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

(The Rio-Antirio Bridge)

        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! :-)

 (The Parthenon)

(The Olympic Rings)

 (The Olympia Stadion 2004)

         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...

 (Shipwreck Beach in Zante, Greece)

      ...Scenic Ports...

 (Piraeus Port of Athens)

      ...Historic sights...

(The Acropolis)

      ...An island of white-washed houses by night...

(Fira, Santorini)

       ...breath-taking mountain vistas by day...

 (Mount Olympus)

      ...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!!! :-)

(Souvlaki Plate, with garlic bread)

      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!)

(Pasteli)

      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!