Mykonos, Greece June 2, 2010

I believe Mykonos is one the most beautiful places in the Greek Islands. It is located on the Aegean Sea and we spent the morning walking the narrow pathways that were built to foil the pirates. It just confused the tourists!

Here is Bonnie and I just doing the touristy thing of walking around and taking lots of pictures.

Then we made our obligatory stop for something to cool us off. I found most of the wine is red or white, no fancy names. And all the reds were outstanding and very inexpensive!

Here is Gene taking a break from shopping. Yes, that’s a Smirnoff Ice, but in Europe there is vodka in it. Yummy! Notice Gene’s bag slung over his shoulder? He bought that in 1998 when we were in Puerto Vallarta and he takes it on all vacations as his shopping bag.

And here are the famous windmills. We had to search all those windy passage ways to find them, but it was worth it.  

In the afternoon we decided we were going to take the bus to Paradise Island. We rented chairs and umbrellas. I did walk into the sea, but it was so cold! We have a picture of me in the water, wearing a bathing suit, but I won’t bore you with that picture.

Here is Bonnie walking along the sidewalk to the bus stop after sunbathing. We are heading back into town to catch the ship. Notice that even the apartment buildings are the blue and white colors.

And what would it be without a whitewash church. Church of Paraportiani.

Athens, Greece

When we docked in Athens on June 1, 2010, and we had the choice of going on an expensive excursion to all the sites or renting a taxi cab for the day. We opted for the cab and here is a picture of our driver. He was fabulous!



Here is the Parliament. We were told to stay away because they were having protesting going on and it wasn't always safe



One of our stops was the Acropolis. We spent most of our time here, walking around the amazing ruins.

It takes your breath away when you stand on a hill and look down towards the city and in the middle of town stands pillars. The next picture is a close up.

Ecuador

People that know me know I LOVE broccoli! I can eat it everyday and pretty much do. I save it for the last thing to eat on my plate even! Now you are probably wondering what broccoli has to do with a traveling blog. Well, Gene is researching Ecuador for a place to retire and last summer we met a woman from Ecuador that was visiting friends. Somehow the subject turned to broccoli and she mentioned it was one of the main exports of Ecuador. However, they don’t ship to the U.S., but I was ready to hop a plane and camp in the broccoli fields! Here are some fun facts about broccoli.

Interesting Things About Broccoli

Broccoli has been around forever. It was a favorite of the early Romans but did not make it into Europe until the Sixteenth Century. Never that popular, interest in broccoli has exploded in the past 20 years as people have been trying harder to eat healthy.

Broccoli is planted as a seed and is harvested 3 to 4 months. Virtually all U.S. production comes from California, and it is available year long.

Broccoli is actually a flower. Many of those green little buds would have blossomed into yellow flowers.

May 31, 2010, Katakolo, Greece, is located on the Mediterranean Sea. This island is so small it didn’t even get a mention in Fodor’s guide. However, it was a beautiful little place.

A picture of main street.

Oh My Gosh! The lemon trees were everywhere. And the lemons were the size of baseballs if not larger.

Of course we stopped for something to drink and eat. Here is another Greek salad with feta and Tzadziki. This was the first time we tried Tzadziki and we liked it so much we tried it at every stop. Tzadziki is a cucumber, Greek yogurt, and garlic spread.

Gene and I in front of a beautiful tree in bloom.

Corfu, May 30, 2010

When we docked in Corfu we decided to take a bus into town, walk around, do a couple of museums, have something to eat. Corfu is a small island on the Ionian Sea. This is the Spinada Square before the shops opened. At the end of the day this is where we stopped for some wine or beer.

As we walked around town we came across this statue. Incase you can’t read the plaque; it says “Costas Geoegakis – Student – Corfu 1948-1970 Genoa. Burned himself to death for the freedom and democracy of Greece in Genoa, Italy” A quote from Costas “I cannot do other than think and live as a free man.”

We hiked up to the Old Fortress built by the Venetians in 1546 on the site of the Byzantine Castle. Here is Gene and I with the fort behind us.

Then we headed into town and checked out the Palace of St Michaels and St George. Here is a picture of the thrown room. It blows your mind to imagine a King sat on the thrown.

Before we got something to eat we stopped at the Museum of Asiatic Art. It had a collection Asian porcelains and Sino-Japanese art.

Here is Gene’s Greek salad. The large thick slab of cheese is feta. As soon as you sit down they bring you bread. It was the worst bread I have eaten. It tasted like it was stale, but everyone else liked that crusty tough taste.

May 29, 2010. We dock in Dubrovnik, Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. A beautiful port town. As it turns out our brother-in-law, Dan, married to Gene’s sister Debbie, his family is from Croatia and visited there as a child and even speaks the language

We walked through the market in the middle of town. And they were very generous with samples!

Everywhere you went there were skinny passageways that you navigated. There were no cars allowed in this part of town. We walked so many stairs that day.

We made a morning stop for something to drink. I stuck with Sprite since they didn’t have Pepsi. The waiter had an instant crush on Trish! Plus he was envious of Gene traveling with 3 women.

Trish and I doing some shopping. It looks like I’m shoplifting, but I promise I’m not!

Here is a picture of a couple local women having their morning coffee and cigarette.

The Clock Tower

And a church, which I believe is Jesuit Church of St Ignatius.

After a long day of roaming the beautiful streets of Dubrovnik, we stopped for a glass of wine before heading back to the ship. Left to right: Tery, Trish, Bonnie, and Gene.

May 27th & 28th, 2010. After we left Turkey we flew into Venice, Italy to catch our 12 day cruise on the Crown Princess. We spent 2 days in Venice. What a lovely place. We spent all day walking around and enjoying the canals and all the beautiful architecture. Here is a picture of Gene, Bonnie & Trish, outside the cruise ship.