Santorini and other tales from the oven that is outside.......

 

 

Everyone at festival baking is wearing these neck fans.  So yesterday I decided to give them a try.  There are 2 in the box for $30 at Costco.  We have a lot of gnats right now, so no matter how early you get up to walk the dogs, once you start to sweat the gnats drive you crazy buzzing in your ear.  I hate wearing bug repellant, so I thought these might help ~ and they do!  There are 5 speeds on the fans, and are rechargeable.  It also made the doggy walks more comfortable.

On to Santorini......

This is a cedar tree, or at least this is what our tour guide said.  Now, it doesn't look anything like a cedar tree here.  I was fascinated.  I know, it's boring to others when you get excited about plants :-). I checked with copilot, and the AI says its more related to a Norfolk pine.  Remember when those were popular as house plants?  The seed/cone (whatever you call it) was pretty big, like almost softball size.

 

I love this photo.  The black beaches were so pretty.  I picked up some small rocks to paint when I returned home.  One of our travelers had a gallon size bag of rocks and sand to take home!  Crazy.

We were at Kamari.   I could seriously live there.  I couldn't afford it, but I would love it.

Yep, that's my spot.....

One free afternoon, some friends invited me to go with them to a wine tasting.  I am not much of a wine person, but it was amazing.  I haven't ever had white wine that I thought would be worth drinking, except at this place.  This young lady was our guide.  She was a little goofy, but fun.

 

 

The ubiquitous view at Oia.  It is a beautiful place, but even when we were there it was crowded and busy.

This kitty posed for us while we were all snapping photos.  Did I mention how many cats there are running around in Greece?  They are everywhere!

 

This is the sunset we went to Oia to see.  Beautiful.  Of course there are many (many!) shops in Oia.  

It was a beautiful evening.  This was one of the few nights we didn't eat Greek food ~ everyone was in the mood for pizza and beer.
 

This church and plaza around it was our meet up place before leaving.  

 

It was a beautiful place ~ a shoppers paradise!  

Have a great week!

Love, 365 

 

 

I'm already tired of summer......

 

Lots of Datura plants in the Sandia foothills.  Pretty but very poisonous.  As you can see there are a lot of blooms, so there's always a show when we walk by in the morning.

Because our dogs need a walk most everyday, there is no sleeping in much around here during these super hot days.  Yesterday was 101F (38.3C).  This is the first week of festival baking, which works out OK since the hall is air conditioned and it's way too hot after 10am to be outside.....even at 7:00am you can feel the heat and you know it's gonna be a hot one.  bleh. We have already baked over 3,000 koulourakia.  This year is the 50th anniversary of the St George Greek Festival, and I'm sure we'll have a lot of folks coming this year! 

We don't put sesame seeds on ours though.  They are so good, I don't miss them at all

I am currently embroidering this design on the back of my denim jacket.....

 

The goal is to finish it up by the end of the summer.  I have some down time during the hot part of the day, so I thought, why not?  This design really appealed to me....I love to read.  

                                                            The Island of Delos 

I am so glad I was in Greece while all the poppies were blooming.  

 

The Sacred Way ~ the lions were dedicated to the sanctuary of Apollo and the sacred lake of Delos.  Ancient history here ~ all this would have been new in the 6th Century BC.  And although these lions are replicas of the originals that are in the museum, it's amazing that all the artifacts, buildings, statues, etc. have been around since then.  

This isn't my photo, but you can see many of the ruins and the ancient port of Delos.  I am not sure because I am not well traveled, but the Aegean Sea is really one of the most beautiful.

 

Extremely weathered, but still amazing.  Not me, the statue, haha

One of the beautiful mosaics in Delos.  

My homage to Hermes for putting up with someone creating this hairdo.  Yikes......

 

A lone statue standing as a sentry, forgotten in time and nearly unrecognizable due to erosion.

Next time: Santorini!

Have a great weekend!

Love, 365 

 

Mykonos....

If I had a dollar (or a euro) for each church we saw on our travels through Greece, I may have been able to cover half of the cost of the entire trip!  There were plenty in Athens, but when we visited the islands they were much more visible.  Some were small; they were built to honor someone in the family, such as a loved one who died during war and conflict ~ but I imagine there were many different reasons for building these tiny memorial chapels.  Our tour guide mentioned that many are built as a private family chapel, or are churches that honor the Saint of a local village.  I also visited a few cathedrals, which were stunning.  

I am not sure if our guide was correct in saying that this small church was one of the most photographed in Greece, but it is near plenty of restaurants.   

This church (which is considerably bigger) is about 20 yards from the one pictured above.  The cafe owners were cleaning up and preparing for the influx of tourists that would happen a couple of weeks from when we were there ~ so there were some that weren't open yet, including around half of the hotels. 

Mykonos....

It's easy to get turned around, wondering where you are ~ but eventually you catch a glimpse of the sea and you're back on track.

Note the date on the door of this church (1816).  The inscription, color and door columns caught my eye.

 

Mykonos is so picturesque!  

 The Mykonos windmills were primarily used from the 16th century until the mid-20th century. They were built by the Venetians and were strategically positioned to harness the strong northern winds to grind grains like wheat and barley. The windmills played a vital role in the island's economy, particularly in the 17th-19th centuries, by producing flour for both local consumption and trade. While still standing and serving as iconic landmarks, the windmills ceased their operational use with the advent of modern technology and the decline of traditional grain milling.   **I wish there had been one that had it's sails intact so we could view them turning!

Colorful little Venice.  Later, there were 4 girls practicing their cheerleading skills right on this beach ~ in their bikinis of course!  It was really chilly too.

 

I have been playing around with Copilot ~ a new app on my iphone.  Hmmm, it made me look younger and skinnier!  I like it!

As Dave and Ruth are heading up the path, I had to stop and take a photo of this little shop called Happiness.  My own was thwarted, as it was closed.  😊. Ruth and Dave were very kind to the solo travelers like me, and often invited us to dinner, drinks, and a wine tasting.
 

The hotel in Mykonos was one of my favorites, and this was the view from the balconey.

 

 Our tour guide, Michael took us to the Lighthouse point to take these gorgeous photos of the sunset.  It was extremely windy and cold, so as we were waiting for that magic moment, we huddled on the side of the old lighthouse out of the wind.

And this seems a good place to stop for now!  

No, I did not post every photo.  There are too many!

Love, 365 

Athens.....

 

Before I get to all the Athens photos, I wanted to show y'all this "Minute Suite".  I had a 5 hour layover in Dallas, so I booked one of these.  All it has it a desk and chair (if you want a quiet place to work) and a sleeper sofa, with a nice blanket (that was warmed, which surprised me) and a pillow.  I booked it for 75 minutes, and rested.  Napped a bit.  Stretched out my legs and tried my best to prepare myself for the nearly 10 hour flight to Munich.  It was really nice!  

Before I made the mad rush to find my gate in the Munich Airport, I bought some water, and wanted so badly to get this apple strudel.  Look at the size of it!!  It was really huge.  I knew it would be too messy to carry and eat on the plane, so I didn't get it.  Wish I had!

 

The only stadium made entirely of marble.  The olympics were held in Athens in 2004 (and also in 1896, and deep antiquity, lol). 

The Erechtheion with the Porch of the Caryatids.

 

It was quite windy and chilly in Athens.  

The wind was trying to blow my hair off, lol.

 

Just one of so many wonderful cafe's as you walk around Athens...

On one of our afternoons off, a few of my fellow travelers helped me find this small chapel dedicated to St Kyriaki, one of my favorite saints.  

 

We took a road trip to visit the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.  Lots and lots of stairs as we walk through the archaeological site.  

The serpent column, made of brass ~ this is actually a replica, as the original was taken by the Ottoman Turks in 1453.  An artist rendering of what it may have looked like below...

The Sphinx of the Naxians.  Originally it was on a 41 foot Ionic column in fron the Temple of Apollo.  

Of course I shouldn't fail to mention the Oracle of Delphi.  Apparently she stood over faults in the earth where toxic gasses would assist in putting her in a transe like state as she prophesied.  

Athens was our first stop, and is a wonderful city to visit ~ there are tons of cafe's and restaurants (many of them outside), and shopping (jewelry, clothing, etc) and site seeing, as Athens is a historical city with lots of history and archaeology.  

Our hotels were all fantastic, which the exception of the first one in Athens.  It was very small, and my view was of the alley behind the  hotel.  It was also weirdly laid out, and I kept fighting with the glass bathroom door, haha.  It was a nice hotel, but I didn't like my room.  

I will post more soon!  There are many more :-)

Love, 365