Naxos

Restaurant we ate in - built in the ruins of an old farm.

Isa and I playing in the sea.  We are sitting because it is so shallow!

Greece.  I still love it here. Today we found the best beach yet for the kids - Agios Georgios.  The entry into the sea was so gradual it was still knee high about 50 meters out, and 100 meters out Michael and I could still touch the bottom.  That meant for great family time playing in the ocean.  And that is pretty much all we did today.  We rented beach umbrellas again, sipped sparkling mineral water, ate gyros and fried potatoes (they grow potatoes in Naxos), played, and napped.  No sightseeing, no buses, nothing.  When we finally rallied enough to leave the beach we headed back to the hotel and got in the pool.  Now we are all exhausted and happy.

Can't remember the last time any of them took a nap. And now here they are, all at once.

I have discovered that the Greek people love children.  More than I have ever seen anyone love children.  My kids are pampered and loved on more than they would be anywhere else - by complete strangers.  And Luke is the most adored of them all.  This is actually quite unusual - the girls usually get all the attention and Luke is generally happy about that, but roles are reversed in this situation.  Why you might ask?

When I told Luke we were coming to Greece after I booked the tickets back in January, I told him that Greek was going to be very difficult to understand and impossible to read because they use their own alphabet.  Luke, being who he is, decided that he should learn some Greek so that we could function while we were there.  Michael and I didn't do anything, but Luke learned to say good morning, good afternoon, good evening, hello, thank you, thank you very much, and bathroom.  And he learned it well enough that they actually understand him.  And they think he's amazing and polite and that it is wonderful that he learned to say whatever he just said. Usually he gets big cheers of "Bravo" from any women in the room.  And snuggles and kisses on his head and pinches of his cheeks.   The men just are stunned and laugh and say something back to him.  I guess not many foreigners try to say anything in Greek.  (As evidenced by the fact that the adults in this family can't say anything - though Luke is trying to teach us. Doesn't have the same effect though.  I tried to say thank you at the bakery today and the guy just looked at me with a confused look on his face.  Obviously my accent stinks.)

Luke has also amazed every waiter since Rome with his choices for dinner.  On Santorini he had swordfish one day and fried sole the next day.  Last night he split a meat platter with Michael and they had marinated chicken, beef burgers, sausages, pork chops, lamb chops, and goat chops.  And they loved it all.  Today he chowed down on a pork gyro.  Bummer for him that he is going back to my cooking in a couple weeks!

We work hard all year so that we can see moments like these!

We have one more day here on Naxos and then we have a five and a half hour ferry ride to Athens.  That should be interesting!