Now for some family time.

After weeks of 'power touring' we were anxious for some slower paced family time. David and Susan Moffett (Kathy's parents) joyfully greeted us after an overnight flight in Athens at 5:00 AM with David exclaiming, 'Okay kids, ready to go see the Acropolis? Time's a wasting! Let's do it!' Excited and a bit tired, off we flew not to see the Acropolis, but instead to the small town of Preveza, Greece, on the Ionian Sea near the island of Corfu. There we met Steve (Kathy's brother), his wife Fiona, and our adorable 5-month old nephew Basil. The Lloyd-Moffett family had arrived the prior week and was just settling in their new seaside apartment. Steve is working on a PhD in religion and has a Fulbright scholarship for 9 months to study in Greece. They are living in Preveza so that Steve can do research and begin writing his dissertation on the life of Saint Basil. Fiona (called Fotini), Steve (Stefanos), and Basil (Vasillaci), are very happy in their new life in Greece.

In addition to recharging our batteries and making good use of a free washing machine, we had many laughs and fun family times. Kathy cooked up a family dinner from ingredients that we brought from Italy -- pasta, sun dried tomatoes, olive oil, and wine. Boy, it was good to cook again. Greek food, though, we could eat every night. Greek salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, olives, and feta were consumed at almost every meal. We enjoyed great tzatziki (yogurt and cucumber), bread, and gyros. Neil even came to like the standard Nescafe Frappe drinks (instant coffee with ice and milk) that Greeks consume on a daily basis. And Kathy took quite a liking to Ouzo -- that yummy alcohol with a licorice flavoring. We enjoyed many fine family meals together and have a new love of Greek cuisine.

We joined little Basil for his first swim in the Ionian Sea and strolled the boardwalk in Preveza. It is common for Greek grandmothers (called Yiayias) to pick up any cute baby from the hands of his mother, make clucking and cooing noises, and then spit on the baby to ward off evil spirits prior to baptism! We watched this on more than one occasion while having dinner in Preveza. Greeks adore children, and in addition, to spitting on them, they are constantly saying that they must be cold even if the weather is quite warm. It was a great experience for us to visit a typical mainland Greek village like Preveza. So many tourists skip the mainland (even Athens) and head straight to the islands. Thanks to Steve, Fiona, and Basil (nicknamed 'Billy Billy' by the Yiayias), we were lucky enough to have a truly unique tour.

All 7 of us traveled together in a large mini-van piloted by Steve. In our 5 days together, we came to a better understanding of Greek history, religion and contemporary life with Steve and Fiona as our fantastic guides.

Steve's research is centered at a Greek monastery about 20 minutes away from Preveza. We broke bread with the Monks during lunch on two occasions. In a monastery, men will eat together in one room with the monks, in silence as the Bible is read, and stop eating immediately when the Abbott puts down his fork. The women eat in another room, alone, and are free to converse. We would spend many hours with Father Vinava, Steve's Spiritual Father, at the monastery and briefly met Bishop Meletios, whom Steve is shadowing during his research. The monks are all very well educated men who live together in a self-sufficient community in which they even grow most of their own food. We learned about their peaceful lifestyle at the monastery and much admire the devotion they have to prayer, study, and to helping others.

We attended services at a nunnery at the base of a famous mountain near Preveza, where once 300 Greek women and children chased by Turkish soldiers ceremoniously danced, before joining hands and together jumped off the mountain. A large monument remembers the event atop the mountain. Sister Miriam (whom Susan had spent a night with at the nunnery 7- years earlier), shared some time with us and gave us an icon of St. Catherine and piece of the rock in Jerusalem where St. Anne prayed to become pregnant with the Virgin Mary. Sister Miriam said that Kathy is supposed to put the rock in a glass of water and when she drinks the water, we will have good luck in conceiving a child, God-willing. We'll let you know when/if the rock works!

Preveza is a beautiful seaside town and the monks own an eco-tour area near the shore. A monk that we nicknamed 'Techno monk' led us on an eco-tour where we watched men spear eels standing in longboats. 'Techno monk' earned his name as he handles the computers at the monastery and is a trained scientist. Once during his presentation of 18th century frescos in a tiny church we heard the familiar 'jingle' of a mobile phone. Thinking the jingle was ours, we were shocked to find it was a call from the Abbott checking up on 'Techno Monk' using the Monastery's mobile phone. Pretty funny. Mobile phones have truly taken over the world!

In addition to learning a tremendous amount about the Greek Orthodox Church's traditions and history, we now share in a new understanding of what it means to parent a baby. We enjoyed many wonderful moments with our nephew, Basil, and are sad that we won't see him until July 2003. As Steve and Fiona have proved, a baby (even one as adorable as Basil) is a lot of work. We hope that we someday (soon) we will have the opportunity to be parents. With some instruction from his brother-in-law, Neil showed us all that he is pretty darn good at changing diapers. Hmmm....something to keep in mind.

After a tearful goodbye to Steve, Fiona and Basil, we headed off to explore the Greek Islands of Mykanos and Santorini with David and Susan. David organized and planned a fantastic three weeks for us in Greece and Turkey, for which we were very grateful. In Mykanos, we spent the better part of 2 days baking our lily white skin beside very tan local Euro nuddies at Paradise Beach. As October is a bit off-season and offers somewhat cooler weather, the masses had left the beach - - and the hip and crazy nightlife had quieted with fewer partiers and virtually empty discos. Still, we all managed to find fun drinking and dancing, and could only imagine what crazy fun is had here in peak time. We enjoyed our hip, W-like 'Hotel Belvedere' and it was nice to upgrade our digs a bit with a mojito in hand. With a view of the island's typical white, stucco houses, and multitude of bright blue topped round churches, we were now living the Greece made famous by many pictures. We met 2 nice women (Ginger and Cindy) from San Francisco and shared dinner together in Mykanos and again in Santorini. It is always so wonderful to meet other travelers. Over the past couple of months, we have collected many business cards and email addresses from new friends. We better make sure that our house (wherever that is) has a guest room!

In Santorini, we stayed at the Astra Apartments, a truly magnificent 4-star 'cave' hotel situated literally 'in' a mountain cliff in Fire Town, 1,000 feet above the clear, blue Aegean Sea. Our 2-bedroom apartment was literally in a cave (albeit a VERY luxurious one) and had a private deck where breakfast was served with quite a view! To top is off, the pool and bar at the Astra Apartments are amazing. The picture of Neil diving off a cliff into the pool below with the volcano and sea in the background is out of a magazine and should be on the hotel brochure. Here, up in the clouds of Greece, we thought we had found what heaven might look like. If you go to Santorini, we urge you to splurge and STAY AT THE ASTRA APARTMENTS! But beware, there are 83 rocky steps leading down to heaven, and if you're name is Susan Moffett, you won't be happy about that! (Just kidding, Mom, we know that you loved Astra as much as we did...once you got there!)

On Santorini, we toured the recently (1967) discovered ruins of Akrotiri -- an ancient city that was buried and abandoned in the 17th century BC when word of a massive earthquake and volcano struck the land. Many consider that Akrotiri may be the ancient lost continent of Atlantis. Here we saw big pots, frescos, and other relics as old as 3000 BC in seemingly perfect condition. Unbelievable. If you go to Santorini, see the ruins first and then go the museum in town to see the relics. We toured around Santorini seeing the black sandy beaches (strange, large pebbles), a winery that specialized in the local Vin Santo desert wine, and the tiered little village of Ia which has more jewelry stores than one can imagine. You know the famous picture of white-washed adobe homes and churches with bright blue domes that is THE PICTURE for many of the Greek Islands? Well, you can see it with your own eyes in the town of Ia.

Finally, we concluded Greece with two days of touring the magnificent ruins and sites of Athens, including the Acropolis, Agora, the Plaka, Olympic Stadium and the Folk Art Museum. Unfortunately, the famous Archaeological Museum is currently closed (indefinitely, of course) for renovations. We stayed in and wandered the famous Plaka district, picking up a few souvenirs, and trying to say no to the many people offering to help us 'spend our money.' Kathy and I joined the other inspired tourists with a victory lap around Olympic Stadium, which was last used in the 1896 Olympics. Athens is building a new stadium for the upcoming Summer Olympic Games which it will host in 2004. The Olympic spirit is alive in Athens. Our last night in Athens, we had a fabulous dinner at Daphne's restaurant. This is a famous restaurant in Athens where they post a list of their most celebrated diners including the Clintons, many US Senators, Madeline Albright, Rudy Guiliani, etc. Don't think we will make the list, but we sure enjoyed our meal on the terrace of the home that was built in the 1800s.

Last word of advice...If you go to Greece, try to see Athens or the mainland. The islands are paradise as you would expect, but the Greek people and the mainland have much to offer.

Next stop - - Turkey, gateway to the East!