The beginning of Greece

August 31st
Today we are in Greece. We went to a Greek theatre. It was shaped like a semicircle and the neat thing about it was that if you stood on the stage and said something in a normal voice, the sound would travel and if you were up in the back you could hear it clear as day! Mama wanted me to sing Twinkle Twinkle but I refused. I was not going to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to 60 tourists. It would be a disgrace to Canada.

September 2
Yesterday we were driving a lot and we stopped at a little town. The leaves were falling and I saw some butterflies. They had lots of wasps and two wasp traps. It smelled like Autumn. I heard the leaves landing on the ground and the wasps buzzing in the air. Mama got me an orange pop which tasted good. It felt fizzy on my tongue and the inside of my mouth.

September 3
Today I played backgammon with Matthew. I won a game and he won a game. We drove and got to a village at one o'clock. We ate lunch there and walked around. We wanted to see a gorge but we couldn't because the Monastery was closed. I wasn't quite sure why this mattered. We got home at 6:15 but somehow it ended up that now it's 9:30 and we still haven't eaten supper!

Day 42 of our travels
We are at the Hotel Boufidis. That is in Kastraki, at the base of awe-inspiring rock formations. These columns were causes of amazement and speculation for ancient Kastrarkens and their neighbours, the Kalambakers of Kalambaka. This may ahve been the cause of wars between the two towns, the Kalambakers saying they were a gift from the gods and the Kastrarkens saying that some rocks are softer than others and that the cause is erosion. Or the towns may have agreed that they were a gift from the gods or erosion. Who knows? Many monasteries have been built upon these rocks. They are peaceful and quiet when there are no tour groups inside. Ancient monks seeking peace from the fighting between Greece and Turkey managed to climb the steep cliffs whilst carrying heavy backpacks laden with supplies and things. Later they would install a bucket and pulley system.Although this may have been safer, it wasn't fool proof, as the monks would only change the ropes when God willed the ropes to break. History tells us that more than one hapless monk fell to his death. I like sitting on the rocks and being alone and contemplating things. I'm sure the monks like it there too. Some people think that the rocks look like elephants and tiger claws. I think they look like the sand castles Matthew and I make out of the sticky undergoo sand. We slp lots of sand together and drip on the sticky undergoo
I really like looking at the landscapes of Meteora.

Monemvasia (written in other journal - Sept 3?)
Yesterday we woke up at 7:30 and prepared ourselves for the morning long drive to Monevmvasia. I lay in the back seat most of the way there. When we got there we walked around. There was a shop selling pendants and things like that. We walked along the castle wall. There was a sort of ruined watch tower at the top. On the drive back we got....popsicles!

September 13
We are in Athens. We got here yesterday. Today we walked around with Cody, Beth and John. Apparently in Greece they are very superstitious about the evil eye so I bought myself a glass eye to ward off the evil eye. It was 90 cents and then I saw one like it for 2 euros in another shop so I was glad I didn't buy it there.

September 10th and 11th
We went down the Vikos Gorge on a 40 minute trail. We walked down and down and down and.....I saw a rock overhung with moss, there were mossy trees too, framing it beautifully. we got to the bottom after a long walk. there was what looked like dried up riverbed that was quite big. There were lots of smooth round stones. Lots of Inukshuks were on big rocks so Matthew, Cody and I each built one too. We had a snack and Papa threw rocks at a large boulder and they shattered and knocked some other rocks off (ed. note: nothing that was anyone's inukshuk!).
He finished and then Matthew, Cody and I gave it a try. The boulder was caught in a crossfire. we climbed back up and Matthew, Cody and I finished 5 minutes ahead of Papa, 8 minutes ahead of Beth, 9 minutes ahead of John and 13 minutes ahead of Mama.
The next day we drove for a bit and then stopped at another lace and took a not so long hike for 20 minutes into the gorge. There was water at the bottom. The water was Freezin Cold!! It was colder than water I have ever felt before. I somehow managed to dunk my head along with Cody, John and Matthew. Papa skipped rocks to incredible distance across ultra clear water. I tried but I didn't egt mine as far as his. Matthew and I got to the top first when we went back up. Mama came next, then Papa then Cody, and last but not least, Beth and John.

Sept 15
Yesterday we saw the Acropolis. I didn't find it very interesting. There was a ruined theatre and temple. There wasn't much to see, and what you did see was covered in scaffolding or crumbling. We saw the Ancient Agora which was mostly the same but a little more interesting because it had a mostly untampered temple. Unfortunately, you couldn't go inside.