Greek to us

We'd known to expect really inexpensive, comfortable rail travel when
we came to Europe, but one thing that's surprised us is the
super-discounted flights that are often available via Sky Europe --
sure you have to get out and push now and again, and passengers are
expected to bring their own floatation devices, but those small
inconveniences are worth the price. And so it happened that 11 of the
American teachers here found ourselves whisked away to Greece for
spring break on a wing and a prayer.

On arrival, the group mostly scattered to different cities, meeting up
along the road as our paths crossed. Annie and I took a vote and
decided to travel together: we landed in the hoity-toity port of
Thessaloniki, stayed one night and one day, then were on a train for
Kalambaka, a small town at the foot of a cluster of monasteries called
Meteora, built on high natural pillars of rock like those found in
Monument National Park and Roadrunner cartoons. After a long day of
hiking, several million photographs each more beautiful than the last,
and a solid night's sleep, we started the 9 hour journey to Nafplio
(Greece's answer to Stone Harbor, NJ) by train, suburban rail, taxi,
and bus. Had a wonderful time on the beach, eating seafood, and
exploring the shops, then on to Athens, where fatigue limited our
photography, but not our fun.

Annie's put our photos up on Flickr -- each city has its own set linked above, but
we really did take a massive amount of photos, so Annie's also
assembled a little highlight reel of the whole vacation if you want to
see some of our favorites and make our long story short. Let's see --
a picture is worth 1000 words, times 650 pictures...

Full disclosure:  I totally sent this as an email to our family first, and then recycled it as a blog.  Pllllbbbbbth!