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Monday, March 9, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday-Mistras and Kosmas
Tuesday-Time is flying by
This morning we headed to the village of Mistras to see the ancient remains of the walled city. These were the most intact ruins we have seen thus far. Climbing to the top of the mountain where the churches and palace were located was no easy task, but well worth the effort. For us flat-landers the mountain vistas are just incredible. From the top it was clear why this community chose the location, not just for its beauty but it was easy to defend from their enemies since it was so difficult to ascend.
Cold and exhausted from our climb we returned home for a late lunch and decided to rest awhile. Afterwards Anna joined Zaha and us for a trip to the mountain village (higher up still) of Kosmas only babout 15 min. away. As we departed near dusk we could see that it was snowing in the mountains and as we aapproached we had to stop on the side of the mountain and put snow chains on the tires. Since Anna was not confident about driving on the snowy mountain roads so Kirt took the wheel. When we made it to the top it looked like a quaint, Colorado, ski village and we were in about 6 inches of snow! We has learned yesterday that my grandfather's family used to summer inn Kosmas when it was too warm in Vrontmas. The views were breathtaking, but we didn't linger long as we wanted to start down the snowy roads before it was too dark. We arrived safely home and Anna prepared a wonderful bowl of avgolemono soup (egg lemon chicken soup). What another special day! Luckily 3 snowy pictures of Kosmas uploaded, but sadly we can't get anything else to :(
This morning we headed to the village of Mistras to see the ancient remains of the walled city. These were the most intact ruins we have seen thus far. Climbing to the top of the mountain where the churches and palace were located was no easy task, but well worth the effort. For us flat-landers the mountain vistas are just incredible. From the top it was clear why this community chose the location, not just for its beauty but it was easy to defend from their enemies since it was so difficult to ascend.
Cold and exhausted from our climb we returned home for a late lunch and decided to rest awhile. Afterwards Anna joined Zaha and us for a trip to the mountain village (higher up still) of Kosmas only babout 15 min. away. As we departed near dusk we could see that it was snowing in the mountains and as we aapproached we had to stop on the side of the mountain and put snow chains on the tires. Since Anna was not confident about driving on the snowy mountain roads so Kirt took the wheel. When we made it to the top it looked like a quaint, Colorado, ski village and we were in about 6 inches of snow! We has learned yesterday that my grandfather's family used to summer inn Kosmas when it was too warm in Vrontmas. The views were breathtaking, but we didn't linger long as we wanted to start down the snowy roads before it was too dark. We arrived safely home and Anna prepared a wonderful bowl of avgolemono soup (egg lemon chicken soup). What another special day! Luckily 3 snowy pictures of Kosmas uploaded, but sadly we can't get anything else to :(
Monday-Vrontmas
Monday in Vrontmas
After a wonderful greek breakfast of yogurt with honey, breads and pastries,and cheese we went walking in the village. This mo untain village is is quaint, quite old and very clean. My cousin Zzhz told us there are about 800 residents in the village and they all know each other! In fact when her cousin got married this past September there were 800 people at the wedding because you can't leave anyone out!We stopped by my Uncle Tike's home and visited with him and his wife and enjoyed a cup of greek coffee. His sister lived across the street with her husband so we stopped there next. They live in the home that my grandfather, Anton Nikias, grew up in. We saw old pictures of the family, heard great stories and of course had more greek coffee! It was wonderful to parts of my famiy tree together. We walked thru the town visiting the Greek Orthodox church, the town square and some of the olive groves. After a huge and amazing lunch prepared by Anna of pastichio,moussaka,dolmathes and spanakopita around 3pm we went to Scala to the internet cafe and to walk around the town. We had another lovely dinner about 10pm that was amazing. Sorry we can't load anymore pictures but they simply won't upload. Thanks for checking in with us.
After a wonderful greek breakfast of yogurt with honey, breads and pastries,and cheese we went walking in the village. This mo untain village is is quaint, quite old and very clean. My cousin Zzhz told us there are about 800 residents in the village and they all know each other! In fact when her cousin got married this past September there were 800 people at the wedding because you can't leave anyone out!We stopped by my Uncle Tike's home and visited with him and his wife and enjoyed a cup of greek coffee. His sister lived across the street with her husband so we stopped there next. They live in the home that my grandfather, Anton Nikias, grew up in. We saw old pictures of the family, heard great stories and of course had more greek coffee! It was wonderful to parts of my famiy tree together. We walked thru the town visiting the Greek Orthodox church, the town square and some of the olive groves. After a huge and amazing lunch prepared by Anna of pastichio,moussaka,dolmathes and spanakopita around 3pm we went to Scala to the internet cafe and to walk around the town. We had another lovely dinner about 10pm that was amazing. Sorry we can't load anymore pictures but they simply won't upload. Thanks for checking in with us.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Sunday- To Vrontmas
At noon my cousin Zaharoula Nikias and her mother Anna picked us up at he Stanley Hotel for our 3 hour drive south of Sparta to my family's village in the mountains called Vrontmas.
We had a wonderful lunch at 4pm of Greek spaghetti with pot roast, greek salad and bread before heading to the neighboring village of Scala 18K away. They had a carnival parade which sadly was mostly rained out but the glendi that followed was in a large tent in the square and the villagers were not dismayed by the rain. We were treated to live music by well known singers from the greek islands, lots of greek dancing and pork souvlaki and loukemades for dinner and dessert. We met up with Anna's sisters, Kiki and Angleline, and their families to enjoy the glendi together. I could not have wished for a better introduction to the village and my family!!
We had a wonderful lunch at 4pm of Greek spaghetti with pot roast, greek salad and bread before heading to the neighboring village of Scala 18K away. They had a carnival parade which sadly was mostly rained out but the glendi that followed was in a large tent in the square and the villagers were not dismayed by the rain. We were treated to live music by well known singers from the greek islands, lots of greek dancing and pork souvlaki and loukemades for dinner and dessert. We met up with Anna's sisters, Kiki and Angleline, and their families to enjoy the glendi together. I could not have wished for a better introduction to the village and my family!!
(Our photos and journal are a bit out of order but we are having difficulty getting images to load.)
Saturday- Tour of Athens
Our day began early once again for our tour of Athens' antiquities. Our first stop was at Zeuss' Temple with several colums standing stark again the modern landscape. We alos saw the gate to the temple site and several ruins of ancient homes at the site.
Next we visited the acropolis which means "top of the city", and is of course the classic ruins of Athens. The acropolis includes the aeropagus-Mars Hill where Paul preached, the temple gate, the Temple of Erythmian which has the columns of beautiful maidens, and of course the stately, immense Parthenon. It was a bit surreal to be standing next to theses ruins which we'd only seen in books! Phidias---- who designed and calculated the Parthenon's dimensions was a genius. He incorporated several optical illusions into the design such as the columns are narrower at the top than at the bottom but they appear at a distance to be perfectly straight, the columns are not spaced uniformly apart yet also appear to be so at a distance and the foundation is convex in shape though it also appears straight and flat. It is truly amazing and it has withstood the test of time and even pollution. They are currently adding some new marble to restore and preserve it as well.
After the acropolis we spent the afternmoon at the National Archeological Museum and saw an outstanding collection of artifacts and statues dating from 6000 BC!! When the museum closed we went shopping at Monistiraki Market downtown in the Plaka. There were many people out and about and some were dressed in carnival costumes and putting on mini parades in the streets. They celebrate of week of carnival before lent much like Mardi Gras.
After a short rest we went to Lycabettus Hill which was an uphill climb from the subway station, then an even longer climb up more than 150 stairs to reach the cable car ride which took us to the top of the hill. At the top we had a panoramic view of Athens at night and the Parthenon brightly lighted and glowing like gold.
At midnight we returned to the Plaka for roast pork and pilaf dinner followed by greek yogurt with honey for dessert and a shot of ouzo compliments of the house. At 2am we ended a long and tiring but very exhilarating day!
Saturday- Tour of Athens
Our day began early once again for our tour of Athens' antiquities. Our first stop was at Zeuss' Temple with several colums standing stark again the modern landscape. We alos saw the gate to the temple site and several ruins of ancient homes at the site.
Next we visited the acropolis which means "top of the city", and is of course the classic ruins of Athens. The acropolis includes the aeropagus-Mars Hill where Paul preached, the temple gate, the Temple of Erythmian which has the columns of beautiful maidens, and of course the stately, immense Parthenon. It was a bit surreal to be standing next to theses ruins which we'd only seen in books! Phidias---- who designed and calculated the Parthenon's dimensions was a genius. He incorporated several optical illusions into the design such as the columns are narrower at the top than at the bottom but they appear at a distance to be perfectly straight, the columns are not spaced uniformly apart yet also appear to be so at a distance and the foundation is convex in shape though it also appears straight and flat. It is truly amazing and it has withstood the test of time and even pollution. They are currently adding some new marble to restore and preserve it as well.
After the acropolis we spent the afternmoon at the National Archeological Museum and saw an outstanding collection of artifacts and statues dating from 6000 BC!! When the museum closed we went shopping at Monistiraki Market downtown in the Plaka. There were many people out and about and some were dressed in carnival costumes and putting on mini parades in the streets. They celebrate of week of carnival before lent much like Mardi Gras.
After a short rest we went to Lycabettus Hill which was an uphill climb from the subway station, then an even longer climb up more than 150 stairs to reach the cable car ride which took us to the top of the hill. At the top we had a panoramic view of Athens at night and the Parthenon brightly lighted and glowing like gold.
At midnight we returned to the Plaka for roast pork and pilaf dinner followed by greek yogurt with honey for dessert and a shot of ouzo compliments of the house. At 2am we ended a long and tiring but very exhilarating day!
Saturday-tour of Athens
From Vrontmas we went to the mountain village of Kosmas, where my grandfather and his family spent their summers as a child. As you can see there was plenty of snow! We even put snow chains on the car to manage the mountain roads! The quaint village at the top was well worth the trip.
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