VISITING OLD FRIENDS AND NEW PLACES

One thing I like to do whenever I go to Europe is to stop in Germany to visit my friend Patrick.  He lives in the lovely city of Mainz and it's always a pleasant stop-over in my travels.

Patrick and me

Mainz Street

Visiting a castle near Mainz

There's always a lot of adventures waiting and Patrick likes showing me around the city as well as other places nearby. Sometimes we travel by train to see the sights.

Train passing archaeological site (probably Roman)

  
This trip we'll take the train to the little village of Zetting, just across the border in France.  It was once part of Germany.  There is an 1000 yr old Romanesque Church there that Patrick wants to show me. (Patrick is a talented organist and plays the pipe organ in various churches in and around Mainz).

ZETTING

Old Romanesque Church

We're going to visit his mother, Hanna (Anna) who lives there.  I have met her before and she even came to Canada to visit when Patrick lived here. So it's going to be a very nice reunion.  Patrick says we are invited to go with Hanna and her husband to sample a delicious French meal! 

Hanna and me

Hanna and Patrick

I'll only be in Germany a few days, but as always it will be a great adventure and lots of fun seeing my friends again!

MEMORIES OF ALL THE FUN I HAD IN GREECE (Sept/Oct 2015)

I didn't do much blogging after I got back from last year's trip to Greece and here it is, time to embark on another. So while looking through my photos I came across many of the adventures I enjoyed, from the islands to visiting archaeological site and hanging out with my friends.

 Maragas Camping, Naxos

The most beautiful beaches!

 A margarita for lunch at the Picasso Beach Taverna

 

 Spectacular Naxos sunset

I started my holiday adventures on my favorite island NAXOS, at my favorite spot, Maragas Camping, Agia Ana. The most fabulous beach, and fun staying in a bed-tent for three days.
Then I moved into a lovely pension in the town with a room right by pool-side.

 The "Something Else" Pension

 There's lots to see on the island of Naxos and I like to go back there every time I visit Greece. 

 The walk out to the "Portada" 

 The Portada "Apollo's Temple"

 I love the Venetian influence on Naxos with these vaulted streets. 

 Then, back to Athens, an on to many more adventures.  These included a couple of day trips with friends, a visit to the island of Salamina, an afternoon at the Temple of Poseidon, Sounion, and many others.  Here's a sample of a few of them.

 The Corinth Canal

 A day trip to the Peloponnese:  Fish farms

The small ancient theatre of Epidaurus.

The Big Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus

Then some trips around Athens and the mainland.  There is so much to do there and many choices of where to spend your time. You really need to allow for this when you visit Greece.

 Athens, the Acropolis

 The Temple of Poseidon, Cape Sounion

The Temple of Poseidon (try to get there for sunset!)

One day I made a trip to Marathon, where the famous battle took place between the Greeks and the Persians. This is where today's marathons begin, just as the runner who bore the news of the Greek victory ran from there to Athens (and then died of exhaustion!) 

 Grave mound of the fallen warriors

Marathon, monument for the runners

Then I made a trip to Salamina island, also the scene of a famous naval battle between the Greeks and Persians. My friend Christina lives there so we always go exploring and this year was a very special archaeological adventure!

 Monument to the fallen warriors

Monument for the Battle of Salamis

I had heard from my friend about a cave up on the mountain where the dramatist Euripides had once lived. I was determined to make the climb up there, and I did!  (It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be!)  

 The Cave of Euripides

It wasn't all Archaeology on this trip. I even did a reading of my historical novel SHADOW OF THE LION: BLOOD ON THE MOON at the Canadian Institute. 

Then there was more exploring and having fun. 

 somewhere around the Agora

 along one of the old walled areas of ancient Athens.

 my travel buddies

My Athens pals!

And most of all I love hanging out with my Athens pals.  This year there will be lots more adventures too and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone and being there, in Athens, my second home, and exploring Greece, my favorite place to be! 

MY LAST DAYS IN ATHENS: Retracing Old Footsteps

TOUR BUS

JUNE 22/09
This was Anna-Britt's last day in Athens and I only had one day left myself. So we set off to retrace old, familiar footsteps around our favorite city. Of course we walked around Plaka, and I always have to stop and peek through the fence of #14 Vironos St where I used to live (and sometimes wish I still did!). Then we went to one of our favorite tavernas for lunch, Kouklis (which we always call "The place of the flaming sausages) on Tripodon St.

ME, AT KOUKLIS TAVERNA

After lunch we went and walked around the new Acropolis Museum and then we decided to do something very touristic. We took the little "Sunshine Express" touris train on a tour around Athen's historical center. This was more fun than we'd expected and worth the 5 Euro we paid for the trip which took about an hour.

We got on the train atAilolou St. by Hadrian's library. The train circles around up to Syntagma Square, along Mitropoleos St. to Monastiraki and past there to Thissiou passing by all the major archaeological sites. It was fun. We felt like a couple of kids. So it was a great way to spend our last day together in Athens.

As always, I was sad to see my friend leave (for Norway) but we'll get together again next year as we always do. We have promises to fulfil to each other: When she finishes her doctorate and I get my novel accepted for publication, we plan to treat ourselves to a trip to Egypt (from Athens.) A dream or a reality? We'll see. But it's certainly a great motivator.

THE PARTHENON