DEAR SOPHIA,

LITTLE DID YOU KNOW ALL THE TIMES WE WERE IN GREECE WE WERE WALKING THROUGH THE SAME PLACES IN ATHENS WHERE JULIUS CAESAR, MARK ANTONY, CLEOPATRA AND OCTAVIAN WERE PRESENT AT. THE PICTURE IS CALLED EPHESUS – IT’S IN MODERN DAY TURKEY BUT IT USED TO BE PART OF MAGNA GRACIA, PREVIOUSLY THE HELLENIC EMPIRE AND AFTERWARDS, PART OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE. WHY IS EPHESUS SO INTERESTING BECAUSE IT’S WHERE CLEOPATRA AND MARK ANTONY RESIDED UNTIL THEY RETURNED BACK TO EGYPT AND CLEOPATRA HAD A YOUNGER SISTER WHO HAD BEEN EXILED TO THAT SAME PLACE. GREEK, ROMAN, EGYPTIAN, AND mediterranean HISTORY IS ALL INTERTWINED FOR THE LAST 3,000 YEARS. WOULDN’T YOU LIKE TO WALK THROUGH THE SAME PLACES AS CLEOPATRA? IT’S YOUR BEST CHANCE TO DO SO WITHOUT HAVING TO GO TO EGYPT AND IT’S ONLY A TWO HOUR TRIP AWAY FROM ATHENS. ONE DAY WE WILL DO THAT!

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love,

dad