancient structure in the left background...glimpses of antiquity everywhere...

See the handsome man looking away on the right with the khakis and navy sweater?  Yes, that would be Bradley about to go thru The Propylaia, the "new" entrance to the Acropolis.  See if you can find Caleb, Daniel, and Victoria in this picure.  (Hint:  Daniel has on an Indiana Jones-type hat.)  Did I mention that this NEW entrance was built in 437 - 432 BC ?!?!?!

One of the highlights of today was going to Mars Hill, known here as the Areopagus, where Paul preached the sermon recorded in Acts 17.  His entire sermon (Acts 17: 22-34) is written here on this bronze plaque, which is on the side of the Areopagus.

We are now on top of the Areopagus.  Acts 17:22 starts out, "So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said..."  WE WERE STANDING IN THE MIDST OF THE AREOPAGUS, WHERE PAUL STOOD!!!  Brad read Paul's sermon from Acts 17 to us overlooking the city of Athens from the "midst of the Areopagus"...INSPIRING...

Our day ended with gelatto...mmmm.....again, note the temple in the background...this one happens to be Hephaisteion, in the Agora, or marketplace, which formed the political heart of ancient Athens from 600 B.C.

Back "home" in Pikermi, we feasted on souvlakis and gyros at a grill just across the street from the Bible College...WHEW!!  WHAT A DAY!!!!

Athens, Here We Come

One thing we find completely delightful is the fact that here in Greece folks utilize their rooftops...there are actually staircases leading up to the roof.  They are also very trusting...there are no rails of any sort...on this particular day when Brad and Victoria were up on top of the academic building (I snapped this shot from one of our two balconies), there were students relaxing, reading, etc. up there.  I really think I could get used to that...beautiful view, refreshing breeze, inviting sunshine, renewing quiet...not a bad combo...

Yours truly blogging away from above menioned balcony...

On Saturday morning, the Bible College hosted several youth groups from nearby villages for several hours of fun, games, food, and worship...we hung around and had absolutely the BEST time, even though many of the youth didn't speak a word of English!  This has been a new experience for the kids to be in a culture where English is not the first language.  They have done brilliantly!  A cultural note here:  The youth groups came from 12 noon to 4pm.  First, for 2 hours were the games, then LUNCH AT 2 PM!!  Lunch BEGINS anywhere from 2-3:30 pm here in Greek culture, then supper begins anywhere from 8-10:30pm.  For all my late night friends, now HERE is a culture you could seriously get into!!  They are a late night culture and S-L-O-W to move in the mornings...

Yes, water balloons were involved...see our adventurous Daniel...

For lunch that day they prepared souvlakis, and we gobbled them up!!  Daniel is eating souvlaki, and Brad is eating souvlaki on pita (also known as a gyro) with french fries, tomatoes, and a delectable sauce called tzatziki, which is made of yogurt, cucumber, and garlic.  I could drink the stuff. It's that good.  For weight reasons, it is certainly a good thing that we are here short term...

After the youth group celebration, we headed into Athens, and THIS was our first view of the Acropolis and the Parthenon, just outside the metro...again, my emotion surprised me...

The Acropolis rock was an easily defended site and has been in use for nearly 5000 years.  It is essentially an enormous rock right in the heart of Athens that boasts 3 contrasting temples and a monumental gateway.  More on this to come, but here is the Parthenon, one of the world's most famous buildings.  The Parthenon was completed in 438 BC as a temple to Athena. 

 This would be none other than the Acropolis Museum, as the words so plainly depict...

Dinner was at an outdoor cafe.  Our friend Robert came with us into the city centre to help us find our way a bit.  He's a great guy from Bath, England, and offered to spend a couple days with us showing us the ropes in Athens...what a guy...

We were feeling adventurous for dinner...Victoria tried the stew, Daniel tried spicy cheese balls, Caleb and Brad just couldn't pull themselves away from the pork gyros (with the tzatziki sauce), and I, well, I tried none other than yogurt and honey, which, I might add, was quite tasty...

...and here it is...yogurt and honey...mmmmmm....

We have just hooted and hollered over Brad's "cup-ette" of coffee.  There was about 3 swigs of coffee in this cup.  He wanted to say, "No, I'll have the adult-size cup, please."

So, we went for gelatto afterwards.  I keep asking exactly what gelatto is, but no one seems to know...at any rate, it was sweet, cold, and yummy, so we were happy...

Just as we were getting back on the metro to return home, we caught this glimpse of the Parthenon by night...beautiful, really...

Gorgeous Greece

Our first full day here in Pikermi, Greece, we decided to take a family walk down a pathway near the Greek Bible College, where we are staying and where Brad is teaching.  We discovered all kinds of things...like this heavily laden orange tree...  (Their fruit is D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!)

  

...lots of beautiful blooming bushes...



...and the boys favorite... this type of tree with itty-bitty (1-cm long) pine-cone-type appendages that they discovered if they ruffled the branches, the pollen would douse everyone walking behind them.  They found this GREAT fun, and we all came home bearing plenty of pollen to prove it...

The village of Pikermi is just a few minutes from Rafina, a coastal village, so our first afternoon we headed down to the seashore.  Our friend Jeff insisted we borrow his car, and we were off...(I was so thankful that they drive on the RIGHT side of the street here, unlike our Irish driving adventure!)  We were struck how the buildings here look like we'd thought they'd look in Greece...mostly all white-washed with the rocky, hilly countryside looking just like it does in books...we were not disappointed!

The most interesting thing we saw today was right here on the beach.  This gentleman was an octopus fisherman, and he took the time to show the kids the steps of cleaning an octopus (right in front of our very eyes - Egads!, as my daddy would say), which includes squirting the ink (and innards) into a bucket of water...

(Side note:  note the ship in the background...this is a port town, and it is not uncommon to see ships such as this in the harbor, some of which carry passengers to one of the many Greek Isles...)

...then "beating the fire" out of them with what looked like a small cricket bat to tenderize them.  The octopi still had reflexes as they were tenderized...they weren't the only ones cringing at that point...

We ended our day with dinner by the beach with Myrto, our friend from Cambridge; Jeff Baldwin, the headmaster at the Greek Bible College, and Robert, another friend from Cambridge.  We ate souvlaki gyros, which is a SCRUMPIOUS typical dish, along with a Greek salad (no lettuce), which can be seen in the foreground.  The feta on these salads was fresh, and so yummy.  I didn't think I was a feta fan, but how wrong I was!  I could NOT stop eating the stuff!

Our first day ended with loukoumades, a traditional honey-dipped pastry, similar to beignets, and equally as yummy.  The kids have been great at trying new foods--even ones they can't pronounce and don't know exactly what is...we are REALLY enjoying Greek cuisine!!

Amazing Amsterdam

AND BEYOND...so, this is the first entry in the "and beyond" portion of the blog "Cambridge Capers and Beyond"...we are on a plane headed to Greece, by way of Amsterdam...and we are so humbled, grateful, amazed, and thankful to be going...the entire story of how we got to this place is nothing short of miraculous.  God is good. 

So, we ended up with an unexpected 8-hour layover in Amsterdam, and decided to take advantage of it with a city tour!  In the words of the British, "It was brilliant!"  We were SOOOOO thankful we decided to explore a bit...here's some of what we saw: 

1. Windmills - this one is 400 years old.  There are around 1000 windmills left today of the 9000 at one time.

2.  Wooden ice skates - These belong to family members of the farmer we visited, and are hanging from the rafters.  We learned that most all the canals in the country freeze over in the winter and that ice skating is a national past time...cool.  The wooden ice skates fit OVER your regular pair of shoes.

3.  Wooden shoes and Cheese - we visited this farm where they make fresh (we met the cows) cheese and also MAKE wooden shoes --  REALLYY?!?!?!  So, the kids had fun trying on a pair and holding 10 year old gouda cheese, which, by the way, they told us is called, "parmesan." Oh...of course...

4.  Beautiful boat-lined canals - Since 1/2 the country is BELOW sea level, they have a 24/7 "Pumping-Water-Out-Party" with these enormous water pumping stations, which we learned everyone in the Netherlands has the opportunity to pay special taxes for (our tour guide Hank said with a grin.)

5. "I AMsterdam" is the official city motto. In "Museum Square" are these enormous letters of their motto.  I like how this photo captures our children's personalities a bit...as for me, I'm just thankful that the "d" was extra wide to accommodate both

 Tori and my hips...ahem...

6. - Anne Frank's house - Probably the highlight of the day was getting to see Anne Frank's house. See the middle building with 3 windows across with BLACK on the bottom story?  This entire structure is the house where she and her family were hidden during WWII. 

6 1/2. - This is the church that was just one-half block from Anne Frank's house that she mentioned in the book, from which every quarter hour she could here the church's bells chime.  I couldn't believe how moved I was to put sights and sounds to her story...