Kioni Ithaca 1998

Christian 10.8.98
Day 46 - Today we drove to Kioni.  We were looking around for somewhere to eat.  We went up a hill with a road two metres wide.  We came to a combi van which didn't have reverse so we had to reverse down so he could get past.  After we ate at a restaurant we went to the beach and saw lots of nice fish.
Day 47 - Today we had a lazy day, we went to the beach and did some snorkelling.  In the afternoon we started building a tree house.  We also got our motor bike which was stored in a shed down the road.  It's a really new bike.from way back in the fifties.  Next to the shed are two goats, one of them is pregnant.  Josh and dad went for a ride on the postie.
Day 48 - Today Josh and I built onto the tree house again.  We did that for most of the day.  The temperature in southern Europe is going through a heat wave, 70 people died in Patras which is where we left from to come to Ithaca.  Tonight we went out with some friends of my Grandma.


Joshua 
Day 46 - Today we went to Kioni, we parked and went to a little restaurant for lunch.  Then we went up to the monastery and Christian and I played with the goats.  We came home and went to the beach and saw lots of nice fish.
Day 47 - Today went to the beach in the afternoon and we got the scooter out of the shed and we started a cubby house.  Dad and I rode the motor bike we went up to a town called Kolieri where my Grandfather was born and we also went to Kallamo.
Day 48 - Today we had a lazy day, we built onto the cubby house and in the afternoon we went to the beach and then we went to tea with some friend.

Kallamo Ithaca 1998

Christian 9.8.98
Day 45 - Today we went up to one of our relatives who builds statues and owns a museum. His name is Stathy and his wife's name is Kay.  We sat down and talked, Stathy told about what he has done in his life.  We went to a town called Kallamo and I checked out an abandoned home with mum while dad and josh went down goats tracks which lead all over the island.  For tea Stathy invited us to Frikes and we found out that almost everyone on the island is related to us.


Joshua
Day 45 - Today we watched a bit of TV and Kay came and invited us to go to her place, so we did and they were really nice.  We sat down and had a talk and Stathy went on for ages about his life and he has two books that he showed us.  Then we walked to Kallamo and dad and I went down an old path while mum and Christian checked out a house.  Stathy invited us out for tea at Frikes and he owns a little cafe that we had tea at.  The food was really nice I had a fish and Christian had a stuffed tomato.

 

Vathi Ithaca 1998

Christian 6.8.98
Day 42 - Today we drove to Vathi to do some shopping. While we were there I bought a hand held fishing net for $2.50.  We also bought fruit and meat and some other stuff. Then we drove around looking for somewhere to eat.  We found a waterfront cafe and had lunch.  After that Josh and I went over to the water and saw millions of fish there.  There were so many that it was like a traffic jam of fish.
Day 43 - Today we had a lazy day.  We got up really late and didn't have breakfast until 11 o'clock.  After breakfast we all went to the beach because it was 40 degrees Celsius outside.  For tea we had spaghetti.
Day 44 - We went to Vathi to buy some ship 
tickets back to Italy.  Then I found a cafe and we had the best burgers (apart from McDonalds), They are the best we have had so far on this trip.  In the afternoon we used our net at the beach and saw heaps of little fish but didn't catch one.  When we finished we hadn't caught anything except I caught a Sea Urchin.


Joshua
Day 42 - Today we drove to Vathi and went shopping and went a supermarket, and it stunk when mum was shopping.  We found a cafe on the waterfront and when we looked over the edge we saw lots of fish.  When we chucked bread in they all came to eat it.  
Day 44 - We drove to Vathi and bought the boat ticket because we had to get a boat cabin early.  Then we had something to eat at a coffee shop.  Christian had a burger and we shared stuff too. Then we went swimming and used our net but you need flippers.  Dad and I went snorkelling and saw lots of fish and we we came back Christian had caught a Sea Urchin.

Ithaca 1998

Christian 5.8.98

Arriving at Vathi

Day 40 - Today we went to the airport at 5 in the morning to go to Athens.  When we got to Athens we met my Great Grandma and stayed at the same hotel as before.  We went up to the pool for the afternoon. 
Day 41 - We caught a ship at 12.30 from Patras to Ithaca.  On the ship there are games that were all broken and pretty dumb.  we're going to go to two islands because people are getting off at the first island called Kefalonia.  Then we went to Ithaca to stay in our house.  Ithaca is very stoney and there are four very small and very close to each other villages.  There is an old saying that says; "when god made the world he threw all the stones on Ithaca", thats how rocky it is.


Joshua
Day 40 - We went to the airport really early in the morning and we went to Athens on a jet, just as I tried to sleep we landed.  When we got to Athens we had to get a new battery for the car and we went and got our Great Grandma.  For tea we had fish and salad on the beach.

Church at Stavro

Cafe at Stavro

Day 41 - Today we drove to Patras and on the way we stopped at McDonalds and had something to eat.  When we got to the boat we went on an escalator to the seats and it had games but they weren't really good.  The seats were nice.  On the way to Patras we went to the Corinth Canal.  The boat was air-conditioned but everybody was sweating.  We came to the port of Vathi, we got off and drove to Platrithias.  We went to our villa and on the way we stopped at Stavro and bought some food.

Lahania 1998

Christian 2.8.98

Day 38 - Today we went to see our relatives in a town called Lahania.  We saw where my grandpa was born and lived until he was sixteen before leaving to go to Australia because there was not anything to spend your money on, that he was making.  We saw 2 of seven brothers that he had.  They built the little town because of the spring that ran through it.  We also had a swim in the ocean that was really nice and sandy.  We hired a pedal boat for an hour.  Day 39 - We went to a playstation shop.  What you do is hire a playstation for an hour and play any games you want.  After that we met with dad's cousin and her daughter who was 13 years old.  They took us everywhere in the city, up on a mountain with a view, to a church and a park.  We met with other relatives who grew and sold their capusey which translated is a watermelon.  We ate half a watermelon each, it was nice.


Joshua

Day 38 - Today we drove to Lahania and on the way we stopped off at Lindos and had breakfast and the food was nice.  Then we looked at the shops and went to the church and the paintings were nice.  We drove to Lahania and when we got there we had a look at where our grandpa used to walk down to plough the fields.  We met our relatives and they were really excited to see us.  Then we went to the beach but it was all rocky and when we got back they had cooked a big meal.  On the way home we stopped at a sandy beach (Lindos) and hired a boat out.  When we got back home we got picked up by Sula, who is dad's cousin and we went to Faliraki and went on a Virtual Ride and it was really fun and the food was nice.  Day 39 - We met dad's aunty who was selling watermelons on the side of the road.  Then we went to the old city with Sula and Sambikou and then back to the hotel.

Rhodes 1998

Christian 31.7.98
Day 36 to 38 - Got up late we got in late from our plane flight.  We went to Goodies for breakfast which is like a McDonalds.  After we we went to the old city of the knights of St John.  Then we went and looked around the city and at shops.  We drove to Faliraki and went to a gold factory and bought mum a gold ring with six rubies, 5 diamonds, 2 saphires and 1 big EMERALD!  Josh bought a coin with the Parthenon and Athena on both sides.  I bought my star sign in silver and gold.  When you buy something from the shop you get a free evil eye which guards off evil spirits.


Joshua
Day 36 to 38 - When we woke up we went to breakfast at Goodies and played games in a 
games room.  Then we went to the old city and we got lost in it and it took us 1 hour trying to get out of it.  In the castle we saw soldiers and some police and we saw the ship.  We went home and got dressed and went to the lights and sound show and it was really boring.  Today we hired a car and we drove to Faliraki and went to a gold shop and mum bought a big gold ring with an emerald on it and we bought some gold too. Then we went to the butterfly farm and they were really pretty.  At the end there was a little cafe and we we had some spaghetti and it was really nice.  

Santorini 1998

Jo-Ann

27- 30.7.98 - Got up at 4 am but flight was delayed until 6 am.  Airport is very old, trip to Santorini took 40 mins.  Room wasn't ready so had breaky and swam in the hotel pool till 1 pm. We bought Joshua a soccer game for his birthday. Joshua's birthday - he got a surprise when he woke up.  Walked down to old port long, hot and windy, lovely place lots of cruise ships come in.  Caught chair lift back to top near church.  Pita souvlaki for tea and walked around streets.  Sat on verandah and watched sunset.  Started to get dark about 11 pm.  Restaurants very noisy and go till 5 am.  Went on three hour trip to volcano and hot springs had to book the day before.  About 30 mins to get to volcano by boat, 30 mins hot walk up had to take plenty of water.  Volcano is barren. 15 mins to hot springs.  You dive off the boat and swim to hot springs, boys and Stephen swam, but I waited on the boat, water looked very inviting and deep.  Went out to restaurant for tea just up the road from our villa.  Ate at about 9.30 pm - thats the norm over here. Hired a little car and drove to Ia and the top end of Santorini - quaint little place, beaches aren't much, had coffee and rizzogolo at a cafe.  Ruins were closed and then we got lost.  Got to the airport at 8 pm only to find our flight had been delayed.

Christian
Day 32 to 35 - Plane was delayed to 6 o'clock, we stayed in Athens dirty airport for another two hours.  We went to wait to be taken to the plane in a mini bus, it didn't even have a walkway.  The flight was good and there was not any turbulence.  We had a look at shops and I tried a thing called a pita souvlaki which is like a greek kebab and it was really nice.  They have a lot of motorbikes and they even have lemon Fanta in Europe.  In the afternoon we had a swim in the pool and saw some Australians.  At the pool some ladies took their bikini tops off and Josh and I thought that was a pretty impressive way to get a tan.  For Joshua's birthday he got a plastic soccer table.  In the afternoon we got some photos of the sunset.  We walked up to the top of the volcano where the crater was.  On the way back we sa a hole with Hydrogen Sulphide leaking out and it really stunk, we picked up a rock each.  We went up the stairs on donkeys.  We hired a car and drove to a town called Ia, to look at the old city which was closed so that was a waste of time.  Mum bought a ring with dolphins on it.


Joshua
Day 32 to 35 - We got up at 4 in the morning but our flight was delayed until 6 am.  Had to wait until our hotel was ready.  We had breakfast at a restaurant that had a nice view of the sea.  We went to the hotel and the toilet started leaking so we had to get the plumber to fix it.  For tea we had pita souvlaki.  When I woke up in the morning I saw a soccer table at the bottom of my bed.  Christian and I played that for a bit and then we walked down six hundred steps.  We sat and had a drink and some food and we went up in the cable car.  We shopped and then we got home and took a photo of the sunset.  We caught a boat to the volcano and when we got there it was packed with tourists.  When we got up to the top we were so hot we had to drink lots of water. there was a big crater where lava came out, we saw some smoke coming up and it stunk a lot.  After that we went to the hot springs.  I jumped first and it was cold at the start but when you got to the springs it was warm.  When we got back we rode the donkey up and that was fun. We hired a car and went up to the ruins and mum was afraid because she's afraid of heights and when we got up there it was shut.  So we went to Ia and had something to eat and drink at the beach.  We drove back to Thira and Christian and I got mum a golden dolphin ring then we went to the pool and had a swim.

Athens 1998

Jo-Ann
25.7.98 - Slept in and went to the museum in Athens.  Looked at shops, they shut at 4pm so didn't have a lot of time.  The museum was huge and had heaps of artefacts - too many, a bit boring. On the bus home some beggars got on and sang for us so we gave them some money.  Got back late and watched T.V. and had an early night.
26.7.98 - Had breakfast at Goodies down the road from the hotel.  Drove to airport to have a look but it was so big and busy we didn't stop.  Swam in the hotel pool and generally laid around.  Went to the beach restaurant across the road from hotel. Had an early night and packed for Santorini.


Christain
Day 30 - Today we went to the museum.  We saw lots of statues and pots and ornaments.  We also saw the mask of a man that was flattened out.  When they used to die they would cover their face.with gold masks and jewellery.  I found out they invented safety pins in 2000 B.C. They used to make mirrors out of polished bronze metal.  But because bronze rusts it was all green and rusted.  The museum even had Egyptians tombs that had been traded back then.  After that we had a swim in the pool which was nice.
Day 31 - We went to the pool to stay the whole day.  The pool was good with water that was warm and the sun drying you off.  For tea we went to the beach to a restaurant and had spaghetti.  We had a bit of a swim in the sea as well and did some snorkelling before eating dinner.  Joshua and I made a sand castle at the beach and we could skip rocks.


Joshua
Day 30 - Today we caught the bus into the city.  When we got to the museum we had to hang our own bags up, you weren't allowed to take them in.  When we got into it we saw lots of jewellery and upstairs there were millions of pots with pictures on them.  We caught a bus home and some people came and sang a song and we gave them some money.  When we got home we watched a movie called the Cable Guy.
Day 31 - We drove to the centre square and we went to a place called Goodies for breakfast and the food was nice.  We came back to the hotel and had a long swim in the pool.  after that we went to the beach and went snorkelling and had tea at a restaurant on the beach.

Acropolis 1998

Jo-Ann
23.7.98 - Went to the Acropolis and walked down some beautiful little back streets to get there.  Very busy but what a beautiful landmark.  Walked round the Plaka and I bought a lovely ring - gold and silver $150.  Bought lots of souvenirs, worry beads etc. and ate a very expensive lunch.  Using public transport in Athens it is very easy.  Ate at a restaurant on the beach opposite our hotel.  Pollution in Athens is terrible, they are mad drivers.


Christian
Day 29 - Today we went to the Parthenon on top of the Acropolis.  Acropolis means high city.  It was built made out of tonnes of marble.  The columns are staked high, but inside filled with an iron bar that had been refilled with titanium because of rust problems.  The turkish once invaded it once and blew up most of it leaving only 20 to 30 columns standing.  Next to the Parthenon is ruins that the turks stored their gunpowder.  When the Venetians came to invade the turks  set fire to the gunpowder and blew it up. Fortunately it was reconstructed.


Joshua
Day 29 - Today we caught the bus to the city and we walked to the Syntagma and a person took a photo of Christian and I with two pigeons on our hand eating seeds that he gave us.  We saw soldiers marching around the Syntagma to guard it.  Then we had lunch at McDonalds and dad went across the road to book a Villa on Santorini.  Then we went to the Plaka which is lots of little shops and mum looked in a jewellery shop while we got something to eat.  Then we walked up to the Acropolis and that took a long time.  That led us to ruins of the Parthenon which was a big temple with Athena in it and that's what Athens was named after.