Saturday came too soon - and the end of our vacation. We managed to extend it by traveling on the same plane to Amsterdam as the kids did. Alexis came back to Schiphol to our hotel to have a last dinner with us after she had gone home and gotten the rest of the family settled.
We will slowly make our way home on Sunday and Monday - hoping to avoid jet lag.
Sunday, May 5, 2019
May 3 - Mystras
We chose the best time to visit this site. The flowers are blooming and most tourists haven't arrived yet. The fortress at the top of the hill was built by Prince William II Villehardouin. He was captured in 1259 by the Byzantines - and that is the influence you see in the two churches we visited.
As the area became more populated with more homes - more walls were built to enclose them.
A view down into the valley from Mystras
We saw a lot of these plants - our guide did not know what they were.
The first church we saw. We saw a lot of the Byzantine figures with their eyes poked out. Later conquerors thought they were evil.
It also had a cave - a room in the rocks at the back of the church.
Then on to the next attraction. The girls had amazing stamina for all the walking we did.
The next church is occasionally used for services. There were many pots with roses scattered around.
Once again, the two headed eagle.
And a beautiful view of the valley - Sparta is somewhere to the right.
As the area became more populated with more homes - more walls were built to enclose them.
We saw a lot of these plants - our guide did not know what they were.
The first church we saw. We saw a lot of the Byzantine figures with their eyes poked out. Later conquerors thought they were evil.
It also had a cave - a room in the rocks at the back of the church.
Then on to the next attraction. The girls had amazing stamina for all the walking we did.
The next church is occasionally used for services. There were many pots with roses scattered around.
Once again, the two headed eagle.
And a beautiful view of the valley - Sparta is somewhere to the right.
May 3 - Mountain Day
I will divide this day's activities into two posts. Mystras and everything else. This is everything else.
We drove through very windy mountain roads - and it was beautiful. I was so glad that we were not driving.
This photo shows 5 layers of roads. There were many S curves on this road.
Our stop for photos included this monument.
On the way down the other side of the mountain we were stopped by this herd of goats.
After our visit to Mystras (Next post) - we went to Sparta for lunch. Very little remains of the ancient city of Sparta - we did not go to see any spots. But today's Sparta is supposed to be built on the exact location of the original Sparta.
We did see modern Spartans - and also a couple of statues.
More views of the town.
Our last stop of the day was at the Olive Oil Museum. Since I don't even like olives - it was not of that much interest to me. But other members of the family love olives and enjoyed the museum.
Lia was entertained by taking photos with her Dad's camera. Alexis and Natasha are printing out olive oil recipes.
Another hands on display - Natasha loved going round and round.
We drove through very windy mountain roads - and it was beautiful. I was so glad that we were not driving.
This photo shows 5 layers of roads. There were many S curves on this road.
Our stop for photos included this monument.
On the way down the other side of the mountain we were stopped by this herd of goats.
We did see modern Spartans - and also a couple of statues.
Our last stop of the day was at the Olive Oil Museum. Since I don't even like olives - it was not of that much interest to me. But other members of the family love olives and enjoyed the museum.
Lia was entertained by taking photos with her Dad's camera. Alexis and Natasha are printing out olive oil recipes.
Another hands on display - Natasha loved going round and round.
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