Craig and I took our first vacation away from Ben (sorry, no Ben update in this one). Ben's Nonna graciously watched him while we were out of town (Thank you, Joanne!!!). In exchange we bought her an island in Greece - she deserves it! ;)
Our primary destination was Crete, but we also stopped in Helsinki for one night on the way and one night in London on the way back. We enjoyed our trip a lot, but were ready to get back home to Ben and Vincent.
Helsinki, Finland
Craig's fried herring dinner in Helsinki.Sleepy, but yummy, dinner in Helsinki.Helsinki CathedralRussian Orthodox Church, HelsinkiNearly 10 pm in a cab in Helsinki. I think it's at this point that we realized that we weren't going to sleep much :(
Rethymno, Crete
Sunrise on our first day in Rethymno, Crete.At this point Nonna sent us this picture of Ben. Looks like he's being well-cared for ;)Harbor in downtown RethymnoHarbor tower in Rethymno.Rethymno HarborCraig about to get some fresh ink.LOVED the doors in Crete. This one was in Rethymno.Very old building near the Rethymno Archeological Museum.Someone is not a fan of AirBnB.
Santorini (Thira), Greece
Ferry to SantoriniChurch of Panagia Platsani, Oia, SantoriniView of caldera edge in Oia, Santorini.Me blocking the view of the caldera edge :)Pet birds kept in cages outside a door in Santorini. This was common in both Crete and Santorini.View of the newly forming volcano (and Craig) in Thira, Santorini.Time to take a drink break before our donkey ride.View during a drink break in Thira, Santorini. The island in the center is the newly-forming volcano.Seriously fresh fish... and a painted sign in case you don't know what they sell :)Donkey ride down to the old harbor (588 steps). We gave our donkeys a break by walking most of the way up.
Chania, Crete
Archeological museum in Chania, Crete. This toy is dated to the 8th century B.C.Another beautiful door. This time in Chania.Door knocker in Chania.Resting in Chania.Kitties taking a snooze in Chania.
Heraklion, Crete
Driving to Heraklion to check out Knossos.Knossos Archeological Site.Knossos (and Craig for scale). Quite a bit of it was "reconstructed" (destroyed, in my opinion) by Arthur Evans (as seen in the background), but it was still an impressive site.Hey, I can do this (carry pithos like the Minoans).One of the less reconstructed portions of Knossos.Art in Knossos.More Knossos art.More Knossos art.More reconstructed portions.More reconstruction.Another one of us blocking an otherwise nice view.Dat weathering pattern :). Much of Knossos was made from gypsum blocks that produce a cool weathering pattern (but are not too comfy to sit on).More gypsum in a block that heavily weathered.Craig's impressive parallel parking job at the History Museum.History museum of Crete in Heraklion. Why aren't there any spaces in between characters... looks like one big long word!Minoan (?) coins. Craig liked the hippo one :)
London
Riding the Gatwick Express.Grabbing a taxi in London. We had the BEST taxi driver (second in line in the pic). He didn't charge us to go a bit out of the way to see Windsor Palace, Big Ben and the Eye of London.Sleepy 10:15 pm dinner in London. Amazing food - just wish I had been awake for it.Double decker bus! Sorry for the out of focus pic - we were tired :)Craig finds a telephone booth.Some fun graffiti in London.Calling home to Ben in front of Big Ben.
Comments