Change of scenery

Day 4: Sunday, June 16^th:

What we did: We had another picture perfect breakfast overlooking Athens.  Bread, homemade marmalade, dried fruit, fresh fruit, cheese, bacon, cheesy eggs, frittata, chocolate cake… Proving to my husband that I’m still hard core, I volunteered us to take the metro to the airport, rather than a cab.  This led us to more new friends thanks to Cora. 

We then flew to the island of Rhodes.  We weren’t paying attention to our seat assignments and, upon boarding, noticed we were sitting apart, so I graciously volunteered to let Jacob sit with Cora.  So I did get my quiet and reading after all!  (Though only on a 40 minute flight.)  We had been told that my missing suitcase would make it onto our flight to Rhodes, but it didn’t, so we were told to come back to the airport to meet the next Athens flight.  We spent the intervening hours exploring Rhodes Town, where there is a medieval walled city. 

We were turned off by the over-touristy nature of this area and hoped our VRBO.com find was more off the beaten path.  Was it ever!  After finally reuniting with my suitcase, we drove about 90 minutes around the island to the out of the way inland village of Askilipio. 

Our day ended with dinner in the village square.

What was most memorable: Askilipio is pretty idyllic!  Winding footpaths and alleys connect stucco houses on a hilltop, all situated around a small village square where the locals meet up in the evenings.  Our little house was recently redone and is very cute with an awesome little patio with a view of a river valley, olive grove, and views of the Aegean Sea.  Cora likes the new setting and SO WOULD JACK!  Speaking of him, I am missing him more and more each day.  The travel and Athens portion would not have been a good fit for a 3.5 year old, but he would love this island stop.  At our village square dinner, Cora continued to be very cute.  She has been making lots of “wow-whoa!” exclamations whenever she is excited along with lots of “uh-ohs” as she drops things she wants us to pick up.  She’s also being very clear that she loves dogs as she lights up, exclaims, points, laughs, and bounces every time she sees one.  Luckily there was one in the square and this kept her entertained throughout dinner.

The Mandolin - our island home

And in terms of memorable happenings, I won’t be forgetting that Cora threw up not once, but FOUR times, when we finally put her to bed this evening.  She had been crying, so I went in to get her and so all four of those times were while I was holding her and Jacob was running around looking for a washcloth.  By the time he got back, I was so drenched, we needed way more than a washcloth.  He was gagging, she was crying, but I couldn’t help but laugh as it was just a ridiculous picture!  After a bath, she was back to herself and finally (at 1am) ready for bed.  (In our defense, we don’t think the throw up was trip related as this is actually the seventh time she’s gotten sick over the past ten days and the first time on the trip.  We think her stomach isn't liking her ear infection medicine.)