The Eternal City

St. Peter's is always amazing.

And though the crowds were huge, the Raphael rooms and the Sistine chapel were also fabulous. (Mom cried with joy.)

We all liked the Forum and the Arch of Constantine, though Dad heartily disliked the Colosseum on moral grounds.

We didn't have a great deal of time in the Vatican, but Mom and I were thrilled to spend some time in the sculpture gallery. Dad was intrigued by "all those Roman guys."

A City with Views

In Florence, Dad and I hiked up 463 steep stairs to the cupola of the cathedral.

What a view!

The best view of Florence, however, is to be found on the other side of the Arno, at the Piazzale Michelangelo or higher up at San Miniato al Monte.

The streets of Florence are charming, especially when you can get away from the crowds a bit.

Greek countryside

All over the Greek countryside, the roads were dotted with little shrines (that looked a bit like mailboxes) and contained ikons and various votive offerings.
This one is near Delphi.

On our way to Delphi we also saw olive groves and mountains and cotton fields.

This is the valley overlook from Delphi. The countryside here reminded me quite a bit of Little Cottonwood Canyon, though with different vegetation.

Gorgeous Olympia

This was the BEST site in Greece.
It helped that we got there early, before the tourist crowds really began to pile in, but it was huge and it was cool and it was situated in beautiful countryside and it had some really interesting temple ruins.

You can see how big the ruins are- two drums of the (mostly fallen) columns are almost as tall as Mom and Dad!

The Parthenon: Splendid but Crowded

The Acropolis is SOOO crowded, even in the "off season."
And you can't go directly up to the Parthenon, nor even get within spitting distance of it.
The site is full of guards with whistles who blow it shrilly every time a person gets too close or touches the sacred marble.

Getting a picture of oneself or one's group in front of the Parthenon without fifteen thousand other tourists is likewise impossible.
And the interior is ALL cluttered up with scaffolding.

Though the Parthenon was (despite all these handicaps) very impressive, I found I preferred the Erechtheion, also on the Acropolis.

The famous porch of the Maidens was particularly lovely, though again you couldn't get at all close.

Greek Food

A lot of our dinners were takeout from Savvas, a very delicious and cheap restaurant that is a whizz at souvlaki and gyros. We'd take it back to our hotel and picnic there.

We did go out to a couple of restaurants, and the best was at ancient Olympia.
We went to a taverna where we started with eggplant dip and giant beans (sort of like limas in shape but tasting more like great northerns).

Our main dishes were lamb- one with lemon/egg sauce, dill and artichoke hearts, one with a savory sauce and rice, both delicious-- and a mouthwatering vegetarian dish of zucchini, eggplant, onions, tomatoes, potatoes.

Baklava was not as easy to find as you might think, but some stores carried an astonishing array.

Scenes from Athens

In Athens we did laundry in the shadow of the Parthenon...

... visited museums chock full of amazing antique art...

... stayed in spartan quarters...

... shopped for souvenirs on streets full of sea sponges, jewelry, T-shirts, and every kind of tourist gimcrackery you can imagine.