Family Athens

Roberta Mark Engel

What about discovering Athens with you children? Cindy from LA went to Athens with her three children. “I followed the article, Family Athens which was great advice. I am from LA so we traveled a long time to experience this. Please read on.”

Our family sites we review are Attica Zoological Park, The Goulandris Museum of Natural History, The Planetarium Eugenides Foundation, The Hellenic Children’s Museum, Allou, and Fun Park and Hellenic Cosmos Culture Centre. 

THE ATTICA ZEALANDER PARK is a unique educational and entertaining park hosting 2,000 animals. Admission is only 15E. It is open twenty-four hours a day. The park offers zoological, botanical, entomological, geological and paleontological viewings. This ultra modern facility, the Gaea Centre, showcases the natural sciences and the evolution of the planets.

The prices are 10E for this museum and THE PLANETARIUM EUGENICS which is one of the largest and most advanced worldwide. Stadium seating films show the largest screens worldwide. 

THE HELLENIC CHILDREN’S MUSEUM shows learning can fun. It is multi-thematic and interactive. It is free.

ALLOU FUN PARK is the largest amusement park in Greece. A day pass is 16E.

HELLENIC COSMOS CULTURAL CENTER is an art cultural center for those looking for a highly educational experience. Admission is 6E. 

Cindy and her children had the time of their lives. “I highly recommend these museums. My and I kids enjoyed each and every one of the museums. They are nominally priced and most have a website. Wear your tennis shoes and be prepared to have fun!”

From Kilimanjaro to Greece

Susan from Los Angeles was tired of traveling to London and Paris on her way to Greece.  Why not go to Africa?  And this is her trip.

“I chose to join a Safari with German people who I had met previously.  I needed to meet with my Greek friends two weeks later so I had enough time to spend time with the Safari crew.  The farm for the Safari was at the foot of Kilimanjaro.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kilimanjaro  The Safari employees were quite respectful even though I was the only woman.  The shower was quite retro with slats, a tent with water heated above.  There was a living room with dirt on the ground.  There were bedrooms with mattresses.  There was a coach and a couple of chairs.  The kitchen had a fine screen of mesh with a mess hall.  There was a cook who cooked great meals, Rodolfo.  When the safari began, most items were packed up and carried from stop to stop.  Each room had its own tent.  The cost was $45,000 for 6 weeks per person.  One thing was that there was no chocolate and cellular service was spotty.  And some of the African workers had spotty police records.  There was a generator which worked occasionally.” 

“After the Safari, I  went on to a small village in Greece.  I stayed with my friends.  We went out for meals, but we generally had water and electricity.  We even had chocolate and cellular service.”

There is a considerable unrest in Greece, butt there was running water and electricity.  There was a great similarity with Africa and Greece, the filth and the lack of niceties, but the Greek people were kind and gracious.  “I loved both continents.”

Roberta Mark Engel

Young At Heart

Have you thought about packing up your belongings and going on a six-month vacation in your camping vehicle?  Have you thought about going on a trip to Europe, specifically Greece?  Have you ever thought about creating a life on both continents?   Have you made plans in regards to the use of time in your golden years?  Are you preparing to be financially secure for your retirement?  Jaime and Cheryl from Los Angeles have done just that.  I understand that when you are twenty or thirty something, you don’t care about retirement, BUT read on baby boomers, yuppies, and the like.    “Yes, I was once twenty and I was quite impertinent.  I believed that retirement was for grey haired old men and women.  This “development” called retirement would never happen to me,” stated Jaime and Cheryl.

 

I am now looking forward to this “development.”  A trip to Greece is interesting.  A visit to other countries is a way of enjoying the different cultures.  “Living in another continent is an engaging thought.  Plumbing, electrical, and gardening problems brought into the mix can be even more challenging in a foreign environment.  The thought of speedy travel to Vienna, Hong Kong or Copenhagen would be available as a connection, depending on the country where residence is.  Traveling a few hours away or less for each destination, the new retirement villa would be a sensational experience.   The travel time would be equivalent to flying to San Francisco or Chicago for the weekend.   Or have you ever thought about purchasing a camper?  This could be a venture for a six-month trip researching the United States?    

Youth is wasted on the young, but if we have the fortitude and intelligence to realize what our older generation has, we can hang onto our youth through your retirement.   “We need to think about our future financial status and interests.  A retirement counselor is equipped to answer pertinent questions about future finances.   Retirement pension funds can be sufficient investments.  I understand, though, that they are only ample to cover living expenses so additional financial investments are quite necessary.  We also need to remember to relish our time.  Not all senior citizens kick back in their rockers, but there are productive senior citizens just like twenty and thirty something citizens hope to be.   Planning to work part time also supplements our income” state Jaime and Cheryl.     

 

  I have no expert knowledge for twenty or thirty something young adults.  I do have age and personal experience on my side even if I don’t have grey hair.  I also am fully aware that we need to enjoy every day we have without illness or injuries.  As we get older, more physical impairments preclude us from doing what we need to accomplish.  If we are physically well and financially happy and secure, we can remain young at heart for forever? Almost.
By Roberta Mark

From the Oracle of Delphi to the Monasteries of Meteora

Check out my pictures and article at

http://www.examiner.com/article/from-the-oracles-of-delphi-to-the-monasteries-of-meteora-1?cid=db_articles

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By Roberta Mark Engel


For a special tour during these next two days with Joanna from Los Angeles, she will take the national highway and lead north from Athens to Delphi where she will see farmland consisting of cotton, tomato and watermelon fields.  Approximately 45 minutes later, she makes a quick stop to see the reservoir of Athens and continue traveling through a livadi (meadow) which is surrounded by mountains on both sides.

After Joanna arrives at Delphi, she learns that worshipers believed that they could hear the prose of the god Apollo, spoken through a priestess, or Pythia (over the age of 50 years old). Questioners paid a levy called a pelanos and sacrificed an animal on the altar. The questions were then put to the Pythia by a male priest and she would answer in a trance (unfortunately, the answers were often ambiguous), perhaps induced by vapors from a crack in the ground under her feet.  Joanna says that individuals from all over the ancient world visited Delphi to consult the god on what course of action to take, both in private and public life.  The site and Museum are open from April-October Mon-Fri 7:30 am-3:00 pm and Sat-Sun-8:30 am-3:00 pm Saturday and Sunday.

Next, Joanna and her driver drive travels through the mountains and the Thessaliko Valley.
“How great to see the tomato and watermelon fields!" After a wonderful night’s sleep, we will see six phenomenal monasteries, which were built on top of gigantic rocks in the 14th century.”

Joanna says that Meteora was used as a religious retreat when, in 985, a hermit named Barnabas occupied a cave here.   Rousanou is perched precariously on the very tip of a narrow spire of rock and is he most spectacular of monasteries.

The hours of operation for the monasteries are as follows: Megalo Meteora is open on Monday, Wednesday-Sunday. Rousanou is open daily. Agia Triada is open daily. Agios Stefanos is open Tuesday-Sunday. Varlam is open Monday-Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Agiou Nikolaou is open April-October daily. All monasteries are shut from 1:00-3:00 pm.
Join Joanna on her return  to Athens after you have enjoyed lunch along the way. What did you think of Delphi and Meteora? Did you hear the oracle of Delphi? Did you explore Meteora by walking up those countless stairs? “Meteora is my favorite location. Was it yours?

Life in the German Democratic Republic

This story has been told by my cousin, Lauren. Since travel to Greece requires at least one stop, why not have your stop be Berlin. I was so impressed at Lauren's husband's generosity and kindness during my stay in Berlin. It gave me an opportunity to experience life in Germany post the Berlin Wall. So enjoy this true, yet entertaining story of Chris.

 Chris was born in 1947 and was the youngest of three children. His mother was a divorced high school teacher. This single parent had a daughter and two sons who lived with her in a little town called Henningsdorf. This town is on the outskirts of Berlin. Chris' mother found that taking care of three children was quite taxing so she employed a nanny during the day to take care of the two-year old child, Chris. His mother and her two children then moved to West Berlin while Chris stayed with his nanny in Henninsdorf.

The cold war heated up. Berlin was the center of tension in Germany. A few years later, Chris started the first grade. His mother wanted him to go to school in West Berlin. Chris crossed the border every day alone to go from Henninsdorf to West Berlin and then in the reverse. A year later when Chris was seven, the East German Authorities visited his nanny and demanded a decision as to if he was going to stay in the east or go to the west. Chris was to continue to stay in the east until high school. She attempted to convince his mother of this plan.

In 1961, during his sleep, the Berlin Wall was erected to prevent the further flow of people who fled from the east to seek new lives in the west. Chris, a fourteen year old boy, has remained with his nanny who was sixty-nine years old. Their relationship was a bit strained. She was old and Chris was strong- willed and in the midst of adolescence.

Chris' mother began to urge the nanny to apply for a family reunion through the International Red Cross. She realized that the political situation in East Germany was a time bomb which could easily explode at any given moment and knew it was of fundamental importance to get that child out of the East asquickly as possible. Therefore, Chris' mother followed this advice to save her child from an uncertain destiny in the east.

Ironically, two years after the Berlin Wall was built, Chris was able to legally leave his nanny and be reunited with his mother, sister and brother. It was a truly remarkable and unusual case due to the age of Chris' nanny as well as his age. If she had been younger, the authorities in the east would never ave allowed him to leave for the west. In this case, the East German authorities were afraid that the authorities were afraid that his nanny might soon die or become incapable of caring for him any longer. If that happened, Chris might have been doomed to live in an orphanage.

East Germany made their decision based on an international recognition at that time and wanted to present itself as a civilized state.

Amazingly enough, one and 1/2 years later, Chris left the east and he started his senior year as a high school exchange student in Santa Monica, California. What an ending to Chris' unique life in GDR.

by Roberta Mark Engel

The Prosperity of Corinth

Where is Corinth situated? It is situated on a narrow isthmus connecting the Saronic and Corinthian gulfs. It measures as the shortest route from the eastern Mediterranean to the Adriatic and Italy. Do you know about the prosperity of Corinth? Take a look at Ancient Corinth, Acrocorinth, and the Corinth Canal and discover these answers.  Raul is from Los Angeles says “With economic problems all over the world, it is great to visit the sites of Corinth.  Los Angeles is such a crowded city so it is a pleasure to come to a country known for its beauty and serenity.”  Come walk in his footsteps.

 

This Isthmus of Corinth joins the Peloponnese with the mainland. Do you know the history of Corinth? According to the history books, Philip II of Macedonia conquered Corinth in 338 BC.

 

The town gained a reputation of lack of morality. Even though, the beauty and prosperity of the city was revealed by excavations. Enjoy the walk on The Lechaion Way  and find out why.  Ancient Corinth is open from 8:00 -20:00 during the summer, 8:00 -15:00 during the winter and is 6 Euros which includes admission to the museum. The Archaeological Museum of Ancient Corinth contains a number of artifacts of religious interest. It is free on Sundays between Nov. 1 and March 31.

 

The Acrocorinth 4 km (2.5 miles) is a fortified city above ancient Corinth. This became one of medieval Greece's most important fortresses which can now be reached by a road which climbs the western face of the hill from the lower town.

 

And what about the Corinth Canal? According to Pilgrims Tours, "Stormy Cape Malea Emperor Nero began construction and the project was completed in 1893. The 23 meter (75 foot) wide canal is considered obsolete in with its capacity. Ta'naro was one of the dreaded capes of antiquity; rather than risk sailing around it, boats would be unloaded one shore of this isthmus, dragged the 6km (4 miles) across on the diolkos (paved slipway), and then refloated and reloaded." “But, it is enjoyable to see ships travel through the Corinth Canal” says Raul.   

 

The Corinth Canal is one hour from Athens and one hour from the Peloponnese which makes it convenient for touring. I hope you had a pleasurable day touring with us. It is historical, convenient, and entertaining all a short drive from Athens.  Just ask Raul.

Doorway to the Balkans

What is the principal mystery of Northern Greece? It is Greece's second largest city, Thessaloniki. Its surrounding villages, namely Vergina (the royal capital of Macedonia) give Northern Greece its culture and history. Did you know that many travelers pass through these villages en route to other European cities, bypass its oldest and finest Byzantine churches, impressive ancient fortifications, fascinating museums, adorable street cafes and colorful markets? Come join us through the doorway to the Balkans.

Thessaloniki is a busy, vibrant city and it is Greece's second major economic, industrial, commercial and transportation hub in southeastern Europe. It was founded by King Cassander of Macedona in 315 BC and named after his wife, who was Alexander the Great's half-sister, Thessaloniki. Unfortunately, in 1917, the town was destroyed by a single fire which was accidentally caused by French soldiers who were camping there. But, in 2004, the same city hosted some of the football events of the summer Olympics.

Spend your days at the beach or at the city centre. The waterfront is a major attraction of Thessanoliki. The promenade of Nikis Avenue runs from the White Tower to the giant palace that is now on a ferry terminal. In addition, the city center is close to Aristotelous Square.

In addition, did you know that during the Ottoman era, Thessaloniki's Jewish communities (approximately 46, 000) were dominant until 1922? Pella, Veria and Vergina which are on the Chalkidiki peninsula. 32 kilometers away from Thessanoliki is Pella. Pella is the birthplace of Alexander the Great and it served as a Palace of Macedonia. It has exquisite floor mosaics of original villas dating back to 4th century BC. Saint Paul even preached there.

Pella is located a few kilometers from Veria which also boasted a large Jewish community at one time. Veria is only 15 kilometers from Vergina.  Vergina is situated 47 kilometers southwest of Thessaloniki.  These museums house astonishing and priceless artifacts that belonged to the Macedonian civilization such as the Royal Tombs of Macedonia and King Phillipos (the father of Alexander the Great).

Thessalaniki has many museums with antiquities from its storied past. The ancient fortifications in Pella, Veria and Vergina are also steeped in history, once occupied by the Olympic Gods. The beaches of Chalkidiki are even accessible when you tour through the door to the Balkans.