Year Two!

I have officially past the two year mark of being in Ukraine (the girls are about six-weeks behind me)!  This is quite amazing to me, because honestly I don’t know where the time has gone.  Our adventure here has been so incredible; it’s been filled with a lot of laughter and very few tears.  We’ve had the privilege to travel to eight different countries, experiencing new cultures and meeting hundreds of new people.  The world has become so much smaller and attainable for us and the girls have an understanding of the world that many adults don’t have.  Slavutich this past year has been so much “easier” than our first year, we are comfortable with our surroundings, navigating stores, restaurants, and “life” like professionals (that’s compared to when we first arrived…we still struggle speaking and hearing the Russian language).  Our local friends continue to be a wonderful blessing and it’s been great developing lifelong friendships with them and we love them dearly.  The girls continue to have the highest quality piano, dance and sports lessons available to them as well as making new friends with the children in their classes.  We often wonder what the next year will hold, but we cherish the moments we have and the memories we’ve made.

A year in pictures:

Unfortunately I had trouble getting this slide show to work right, so it plays pictures in order of newest to oldest....I'll work on it but I hope you enjoy the pictures in the mean time.

Milos:

It was hard to leave Santorini’s beautiful landscape and incredible views…not to mention our sweet accommodations, but the Island of Milos was breathtaking in a different way.  Every beach had its own unique characteristics.  From the white washed rocks of Sarakiniko to the white sand beaches of Firiplaka there really was something for everyone.  We literally had the entire hotel to ourselves we were they’re first and only guests of the season.   The landscape and hills reminded us very much of the Tri-Cities well other than the Mediterranean blue waters.  The highlight for dad was the beach where we had to scale a cliff and “hand-over-hand” the rope to get to the ladder.  The beach was beautifully rugged with caves to explore and of course we had it completely all to ourselves!

Santorini:

It is certainly a unique island, ruggedly beautiful and picturesque.  Most of the “villages” sit nearly a thousand-feet above sea level.  We had such an amazing view from our villa it hasn’t been matched in all our travels; absolutely breath taking!  Our host at the villa was full of Greek hospitality and made us feel welcomed immediately; as he gave us the keys to our accommodations he told us a lot about the Island of Santorini (fact and myth); like it’s the theorized location of Atlantis.  We visited one of the beaches; Red Beach it is a beach made from red lava rock not too comfortable to hike to, but still a beautiful beach.  We also visited a little fishing village and ate at a seaside restaurant; sheer rock cliffs on one side and the Aegean Sea with a view of the volcano on the other.  Ellie didn’t much appreciate the shrimp coming out with the eyes and legs still attached….and both girls’ didn’t appreciate selecting a fish and then having it served with the head, eyes and teeth (although Ry did try to collect the teeth for the tooth fairy).  If you are traveling the Greek Is. there is a reason they tell you not to miss Santorini!

Greek Good News!

Upon exiting the ferry at Santorini we were greeted by our exuberant travel assistant telling us she has good news for us….“that your hotel is closed”; Rylie looked up at us obviously puzzled as the travel assistant walked ahead of us and asked “and how is that good news?”.  What Ry didn’t hear was we were upgraded to a “Villa”, not really knowing what that meant we got into the car and headed to our accommodations.  Upon arrival, we were greeted by the manager, told to leave our baggage and he apologized for having to “rebook us”, well…..once we saw the accommodations I think he knew right away we were satisfied by the enormous smiles that came across our faces.  We had a private two-floor apartment (about fifteen-hundred square feet) with a private pool, hot tub and “yard”.  After the initial shock and being shown around our accommodations they asked if we were satisfied with the changes (apparently they have to ask) – they laughed as we replied, “it will suffice” =)

So a new bar has been set, when someone tells us they have good news, we may just ask if it’s Greek good news!

Naxos:

On our way to town

Apollo's Gate Naxos

sunset from our room balcony

The city of Hora where we stayed was a quaint little city that really reminded us of Pacific City on the Oregon coast.  We enjoyed a twenty minute walk from our accommodations to the city center; there we toured an old Venetian castle, Apollo’s gates and swam at St. Georges’ beach.  It was fun to wander around the city and country side on foot.  One little story; we were looking for a particular restaurant that was recommended to us, well, after wandering the streets for thirty minutes we asked a local lady for help who was unable to speak English, she however made sure we were taken care of and found another lady to help us, but she didn’t speak English either, but she knew a little Russian…so through broken Russian, we were able to communicate and she walked us to our Restaurant…well the one she ended up recommending!

Athens:

Athens

Roman Agora

Delphi

From our hotel we were able see the ancient ruins of the Acropolis; we would sit on our “garden” patio and ponder the life of the ancient Greeks.  We started our holiday walking around the Acropolis (it’s a giant hill) and took in the sights and sounds of the city (we also had our first gyro platter).   We took a one day cruise to three islands, visited Delphi and toured the ruins of the Roman forum, Parthenon, Athena’s temple, and Zeus’s temple just to name a few.  We also visited and shopped the Plaka and walked down Aidrouni Street.  One of the girls’ highlights was visiting the National Gardens, there they saw turtles, a small zoo and played at a play ground.  I would have to say it was cool to watch the girls interact with another culture, make friends and play games together they had such a wonderful time.  Of course other highlights were the Greek food and the daily gelato!

Hydra - no cars!

Accropolis from our hotel room patio

Vacation time!

The family was in need of a much needed vacation, we were all feeling the effects of an unending winter. Upon arrival the girls talked our ears off with all their impression of Greece on the way to the hotel.  We heard all about olive trees, Athena and the Acropolis and what they were excited to see and do.  I have to say we picked the perfect time to travel to Greece; with the current economy and political unrest along with the “low season” for tourism, the crowds were nonexistent, the excursions were almost private and we were upgraded at every opportunity.  The people were incredibly friendly and kind to us and we felt very welcomed by the people of Greece.  I believe this trip will rate at the top for us, we had an amazing time.