It's All Greek To Me!

So lately, life has become pretty busy.  I got a new calling as Relief Society President at my church. 
That takes a lot of time, not to mention my three kids and all their activities.  So blogging has been put on the back burner a little. But recently we had a really exciting experience!  Lance and I got to go to Greece!  It came up super suddenly.  So suddenly, that we only had 1 week before we left to get our passports renewed.  But everything worked out really well. 

The reason we went was because Lance got hired by the US State Department (for a temporary assignment, he still works for BART) to go to Athens to teach an anti-terrorism class. His travel and expenses were paid for.  He also got a nice salary for teaching and the salary paid for all of my expenses!  Your tax dollars hard at work!  :) 

Lance was there for two weeks and I was there for 10 days.  I flew from SFO to Amsterdam. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to leave the airport in Amsterdam but flying over, it looked like a pretty cool city.

From Amsterdam I flew into Athens.  Lance and the driver the US Embassy hired for him picked me up at the airport and took us to our great hotel in Kifissia.  In Athens, we saw all the ancient sites.  We did a lot of shopping at the flea market and Plaka area.  We went to a traditional Turkish bathhouse that was amazing.  And we ate and ate and ate some more!  Those Greeks have good food! 

An ancient church in the middle of a modern shopping area

On top of the Acropolis

The nighttime view from Mars Hill of the Acropolis

Ocean front in Athens

The temple of Poseidon

The Acropolis

Our Hotel

The Plaka area

We also got a chance to fly to the amazing island of Santorini.  It is one of the most wonderful and beautiful places on earth (at least that I've seen).  I loved every second of it and wish we could have spent more time there.

Beach side lunch

Oia, Santorini

The famous Oia sunset

Beautiful Santorini

After sunset

Our hotel room, "The Pearl" suite

The view from our hotel room

Looking up at our hotel

More Oia

Honestly, I was ready to come home after 6 days.  I did get a lot of sleep and got to workout uninterrupted (unlike at home), but after all is said and done, my favorite place is at home with my girls!  But it was an opportunity of a lifetime and I have some great memories that will last forever!