Athens, Greece

The trip to Athens, Greece was one that we won't forget! The Greek Gods were against us going!

Not that we didn't want to go to Greece but this last year we have been traveling so much, our excitement for traveling has diminished, just a little. So we woke up a little sluggish (We woke up at 4:30, that could also explain it), and that's when the trouble all began.........

Ryan went to start the van and it didn't start. We called RAC (our insurance break down service). They came rather quickly and started the car. Then as I woke up Mia I noticed that she had spots all over her body. And as I turned on the light, I was astonished to see a bright, red rash covering most of her legs and under her arms. I thought “I can't go to a foreign country with my baby like this!” So we decided to wait it out a bit. We were hoping since it was a medical emergency that our airline would let us leave on the next flight (if Mia was starting to feel better) or reimburse our money , but of course they told us that we were out of luck in both cases (cheap airline!). I took Mia to the doctor and by that time her rash had already faded. The doc said that she needed some antibiotics but that she should be fine.

We felt sick about not going to Greece. It was our last big “horrah” or final vacation before we had the baby, as we were calling it, and we had already booked our hotel which was non-refundable. We checked online to see if we could catch the next flight out. We saw one that we decided to pay for but as we were booking, the website wouldn't recognize our credit cards. I told Ryan it was a sign but we were persistent. We tried every credit card and of course the last one worked.

We rushed to the airport and caught our flight. Everything seemed to be going ok until we got to Greece. We got into our hotel late at night and of course I had booked the hotel for the wrong weekend. AHHHH....of course? What else could go wrong?

Athens-April 2007

We thought the sites in Athens were spectacular, of course. We enjoyed touring the Acropolis and all the ruins around that area, like the Odeum of Herodes Atticum which is a music hall and built in the 2nd AD by Herodes Atticus. It's a Roman theatre that can fit like 6000 people that they still use today. We also went to Mars Hill (where the apostle Paul first preached the gospel in Athens), we went to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Parliament (the soldiers have very unusual uniforms and they have a monument for an unknown solider there). Even though the ruins were amazing, we were quite surprised at how run down the city was. Don't be fooled by the pictures from above. The city itself is so much more slummier than it looks. It was really quite scary to me. There are cars everywhere and they look as though they have been there for years without anyone towing them away and the buildings look as though they could crumble at any minute. Our hotel was under construction and Audrey while we were walking home and looking for our hotel to “just look for a big pile of dirt and your there.” We are so high class. :) We were extremely impressed with the train and I almost preferred being in the train station than being up in the city. Plus, it was very wheelchair accessible, which we have found quite useful when you have a huge stroller. I guess they reconstructed the train before the Olympics in 2004, so they had little spots to read about the city and all the ancient ruins that have been dug up along the way.

The second day we decided to visit the beach. Audrey and Mia were in heaven. They loved the beach. There were parks everywhere and they stripped down (as much as we would let them), and played in the water. Ryan and I found that there were quite a few retirees on the beach and that they had lost all sense of decency. (Heaven help us if we become beach bums at the age of 80! :) Our last day, we went to a couple more ruins that we wanted to see and then went to a couple of shopping districts (called Monastiraki and Plaka.) We enjoyed the shopping and did quite a bit of Greek dining. We also toured their National Garden.

Even though we had a few hiccups at the beginning, I was sure our bad luck was over. When we got to the airport to leave, the person checking us in said, “how many weeks are you?”At that moment, I got a little worried. I remember a friend saying something about a doctors note...blah, blah, blah.....is all I remember from my conversation with her. So, I looked at Ryan, and he says “she's 30 weeks.” Ok, 30 weeks that sounds good. But then she told us we needed a doctors note if I am over 28 weeks. We told her we flew to Athens 3 days ago and no one had asked us for a note. I didn't have any contractions. I have always had very normal pregnancies. But no, she has to get the supervisor involved. So the supervisor says that we need a doctors note saying that I was “fit to fly” and that's final. We told them that we would even sign a waver saying that if anything happened on the trip, that we would be liable, but they wouldn't let us do that! They told us we had to stay the night (which they wouldn't pay for) and figure it out in the morning.

In the morning I called the doctor and his assistant said that the doctor couldn't do it. So we dragged the girls all the way into the city and went to the scariest hospital I've ever seen. The lights weren't on. There were people everywhere waiting for the doctor. Luckily, the man I talked to led us straight to the doctor who said that he wouldn't give me a note to fly but I could get an ultrasound and maybe (but he said our chances weren't very good) they would give me a note. (No one wanted to be liable for me...not even the airline that flew me out to Greece!) We went to the ultrasound office (ok....just as scary as the hospital) and they couldn't give me an ultrasound until Friday. GREAT! So we go back to the airport and plead with our doctor to give us a note but to no avail. So, I told Ryan the only way to do this was to book me a flight and he would fly with the girls on Easyjet back home. I put on Ryan's jacket, booked my flight and left. I was nervous the whole time and worried that someone from Easyjet had notified all the other airlines, because then we would have really been stranded. (I just envisioned me having my baby in Greece!) Luckily no one asked me anything. However, there was one last scare. On the plane we were delayed a bit taking off. The pilot came on and said, “we have overbooked the flight by ONE....I don't know how we did this but we are going to get to the bottom of it and sort it out.” NO JOKE! I could feel my cheeks get red and I felt like standing up and saying, “it's me! I know you're going to kick me off, so do it!” But they didn't and somehow it was sorted out.

It was such a relief to get home! We were happy the weekend was over. It was quite an expensive trip to Athens. I was hoping to take the girls to Disneyland in France and take the ferry (and try and convince Ryan to go) for my birthday but after this whole crazy trip, I'm ready for a break from our “vacations.”

Europe Vacation

Europe Vacation

April 2007

Make sure to click on the pictures above to view all the pictures from our trip.


Mom and Dad came to visit for a couple weeks. We had a great time with them and were able to see an amazing amount of sights. The first thing we did was leave on a road trip in the party wagon. We drove to Dover (and of course saw the white cliffs and the castle) and took a ferry from there to France. Once in France we drove into Belgium and stayed in a little town called Bruges. Bruges has canals, amazing architecture and lovely pastries and shopping. The shops were almost too inviting and I know we could have spent mucho money there. Lucky for Mom, she found 50 euro's on the street so she was a happy camper. While there we visited the main town square, the chocolate museum (yes, the chocolate was scrumptious) and also visited the Church of Our Lady that houses Michaelangelo's Madonna and Child statue. One thing I loved about Bruges is that everyone rode bikes there and they were the old fashioned kind. They looked as though they dated back to the war and passed down from generation to generation. Even the young men and women were riding them to work or school and they were in dresses or ties.

We then drove through the Netherlands. We stayed the night and ate at a McDonald's in the morning, so we like to tell people we've been there.

Next stop was Germany. My dad served his mission there. This year will be the 40th year since he returned home so it was special to be there with him. We stopped first at a small town called . It was everything I imagined Germany to be. The buildings were very square and not that pretty. As we left that town though, the buildings became more beautiful. We went to a city called Düsseldorf where my dad served most of his mission. We stopped at the river and took some pictures. My dad stayed at a youth hostel while he was there and we went back to that. It is still a youth hostel but my dad said he could tell that they had remodeled a few times. That night we drove for a bit and found a hotel/restaurant that was in a small, cute village. All the buildings had dates on them. Most of them were from the 1700 and some of them were tilting. You could tell the doors had to be cut crooked so they could fit.

The next day we drove through Germany and we went down through the Rhine river valley which houses many castles along the hills. It was just so amazing to be driving and see a castle here and a castle there. We stopped at one that was a ruin and toured it and then another one that was decorated of the time period it was built.

The next day we drove into Switzerland and into the Alps. The mountains were truly breathtaking and it's one of those "you have to be there" type of moments. We stopped at a town in Switzerland called Interlaken that was in the valley of the Alps. It was gorgeous. Ryan did think the driving in Switzerland was crazy with lines crossing every which way.

The next day we went to Paris. We did stop at a small French town on the way but everyone was really unfriendly and it wasn't that pleasant of a place. We did enjoy the barbecue restaurant we ate at on the way out. We got to Paris late in the afternoon and went up the Eiffel Tower. The city was gorgeous and it was a grand view. When we got down, we drove around for a little while, showing mom and dad the city and then we decided to go to Versailles, the town, and stay the night because we wanted to tour it in the morning. Unlucky for us, it was spring break and every hotel in Paris was completely booked. We decided to call it quits at 2 am and decided to drive back to Dunkurque to catch the ferry the next day. We drove most of the night, stopping for short sleeping breaks. That was interesting.

I loved the trip! I thought driving was so fun. We could stop where ever we wanted and see what we wanted, when we wanted. The countryside of Europe is quite spectacular. One tidbit of information that we learned...McDonald's menu differ from country to country (well, just a few items. The fries and drink pretty much taste the same where ever you go). In Switzerland Mom and Dad got a burger with like this gravy filling in it. Just thought you might like to know. (I think we ate at McDonald's more than we ever cared to, but it was fast and easy)

The best part of the whole trip was making lasting memories with my parents and being with Ryan and the girls!

A day after returning home, Chad and Rebecca came into town. The day they arrived, they went up to London with Mom and Dad. They went on a bus around the city (and they got to see Prince Charles riding by!) and then that evening went to "Wicked" the play which they loved and they give it two thumbs up.

The next day I got a babysitter for the girls and went up to London with the family. Reid came into town for a business trip so we met up with him. We went to the Tour of London and then Hamley's (the toy store) and Herrods (a humongous shopping store). Everyone was pretty tuckered so we went home after that.

Ryan went with the crew the next day to London. They went to the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and then Westminster Abby, where they were honored guests and were able to sing with the famous boys choir that performs regularly there. For some reason they hit it just right and sat in chairs that are usually reserved for royalty and dignitaries. LUCKY THEM! They also went to the British Library.

Their last day here we went to Windsor Castle. The queen was there and was flying her flag. The state rooms were open so we were able to tour those. Luckily everyone was here for General Conference so it was great to make a big dinner and enjoy watching conference together.

Mom, Dad, the girls and I made one last trip before they left to Leeds Castle and to Lenham (where the Steadman ancestry is from) and Canterbury (where the Synan family is from).

There is so much to see in England, but enjoying it with my family was the best part!

Rome, Italy