We decided to book a sunset cruise on a catamaran with the kids. The owner of our villa recommended Blue Lagoon tours http://www.santorinisailing.com/index.htm with Captain Ted. It was a great recommendation.
The kids quickly staked out their territory on the netting, which turned into quite an amusement park ride:
The day was very hot and very windy. We sailed to the Northern point of the Island [Oia] and stopped at a volcanic hot springs. We had 2 snorkel stops and took some underwater pictures:
Dinner was prepared on the catamaran, consisting of Greek salad, tzatziki and pita, dolma [grape leaves and rice], pasta and potato salad. Quinncy also had a few cokes:
We all took turns taking over the catamaran from Captain Ted:
The catamaran ride was 5 hours and ended with the sun setting into the Aegean sea, which I capture on video [a long and boring video]:
The catamaran was a great way to end our trip in Santorini. We left for Athens the next morning.
Here is my last run in Santorini, which was a little adventurous. In this video I briefly describe my goal:
The route to the top of the mountain was not easy to find. I ran on the main road around the mountain and at an opportune point where there were old stone retaining walls, I decided to start climbing:
Shortly after this video was taken I ran across and old cave dwelling that was abandoned:
I poked around inside a little bit and then continued my scramble to the top of the mountain. Here is a video taken from the top, a word of caution, turn down the volume of your computer, as the wind is quite loud.
Here are a couple pictures of the churches at the top of the mountain. There was a donkey path on the west side of the mountain that was easy to follow down, as long as you minded the donkey excrement.
I am behind on blogging, as we tried to pack a lot into a few days in Athens. I will frantically post the last few blogs tonight. We are on our way back to Canada!!
I woke up extra early to run before the heat became unbearable. The sun was just peeking over the Island and the temperature was perfect:
The first part of my run was downhill towards the east shore of the island. I passed one other runner on the way and encountered several stray dogs that joined me for brief stretches.
I got a bit off road and ended up running along a fence line until I hit a gravel road. I then ran back up to the town site and took the following of our villa:
I then took a few morning shots of the church beside our villa with the morning sun:
We boarded the plane in Rome and had a painfully long and confusing lineup to get our tickets. Luckily, security was a breeze. While waiting for the plane we met a really nice family from California [also vegetarians] who were on their way to Santorini. They had just spent some time in Tuscany and we bonded over our love of the region.
The flight to Athens was pretty non-eventful. There was a little italian kid kicking the back of my seat the entire trip. I tried shooting his parents an exasperated look, but they were not interested in
We had a bit of a wait in Athens and, once again, we spent the time chatting with the Morse family. Quinncy and John [their 13 year old] played chess and scrabble. Alan Morse plays guitar in a band called Spock's Beard [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spock's_Beard]. They just played the High Voltage Festival in London and decided to continue on with a family vacation.
The flight to Santorini was very quick. We arrived at 11:30 and caught a taxi to Oia. The taxi ride was a little scary. It was quite dark when we arrived so we did not have a really good sense of the view from our deck. This is what we saw when we woke up the next morning:
There are several stray dogs in Oia that stop by our place and every visit delights Ella:
We did not do much the first day in Oia, as we were recovering from the long day in airports. We rented a car, walked around the strip and checked out the church directly behind our villa:
We watched the sunset in Oia, which was amazing and planned a trip to Red Beach the next morning.
The Borghese has several amazing Bernini sculptures and paintings by Caravaggio. The Borghese is located at the far end of a large park in Rome and we decided to take a taxi in order to curtail the complaining later on [e.g., my legs are tired].
When we arrived at the Borghese we were informed that you had to have a reservation to enter the Gallery. We did not have a reservation. The next available time was 5:00 and it was 10:00. We booked the reservation and decided to explore the park, have lunch and kill time before we could return to the Gallery.
We started walking through the park and, behold, we came across the Rome Zoo!! We have a love/hate relationship with Zoos and Ella has only been to the Calgary Zoo once. The Rome Zoo was quite good and many of the enclosures were new and spacious.
After an hour of exploring we came across the orangutan enclosure and we decided it would be a good place to sit and do some sketching. As soon as I took my sketch book out, an older orangutang walked over and sat right in front of me.
It was really bizarre. He was looking at me and at the book. He was clearly interested in what I was doing. We also took a video:
Unfortunately, the coolest part was not captured on video. I showed the orangutang my sketch and he leaned back and clapped his hands. We tried to capture is again on video, but he was adamant that one clap was all my sketch was worth.
After the Zoo, Ella had a bit of a meltdown because we could not take the orangutans home with us. We managed to capture that on video as well:
This was a clear sign that we needed food, fast. We walked to a cafe in the park and had a great lunch with amazing cappuccinos [Italians make the best coffee]. Ella sampled the tiramisu and was pleased.
As we were lunching we saw couples and families pass the cafe on tandem bicycles. We decided to find the bike rental place and rent a bike for four. Cristin insisted on a bike with an electric motor that kicked in and, considering that I would be doing all the pedaling, I agreed.
We had a blast touring the park:
When we finished, we had a short wait until we were able to attend the Borghese. It was well worth the wait. Bernini's sculpture is incredible and you cannot believe it is carved in marble. I found this video on google, which is a little cheesy, but gives you a good sense of the sculptures and the Borghese Gallery.
The Caravaggio paintings were also incredible [one of my favorites]:
It was a perfect day for us in Rome. Next, the Greek Island of Santorini!!
I thought that I would only have one chance to run the perimeter of a country [or a City-State]. So I set out yesterday morning:
The morning was really hazy and dank, which made running difficult. I ran south west to the Tiber River and followed it to the bridge to the Vatican. Here is Caste Sant'Angelo in the morning light [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castel_Sant'Angelo].
I crossed the bridge and rounded the corner towards St. Peter's Basilica, here is the view:
As I approached the Basilica the morning bells started to ring:
I stopped a few times on my run to take some photos as I circled the Vatican:
and yes, at the end of my run I positioned myself with the obelisk monument to capture an image of the sun poking around it.
We are now in Greece. The run tomorrow will be interesting.
I scheduled a small group tour of the Vatican in advance of our trip. Frankly, it was a little overwhelming. We toured the grounds, the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. I probably could have spent the entire day laying on my back and looking up at the frescos painted by Michelangelo. I am currently reading The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Agony_and_the_Ecstasy_(novel)
It is biographical fiction, but really gives you a sense of the time period and the political/socio-economic climate during Michelangelo's lifetime. Here is a link to some information on Michelangelo [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo] and I will not get into great detail, but seeing the Sistine Chapel and considering that the frescos were painted by a 28 year old sculptor is incredible.
On the far wall of the Sistine Chapel is the fresco "The Last Judgment", which was painted by Michelangelo almost 30 years later. It was awesome. The kids loved the Sistine Chapel. As you might expect, no pictures were allowed.
The Vatican museums were interesting. Here are a few photos:
We then went to St. Peter's Basilica and the size of the cathedral completely took me by surprise. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter's_Basilica] Further, there are sculptures by Michelangelo and Bernini, including the Pieta:
[I had trouble getting a good picture. It is behind glass and there were 100s of tourists pushing for position]
And the baldacchino designed by Bernini:
Here are some of the other pictures I took in the Basilica:
You can also go under the Basilica to tour the grotto, where the former popes [and St. Peter?] are buried. Here is a viewing grate in the floor of the Basilica:
Unfortunately, the Swiss guard cleared out the area at 4:00 for mass and we were unable to go below. We went out into the square and took a few more pictures [yes, I did the angle shot with the sun again]:
As you can see on Ella's face [above] the kids were done for the day. We caught a cab back, hit the local gelato place and then went for a nap and a late dinner. Tomorrow I am going to get up early and run back to the Vatican to see what it is like early in the morning.
