Our trip began at the departure gate at Newark airport where we saw our flight announced and then boarded the plane and had a drink and then dinner

and after minimal sleep we woke up to a breakfast before we landed in Athens next to this El Al plane and marched past the smoking room and enjoyed the Greek signage out of focus and in before we got to our hotel in Athens and were sent off for a short walk while waiting for our room. Walking around the acropolis, we saw this sign which mentioned the ongoing revolution I suppose and then stopped for a drink at a taverna and as we walked around the Acropolis rock, this picture of Suzanne and me was taken by Christian as we walked by mosaics and noted the Parthenon atop the Acropolis rock before signing into our room and settling in for a nap.

After some rest, we headed out for dinner which began with bread and ouzo and then expanded into tsatziki and Greek salad as Christian and Suzanne posed and then Christian took this photo of Suzanne and me as our meal arrived

The next morning began with breakfast at the hotel which put Suzanne and me into a good mood as we went back for more and then noted the location of the afternoon's lecture before beginning our walk about town passing the New Acropolis Museum and going to the Plaka where for a moment, I thought Dimitris meant shoes until I realized that it was the proprietor's name. We continued our walk through the Plaka and then came onto Syntagma Square where we saw the first signs of protest and this poorly executed grafitti as we continued through the protest signs in the square

and then the changing of the guard and another sign of protest while the police shields were on display though I chose (under wise counsel from Suzanne) to not take pictures of the cadre of police getting off their bus and preparing to grab shields. After the obligatory phone booth picture we sat in the park in Kolonaki and watched the pigeons before heading off to the Cycliadic Museum where Suzanne waited until Dimitri showed up and we discovered that both this museum and the Benaki were closed and so we had a cup of coffee and then headed off across the national gardens past the turtles until we passed this sign of protest en route to our hotel and from our hotel to the New Acropolis Museum where we could photograph the excavation below the museum from the outside but could take no photos inside until we reached a balcony and could capture views of the Parthenon

of me of the two of us reflected in the window and of Suzanne not to mention the pigeon and Lycabetus hill the Pathenon and the view to the area below as people milled in front of the entrance and we made our way back to the hotel and noted that there would be a taxi strike the next day which was inconvenient since we needed an early taxi to the port.

With my ticket (well, it worked!) I boarded and watched the neighboring ships as we pulled out of Pieraes and started to leave a large wake as we sailed past islands at a reasonable speed even as Shirley and Dimitri spoke and we passed rocks and islands in the distance and small boats which must have enjoyed our wake even as we continued along the way repeating scenery and conversation

until we approached Paros and saw the people waiting on shore and the island view as we sailed on

until we arrived at Naxos and caught views of the island

as we disembarked saw the people on the shore and caught our first views of the door-like structure that makes Naxos special in the eyes of the gods. After we disembarked, we walked towards the bus station

where the group gathered for photos first with Constantinus our guide and then with the photo he took. This structure was too important to miss and so we walked across the land bridge looking back at the city and tracing our path until we took numerous photos of the temple and of our group at the temple. A truly remarkable sight.

before we headed back to town where this gentleman was amused by my photography and so I took his picture as we observed the monument and made our way past street scenes and heard the story of the early ruins of the city as we made our way to ancient buildings and churches with multiple belfries not to mention the beautiful flowers and pottery as we looked into the archaeological site and then emerged and moved through narrow passageways led by Constantinus as we observed the roof construction while Margaret and Suzanne paused and Dimitri caught the sight as we passed by octopus hung out to dry for someone's dinner and the fruit and vegetable markets as we went under an arch to another street Passing the folk museum noting the rosaries and a local house as we read the tale of the rosary and then headed on to the Temple of Demeter where we walked through beautiful flowers

and a few trees until the temple came in view along with the neighboring territory. We viewed the temple from all sides noting its history as both a temple and a church at different times in its history.

and then began the trek back down as Dimitri and Clayton and Suzanne traversed the path so that we could resolve the question of lunch first or swim first by ordering our meal

while admiring the scenery and then ordering french fries to complement the experience before we drove on to these gardens and headed to our rooms at the hotel.

The next day, I did take a picture of our room and of the grounds of the hotel and of Constantin but then I somehow forgot my camera for the day's events, a serious error on my part.

Fortunately, Christian took this obligatory photo of me in the marble city

Friday was to be our last day as a group and so I recorded breakfast and Suzanne Margaret Mary and Shirley, Clayton, Dimitri and Constantin at the other table as Dimitri was ready but the bus driver was injured and so we had to switch buses before we could begin our journey to the old town encompassing the castle and the museum. We continued our walk -- up and up --

until we reached the interesting plants and a vault that Constantin led us through where we saw beams walls and roofs made as he had pointed out in previous days and an ad for a concert as we neared the top and saw the house with the pen and the sword (which is mightier?) and also some clever downspouts for rain and doors with supporting beams for the coat of arms of this house until we reached our destination and noticed these boards who were sharing it with us but quite a building it was complete with these coats of arms as we made our way into the museum and past this plumbing to see a remarkable mosaic

and through this notch a view of the city together with these sculpture fragments as we admired the view below before entering the museum and admiring their collections.

As we left the museum we noted one more roof and then headed to town where most of the others left. We stayed along with the Marshes and went to our new hotel, the Grotta, where we had this view from the balcony as we ate the pastries they had prepared for breakfast so that we could admire the view while waiting for the rental car to arrive. Once the rental car arrived, we headed out stopping first for gas but no air or water and made our way to Apollon where we were well comed and so took the obligatory phone booth pictures and noted the proper use of the water from the tap before the water lured us in and we then posed for a family beach photo before leaving the beach and getting these remarkable views from above when we parked the car to follow the signs to the kouros at Apollon. The kouros was absolutely amazing as we discovered from the side and then from above as we explored from all directions

concluding with this photo of Clayton and Margaret and then this one of Suzanne and me. We drove on to a beach where there was a small church on the left hill and interesting rocks to climb on the right (both as you look at the water) and a nice beach view and so we followed the path and noted an interesting collection of sculptures

to complement the beautiful beach and so we grabbed a table and studied the menu

as Clayton tried on Margaret's hat until the beer and then the food came.

We recorded the locale where we ate (food was ok but no better) noted one more sculpture and set off across the trail into the cliffs. What we saw atop the peak will have to be left to the imagination since I (wisely) left my camera before climbing too far. ON the way back, I found a small note of imperfection in this trash by the trail as the others came back my way and after admiring the formations Suzanne gathered up her rocks and we took pictures of the hanging grapes and headed back to the Grotta where they had left a carafe of grandpa's wine for us to enjoy even as we checked out the bed and the views from the room as the sun was beginning to make its way down. So we had our drinks and watched the sunset and this reflection of the sunset as the sun kept going down

and so we decided to go to dinner but we couldn't find the restaurant and so asked a shopkeeper. That didn't work, so we asked another shopkeeper but this turned out to be the other entrance to the same shop and so the shopkeeper told us the way and suggested we not come back a third time (his shop has only 2 doors) and so I took his photo to assure that this would be the case and we found our way to Apostolis and Clayton and Margaret and Suzanne and I settled in as I showed how to take a profile photo before the retsina arrived along with our water and our meals

Saturday on Naxos began with breakfast as Clayton and Margaret came down for their last moments on the island and Suzanne and I checked in for the day before we checked the Marshes out and sent them on their way. We decided to go to the Plaka Beach and after a first beach that Suzanne marched to we decided on a second and made our way to chairs and umbrella (not a bad deal for 7 Euros) and enjoyed the scenery and the wind surfer before deciding we needed something to eat and so heading north to the crowded town and using the menu to order beer water garlic bread a lovely sandwich and a Greek salad and then the bill came.

After a rest, we decided to walk into town past the monuments and watch the sun set and as we watched the pilgrims in the background make their way to the door structure (in an exercise we believe assures that the sun will come up tomorrow and sow e are grateful to them) we watched the sun set from the comfort of a taverna with our ouzo and bread

and eventually cheese balls (though they were not round. Indeed the sun did set

and so the pilgrims completed the first part of their task as we posed to thank them and watched the continually evolving sunset and onset of darkness

and then made our way to dinner where we had bread salad and tomato balls and were given halvi as a going away treat.

Our last breakfast on Naxos and so as Suzanne and I ate we also remembered the pies set out every day and took pictures with our hostess who had been incredibly helpful and very nice and then headed for one last tour through the town looking down at the buried Mycenean ruins and up at this coat of arms before going to visit the statue of the one Greek Prime Minister from this island. On our shopping excursion, we got these pictures of owls for Jeff's collection of same and I took pictures of narrow passage ways as Suzanne spoke with shop keepers and worked at keeping the Greek economy going so that I could go back to my passage way photos before we headed to the dock and got in line for our boat to Santorini from which we saw these views along the way before landing and being in the crush of people getting off. But, once off, this gentleman with the sign set us on our way back to the Hotel Akrotiri where we admired the view as always and had a small drink before heading out to the black beach to explore. A ride down a very bumpy road led to this beautiful scene on the beach and out to sea as we studied the rock formations and explored

before heading off to explore the caldera from various viewpoints

ending near the lighthouse where Suzanne and I posed and then we watched the birds overhead and the boats at sea before making our way to the lighthouse itself and walking along the path to continue to admire the views occasionally injecting ourselves into photos and tracking the sailboats before an English couple took these pictures of us as we took a few more photos

and then headed back stopping along the way for the views (which hopefully I didn't detract from) and at the views and the rocks noticing that we could leave our imprint albeit for a short period of time.

The next morning I left Suzanne chatting with Ginny Boguxki as Peter and Tom joined me for the trip tot he workshop where we met Dimitri and Benedict who suggested I take a photo through the camera back as the audience assembled and Tim Andreas and Christos posed during my talk. After the talks, we went to the fresco lab and watched the action

before Andreas explained a few things and this group picture was taken. The conversation continued

and then we went to the room where completed frescoes were to look at crack patters

before heading off for lunch at the other black beach where Ginnie and Peter Suzanne Tom and I practiced the lunch then eat protocol and were rewarded with this wonderful meal. Later, Suzanne and I took theses self portraits and then saw Rom, Anotonio, Benedict and Tim starting their dinner at Nicholas as we were finishing ours quite late.

The workshop on Tuesday began in the fresco lab and then moved on to Tom's talk which this lizard attended. Later, we met to discuss future collaborations and there boxes of pieces from room 7 emerged as the discussion continued and fragments came forth along with completed frescoes and a visit to the site itself which is getting ready for visitor traffic soon.

After the activity, we drove to one of the traditional villages for lunch at Raki which started with beer and salad and moved on through various courses as the friendly dogs appeared. On the way out of town,Suzanne took a photo of Ginnie and Peter and so I did too and also caught Suzanne as we were leaving town. At day's end, I met with Christos, Andreas and Dimitri from which these photos emerged and then we went with Tim back to Nikolaus restaurant in Santorini where the menu is looking a little professional though the wine and water suggested a toast and the Greek salad bread vegetables cheese and lamb were as good as ever (I'll take the word of others about the lamb).

Wednesday we traveled beginning with this Aegean flight from Santorini to Athens as Suzanne read her book and then during the layover in Athens having this cheese pie as Suzanne was going slowly but it took me a while to get in frame. From there, we were on to Warsaw where we were served this towelette and this meal en route.