Enjoying iced-chocolate on the last night in Athens. Well, that's pretty much it! We took a lot more pictures, but this was a good cross-section. If you are just checking these photos, go back about 50 entries to see where they start.

This was amazing. It was still used up through the 19th century to greet foreign dignitaries.

This is the Temple to Hephastis in the Roman Forum. The best preserved piece of architecture from the Ancient world.

Here's an old Greek Orthodox church, built in the 1400s by matieral taken from the ruins.

Athens SPRAWLS. Worse than Phoenix. It didn't build up, just out.

Here's the Parthenon, the big temple at the Acropolis. They're doing some reconstruction to fix the problems caused by the last reconstruction.

Here we are at the gates. It was wicked hot, and the humidity was high. Everyone had to be careful not to get overheated. But still, it was amazing!

And now we are in Athens! Spent basically two days here. Well, day and a half. We could walk to the Acropolis from out hotel. Here we are on approach. Good luck besieging that sucker!

The last night they brought out a cake for my Mom and sister's birthday, which was the next day. Very nice of them.

The last day, they let whomever want climb the rigging to the first crow's nest. This is a shot of the deck from there. Dad, Laura, and I all braved it. Some people *coughHeathercough* wussed out.

Ah, another beachfront cafe. There were a lot of them.

My Dad had gotten really burned sleeping on the deck of the ship sans sunscreen. Here he is seeking shade. A flattering pic.

The last island we stopped at. Sifnos. Great beach! Apparently some good hiking here too.

On the prow of the ship, about 30 feet above the water. Heather was quite nervous.

A photo of the Star Flyer with all her sails up.

This is, I think, Mykonos, but all the little villages have the same setup. These buildings and streets have bascially been the same for hundreds, if not thousands of years. The ancient stone in the road has water sealent (the white), but otherwise is unchanged.

Another shot of Patmos. Nice island.

Having a strawberry drink at an outdoor cafe on the island of Mykonos. Mykonos was a big party town, with like 40 cafe/eateries per square mile. More photos tomorrow!

Can you guess what is on that monument? Heather really wanted this photo.

The island of Delos was the commerical and religious center of the Cycladic isles, around 500BC. Lots of ruins.

On Patmos we visited the cave where St. John wrote the Book of Revelations. After fasting for 10 days. And probably eating some mushrooms. There was also the Monastery
of the Apocalypse there. Both were neat, neither let photos be taken.

The island of Patmos.

White people in paradise! On the beach, the island of Samos.

Sunrise, out my porthole.

This sign is just funny. And you have to pay to use the can in Europe. Not just here, but in Athens too.

Heather, of course, wanted to take home every stray cat there. And there were several.

It was pretty big. A view from the Via Arcadia, which lead to the harbor. The harbor silted up around AD 300, which is the main reason why the city was abandoned.

The great theater. Held around 33,000 people. St. Paul apparently was scheduled to berate people here, but got run out of town beforehand. Pagans!

Me, Heather, and Mom in front of the Library of Ephesus, third greatest in the ancient world.

Ancient toliets in a bathhouse. When ya gotta go, ya gotta go.

Looking down a street of Ephesus.

We also went into Ephesus, an ancient Greek/Roman city of around 200BC-300 AD. St. Paul was here (letter to the Ephesians). This is the ruins of gathering place of the local senate.

We did an excurstion that first took us to the supposed house where the Virgin Mary lived until her death in around AD 97. She came to the city of Ephesus with St. Paul, who built her a small house outside the city limits.

Here we are off the coast of Kusadasi, Turkey.

Mom, Heather, me, my sister Laura. Dad is taking the photo.

Da beach!

Here's a shot of the Star Flyer, anchored off shore, from the beach.

First stop on Monday was a small island with a private resort and beach. Had to anchor off the coast and take the tender (small boat) over. Heather is ready for some snorkling.

Arr! Who be that fine wench?

My parents, at dinner one of the evenings. You can see the dining room behind them.

A view of our cabin. To the right is a small mirror and vanity, to the left is the small bathroom. That's it. The raised bed provided some problems, but on the whole it was pretty comfy. The porthole was nice.

Dad, my sister, and I spent most of Sunday here. What fun!

We set sail Saturday evening. This is a pic from later on Sunday, since well, Heather hurt her back and everyone else was seasick like mad! Sunday, not so good. By the evening, things sorted themselves out, thanks to a massuse and Dramamine!

This is a pic admidships, looking toward the bow. It had 4 masts and a whole mess of sails. Look at all the rigging!

Behold! The Star Flyer! This was the ship that we cruised on for 7 days, here at the dock in Athens.

From Phoenix, to Cincinnati, to Paris, to Athens. Urk! About 23 hours of flight time. This is Heather around hour 20. She's such a trooper.

Greece Trip picture time! Here is Heather re-packing bags at the Phoenix airport at 7AM.