Get Us to the Greek (Islands)!

Our travel day to the Greek Islands started like any other. Bags packed and out the door to make it to Schiphol around 10am. M & C booked their train to Paris to line up with our departure time so we could all travel together. We said our goodbyes (for now). We were meant to have a 12:00 flight to Athens, arriving around 4pm (1 hour time difference) and then our second flight from Athens to Naxos leaving at 5:35, arriving at 6:15, checked into our AirbNb with time to go out to eat and maybe even sit on the beach before bedtime... 

Things don't always go as planned, however. We found out that we were over 1.5 hours delayed at Schiphol (time to bust out the Ipad) due to a maintenance issue. Of course, I'm already realizing what this means about our connection flight, but I'm trying to stay positive. 

In the air, admiring Greece from the sky, trying to calm my inner nerves, which know that we are in for a long night.

Land in Athens just as our flight to Naxos is departing (stop the plane!!). Miraculously, no wait at the transfer desk. I had done some research on our taxi to the airport in Athens and found out that there were no more flights to Naxos that evening, but that there were flights to Paros, a neighboring island 45 minutes away by ferry (which will be the second stop of our Greek Island tour). I also researched that there were ferries departing as late as 10pm to get from Paros to Naxos.

The man at the transfer desk gives me a thick folder with information for our booked Athens airport hotel and boarding tickets for the 6:15am flight the following morning to Naxos. Having to leave the airport, settle into a hotel room for just one night, wake at an ungodly hour and deal with taxis, check-in, security and waiting all over again was just too much to bear. That, and losing a night of our booked accommodation on Naxos. I inquire about flights to Paros instead. There are seats left on a flight boarding in 5 minutes from the gate right next to the transfer desk. I consult Pete who is trying to keep the kids from going up the down escalator. "Should we do it?!" Adventure time! For our troubles, we are given vouchers for four free one-way domestic flights on Olympic Air/Aegean to use in the next year (repeat trip to Greece??).

On the propeller plane heading to a Greek Island! Finally happy! 

Antiparos viewed from above- looked really scenic and peaceful. 

Ready to land on Paros. 

There were two ferries leaving Paros to get to Naxos, one at 8pm and one at 10pm. We landed around 7:15 and may have been able to make it to the ferry on time if we hadn't had a lost luggage situation to deal with. I was amazed when the guy in Athens told me that they would be able to put our luggage on our flight to Paros in such a short amount of time. Clearly, he was not able to deliver on that! So Pete is last in the lost luggage line and I'm trying to keep two overtired kids in some sort of control.

"I didn't nap today and it's nearly my bed time, but I'm on an island having an adventure with my family!"

By the time Pete files the claim for our lost bag, the airport is deserted. A man is literally turning off the lights and locking the doors behind us. Thankfully, some other travelers with lost luggage had called for taxis so we didn't have to wait too long for one to come. We get delivered to the ferry port in Paros where we've clearly missed the 8pm boat. It is already 9pm though so we only have an hour until the next one. Enough time to sit for a very late dinner, watching Germany vs. Sweden with the sun setting behind the harbor. I'm starting to feel like I'm on vacation even though we are not even on the right island!

Taxi to the ferry port. Jude exclaims what a beautiful sunset it is! 

Paros Ferry Terminal

World Cup action, Island Style 

We wait to board the ferry. Jude can see all the little houses lit up on the hill across the bay and tells me how beautiful it is. Everything happens for a reason. We land in Naxos Town around 10:45pm and arrive to our AirBnB and get the kids to bed around 11:30. We wanted to try to keep them up late on this trip to help prep for the USA jet lag. I guess we got our wish!

Alkmaar Cheese Market!

Friday was special because we were all free to spend the day together. We had never been to the Alkmaar cheese market, which is held on Friday mornings in the summer and Claire loves cheese, so we decided to check it out. Pete secured the ISA van again and we made the 45 minute drive North. We watched the fanfare for a bit, seeing the men running with the cheese on what I would call "cheese stretchers." It was taken off boats, into the weigh house, into the square and then away to delivery vans.

We bought some cheese from a stand and found a bakery to snack away. One of Pete's coworkers lives in Alkmaar and I had gotten some recommendations from her earlier in the week. We ran into her and another ISA member outside the bakery!

The story goes that Alkmaar made itself known in its defense against the Spanish and to reward their efforts, they were given weighing rights for cheese. Hence the cheese market here. And no, there's no such thing as "Alkmaar" cheese, unlike the other two big Dutch cheese markets in Edam and Gouda (which are cheese types, of course). 

Beautiful weigh house

Pete spotted a playground and played with the kids while M, C and I toured the church, surprisingly large and beautiful with brick walls and wood ceilings. So large in fact, that were was a cafe in one of the wings! I was really happy to see that all of the stained glass was like the one that I made at my workshop back in April. The small organ is the oldest in the Netherlands dating to the 1500s and is still operational. The organ (not sure large or small) was being played while we wandered around. Gezellig! 

Alkmaar had a lot of charm and was busy given the market day.

Of course there was a calliope and the kids couldn't get enough.

Please tell me it is a 4 year old boy thing to repeatedly say things like, "My butt, in your face. My butt, in your face." 😂

Side view of the weigh house 

Say "kaas!"

Lunch time

Margaret and Claire's Amsterdam Visit!

I had such a fun time playing host to my aunt Margaret and cousin Claire who came all the way from California to see us! I fell in love all over again with this beautiful city and loved being a tourist for a few days.

On day one, we took the tram into the city and wandered the Jordaan. Margaret was brave enough to try herring and we all enjoyed the Dutch apple pie. When the cafe told us they were out of whipped cream (an essential component of the pie), we were industrious and M & C went off to the local Albert Heijn to buy a bottle! The rest of the afternoon was spent slowly wandering through the canals, stopping for lots of photo ops!

 

After a good afternoon rest and dinner, M & C had energy for a bike ride. I took them up to the border of Amstelveen and Amsterdam along the Amstel where there is a windmill and Rembrandt statue. The evening light was so pretty and lots of people were out rowing, biking and running. We took the long way home, cycling past the mansions along the Amstel and then cutting through the polders (farm fields) to the back of our house. I really need to do this route more often myself!

The next morning, Maeve and Jude were off for their last days of day care/school. I took the morning off of work and accompanied M & C into the city to go to the Van Gogh museum. There was a special exhibit: Van Gogh and Japan, which was excellent. We walked past the Rijks Museum into de Pijp and had lunch outside at a cafe. M & C spent the rest of the day in the city, ending with a tour of the Anne Frank Museum in the evening (the only available tickets when we booked pretty well in advance).

On Thursday, I took Maeve to Montessori in the morning and then made plans to meet M & C at the Boerderij Meerzicht in the bos (pancake house). To pull off our plan, we needed to ride bikes and it ended up being a really windy day. We all earned our pancakes, though Maeve seemed to enjoy them the most :)

 

Chocolate! 

Windy bike ride home through the bos. 

Thursday evening, we went out on Brad and Audra's boat to show M & C the city from the water (the best way!). It was a chilly night, in the 50s, but the sky was so pretty and the company so good, we didn't mind. It was the summer solstice in fact, so a perfect night to be out. Thank you Brad and Audra!

 

We had one more Dutch adventure with M & C, the Alkmaar Cheese market the following day. And then we have one final adventure left, when we meet up in Santorini in a few days!

School's Out For Summer

It was a busy end to the school year, as always. Wrapping things up with school and day care, the much anticipated visit of my aunt Margaret and cousin Claire and preparing for our vacation to Greece and then 5 weeks in the US. Phew, lots to catch up on!

I've already written about Jude's end of year, but here are some pics with his super sweet teachers who he adores. 

With Sue (South African) and Rosa (Peruvian)

Admiring all of Jude's artwork from the year. 

On the same day, Maeve had her last day at Kinderrijk, her day care since she was 5.5 months old. I felt that Maeve was safe and loved there, but I also was not sad that she was ending that chapter of her life. Perhaps because I never felt completely comfortable there myself, feeling badly that I couldn't speak Dutch to the workers and as a result, not being as assertive and involved as I would have been otherwise. Maeve only went two days a week so I didn't feel like we got to know any of the kids or other parents in the same way that we did at Jude's day care. And maybe also because Maeve isn't as verbal as Jude was so I couldn't learn from her what she really thought about "school." In any case, her teachers were sad to see her go saying how much they'll miss her, so that says something. For her part, Maeve seems a bit oblivious, though does get excited when we talk about her going to "Jude and Daddy's school" in the fall. Dutch kids stay in day care until they are 4 when they start school so Maeve's departure at 2 years is a big deviation.

With Maria ("ia") and Gwenda (both Dutch)

And a shout out to the hard working rocker on the right, finishing up his 13th year teaching! Summer time, baby!