Merry Christmas

So we got this huge tree and all these decorations to make sure our apartment was fully in the Christmas spirit. Obviously, the tree is too big for our apartment so we had to take some off the top.

I'll post a picture of our real tree once we take one, probably Friday. This picture was taken in September (2 holidays ahead of time, crass commercialism) at a department store. Our real tree is smaller and Marie has designed it specifically to hide the I love New York pigeon. It is grey and blue and has a little red heart for "I (heart) New York." Now we have a tree decorated in grey and blue with little red accents. That little bobble-headed pigeon started another tradition. Now there is an ornament for each year, The pigeon, Kokopelli, A little Yale wreath, a baby ornament and, on its way for this year, a minotaur.

Catch-up: Halloween to Thanksgiving

So our little girl borrowed a lady bug costume and went to the church party for Halloween. Since then Marie had a performance downtown, we've had a few dinner parties, and spent a lot of time at the Peabody museum (its cold outside and the museum is free with Yale ID). We went over to some friends from the ward for thanksgiving. It was nice but we were also invited over to another thanksgiving at another friend's house and Marie would not let me double dip by going to both.

The way home: Farewell to Athens and Paris

We got off the Ikarus (a ship whose name does not really inspire confidence as you board her to cross the sea) and spent the day in Athens. We were able to see the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier, the national gardens, and the archeological museum. The Museum requires at least a full day without kids, more if you have a tired baby with you. We did find the mask of Agamemnon. Then it was off to Paris for the night. Beautiful city, but man that place has social problems and racial tensions beyond what I am used to seeing here. At least we got out of the hotel to see the Eiffel tower and grab some food. We left the next morning for New York and were home by dinner. It was a nice trip, and we did learn a few things about traveling with babies.

Knossos: Wall Street circa 1700BC

Knossos, capital of a commercial empire spanning 500 years, and our top priority on the trip. It stretches back from around 2000 BC until Santorini gave the eastern Mediterranean the world's largest recorded volcanic eruption and threw their civilization into chaos. It is the site of the story of Theseus and the minotaur in the labyrinth, but 2 civilizations older than the classical Greeks. While more of a ruin than the other sites I have seen while traveling, the artifacts and and frescoes were great.

It has been on my travel list since medical school. It is impressive for the how advanced they were and how old it is. It was fun to sit under the pillars and think about that. Older than any other civilized site in Europe. Older than anything in east Asia (China may have been forming a very primitive first dynasty but anything earlier than the Shang dynasty is kinda speculative, and they had nothing like this). Abraham was probably being born around this time. Only Egypt and the early Mesopotamian civilizations were older.

Below is Alyssa playing at the starting point of Europe's first road.

Iraklio

Lonely Planet was a bit too harsh on this city. Rather being a totally drab business city with little to see or do, there were the Venetian fortifications, pretty good Greek restaurants at low prices, and a lot of museums including a large one dedicated to Minoan artifacts. Plus there were nice beaches a few miles to either side of town.

By this time Alyssa had pretty much had it with her parents draging her around Greece with just two small backpacks and a stroller. We started taking more and more time out to do fun things for her. We've learned to plan more kid stuff into the next trip.

Of course none of the above is a compelling reason to visit Iraklio above some other, perhaps prettier Greek town. The real reason to visit Iraklio is that it is the best jumping off point to visit Knossos.