Saturday, September 24, 2011

Did You Guess Where We Went For Our 'Virtual' Date Last Night?!

        Just looking at the bridge (in the header photo) might not have given you a clue as to where we went. It would have told you that we went somewhere that has beautiful water...but whenever we choose a 'Date Night' destination pretty waters are almost always something we look for!
      But if you saw these images (below) you would definitely know where we went! :-)

         You guessed it now, right?!....Greece! :-) Beautiful,...with a 'whole-lot-to-do-in-it'...Greece!!...And we had a good time too y'all!!...Beautiful water everywhere!...Interesting beaches...
      ...Scenic Ports...
      ...Historic sights...
      ...An island of white-washed houses by night...
       ...breath-taking mountain vistas by day...
      ...and a 'whole lot' of other stuff in between!! :-) Phew! It was some trip!!
       Hubby and I, being Bible students and teachers, have wanted to go to this land of rich biblical history for a long time...and it was out of our price range. But when money...
 
         (Euro Banknotes)
         ...I mean Euros...are no problem, the sky is the limit for a tourist going to Greece...'vacationing date night-wise'! ^_^

            There is waaaaaay too much about Greece to put in one blog post...and I KNOW you're not ready for that kind of history lesson today!!!...but if you want to, you can check out Wikipedia HERE for the details. 
        Here's just a couple of things I found interesting though...some of these are things you probably know already...
-- Greece a country in southeastern Europe. 
-- Athens is it's capital.
-- Although the Greeks call the country Hellas or Ellada, in English the country is called Greece. (I didn't know this! Did you?!)
-- Eighty percent of Greece consists of mountains, of which Mount Olympus is the highest at 9,570 ft.
-- Greece is the birthplace of the Olympic Games...I'm sure you probably knew this, right?!...In case you didn't...or you're not sporty at all,...here's a little about the Olympic Games...
     They're a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. They have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition.They're currently held every two years, with Summer and Winter Olympic Games alternating, although they occur every four years within their respective seasonal games. 
      And while I'm a 'sporting fool', even I know that there's a whole lot more to Greece than the sports!

        And let's not forget the FOOD!!!!!! :-) ... Greek cuisine is generally an example of the healthy Mediterranean diet. It incorporates fresh ingredients into a variety of local dishes such as moussaka, stifado (which is rabbit or hare stew with pearl onions, vinegar, red wine and cinnamon. Beef can be substituted),...Greek Salad,...
        ... spanakopita....Oooo! I know what that is!! Remember this post?!...
           And, of course, you can't forget Greece's world famous Souvlaki!
      (Souvlaki)
          It's a meat that's traditionally lamb in Greece and Cyprus, but in modern times it's increasingly pork, due to the lower cost of pork. In other countries and for tourists, souvlaki may be made with other meats such as beef, chicken and sometimes fish (especially swordfish)...And put a little garlic bread with it and....I'm in!!! :-)
      All of my friends will tell you....I'm a girl that does love some meat on a stick!! ^_^
      Now, for dessert, how about a little Greek candy with sesame seeds and honey...Pasteli! (If you follow the link you'll even find a recipe on how to make some yourself!)
      We went on the hunt for some of it in our area yesterday. We didn't feel like cooking that late...and we didn't have the ingredients in the house anyway!...But we couldn't find any. And we couldn't find any of hubby's 'first choice' for dessert either!...Baklava
      It's a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup or honey......And now you know why it was his first choice! :-)
      We did find something to kinda sorta substitute though....
      ...The good old...
       ...fig...
      ...Newton!! Ha! Ha!...Okay, so it's not EXACTLY Greek! But they do eat figs in Greece, right?! ^_^
      Hmmm....I may be getting fig leaves and grape leaves mixed up!...But that's okay too, because hubby and I 'did' find some stuffed grape leaves!!! :-)
      We had them alongside a Greek chicken salad...
        It was soooooooo good!!! And, in the name of experimentation, we bought tooooooo much!! ^_^ We had this pita salad pouch on the side too...
       I'm almost embarrassed to tell you that we also bought a Greek meatball pasta dish too!...*hanging my head in shame*... ^_^ But no worries, we didn't even touch that! And, for that matter, we hardly touched any of the rest of this either. We tasted a bit of this...and tasted a little of that...and had some fig newtons and called it a night....except for the dancing!....which at this point, we NEEDED to do!! ^_^ ... Opa!!!...Wanna join us?!

     It was a great 'Date Night'!! I can't even imagine that next week's destination could touch this one's fun with a 10 foot pole!!! ^_^ But we'll see! We already decided where it will be!! :-)
      We have another little mini trip today...compared with Greece I mean. It's a trip to fill up something else besides our stomachs!! LOL We need to stay balanced!...And tomorrow I have some Yoyo bag photos to share!!...So, it's gonna be a good weekend, starting today...despite the rain!....UGH! I hope your weekend is a good one too! :-)

Balance

You teeter totter, in the middle,
Lean a little, OOPS! You're off!
Now you know that you're not balanced,
and you hope the ground is soft.

It's not easy to achieve,
and once you have it, to maintain.
In almost every part of life
our balance is so hard to gain.

You have to balance your emotions,
how you eat, and how you spend.
And when you're balancing your checkbook,
try to keep a level grin.

Staying somewhere in the middle
takes a conscious, careful touch,
because it doesn't take a lot
to go from balanced to 'too much'!

So try to keep a balanced eye,
 a balanced plate, and balanced life.
Keep your feelings all in check,
and minimize the stress and strife.

And don't compare your sense of balance
 to your neighbor's...you're alone.
Because your neighbor's also trying
to get some balance of his own! 

14 comments:

  1. Great photos of Greece! I love Greek food myself, and yours looked delicious! So good, that I think I'll go make something to eat. My mouth is watering!!
    Glad you had a good time!

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  2. CinLynn, :-] Thanks Bead...I'm a fan of Greek food too. I was...even before the trip! Go get something to eat. We're eating LEFTOVERS!! Ha! Ha! I hope you're having a good weekend too!

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  3. I've been to Shipwreck Beach! 3 of us girlies took a 2 week holiday in Xante many many years ago. Our diet consisted mainly of cocktails and tequila and we spent a large portion of our time partying or being hungover... but it was a great holiday! What a fun date night - I would love to visit Athens one day.

    Oh and a tidbit of extra info: Marathons are also greek - named after a messenger who ran from Marathon (where they were having a big battle) to Athens to say that they had won. Actually I knew a different version - that he ran from marathon to Sparta to get help during the battle. But anyway the distance was long. Also the London marathon is 26.2 miles - the 0.2 bit coming from the first recent marathon: they wanted it to finish at Buckingham Palace but that involved running down The Mall - which is 0.2 miles long. The event organisers figured that if the runners had already done 26 miles, they could do another 0.2!!

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  4. Creating Trouble, How exciting that you've been to Shipwreck Beach!!! Thank you so much for sharing about your trip...and about Marathon. I 'did' know about Marathon. I didn't learn about it on this trip though. I think it was part of the back story for one of the Olympics I watched over the years. Fun stuff!! ^_^ It's nice to have such a personal experience of a place hubby and I 'visited'. :-) Thanks again for sharing. And have a good rest of the weekend too!!

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  5. I so enjoyed scrolling through this wonderful post filled with interesting information about Greece, stunning scenic photographs, images of mouth watering Greek cuisine and as always, your delightful narrative. Sounds like you and your husband had a glorious date. Fun!

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  6. Julie, :-) I'm so glad you enjoyed it!! It was so much fun for us too! Thank you for such a nice comment!!! Have a good rest of the weekend. Think Greek!...Opa!!!

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  7. That dancing video was great. It looks like it was loads of fun! Opa! I tried to get the boys dancing but all they did was smile at me. Oh well.
    I hate to admit it but I've never really tried many Greek dishes. I might have to go searching for some recipes.

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  8. aawww this post brought back a few memories of my trip to greece 5 weeks ago. I can't believe i have been home 5 weeks. Greece is a beautiful country and Old Corfu town which was the area we stayed in was just amazing. A lovely post and a lovely trip. Have a lovely week. dee x

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  9. Jo-anne, :-) It was fun! And I loved in the video how the people watching from the sidelines seemed to be having as much fun as the people dancing! ^_^ Maybe your boys were like that too!.....Ha! Ha! Maybe not!...By the way, most of the Greek dishes we've had were VERY good! Lots of veggies usually. And delicious meats too. {You know how much I love my meat! ^_^} Let me know if you find some Greek food. And....OPA!!!

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  10. delia, I knew it would probably bring back some memories for you if you saw it. In fact, your trip to Greece was what put Greece on our 'Date Night' list! :-) And, while we surely didn't have as much fun as you and the boys, we did indeed 'have a ball'!!! :-)) Have a good rest of the week Dee!

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  11. I've never been to Greece but I'm a huge fan of 'Mama Mia' - does that count???
    I love the idea of a virtual date!
    Enter me!

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  12. gill, Ha! Ha! Yes, being a fan of 'Mama Mia' does count...in this neck of the woods it does anyway! ^_^ And you're entered again...all 3 times now! Thank you.

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  13. Oooooooh! I am so hungry now! I *LOVE* this post - visually gorgeous, mouthwatering, dream inspiring! LOVELY!

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  14. Malea, *Teehee*...Sorry....kinda sorta. ^_^ It WAS good!!!!

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