Grandma I can walk!!!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
A few last trip pics.
Here are some pictures of what our room looked like on the ship. It was great to have a floating hotel. We could see lots of different places but we didn't have to pack our suit case and change hotels. It was great.
When we would come into our room at night the guys that cleaned our room had folded towels into cool animal shapes.
This is the staff of the ship singing a goodbye song.
This was out favorite Waiter on the ship. His name was Putu and he was from Indonesia. He worked in the Italian restaurant on the ship and he would bring us cotton candy with our Gelato. Yes major sugar rush.
One of the days we just spent on the ship we all dressed alike, not on purpose. It was a lot of fun going on this trip with my sisters. I will always treasure having spent this time with them and seeing the things we saw together. Love ya Nicolle and Julie.
We had a great time and I think this picture says it all. We were tired and ready to go home.
When we would come into our room at night the guys that cleaned our room had folded towels into cool animal shapes.This is the staff of the ship singing a goodbye song.This was out favorite Waiter on the ship. His name was Putu and he was from Indonesia. He worked in the Italian restaurant on the ship and he would bring us cotton candy with our Gelato. Yes major sugar rush.One of the days we just spent on the ship we all dressed alike, not on purpose. It was a lot of fun going on this trip with my sisters. I will always treasure having spent this time with them and seeing the things we saw together. Love ya Nicolle and Julie.We had a great time and I think this picture says it all. We were tired and ready to go home. Thanks mom for this great experience!!!!
Day 9 - Sicily
The last port that we stopped in was Messina, Sicily.
This is a view of Messina from the ship.
We really only saw Messina from the window of the bus because we took a bus to a different city. From the bus we saw a lot of 20 somethings walking around with backpack and then we spotted the University of Messina. (picture above)
We took the bus to a town called Tormina. This is a view of the ocean from Tormina. Sicily was very beautiful. From Tormina we could see Mount Etna which is an active Volcano in Italy but we could not get a good picture because it was hazy.
Nicolle and Julie enjoying their last day of vacation.
Tormina had some really pretty architecture.
I loved this picture. Everywhere we went there were these little restaurants that looked like this. Tables just scattered along the stairs.
In Tormina is the smallest street ever. This is the street sign.
This is Nicolle standing in the street.
This is a view of Messina from the ship.
We really only saw Messina from the window of the bus because we took a bus to a different city. From the bus we saw a lot of 20 somethings walking around with backpack and then we spotted the University of Messina. (picture above)
We took the bus to a town called Tormina. This is a view of the ocean from Tormina. Sicily was very beautiful. From Tormina we could see Mount Etna which is an active Volcano in Italy but we could not get a good picture because it was hazy.Nicolle and Julie enjoying their last day of vacation.Tormina had some really pretty architecture.I loved this picture. Everywhere we went there were these little restaurants that looked like this. Tables just scattered along the stairs.In Tormina is the smallest street ever. This is the street sign.This is Nicolle standing in the street.We didn't spend a lot of time here but it was fun to see a little bit of Sicilian culture and taste a few of their treats.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Day 8 - Athens, Greece
One of our last stops was the birth place of democracy, Athens and the Acropolis. Athens was named after the Goddess Athena. The story goes that Athena and Poseidon were fighting over who the city belonged to. The people living in the city decided that they should each give them a gift and whichever gift they liked the best would have the privilege of having the city named after them. Poseidon struck the ground and water flowed. Athena struck the ground and an olive tree grew. They picked Athena because if you have an olive tree you have food and heat, you have a source on income and you have free time because while the olives are growing there is nothing to do and so you can spend time philosophizing. The olive tree above is at the Acropolis in honor of that story.
The word Acropolis means high place and this was basically the main part of the city and where they would go if they were being attacked. The above picture is the Parthenon. This amazing structure was built in ten years. Which is amazing because most of the other ruins we saw took hundreds of years to build. This building was built to represent the people working together for a common goal. One of the greatest symbols of team work. It was built by the people for them to use and is basically the birth place of democracy. It is where the people in Athens would come to discuss their ideas.
This is another temple that is up on top of the hill. I can't remember what God this temple was built for.
This is a view from the top of the Acropolis. The structure you see in the middle of the picture you might recognize if you have ever seen footage of a concert at the Acropolis this is where they are held.
This is a ceiling that took 14 years to restore. That gives you an idea of what a task it is to restore these structures. The dark pieces are original pieces and the white pieces are ones they had to make. The black stuff is from a fire that burned when the Acropolis was attacked and they can not get that damage off.
This is a view of the city of Athens from on top of the Acropolis. Athens was a huge city and it was made of 8 story high cement builds and was very dirty and just not a very pretty city to drive through. But it looks cool from this view. There are a few old neo classical building that they have kept in good condition. You can see those further down.
This is the stadium built for the first modern Olympics in 1896. It has absolutely no parking and so when they just recently had the Olympics in Athens they held the archery competition in there.
Here is one of the old neo classical building. They are used to house government offices.
It was getting towards the end of the trip and we were all running out of steam.
This is a statue symbolizing the unity of Greece.
Here is another piece of art we saw in the city.
This is a running man made from sheets of glass.
Here is a picture of some great thinkers of our time.The Acropolis and Athens was such a cool place to visit and have a glimpse of that part of history.
One more day of pics left.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Day 7- Kusadasi, Turkey
Our day in Kusadasi was one of the most memorable days of this trip.
This is a picture of Kusadasi to give you an idea of what the city looked like. Turkey was one of the most frustrating places to communicate with the local people. I had a very hard time understanding their English. The other countries we were in everyone had accents but you could understand them really well. Here asking a simple question like "Where is the restroom...the bathroom...the water closet...the toilet....?" "Ohhhh over there." Very frustrating. But Turkey was a beautiful place and even though we could not communicate well the people were nice. 
The first thing we did in Turkey was go scuba diving. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time. I found a place that had beginner scuba diving and made arrangement through email to be picked up and spend a few hours scuba diving. I was nervous that the arrangement would be ok. Everything went perfectly. This is a picture of the place where we started.
This is Nicolle who is very excited. She had been snorkeling before but never scuba diving. And Julie who was not so excited. She hates putting her face in the water. She actually did not make it under the water.
This is me. Can you believe I went scuba diving. I have always had a fear of drowning and thought this was a perfect way to conquer that fear.
This is Nicolle showing off her cool swimming moves.
This is me feeding the fish. Our instructor found these little spiky black balls and cute them in half. The stuff that was in the middle the fish loved and swarmed around to eat it.
This is the sign for yes I am still breathing and everything is OK.
Nicolle feeding the fish.
I love this picture of Nicolle. Her eyes make her look like she is very nervous. I don't think that she was though.
There was a sign at the scuba place that said Caution you will never be happy on dry land again. Way true I am already wanting to go scuba diving again.
Our next stop that day was the ruin of Ephesus. We took a private tour so it was just the three of us and our tour guide and a driver. When we got out of the car at Ephesus it started to down pour. When we got back in the car it stopped raining. that was the way the rest of the day went. Also I don't have a lot of explanation of what the pictures are because I understood about half of what the guide said. I did understand that the excavation that is done here was done by foreigners and the Turkish government takes taxes to say they are spending it on excavating but they aren't really doing anything. 'The above picture is of the amphitheatre.
This is the library which was said to have housed over a thousand books, or scrolls as they were in that day.
This is a view looking down the main street of Ephesus.
This is us hiding out under and archway with our guide waiting for the rain to let up. Our guide was really nice and every time he was ready to move to another place he would say "Come my friends." I have not idea what his name was. I could not understand what he said it sounded like R2 to me so that is what I called him.
This is a river running down the street created by all the rain. I was smart today and had my tennis shoes on so I was not slipping on the marble street.
This was part of the bath house. It should not need any explaining.
We also visited St. Jeans Basilica that was located about 10 minutes from Ephesus. As I understood it this was not just a church but a sort of community inside of wall where St. John brought Mary, mother of Jesus, and it was a place where the christian could be safe and worship.
This was inside the Basilica. Does it look familiar to anyone? Can you guess it's purpose?
This is a view from the basilica. Very green and pretty country side.
Our other memorable stop was a carpet factory or school as they called it. Our guide says that we were right near a school where girls learn to make rugs would we like to go see. Of course that sounds like a cool cultural experience. Of course what it really was was a high pressure sales jewelry and carpet store. This is Nicolle testing out the rug for flying capabilities. I thought is was the only way we were going to get out of there. Luckily Nicolle did want to buy a rug.
After the purchase then they taught us how to tie know for rugs and let us try it out.
This is a picture of Kusadasi to give you an idea of what the city looked like. Turkey was one of the most frustrating places to communicate with the local people. I had a very hard time understanding their English. The other countries we were in everyone had accents but you could understand them really well. Here asking a simple question like "Where is the restroom...the bathroom...the water closet...the toilet....?" "Ohhhh over there." Very frustrating. But Turkey was a beautiful place and even though we could not communicate well the people were nice. 
The first thing we did in Turkey was go scuba diving. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time. I found a place that had beginner scuba diving and made arrangement through email to be picked up and spend a few hours scuba diving. I was nervous that the arrangement would be ok. Everything went perfectly. This is a picture of the place where we started. 
This is Nicolle who is very excited. She had been snorkeling before but never scuba diving. And Julie who was not so excited. She hates putting her face in the water. She actually did not make it under the water.This is me. Can you believe I went scuba diving. I have always had a fear of drowning and thought this was a perfect way to conquer that fear.This is Nicolle showing off her cool swimming moves.This is me feeding the fish. Our instructor found these little spiky black balls and cute them in half. The stuff that was in the middle the fish loved and swarmed around to eat it.This is the sign for yes I am still breathing and everything is OK.Nicolle feeding the fish.I love this picture of Nicolle. Her eyes make her look like she is very nervous. I don't think that she was though.There was a sign at the scuba place that said Caution you will never be happy on dry land again. Way true I am already wanting to go scuba diving again.
Our next stop that day was the ruin of Ephesus. We took a private tour so it was just the three of us and our tour guide and a driver. When we got out of the car at Ephesus it started to down pour. When we got back in the car it stopped raining. that was the way the rest of the day went. Also I don't have a lot of explanation of what the pictures are because I understood about half of what the guide said. I did understand that the excavation that is done here was done by foreigners and the Turkish government takes taxes to say they are spending it on excavating but they aren't really doing anything. 'The above picture is of the amphitheatre.This is the library which was said to have housed over a thousand books, or scrolls as they were in that day.This is a view looking down the main street of Ephesus.This is us hiding out under and archway with our guide waiting for the rain to let up. Our guide was really nice and every time he was ready to move to another place he would say "Come my friends." I have not idea what his name was. I could not understand what he said it sounded like R2 to me so that is what I called him.This is a river running down the street created by all the rain. I was smart today and had my tennis shoes on so I was not slipping on the marble street.This was part of the bath house. It should not need any explaining.We also visited St. Jeans Basilica that was located about 10 minutes from Ephesus. As I understood it this was not just a church but a sort of community inside of wall where St. John brought Mary, mother of Jesus, and it was a place where the christian could be safe and worship.
This was inside the Basilica. Does it look familiar to anyone? Can you guess it's purpose?This is a view from the basilica. Very green and pretty country side.Our other memorable stop was a carpet factory or school as they called it. Our guide says that we were right near a school where girls learn to make rugs would we like to go see. Of course that sounds like a cool cultural experience. Of course what it really was was a high pressure sales jewelry and carpet store. This is Nicolle testing out the rug for flying capabilities. I thought is was the only way we were going to get out of there. Luckily Nicolle did want to buy a rug.After the purchase then they taught us how to tie know for rugs and let us try it out.Overall it was a great day and we had some unforgettable experiences.
More pics coming!!
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