Carter had a great 11th Birthday. We went to Athens and went shopping and to the movies. We got to see "Meet Dave". The kids were glad to see a little bit of Americana.

We are leaving tomorrow with both sadness and gladness. Of course we can not wait to see everybody, especially our NEW cousins! But we will miss our Greek friends. As Ike says, we are not really tourists any more. This has been an incredible chapter in our GREAT AIRHART ADVENTURES ...

We crossed the isthmus of Corinth to get to the Epidarous Theater. It was built in the 4th century B.C. and is amazing for several reasons. It is the only INTACT Greek theater, the Romans altered all the others to conform to their standards. Also many were pilfered for their marble, this one remained because it was in the country side and not accessible. It is also studied by architects, even today, for its incredible acoustics.

The play itself, a modernization of Oedipus, was not great. We still are not speaking or understanding Greek but in a theater of 14,000 people (it was packed) there were droves leaving at the intermission. I over heard one lady say in English that she had been coming here for 20 years and she had not seen anything so bad. The experience was well worth the visit though and I was very impressed that the Greeks continue to support and patronize this venue. It is truly a national treasure!

Tom got off work so we were able to add several sites to add to our adventures this weekend. The first interesting thing was crossing the Isthmus of Corinth. We have driven over it before but it goes by in a blink from the toll way. We exited the tollway to drive down the east coast of the Pelopones and were able to get out of the car and see the bridge in action. The bridge is actually submersable, lowered by huge hydrolic motors to a depth is 8 meters.

The boys!

The canal was completed in 1893 after several failed attemps including one by Nero in the first century. It is 6.3 kilometers long and connects the Saronic Gulf and Aegean Sea. Between the first and ninetenth centuries a Diolkos or portage road was used to haul boats and goods across the isthmus.

Athens has the most lovely Summer concert/drama series. The Airhart's and Bornos (AKA AirBorns) attended a concert by the National Orchestra. It was a beautiful evening, perfect for soaking up an outdoor venue. We are planning to attend another one in the Peloponese this weekend.

We arrived a little early.

The boys acting goofy before the show.

Happy Birthday to Ike! We celebrated Ike's 9th birthday at a water park in Athens. The kids had a blast and we had a great Italian dinner in Kifisia, a suburb of Athens. It was a big time and he asked several times if he would get to have a "friends" party when he got home.

I couldn't resist a few more pictures of Meteora. The Airharts outstanding on thier rocks. In Greece there are no signs saying "danger - Keep away" so you must use your good judgement. There was one woman sitting way out on the edge of the rock meditating and another huddled against the opposite embankment and she could not even enjoy the view. We tried to be reasonable and stay somewhere in the middle. It is pretty scarry for a Mom though.

If it seems like you have seen Meteora before, James Bond had a great scene filmed here in For Your Eyes Only.
I am trying to come up with a campaign slogan for Student Council based on this picture but I don't quite have it.

Some sights are just so amazing that it is impossible to describe. Meteora is one of them. In the 1200 and 1300's some monks decided to build some monastaries on these granite pinnicles rising up out of the valley. Since each stone had to be hoisted up with an extensive pulley system you would wonder if this seemed like the smartest location. It turns out that this was an inspired decision since the Turks arrived in 1453 and this remained the only sanctuary for Christianity and Byzantine-ism, unaccessable to the Turks through out their rule. The pinnicles are amazing in themselves and the monisaries even more so. If you are ever in Greece, don't miss it!
A view of the Monastary of St. Barbara. What a great namesake.

Mom's shot of the family on the bridge overlooking the gardens of St. Barbara. There were a few stairs involved in this expedition.