For those of you who are wondering if we are just traveling and not working, I thought I might fill you in on some of what is going on at the WHO (my Monday to Friday job). I have been working with a great group of people who are part of the Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent group. This was previously divided into two groups: Making Pregnancy Safer and the Child and Adolescent group. Although they are officially one, they still function as two units. In the MPS group there are two obstetricians and two neonatologists. There are also several non physicians. I am gradually getting to know them all. They all have a wealth of experience and are a fascinating group of people who work extremely hard. Since I have been here, I have had the opportunity to be involved in the finalization of guidelines for preeclampsia and eclampsia. An amazing group of people from around the world gathered to hash those out. Recently the World Health Assembly met and I managed to take in some of the activities down at the United Nations (just a few minutes from the WHO building). Lots of networking and politics happening there! The job that I have been most involved in however has been the development of a course on normal labour and birth. Until now, much of the emphasis has been on emergency management during labour and birth. Afterall, women are dying because of post partum hemorrhage and preeclampsia and so efforts have gone into dealing with these emergency issues, among others. Care of women during normal labour has fallen by the wayside. Many women still have mobility restricted in labour, are not allowed a companion, receive routine episiotomies and enemas, to name a few. They are also often treated with a lack of respect and in fact there are concerns worldwide about abuse of women in labour. My objective has been to create a CD based interactive course that is geared toward skilled birth attendants, emphasizing evidence based practice to achieve normal birth. Not exactly what one might have thought a high risk specialist would be doing, but it has been eye opening and very exciting. I am the only one working on it at present, so it is my "baby" but it won't be done by the time I leave, so one of the other folks in MPS will have to take it over. Everyone is anxious for me to get as much done as possible before I leave and it may in fact follow me back to Halifax! I have loved having the chance to think about some basic obstetrical problems, and more than anything, it has made me realize how lucky we are in North America. Births are attended by very skilled birth attendants, and women don't fear for their lives as they begin to labour. I hope I remain sympathetic to women with their small complaints when I get back! So, beyond the lovely trips we have made, I have had a great experience at the WHO, which I continue to enjoy!
Heather
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Roman recollections
Before we forget it all, here are some reflections on our four-and-half days in Rome - much too short but glorious nevertheless! We arrived from Athens on Sunday early afternoon and reached the apartment we had rented by mid-afternoon. It was a great place -- the building was about 100 years old but had been nicely renovated and the apartment was very well fitted out. It was in the district of Prati, which is about 10 minutes' walk to the Vatican city and perhaps 40 minutes' walk to the Colosseum. We arrived on North American Mother's Day (turns out the French have their own three weeks later - today!) and had a lovely walk around our neighbourhood followed by a great pizza dinner (go figure).
Prati turned out to be an ideal base -- a short walk across the river to all the main sites of central Rome but with a real neighbourhood feel, including a cappucino bar on every corner and lots of great specialty food stores. We spent our first full day following the suggestion of our guide book that we do the "Roman Holiday" walking tour of the city, to all the places that Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck had frequented in that classic film (which only Heather has seen, but which we are now all looking forward to). These included the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, some great shopping streets, and finally the Colosseum. There was lots in between, and the whole day was pretty amazing. I have no doubt there are dismal parts of Rome (we saw some less inspiring suburbs later in the week), but the central part is quite magical. We were able to retreat to a great pasta dinner at home after a long, tiring day -- the first of four pasta dinners in a row for most of us!
Day Two was the Colosseum, followed by the Forum and the Palatine. The whole week was beautiful weather wise, and this was perhaps our hottest day. As we got up to the upper level, looking down on the site of the gruesome entertainments of almost two millennia ago, Rory said that he wasn't feeling well, then that he couldn't see -- and finally passed out! It didn't take him long to recover, but we all learned a lesson about eating properly, staying hydrated, and keeping ourselves protected from the sun! This was perhaps our longest and most tiring, but also most amazing day. Heather felt that the sites were much more extensive than when she had first seen them, a little while ago (!!!), and it was truly amazing to see the evidence of what these ancients had achieved.
Day Three (Wednesday) started with a trip to the Vatican City. Turns out Wednesday is the day that the Pope has his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square for the faithful (who knew??). So we found ourselves in the square among the thousands of devout followers. Intimidated by the line-ups, we booked a tour that got us into the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and finally St. Peter's Bassilica with some informed guidance from a Spanish-English guide. Definitely a good call. The place was amazing, but absolutely jam packed and much of it would have been lost on us if we'd been left to our own devices. Everyone had their favourite section - the Map room (see picture), the Rooms of Rafael, and of course the Sistine Chapel. We whizzed by all sorts of amazing collections, but were nevertheless left in awe of the remarkable masterpieces that have been amassed there. Later, we found our way to the multi-media "Time Elevator" -- combination video and roller coaster that was supposed to be a particularly exciting (40 minute!) kids-oriented review of 2000 years of Roman history. I think the kids had a good time; I was so queezy from the motion of the seats that I ended up slumped in as close to a reclined position as I could be!
Our final full day we headed out of town to Ostia Anticca - the port of ancient Rome and an amazing site. Having been encased in River silt from the Tiber, the original town site had been extraordinarily well preserved -- almost as impressively as Pompeii, we were told. It was remarkable, once again, to see how incredibly sophisticated Roman architecture, town planning, cultural life, etc. had been. On our way back we routed via the Piazza Popolo (sp??), one of many wonderful ones we saw but perhaps the most beautiful of all.
We had a ridiculously early flight the next day but were sufficiently uplifted by what we had seen that it seemed less painful than it would usually have been. I've left out many details but hopefully given you a sense of why and how we managed to fall in love with this incredible city.
best to all, Dave.
Prati turned out to be an ideal base -- a short walk across the river to all the main sites of central Rome but with a real neighbourhood feel, including a cappucino bar on every corner and lots of great specialty food stores. We spent our first full day following the suggestion of our guide book that we do the "Roman Holiday" walking tour of the city, to all the places that Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck had frequented in that classic film (which only Heather has seen, but which we are now all looking forward to). These included the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, some great shopping streets, and finally the Colosseum. There was lots in between, and the whole day was pretty amazing. I have no doubt there are dismal parts of Rome (we saw some less inspiring suburbs later in the week), but the central part is quite magical. We were able to retreat to a great pasta dinner at home after a long, tiring day -- the first of four pasta dinners in a row for most of us!
Day Two was the Colosseum, followed by the Forum and the Palatine. The whole week was beautiful weather wise, and this was perhaps our hottest day. As we got up to the upper level, looking down on the site of the gruesome entertainments of almost two millennia ago, Rory said that he wasn't feeling well, then that he couldn't see -- and finally passed out! It didn't take him long to recover, but we all learned a lesson about eating properly, staying hydrated, and keeping ourselves protected from the sun! This was perhaps our longest and most tiring, but also most amazing day. Heather felt that the sites were much more extensive than when she had first seen them, a little while ago (!!!), and it was truly amazing to see the evidence of what these ancients had achieved.
Day Three (Wednesday) started with a trip to the Vatican City. Turns out Wednesday is the day that the Pope has his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square for the faithful (who knew??). So we found ourselves in the square among the thousands of devout followers. Intimidated by the line-ups, we booked a tour that got us into the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and finally St. Peter's Bassilica with some informed guidance from a Spanish-English guide. Definitely a good call. The place was amazing, but absolutely jam packed and much of it would have been lost on us if we'd been left to our own devices. Everyone had their favourite section - the Map room (see picture), the Rooms of Rafael, and of course the Sistine Chapel. We whizzed by all sorts of amazing collections, but were nevertheless left in awe of the remarkable masterpieces that have been amassed there. Later, we found our way to the multi-media "Time Elevator" -- combination video and roller coaster that was supposed to be a particularly exciting (40 minute!) kids-oriented review of 2000 years of Roman history. I think the kids had a good time; I was so queezy from the motion of the seats that I ended up slumped in as close to a reclined position as I could be!
Our final full day we headed out of town to Ostia Anticca - the port of ancient Rome and an amazing site. Having been encased in River silt from the Tiber, the original town site had been extraordinarily well preserved -- almost as impressively as Pompeii, we were told. It was remarkable, once again, to see how incredibly sophisticated Roman architecture, town planning, cultural life, etc. had been. On our way back we routed via the Piazza Popolo (sp??), one of many wonderful ones we saw but perhaps the most beautiful of all.
We had a ridiculously early flight the next day but were sufficiently uplifted by what we had seen that it seemed less painful than it would usually have been. I've left out many details but hopefully given you a sense of why and how we managed to fall in love with this incredible city.
best to all, Dave.
I LOVE ROMA!!
Tempio di Saturna (the Palatine); Colosseum (interior and exterior); Museo Vaticana; Fontana di Trevi; St. Peters' at twilight.
Elizabeth :)
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Nafpaktos, Ancient Olympia, Nafplio
Hi All,
My turn! During our time in the Peloponnese, we went to a number of beautiful and historically interesting places. The first full day we were there, we took some time to get ourselves settled in our village, and then in the afternoon headed to the town of Nafpaktos just across the water on mainland Greece. There is a spectacular bridge across from Rio to Antirion across the narrowest point of the Gulf of Corinth, just before Patras. This feat of engineering made me think of my Dad's misty-eyed descriptions of great engineering achievements through history! It was completed only in 2004, and prior to that the crossing was made by ferry. In fact, the ferries are still running, and are considerably cheaper than the bridge toll, so for our first crossing we took the 20 minute ferry ride. We then climbed a very steep hill above the town of Nafpaktos to a massive fort overlooking the town -- mainly the work of the Ottomans but having been embellished by various other occupiers before and after. The fort was actually closed but we were able to walk around the walls a bit and have a coffee and enjoy the view at a cafe adjacent to it (where we were also able to access a computer and learn about the Canadian election results... but we won't dwell on that here...). We then drove down to the town and walked around the old port area. Nafpaktos has a history as a very strategic point guarding access to the Gulf of Corinth and has a very beautiful fortified harbour, surrounded by a charming and bustling old town. We were very taken with it, and with the driving virtuosity required to navigate it!
The next day we drove the nearly two hours to ancient Olympia. This is an absolutely remarkable site, well known in large part because of its inspiration of the modern revival of the Olympics. In ancient times, starting in about the 5th century BC, it was (like its modern equivalent) the focal point of the cultural and sporting life of the Greek centred ancient world. The site is, like all the ancient archaelogical sites that we saw, spectacularly located among beautful hills. We saw the museum first, which helped with orientation and also contains many of the most significant finds from the site to protect them from the elements (statues, frescoes, etc of remarkable sophistication). We then spent a couple of hours walking the site itself. It included the remains of the Gymasium, a number of temples the most prominent of which was the Temple of Zeus, the sculptor Phideas' workshop where some of the monumental artistic pieces were completed, and of course the stadium and running track - 120 metres long in those days with hillside seating for 45,000. Rory and Holly completed the run in impressive fashion, though probably not with a competitive time to the champions of old! There were a number of other functional and spiritual remains, but perhaps the most impressive -- certainly one of the grandest structures of the original site -- was the guest house for visiting dignitaries and officials. It had, among other things, the remains of a luxurious courtyard swimming pool. So like the modern Games, the best digs went to the visiting dignitaries, officials, and sponsors rather than the athletes. Plus ca change...
On our next, rainy day, we went first to Mycenae (which Rory will describe) and then the historic and beautiful little city of Nafplio. It was a strategic port city guarded by no less than three fortresses of various ages. Its centre is a beautiful area featuring Venetian and neo-classical buildings and pedestrian laneways. It was the first capital of modern Greece beginning with the war of independence from the Ottomans in 1821 until it was moved to Athens in 1834. It was charming despite the unsettled weather, but seemed to have been invaded by hundreds of junior high-aged kids on bus tours from their schools which raised the decibel level and disrupted the atmosphere of the place. Still, a lovely destination.
Talk to you soon, Dave.
My turn! During our time in the Peloponnese, we went to a number of beautiful and historically interesting places. The first full day we were there, we took some time to get ourselves settled in our village, and then in the afternoon headed to the town of Nafpaktos just across the water on mainland Greece. There is a spectacular bridge across from Rio to Antirion across the narrowest point of the Gulf of Corinth, just before Patras. This feat of engineering made me think of my Dad's misty-eyed descriptions of great engineering achievements through history! It was completed only in 2004, and prior to that the crossing was made by ferry. In fact, the ferries are still running, and are considerably cheaper than the bridge toll, so for our first crossing we took the 20 minute ferry ride. We then climbed a very steep hill above the town of Nafpaktos to a massive fort overlooking the town -- mainly the work of the Ottomans but having been embellished by various other occupiers before and after. The fort was actually closed but we were able to walk around the walls a bit and have a coffee and enjoy the view at a cafe adjacent to it (where we were also able to access a computer and learn about the Canadian election results... but we won't dwell on that here...). We then drove down to the town and walked around the old port area. Nafpaktos has a history as a very strategic point guarding access to the Gulf of Corinth and has a very beautiful fortified harbour, surrounded by a charming and bustling old town. We were very taken with it, and with the driving virtuosity required to navigate it!
The next day we drove the nearly two hours to ancient Olympia. This is an absolutely remarkable site, well known in large part because of its inspiration of the modern revival of the Olympics. In ancient times, starting in about the 5th century BC, it was (like its modern equivalent) the focal point of the cultural and sporting life of the Greek centred ancient world. The site is, like all the ancient archaelogical sites that we saw, spectacularly located among beautful hills. We saw the museum first, which helped with orientation and also contains many of the most significant finds from the site to protect them from the elements (statues, frescoes, etc of remarkable sophistication). We then spent a couple of hours walking the site itself. It included the remains of the Gymasium, a number of temples the most prominent of which was the Temple of Zeus, the sculptor Phideas' workshop where some of the monumental artistic pieces were completed, and of course the stadium and running track - 120 metres long in those days with hillside seating for 45,000. Rory and Holly completed the run in impressive fashion, though probably not with a competitive time to the champions of old! There were a number of other functional and spiritual remains, but perhaps the most impressive -- certainly one of the grandest structures of the original site -- was the guest house for visiting dignitaries and officials. It had, among other things, the remains of a luxurious courtyard swimming pool. So like the modern Games, the best digs went to the visiting dignitaries, officials, and sponsors rather than the athletes. Plus ca change...
On our next, rainy day, we went first to Mycenae (which Rory will describe) and then the historic and beautiful little city of Nafplio. It was a strategic port city guarded by no less than three fortresses of various ages. Its centre is a beautiful area featuring Venetian and neo-classical buildings and pedestrian laneways. It was the first capital of modern Greece beginning with the war of independence from the Ottomans in 1821 until it was moved to Athens in 1834. It was charming despite the unsettled weather, but seemed to have been invaded by hundreds of junior high-aged kids on bus tours from their schools which raised the decibel level and disrupted the atmosphere of the place. Still, a lovely destination.
Talk to you soon, Dave.
Day in Delphi
Hi all!!!!!
It's Holly here and I'm going to tell you about our wonderful day in Delphi! As you have read in the into, it was absolutely beautiful. The drive there was two hours plus a slight mix up in the rout so we all felt a little bit sick, but when we arrived, we discovered that it was certainly worth the trip. The town of Delphi honors Apollo, god of thieves, prophesies, healing, and the sun. The sun was right! It was verrrrrrrry hot that day and we narrowly escaped sunburn. Before anything happened, we visited the ruins of Delphi. As you may very well know, each city of Greece had a temple there where they placed all of there treasures and offerings to Apollo. What made the site truly amazing was the scenery, of course, but also that everything was so intact! On the temple of Athens, you can still see all of the carvings, though the paint can't be seen anymore. The amphitheater still stood and you could sit comfortably in some places. In the baking sun, we climbed up to the stadium where the gladiators fought. We then climbed down and had a quick look at the museum. After our time on the site was finished, we went down to the town, and had a good sack with a marvelous view. The put an end to our day in Delphi and we drove back to our condo where we went swimming and then made our way over to a friends house for supper.
Hope everything is going well where you are!
Holly-
It's Holly here and I'm going to tell you about our wonderful day in Delphi! As you have read in the into, it was absolutely beautiful. The drive there was two hours plus a slight mix up in the rout so we all felt a little bit sick, but when we arrived, we discovered that it was certainly worth the trip. The town of Delphi honors Apollo, god of thieves, prophesies, healing, and the sun. The sun was right! It was verrrrrrrry hot that day and we narrowly escaped sunburn. Before anything happened, we visited the ruins of Delphi. As you may very well know, each city of Greece had a temple there where they placed all of there treasures and offerings to Apollo. What made the site truly amazing was the scenery, of course, but also that everything was so intact! On the temple of Athens, you can still see all of the carvings, though the paint can't be seen anymore. The amphitheater still stood and you could sit comfortably in some places. In the baking sun, we climbed up to the stadium where the gladiators fought. We then climbed down and had a quick look at the museum. After our time on the site was finished, we went down to the town, and had a good sack with a marvelous view. The put an end to our day in Delphi and we drove back to our condo where we went swimming and then made our way over to a friends house for supper.
Hope everything is going well where you are!
Holly-
Sifnos
We packed our bags (again), said goodbye to our little hotel off the Plaka in Athens and took the train down to the busy port of Pireus. There we got the ferry to Sifnos. In doing some reading about the Greek Islands we decided that Sifnos was far enough away to be slightly "off the beaten track" but near enough that it didn't take all day to get there. We weren't disappointed. It had been grey and rainy during the trip but as we arrived the sun broke through a little and we were able to get off the boat in dry weather. Our little apartment was located in Appollonia, the "capitol" of Sifnos. The bus took us there dropping us off in the center of town. Luckily this was right in front of the one and only tourist/travel agent who knew all about us and directed us towards our apartment. We were met at the apartment by the owner, Francesco. Although he spoke virtually no English, he managed to get us set up. It's hard to describe the village or the apartment. Hopefully pictures will help. The town itself is built on a hill and there are very few actual streets. The houses are connected by little stairs and pathways. All are whitewashed and beautifully maintained. There are little tavernas and shops throughout the central area, including jewelry, pottery and clothing shops. There are literally hundreds of churchs. Our guide book told us there are 365 throughout the island....one for every day of the year! These are white with blue domes. The first day on Sifnos was very rainy. Water literally poured down the pathways. We wondered what would come next! Luckily, although the next day began cloudy and overcast it gradually cleared and we walked to a medieval village several kilometers away called Kastro. Surrounded by a wall, perched on a hill with a spectacular view, it actually dates back to prehistoric times and was the original capitol of Sifnos. Although the castle is from the 14th century, the remains of houses from the 8th and 7th century BC have been excavated. The next day was sunny and warm and so we took the bus to Faros. From the beach we could see the 17th century monastery, Chrysopigi. On our final day we went to the longest beach in the Cyclades, Platy Yialos. We were virtually alone on the beach and the surf was incredible. Although it was actually too rough to really go swimming, it made for good wave jumping. We had lunch at a beach taverna with fresh fish (Elizabeth was able to pick out the fish before they were cooked and was a little disconcerted to have them arrive with their heads on still). We have really enjoyed the Greek food with lots of tomatoes, olives and cheese. After our day on the beach we picked up our bags from the apartment, made our way to the port and caught the evening ferry back to Athens. We returned to the same little hotel off the Plaka where we were greeted as returning friends. This time, only an overnight stay and then off to the Peloponnese.
Heather
Heather
Monday, 9 May 2011
ATHENS!!
Hello!
Sorry about the delay but better late than never, I suppose. I know my mum has already filled you in on some of the things we did and I'm going to follow up with news of our time in Athens:
On our first day in Athens, we made it our priority to see Athens' most famous landmark; the Acropolis! The Acropolis is comprised of several ancient temples dedicated to Athena- the patron goddess of Athens- all situated on top of a large plateau that can be seen from various vantage points throughout the city. The smallest temple (and most intact), Athena Nike stands sentinel near the entrance of the Acropolis. The word Nike means victory and it was one of Athena's many forms. The Athenians relied on their patron goddess to ensure their victory in battle. They became greedy and it is said that the temple was used as a prison for the goddess, so that no one else could share in their good fortune. The Erekthion, the second largest (or smallest, if you like) was a more sophisticated temple. An interesting feature of this temple is the columns in the shape of a woman- Athena, to be precise. Apparently, one of these was the inspiration for the Statue of Liberty! Who new..
Last but not least comes; drumroll please...
THE PARTHENON!!!
For anyone who thinks the Parthenon is overrated, they are sorely mistaken! This massive temple is one of the seven wonders of the world although that's no wonder: even though it is now constantly under construction, it's majesty remains as ever. Sadly, over the years, it has been subjected to lots of misfortunes. Explosions, pillaging and looting are only a few of the many unfortunate events that have befallen it. Nevertheless, it still stands (most of it anyway) and continues to astound all who see it!
I apologize for droning on and on, I'm sure it's getting tiring. Lucky for you, it's getting late and I'm getting ready for bed. I'll write more the next chance I get and hopefully post some pictures! I hope that everyone is enjoying this blog.
Anyway, goodnight!
Elizabeth :)
Sorry about the delay but better late than never, I suppose. I know my mum has already filled you in on some of the things we did and I'm going to follow up with news of our time in Athens:
On our first day in Athens, we made it our priority to see Athens' most famous landmark; the Acropolis! The Acropolis is comprised of several ancient temples dedicated to Athena- the patron goddess of Athens- all situated on top of a large plateau that can be seen from various vantage points throughout the city. The smallest temple (and most intact), Athena Nike stands sentinel near the entrance of the Acropolis. The word Nike means victory and it was one of Athena's many forms. The Athenians relied on their patron goddess to ensure their victory in battle. They became greedy and it is said that the temple was used as a prison for the goddess, so that no one else could share in their good fortune. The Erekthion, the second largest (or smallest, if you like) was a more sophisticated temple. An interesting feature of this temple is the columns in the shape of a woman- Athena, to be precise. Apparently, one of these was the inspiration for the Statue of Liberty! Who new..
Last but not least comes; drumroll please...
THE PARTHENON!!!
For anyone who thinks the Parthenon is overrated, they are sorely mistaken! This massive temple is one of the seven wonders of the world although that's no wonder: even though it is now constantly under construction, it's majesty remains as ever. Sadly, over the years, it has been subjected to lots of misfortunes. Explosions, pillaging and looting are only a few of the many unfortunate events that have befallen it. Nevertheless, it still stands (most of it anyway) and continues to astound all who see it!
I apologize for droning on and on, I'm sure it's getting tiring. Lucky for you, it's getting late and I'm getting ready for bed. I'll write more the next chance I get and hopefully post some pictures! I hope that everyone is enjoying this blog.
Anyway, goodnight!
Elizabeth :)
trip to Greece and Rome!
Hi all!
Finally we are getting around to writing a little about our Easter vacation. We have been so busy that at night we have had dinner, bathed and gone to bed. We flew to Athens and began our holiday by spending Easter with Pantelis, a friend from Halifax who was visiting his family in Athens. Easter is a big celebration in Greece and we felt very privileged to be a part of the Easter Sunday festivities. They treated us to goat roasted on a spit and lots of yummy Greek delicacies. There was music, dancing and the smell of orange blossoms in the air. After dinner we walked with Pantelis up to the top of a mountain in central Athens that gave us a marvelous view of the city. The next day we visited the Acropolis, the Ancient Agora and the Roman Agora. The following day we made out way to the spectacular Acropolis Museum. Elizabeth is going to give more details about our time in Athens. We then took a boat to Sifnos, an island in the group of islands called the Cyclades. We had one rain soaked day there followed by quite a bit of sunshine. More from me about Sifnos later. At the end of the week we reluctantly took the boat back to Athens and after one night there, picked up our rental car and drove first to Cape Sounion where Poseidon's temple stands and then on to the Peloponnese. The temple at Cape Sounion overlooks the ocean with spectacular views from all sides. Poseidon would have loved it! Our village on the Peloponnese was called Selionatiki. We stayed in a condo owned by friends from home and again felt happy and blessed. The condo had a pool which we made good use of. We managed to make a number of day trips from our base there to Olympia, Nafpaktos and Nafplio (Dave will fill in the details of these day trips). The day we went to Nafplio we also visited the most ancient ruins in Greece, Mycenae. Despite torrential rain, Rory was particularly amazed by this site and will fill you in on what we saw there. This rainy day was then followed by the sunniest day yet which we happily spent on the beach at Killini. For some reason, while on the beach, we were treated to the Greek version of the Snowbirds who put on an incredible show that lasted about half an hour. Their training base is apparently near Killini however what we saw suggested that it was a special show put on for someone. We were close to an exclusive beach resort and saw people there gathered at the beach to take photos. We suspect that the show was for them and not for us but we really enjoyed it! The next day was our last on the Peloponnese and we went to Delphi. It was wonderful, as Holly will tell you! The next day we returned our car, jumped on a plane and landed in Rome. We are now settled in an apartment here and are beginning our exploration of this amazing city. We will try and attach pictures to each segment of the trip....for your viewing pleasure!
Heather
Finally we are getting around to writing a little about our Easter vacation. We have been so busy that at night we have had dinner, bathed and gone to bed. We flew to Athens and began our holiday by spending Easter with Pantelis, a friend from Halifax who was visiting his family in Athens. Easter is a big celebration in Greece and we felt very privileged to be a part of the Easter Sunday festivities. They treated us to goat roasted on a spit and lots of yummy Greek delicacies. There was music, dancing and the smell of orange blossoms in the air. After dinner we walked with Pantelis up to the top of a mountain in central Athens that gave us a marvelous view of the city. The next day we visited the Acropolis, the Ancient Agora and the Roman Agora. The following day we made out way to the spectacular Acropolis Museum. Elizabeth is going to give more details about our time in Athens. We then took a boat to Sifnos, an island in the group of islands called the Cyclades. We had one rain soaked day there followed by quite a bit of sunshine. More from me about Sifnos later. At the end of the week we reluctantly took the boat back to Athens and after one night there, picked up our rental car and drove first to Cape Sounion where Poseidon's temple stands and then on to the Peloponnese. The temple at Cape Sounion overlooks the ocean with spectacular views from all sides. Poseidon would have loved it! Our village on the Peloponnese was called Selionatiki. We stayed in a condo owned by friends from home and again felt happy and blessed. The condo had a pool which we made good use of. We managed to make a number of day trips from our base there to Olympia, Nafpaktos and Nafplio (Dave will fill in the details of these day trips). The day we went to Nafplio we also visited the most ancient ruins in Greece, Mycenae. Despite torrential rain, Rory was particularly amazed by this site and will fill you in on what we saw there. This rainy day was then followed by the sunniest day yet which we happily spent on the beach at Killini. For some reason, while on the beach, we were treated to the Greek version of the Snowbirds who put on an incredible show that lasted about half an hour. Their training base is apparently near Killini however what we saw suggested that it was a special show put on for someone. We were close to an exclusive beach resort and saw people there gathered at the beach to take photos. We suspect that the show was for them and not for us but we really enjoyed it! The next day was our last on the Peloponnese and we went to Delphi. It was wonderful, as Holly will tell you! The next day we returned our car, jumped on a plane and landed in Rome. We are now settled in an apartment here and are beginning our exploration of this amazing city. We will try and attach pictures to each segment of the trip....for your viewing pleasure!
Heather
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