Happy New Year from Athens! Vasilopita is a traditional Greek cake served at midnight on New Year's Eve to celebrate the life of Saint Basil. After baking the cake, a coin is inserted through the base and when cut the person who finds the coin is said to be granted luck for the rest of the year! Kiersten found the coin. But truthfully we’re all feeling pretty lucky to be on this adventure together. After the cake we enjoyed Fireworks over the Acropolis…a New Years we’ll never forget!
There were times I thought I’d never see these sights, let alone experience them with my children…yet here we are. We’re ringing in the New Year in Athens. One of our goals when we moved to Spain was to travel. Despite the challenges and hurdles of COVID, we’re making it happen.
Our AirBnB literally faces the Acropolis. We can see it from the balcony. What a sight!!! Parts of it have been standing since the Bronze Age, parts of it were rebuilt in the 5th century BC. This is living, breathing history. The Parthenon is majestic and something I hope we never forget. The Herod Atticus Odeon, open theater stands below on the slopes as well as the Theater Dionysus. It’s hard to imagine the effort that went into creating these places. It’s hard to imagine all the detail work that went into these places…with no electricity. It’s hard to believe how long they’ve been standing.
The girls enjoyed seeing the Temple of Athena and were sharing all their knowledge from Greek mythology. It was definitely time well spent. Memories to last a lifetime. Cheers to what 2022 has to offer…hopefully more travel!
One thing that was on our list to do before Christmas, but it never got done, was to head into Valencia to see the Christmas lights. They decorate the Plaza Ayuntamineto (Town Hall Plaza) every December. It was toned down a bit this year, and they passed the mandate that you had to wear a mask outdoors to prevent the spread of COVID but there were still a lot of people enjoying the sights.
It might not be ideal to travel ON Christmas but we made the most of the day. We woke up to a bit of snow in Prague…White Christmas! We had a layover for a couple hours in Paris. We all enjoyed our first Starbucks in several months and a quick sushi dinner before flying home to Valencia. That still sounds weird.
The weather is great in Spain. So that was a warm welcome, literally. After we got home the girls opened their gifts. Today we unpacked, enjoyed a nice meal and a few Christmas movies. A holiday well spent…together.
