Family Travel

Athens is a great place to visit...to bad it is so far away!
The flights over were fine except about 5 hours too long!
After no sleep on the flight from Boston to Paris we had to run to catch our plane to Athens. Then sit in another plane for over three hours. The trip is worth it so far. We were picked up at the airport and taken to ure hotel. The Herodion Hotel very nice and only 1 block from the base of the Acropolis and the Plaka (tourist shopping district)We were exhausted but managed to clean up and meet several of the other people who will be riding in our tour. There is a family from Portland Oregan and a couple from Florida.

Saturday-
We slept ok and after breakfast went to explore Athens and all of the ancient sites...which there are many.

The Acropolis is amazing and it is a beautiful view from way up there but I think we would have enjoyed it more if there were about 5000 less tourists also trying to hike up and take pictures...who knew other people were interested in seeing a very old building!

Tourists!

Temple of Zeus

We walked around the city from 10:00 am till about 3:00 pm
then finally dragged our sore feet back to the hotel to relax a little bit. After a few hours we were off again to have dinner at a cafe and then more walking a window shopping.

grafitti- greek style

Tonight we need to rest up because tomorrow we will start the bike tour! Hope the weather stays as wnoderful as it has been. Sunny, blue sky and about 80 degrees.

Tour Itinerary – Riding Around Greece
Our trip will begin September 14, 2006. that is when our flight from Boston will leave and take us first to Paris and then on to Athens. We will arrive in Athens on Friday at around 1:00 PM. We will be staying at the Herodion hotel in the center of Athens, very close to the Acropolis. Our motorcycle tour doesn’t begin until Sunday morning. Hopefully arriving Friday will give us some time to recover from jet lag and any travel fatigue. We also hope to be able to do some walking around Athens on Saturday. The tour group sent us this great hand bound book – A Walking guide of Athens – it starts off at the Herodion Hotel and takes us step by step to some of the popular tourist sites in the city. It will be fun to check it out.

Our motorcycle tour travels through the Peloponnese, here is the itinerary the tour company sent us.

Day 1 – ride to Corinth canal – Isthmia for coffee, continue on to small monastery for a tour. Lunch in Palea Epidavros harbor, then onto Ancient Epidavros theatre. Ride on to Nafplion, visit Palamidi Castle…then to Tiryns and Mycenae for the evening.

Day 2 – continue down the coast road to Leonidion with its towering cliffs and stop for a swim and coffee in the fishing village of Plaka. Going inland through the mountains we will visit a monastery built on the side of a cliff and stop for lunch in Kosmas. Then on to Monemvassia which has a village built inside a huge rock, a wonderful place for a stroll.
2 nights here.

Day 3 – Optional ride to Kiparissi or spend the day in Monemvassia.

Day 4 Riding to Mystras to visit the ruins of this Byzantine city of churches and palaces. Then down to the bustling port of Gytheio for lunch. Ride along the magnificent east coast to stay in a traditional style Mani hotel in a charming little fishing village.

Day 5 – A short ride to the fabulous Diros Caves where we are rowed in little boats, then back up on to the main road to Kalamata for lunch, stopping to visit a fascinating museum village. Some great riding to Methoni to visit the most lovely Venetian castle of all. We'll stay the night in a charming hotel on the beach just by the castle of Pilos.

Day 6 – Following the coast road we visit Nestor's Palace, then inland through some charming, little known areas to visit Messini. More great winding roads to the Temple of Apollo and on to the mountain village of Adritsena for lunch. Excellent riding onto Olympia, 2 nights in an A class hotel with pool.

Day 7 – optional inland loop ride

Day 8 – Ride to Ancient Nemea and Ancient Corinth. Then a fast ride back to Athens to stay in a good seaside Hotel in Mati. Enjoy final dinner with tour folks.

------------------ end of tour-----------------

Day 9 – Leave Mati for the Airport and catch a morning flight to the Island of Milos – explore the island.

Day 10 – Go to Triovasalos for day of sea kayaking and exploring the island by water

Day 11 – spend day in Milos – evening flight back to Athens area – stay in Aquamarina hotel in Mati again.

Day 12 – Take flight home to Vermont.

Tour Route - Peloponnese

The initial idea for this trip came to us over 20 years ago. We had just gotten married and were disappointed we could not afford a honeymoon. We mentioned this to Kevin's sister Maggie. She told us that she and Tom, her husband, had not taken a honeymoon either and have always used that as an excuse when deciding to plan a trip or not. We thought this was great...especially since Maggie and Tom have travelled more than anyone else we know! Through the years we have dreamt of going on a grand adventure but lack of time, money and having other life obligations seemed to always get in the way. So we would say to ourselves that for our twentieth wedding anniversary we would finally go on a great trip.

Last Fall we realized that our "big" anniversary was approaching,(July 19, 2006 was our 20th wedding anniversary) but we were not sure what trip we should try and take. I happened to be reading a Magazine called "Motorcycle Escapes" in which the editor (a woman) wrote a wonderful article about a tour of Greece she had just taken. What a great idea. We thought about it for a while, I started to do some research on the Internet. I contacted the same tour group she had used. After a few weeks had passed we made the decision to send in a deposit!

Triumph Motorcycle Tours of Greece

For the past several months I have been reading about ancient and modern Greece, surfing the Internet, talking to anyone who has been there and listening to Podcasts to learn some phrases and absorb some of the culture. The following are some of the resources I found helpful and interesting.

Books(Audio): Dinner with Persephone, by Patricia Storace, Rapid Greek Vol. 1, Earworms Learning, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea Why the Greeks matter. by Thomas Cahill, The King Must Die, by Mary Renault. Aristotle and the Secrets of Life by Margaret Doody.

Travel Books: Lonely Planet The Peloponnese. Eyewitness Travel Guides, Greece Athens & The Mainland.

Websites: www.greecetravel.com by Matt Barrett, www.truegreece.com, www.triumphbiketours.com, Motorcycle tours of Greece, www.orbitz.com, www.concierge.com,
www.frommers.com, www.ricksteves.com, and many, many more....

Researching and learning about Greece and Greek mythology has been a wonderful journey, but now we are even more excited to go, as our departure date nears!

Stay tuned....