We lost Asher at the Parthenon.

There were at least 10,000 tourists and guides walking around the Acropolis hill in Athens. Our group had radio headsets so we could hear our guide’s commentary. I had Chiara on my shoulders, and I was following Alex with Angie following me. Alex was following someone else in our group. We thought Asher was ahead with the guide. Asher had been staying close to the guide so he could hear without the headset.

Then, the reception on our headsets started to fade. In unison we all started to check our ear pieces and receivers. Shortly after, we figured out that we had gotten separated from our guide and finally wandered out of range of his transmitter. The tour was already interesting but that was when it got truly exciting (stressful).

Actually, everybody in our family but Asher lost our tour guide. We didn’t panic. Angie and Alex stayed with the other lost members of our group (we weren’t the only ones), while Chiara and I doubled back to find Asher and the guide. If you want to stand out in among 10,000 tourists, just put a blond four year old on your shoulders.

Of course we regrouped, literally and figuratively. The funny part was, when I ran by a park ranger with Chiara and got yelled at. I “calmly” explained that I didn’t care if the rocks were slippery because I had lost my eight year old.

When we re-found the tour guide, he joked that he was keeping Asher. Angie didn’t think that was very funny. She was upset that the tour guide didn’t seem to do much to find us. It is stressful losing a child in a crazy-busy tourist place, where everywhere you look, there are crowds.

In spite of the unwanted excitement, once we calmed down, it was really an excellent tour.

Pivoting for Pitas

Our original itinerary did not include Greece. Angie and I went to Greece on a Mediterranean cruise in 2010. We liked it, but we thought it would be good to see some place new – like Sweden. United States citizens only get 90 days in Europe on a tourist visa and we didn’t think we had time for Greece.

Then we reconsidered. The boys are obsessed with Percy Jackson and thus Greek mythology. Angie considers Oia village in Santorini the most beautiful place in the world. I love Greek food. So we tweaked the plan. Two days in Athens, to see the Parthenon, and a week in Santorini to finish our 90 days of time in Europe.

Athens

On our first visit to Athens in 2010, the city did not impress. The Acropolis was cool but the rest of the city was kind of grungy.

Earlier on this trip, when we went to Auschwitz, I sat next to a Greek tourist from Athens on the bus. He told me that if he were visiting Greece, he would only spend one day in Athens. There was no need to over think this. So, that’s pretty much what we did.

We booked a nice AirBNB walking distance from the Acropolis, and a deluxe tour of the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum. Angie and I hadn’t sprung for the museum on our first visit so we were going to see something new as well. This was one time where we purposely stayed right by the thing we came to see and it worked well.

Besides the exciting tour, the highlight was a little restaurant 300 meters from our AirBNB – Piato El Greco. I brought the kids the night we arrived in Athens, looking for takeout. We looked at the menu which was of course in Greek. The owner spoke tourist English so I told him how many people I was feeding and asked what was good. He helped me order a lamb dish, a chicken dish, moussaka, Greek salad, and baklava. He insisted we wait in the restaurant for the order and proceeded to give us hot chocolate and a plate of food to share. I’m not sure what it was but I know he didn’t charge us. When they brought our order out they include a loaf of bread and a bag of apples “for the kids”. Everything was amazing and we were stuffed. We went back the next night for dine in and it was even more amazing!

Santorini

Santorini is the classic Greek island where all the buildings are white with blue domed roofs. Oia village on the northern tip of the island is really spectacular.

We arrived on November 8 which was about 8 days after the end of tourist season. It felt like we had the island to ourselves but had a few problems trying to find restaurants and tours that were open in the off season.

We had a laid back week of hiking, beaching, wine tasting, and taking selfies in front of Greek architecture.

Our standard Google search – “‘Location Name’ with kids” helped us find Santorini Dave who ran a very useful tourist website. We basically worked our way down the list and had a wonderful week.

Ultimately, the food in Greece was my favorite of the trip to that point. It was a bit like going to an Americanized Mexican restaurant where every dish is a mixture of the same 5 or 6 ingredients – but it worked. Pitas, tzatziki, tomatoes, onions and some kind of meat was the basis of almost every meal.

One surprise for me was pork gyros were very common. I haven’t seen them anywhere else but they were obviously delicious. To wash it all down, Mythos beer is Chiara’s new favorite because the logo prominently features a unicorn! We had one fancy dinner out where we were lucky enough to watch an impromptu fireworks show.

Next stop Turkey.