way down the Adriatic Sea to the Greek Isles, with stops along the way in lands where civilizations thrived and died as far back as 7,000 years before Christ. They left behind masterful pagan temples, Christian churches with architecture that boggles the mind and ports that hold secrets we will never know. We began with stops among the Roman and Greek ruins of Croatia and the medieval fortresses of Montenegro. In Split, Croatia, we enjoyed dark beer sitting on the marble steps beneath the towering columns of a peristyle that served as the center for conversation and debate for rulers and citizens thousands of years ago. How surreal. Down the coast in Montenegro, a strenuous three-mile hike up a steep mountainside led us to the distant Fortress of St. John, capped off by an awe-inspiring view of Kotor harbor. Then we meandered through the streets of Kotor, a picturesque village that looked like the setting for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Our entry to Greece was the Isle of Corfu, which is less about history and more about the coastal beauty of a mountainous resort. Reportedly, Prince Harry and Kate Middleton like Corfu for romantic getaways. But the real highlight here was meeting a tour guide who took us down a country road to the best restaurant on the island for the most incredible Greek lunch. At Spiros Vasilis, we dined on olives, taziki, tamara, stuffed grape leaves, tomatoes, fresh baked bread, grilled lamb and Greek meats, punctuated with Greek wines. We were in foodie heaven. The port of Katakolan, site of the first Olympics in 776
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B.C., was our gateway to ancient Greece. Earthquakes have long turned the temple of Zeus and its massive surrounding buildings to rubble, but the collection of recovered antiquities, statues and artifacts is jaw dropping. The archeological site was buried for centuries and unearthed in the 1800s. The fallen columns are huge, leaving visitors in awe of the scale and scope conceived by the builders and artisans who first mastered math and construction techniques that are unparalleled today. Every four years, modern Olympians still return here to light the Olympic torch. That evening, we sailed through fiords into the dark, only to awaken in the caldera of a volcano, which makes up the island of Santorini. The most photographed island in Greece, Santorini is famous for its bright white stucco homes adorned by blue domed roofs and housing tiny chapels. Imagine sailing into the center of a large donut-shaped island with one bite missing. The center hole is a seven-mile wide lagoon, surrounded by a sheered 1,000-foot crescent cliff. From below, the ridge looks like it is covered in snow, when in reality >> the white caps are the famous stucco homes. This unique
George E. Barnes, MD Board-Certified Cardio-Vascular Surgeon
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Providing non-invasive, in-office procedures that allow our clients to return to normal activities soon after leaving. J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 1 1
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