Καλημέρα, to all our friends and family! Part 2

Day 5, Santorini (continued): As we were pulling in to the harbor at Santorini we started to realize that something was wrong. Another cruise ship that we had seen many times on our trip--it shared our itinerary--was sitting the in the bay and listing badly to starboard. This is what we could see:

At about this time we were told over the ship's intercom that there was a serious emergency with the Sea Diamond--the other ship--and that our disembarkation at Santorini would be delayed as we were to assist with the situation. As we watched, all of the passengers filled the upper decks, their orange life preservers lining the rails as local boats swarmed around the ship to see what they could do to help. The evacuation lasted hours, and at one point the ship had to be towed off the rocks as seen here:

We ended up spending the entire afternoon and early evening sitting in the harbor under orders from the port authority. We took on hundreds of people who filled empty cabins and who slept in our lounges that night. We were scheduled to return to Athens the next day so the effect on our trip was minimal, we just missed our final stop. Everyone on our ship just felt thankful that we were weren't on the other ship as it was a striking reminder of the risks we take on a daily basis. If we ever go on a cruise again we will take the evacuation drill on the first day very seriously.

Our final views of the ship were not very encouraging, and as it turned out the Sea Diamond sank early the next morning. While we were having our last breakfast on the boat we heard some of the rescued passengers talking about when they were going to be able to retrieve their things; within an hour they would have heard the everyhting was lost. Unfortunately, it looks as though two French tourists who have been missing for days may have been trapped somewhere on the ship, though they haven't confirmed anything yet. The explanation at this point seems to be that even with all the latest navegational systems on the ship, human error or inattention were still responsible for allowing the ship to scrape alongside a reef and open a gash that instantly flooded numerous decks and began the hours-long ordeal of its sinking.

Finally, here is a picture of beautiful Santorini that we would love to visit someday, if we ever again have the chance.

Καλημέρα, to all our friends and family! Part 1

Hello and welcome to the newest installment of Los Stuhan. The Greek word above is a typical greeting and is pronounced "kalimera" and it means "nice day." We have just arrived home from our fantastic Aegean vacation and the rest of our luggage will soon be delivered to our door--or so the airline has promised us. Still, at least it is not on the bottom of the ocean, but more on that later. We had a wonderful time in Greece and we'll have to go back someday, even if just to have a nice meal. Here's a summary of our time there:


Day 1, Athens: We arrived in the mid-afternoon and after checking in at our hotel we strolled the Plaka District, where shopping and restaurants galore await the swollen wallet of sun-burned tourists. We ate at a nice little taberna and it turns out the mousaka is actually fantastic, we just hadn't had a very good one back home. Afterwards, we had a strong Greek coffee and a glass of Ouzo over ice. We turned in fairly early as we had and early embarkation the next morning.


Day 2, Cruise from Athens to Mykonos: O.k., so the cruise ship was pretty basic, not the kind of thing that you see in those Royal Caribbean commercials. Still, the food was good and it was our transport from island to island. Mykonos was the postcard example of a Greek towns, shimmering white facades beneath the midday sun. Here's a model that let us take his picture:

Overall, a lovely town, if a bit touristy and expensive. Still, our meal was on the ship so the only thing we had to buy were our five euro coffees.

Day 3, Mykonos to Kusadasi, Turkey and Patmos, Greece: Mykonos was picturesque, but Turkey was beautiful and awe-inspiring. The port was about 20km from one of the best archeological sites in the world: the ancient city of Ephesus. Take a look at these photos:

According to our guide--whose English was disturbingly similar to that of Borat--only a quarter of the city has been laid bare by excavations. It's hard to imagine our children coming here in 50 years and seeing even more of it.

Day 4, Rhodes: We awoke in the Port of Rhodes, one of the largest Greek islands and in ancient times home to the Colossus which stood at the entrance to its harbor. The city was amazing and had a much older feel than some of the more spruced-up tourist towns. We went on a day trip to Lindos, another ancient city with a beautiful bay and sweeping views from its acropolis as seen below.



Day 5, Heraklion (Crete), and Santorini (almost): Crete wasn't really all that interesting, the highlight was a cafe with fresh-baked spanakopita that was a welcome early afternoon snack. We visited the Palace of Knossos, which is a huge Minoan complex from around 1700 B.C. It would have been more interesting if the British archeologist that uncovered it hadn't used concrete and paint to reconstruct it the way he thought it was supposed to look--this was in the early 20th century. Anyway, it was a short stop and we were on our way to Santorini.

Goodby Winter...

...Hello Spring!

As we bid farwell to what turned out to be a lovely, but rather short lived, winter we would like to reflect a little and say thank you to all of our visitors who helped to make it such a memorable season.

Thank you to Mom and Dad (Bernie and Pat) for coming and enjoying the beginning of the year with us. Additionally, thanks for helping us be tourists in our own town, we got to see a lot of things we might never have seen if not for your visit. I guess we "returned the favor" in a sense ; ). We hope that this was only the first of many such adventures that you make.

Thanks again to Mom and Dad (Leanne and Frank) for making sure we had company for what would have otherwise been some pretty lonely holidays...and for being the catalyst for our trip to Italy!

Thank you Dad (Sean) for kicking of our visitor season in style! We got to see some sites, eat some great food, and get dressed up and go to a real palace ball...what a life ; )!

I guess that we can't expect any more visitors, at least not in Barcelona, since we will be heading back state-side come June. We are grateful to all of you guys for making the time and effort to get here and for coping with the terrible exhange (OUCH!). It was worth it though ; )! We look forward to seeing all of our friends and family soon. We love you!

Besos -- James and Maggie

P.S. Check back for sure after the first week of April -- we gaurantee a fantastic posting all about our Spring Break trip to Greece ; )!

Italy, anyone?

O.k., so it probably goes without saying that we recommend Italy to anyone who gets the chance to visit. In fact, as I sit here thinking about it, I'm really not sure why we aren't moving to Rome to teach there next year...

So, we made a quick stop in Rome before heading to Florence to join Frank and Leanne for New Year's. The city was incredible and the food was great! We did a quick tour and saw the major sites in the Forum area, including the Colosseum above. We walked across the grassy field where the Circus Maximus once stood, and we saw St. Peter's as the sun went down. Not bad, considered we only went there because our stopover in Milan ended up taking 20 hours and we just had to find a way out of there!

Next, we jumped on a train and went to Florence.

We had a great time in Tuscany and even had time for a day trip to Siena. Both cities were lovely, with exquisite cathedrals that cause a sharp intake of breath followed by the unbidden "where the hell did they get the money to build all this?" Still, one look at it all and you have no trouble believing everything that you read in school about the Italian Renaissance and its incredible achievements. Some of it was like looking at the pyramids, seriously.

Well, it's been hard trying to find time to do this update and the little that we have is about used up. We just wanted to say hi to everybody and give a quick note about what we've been up to. If it's cold where you are we can report that it is now (finally) getting cold again here. Last weekend we were walking down the beach in T-shirts, and today I'm not sure if I want to walk down the beach, period.

Abrazos,

Los Stuhan

Overdue Catalan Holiday Update!

Hey everybody, howdy-hi! That's what I imagine the Catalan Caga Tio talks like (Mr. Hanky). The picture shows a bunch of the little log-men with smiley faces, hats, and wooden dowel legs. This is an integral part of the Catalan Holidays, and his name is Caga Tio (crapping uncle).

Caga Tio is put out several weeks before Christmas. The traditions vary, but many families have the kids leave food out for Caga Tio every night before going to bed. In the morning, the children discover that only crumbs, banana peel, ect. remain. The Caga Tio begins to "fatten up."

On Christmas morning (or Eve) the children will come down and find a nice warm blanket covering Caga Tio's backside. They sing songs to him and tap him with sticks to encourage him to "crap" presents and sweets. The parents reach under the blanket and remove the goodies that the kids have coaxed out of poor old Caga Tio. This tradition is very popular here. In fact, in many town squares there will be a giant Caga Tio and kids wait in line to hit him with a stick to get sweets. I've never seen a line of kids quite this long waiting to sit on Santa's lap at the mall, maybe we should introduce the sticks to our tradition, just to help Santa remember.