Our Vacation

And Re-Writing History! Okay our Vacation wasn't history changing, but what we saw will change the way history books are written. I can't believe it has been 3 weeks since we went on our very small trip of 2 nights away to the northern part of Greece.

The Heart is our Home and the Box is where we went.

  What I love about traveling is:

• Seeing Historical Sights
• Seeing Natural Sights
• And Eating!

We had plenty of food to eat, first stopping for lunch at the mall in Thessaloniki for our bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken (we eat this any time we are there).  Then we ate dinner in Asprovalta, calamari and tzatiziki (if you need a tzatziki recipe you can get it here).

 Enjoying Calamari

Yes, I get 2 Ice-Creams!

The shop owners offered the kids ice-cream and they of course said Yes, but it was a Mastika ( μαστίχα) flavored, which is pretty good in ice-cream form, not sure how to describe the taste, but this is something they only make in Greece, specifically Chios Island. The next night we enjoyed Gyros in Nea Peramos

I don't have many pictures of the beaches, since I am always in the water.

This is near Nea Peramos, the beach is called Sand Dunes (but in Greek)

The 2 places we stayed at are starred and the little teardrop is where the find of the century has been discovered.

The signage at Amfipoli

The top sign says Macedonian Tomb, we wanted to see it, but when we crossed the road, there was nothing there, the nicely paved road turned into a dirt road.  We thought the Greeks must have gotten the signage wrong, but what it is is something that they didn't announce till this week.  They have discovered a new tomb to rival that of Vergina.  Here is an article in Greek(pictures are nice) and here is a smaller article in English(my husband and I have been arguing all week about who is buried there). Amfipoli (amphipolis-Αμφίπολη)  is an Ancient City, if you have watched the Movie 300 with the Persian King Xerxes, this is where he was defeated.  And where Alexander the Great's wife and son were executed. (I believe they are the ones in the tomb)  My husband thinks that Alexander the Great is in it.  We can't wait to find out WHO is inside, I also believe that Alexander the Great's mother could possibly be inside.

Ancient Aqueduct.

Rolling Hills and the river meeting the Sea.

The most popular sight of Amfipoli right now is the Lion, it is right off of the old road from Asprovalta to Kavala.

The Lion Monument, was found in 1912 and rebuilt in the 30's.  I am using this as my color palette and the story behind it and the region Amfipoli to Design my Surface Pattern for my class that I took with Bonnie Christine at Creativelive.

I made this on Adobe Illustrator, aren't you proud.

It only took me an hour to figure out how to do the color swatch, lol, not very computer literate!

The class was great, you can take it too, I watched it live, from 7pm to 2am for 3 days to see it for free.  But you can pay just $79 to watch it anytime.  I was a little scared when on Friday we didn't have any electricity all afternoon and then boom at exactly 7:05 the electricity was back on, phew. Now I didn't know anything about Adobe Illustrator and it is a definite learning curve, but the I would have been really lost with out Bonnie's lessons.  The other cool thing is that you can use the Illustrator for FREE for 30 days.  Sign me up right, I have always wanted to make my own fabric line. (you will need to sign up for Adobe first and then the Creative Cloud and then you can download Illustrator for free) You can find more info on the Design Surface Challenge from Bonnie's web site, Going Home to Roost. Of course no trip is complete with out some fun!

Milos Island

Milos is the lowest southwestern Island of the Cyclades.  Below Serifos and Sifnos.

Milos is best known for Venus de Milo a statue of Aphrodite in the Lovre Museum in Paris.

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But what it should be known for is it's beaches and surrounding colorful waters.

source, Is that your boat anchored there?  I wish it was mine!

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Don't these waters make you want to just run and play and swim all day, ahh..laa..  Is it summer time yet.  Many of the websites say that April and May are a good time to visit, and being closer to Crete and therefor probably getting warmer weather earlier than the more northern Islands, then maybe this is true.  April is just around the corner, anyone ready to dip there feet in?

Kithnos Island

Cyclades Islands

Today we are visiting Kithnos or sometimes spelled Kythnos, located just below Kea.

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 With more than 70 beaches there are plenty of places for a person to relax and maybe enjoy some ouzo or a cold Frappe.
Kithnos is truly amazing in that it has on of the oldest known habitations in the Cycladic islands, they have found human skeletons and stone artifacts dating back 12,000 - 14,000 years ago, WOW.
In 1983 it became Greece’s first place for a wind park.
And then in 2002 (not very long ago at all) they discovered an intact and un-plundered Temple, that was filled with over 1,400 artifacts,  including precious jewels, gold and silver.  An amazing find considering that the Islands were attacked by Pirates and Marauders for centuries and no one found this 2,700 year old Temple to Hera.

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Wouldn't you like to moor your boat here and spend a few leisurely hours walking around and perhaps finding your own hidden temple.

February Re-Cap-Anchors Aweigh

Did anyone get their First and Second Row completed of the Anchors Aweigh Quilt?

Row 2 hiding under there, blanket that I bought at IKEA and will be using for the back

Let's do a little re-cap of where we traveled in Corfu, we went to Ipsos Beach, Sidhari Beach, St. George beach.  Now I will take you to 2 popular beaches that I personally did not like, but feel I should include since a lot of people go to them.

Going from Agios Georgios south along a very narrow and scary roads you get to a very popular area called Paleokastritsa, once again if you are not a good driver it is suggested that you don't drive because some of these roads are like on cliffs.
I thought I took pictures of Paleokastritsa but I couldn't find them so I am borrowing from the internet, when we were there the beach was so packed that you couldn't even put a towel down, once again not for me.  It is a great place to go for lunch maybe if you can find parking.

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source, this little tiny beach was packed with people, not room to even walk to the water.

The next beach we stayed at for 3 nights but only went down to the beach on one day, the day we arrived after that we drove around looking for better beaches, because this one was so rocky and even though we were staying in a hotel close by, it was a hike up a big hill after swimming and when you have 2 little kids to carry it's not so fun.  Parking was minimal and so we couldn't even just drive down and then drive back up.  If you don't have kids and enjoy a larger rock beach where the water gets deep pretty quick and there are small to medium waves then this beach is very nice, especially with the added bonus of lots of hotels around and tavernas.  In guidebooks and even on the internet it is said to be a sand beach, but on the year we went 2012, it was large rocks, I am guessing that in other years they may have dredged the bottom to get it to be sandy, this is just a guess though. 

Blue, Blue, Blue Waters

The kids did like throwing the rocks in the water, what kid wouldn't?

Agios Gordios, Corfu

With all of this traveling you could also just stay in Corfu Town and swim in this lovely cove right in the middle of the busy downtown, with it's small paved footpaths.

Corfu Town, Corfu

Oh did you want to see the Tula Pink Salt Water Aqua collection paired with V. and Co. Ombre Aqua.

do you see my little mess up.

I was asked how much background fabric I am using for my smaller version of the Anchor's Aweigh quilt.  I purchased 2 yards for each quilt, and cut them into 3 - 22 inch panels, I had 8 inches left over, (Caitlin over at I don't do dishes, is very generous in her cuts).  2 of the panels I cut from the middle 9.5 inches (don't forget I am using ombre fabric, this is making things a little different) for the sides (see picture above) then for the middle piece I cut that from the extra left over 8 inch piece.  The 3rd 22 inch piece I am cutting down the middle and then cutting out 8 inches on each side.
And if you missed the Salt Water Coral paired with Ombre Graphite Grey then you check out this post.
I am going to show you a cheater version of what I will be doing with the rest of the Rows tomorrow.

St. George Beach, Corfu

Continuing from Sidhari Beach Corfu we travel along the narrow roads to St. George Beach a beautiful circular cove with soft golden sand that goes all the way from the road to the water.  It gets deep fairly quickly so it is perfect for adults but young children will need to be watched.  Our kids enjoyed making sand castles and jumping the waves with daddy.

the southern part has more waves.

 Tavernas and Hotels line the main road at one point in the road you have to go around a small part of the town, but otherwise the main road follows the beach. 

The northern part of the beach has fewer waves but when we were there it had more sea grasses on the sand, causes a few more sand "flies".
My husband loved this beach so much that we tried to find land nearby, you can find some plots for fairly cheap but in Greece you have to be careful because in some areas you can't build or there are some very strict rules to building.

Ipsos Beach to Sidhari Beach

Looking down on Ipsos Beach as you drive north

After leaving Ipsos Beach there are a lot of hidden coves and small beaches, plenty of places to explore.

 Such as this beach that no one was on and the only way to get down was to park on the main road and walk down a small trail.

Is that your boat anchored out there?

Or Kalami Beach known for the "White House" where the writer Lawrence Durrell lived.  A beautiful pebbly cove with several tavernas right on the water including the famous White house that also has rooms to rent.

Corfu Island is filled with Olive groves, several places sell olive wood art or olive soap, a really nice treat.

Don't rent a car if narrow roads scare you, there are several places that have room for only one car to pass, the towns will have lights to help with navigating the narrow roads, but on some of the more rural areas, you're on your own.  Only with my husbands good driving did we not get smashed by a bus going very fast on a small road.

 On the northern part of Corfu you come to the very popular British resort area of Sidhari, a lot of Brits vacation here, it is perfect for families with small children.  The beach is sand and you can go out really  far and the water will still only be up to the mid calf.  Several water sports are offered and paddle boats with slides!

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Also not to be missed the famous "Canal D'Amour" pictured above, just up from Sidhari beach.

Ipsos Beach, Corfu, Greece

Ipsos Beach, one of my husbands favorite beaches, he went there in the '91 and says it hasn't changed much.
This is a quick trip outside of Corfu Town less than 30 minutes, lots of parking on the main road, that is right behind the beach.  On the road are lots of places to grab lunch and drinks, several mini markets and lots of touristy shops (better shopping can be found elsewhere).  I think it is a good day trip early morning or later afternoon, I don't really like to be out on the beach between 1-4, too hot and the sun just bakes you.

 Ipsos Beach a very long beach lots of room to move around in, and fairly 

easy to find a spot to play and splash where you won't interfere with other swimmers.

 Directly from the ferry ride over from the mainland, this

is a perfect quick stop for the kids to have a dip.

 A place to anchor your boat to the far right of the beach.

 This is a shingle beach (little pebbles) they go into the water 

for a little bit and then it is sand, some large rocks in certain places.

Only shade provided by these palm trees (so bring an umbrella

if you want to stay long).

 You can see Corfu Town from the beach, that's it in the distance.

 Shops and Tavernas on the Left and Beach on the Right.

Some people might not like being so close to the road, 

but it makes it very convenient for a quick dip.

 The water is shallow enough for children to play in, 

the waves are negligible, here I am "swimming" with my 

hands on the sand with my son on my back.