This picture down below is us playing family feud on the boat! Every family got to go up and if you lost a round you got kicked out. We stayed up there for seven rounds and broke a new record!! YAY!
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Seventh Stop: Mt. Etna, Italy
Our final stop was in Messina which is in Sicily in Italy. We took a two hour drive to a live volcano, Mt. Etna. The volcano has three peaks and it has had a few big lava eruptions in the past. It was really cool driving up the mountain, because you could see the hardened river of lava as it wound down the mountain from the last eruption. Very interesting indeed. We couldn't really understand our tour guide because her English wasn't so good, so that was too bad. By the time she finished a sentence it had taken her so long that you forgot what the beginning of the sentence was. But all in all, the volcano was beautiful and I'm glad we got to go!
Sixth Stop: Malta
The first thing I learned this day was that Malta is a country. Felt a bit geographically bad that I didn't know that before, but now I do! And it is as a matter of fact that island on which Paul was shipwrecked on his way to Rome. I knew I recognized the name of it somewhere! Anyway, Malta is a country that has been the brunt of many wars. So there is a lot of things that are destroyed and a ton of history there. We went to the capital and for the moment the name of it has disappeared from my mind! Then we went to the old capital, Mdina. It was interesting comparing the two and seeing both as well. As the boat pulled into the harbor, it was the most beautiful sight, as you can probably see from a couple of the pictures! Anyway, time i Malta was good and I'm glad I got to visit that country!
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Fifth Stop: Ephesus, Turkey
Kusadasi (the port where we were) was probably my favorite stop! Had the best tour guide that we had our whole trip and everything we saw was great! Besides the sweltering heat of course! :) Our first stop was in the mountains at the place that's been declared as Virgin Mary's house where she lived in her later years. Then we went to the Ancient city of Ephesus and walked through all the ruins. It was so neat to be there and imagine what it must have been like a couple thousand years ago! Only a fourth of it is excavated, so there's much more. After walking through the ruins and stopping to look at different things, we went to a Turkish carpet demonstration. I think they must have rolled out at least fifty carpets for us! I wasn't too jealous of them having to roll them all up again! After that we headed back to the ship again.
The city's gate entrance at the top of the hill. It's narrow so that when people came with all their products, they would have to pay them to help, because their wagons and such wouldn't fit through! Good business mind!
The Library of Ephesus
The entry into Ephesus. The sea and port used to be close by, but over the years it's receeded and is a lot farther back and now it's all land.
This is the arena where Paul preached before a mob started and seized him. He was talking about the one true God and all the merchants of idols where angry because he was taking business away from their stores.
The city's gate entrance at the top of the hill. It's narrow so that when people came with all their products, they would have to pay them to help, because their wagons and such wouldn't fit through! Good business mind!
The Library of Ephesus
The entry into Ephesus. The sea and port used to be close by, but over the years it's receeded and is a lot farther back and now it's all land.
This is the arena where Paul preached before a mob started and seized him. He was talking about the one true God and all the merchants of idols where angry because he was taking business away from their stores.
Fourth Stop: Santorini, Greece
In the morning, our cruise ship pulled into a harbor area which was surrounded by mountains and on top of the mountains were all white houses with the blue roofs. This is where a lot of pictures from Greece come. We took walking tours through two different little villages and it was neat to just walk row upon row and see all these white houses with their bright blue roofs and doors! Between all the houses were just narrow walkways. It was neat. Afterwards we went to a beach which had black sand. The water was very refreshing (for my feet at least...) We had the option on the way back of going down the mountain on a donkey, but we decided to go to the cable cars instead. I'm a bit sad we didn't take the donkeys, but after having talked to some of the people who did take the donkeys down, I'm kind of glad we didn't! But everything here was absolutely beautiful!
Third Stop: Olympia, Greece
Our third stop was the historic ruins of Olympia in Greece where the first Olympics took place back sometime before Christ (don't remember the exact date..) The ruins and excavations were absolutely amazing to see! And to imagine what life must have been like back in those days and what the city must have looked like. It was great to get a bunch of the history behind it, but also be able to just walk around and look at everything.
More Pictures from Olympia
After going to Olympia, we went to a little restaurant where we ate some Greek food, and watched and joined in on some Greek Zorba dancing!! Fun times!
Second Stop: Corfu, Greece
On our third day, we stopped on the island of Corfu which is in the Greek Islands. The water everywhere was so incredibly blue! On the island we went to the palace of Achillion and then went to a few lookout stops. The island is beautiful and all the buildings and architecture are great! I tried posting more pictures, but once again Blogger is being a bit stubborn, so they will follow this post hopefully!
First Stop: Dubrovnik, Croatia
All right, well, after way too long travelling, we finally arrived in Rome! I think the flight had to be one of my worst, because I had bronchitis quite badly and could barely breathe! And my nose kept running. Not fun on an airplane for a total of fifteen hours! And by the time I arrived in Rome, I had absolutely no voice left! Actually, it was quite humbling for me, and I realized how much I depend on my ability to speak. So it was stretching, because I pretty much couldn't really talk for the first few days of the cruise. Learned a lot through it!
We arrived on the boat and slept! The next day we were at sea all day and we slept! Then we arrived in Croatia. The blog is only letting me upload three pictures, so I"ll post a few more later on Croatia. Totally different from anything I expected there! It was absolutely beautiful! We took a bus ride up the coast, and drove through Bosnia as well. Then we stopped at a river and went for an hour riverboat ride to this restaurant that's only accessible by boat. We had an accordian and a guitar player on the boat, so that was kind of fun! The lunch was great and we met some people from the states who sat at our table. Then we headed back to the boat!
this was our live entertainment at the restaurant during lunch! Just when I was full and thought the meal was over, I realized I was only eating the second course!! haha..
these are the "walls of China" in Croatia and they go all around the mountain. It was really hot that day and we had the option of going to the top. Had I not had bad bronchitis and been able to breathe relatively well I might have done it!
this is a picture of Dubrovnik, the old port. The picture was taken from the bus, so it's not the greatest, but the city was beautiful!
We arrived on the boat and slept! The next day we were at sea all day and we slept! Then we arrived in Croatia. The blog is only letting me upload three pictures, so I"ll post a few more later on Croatia. Totally different from anything I expected there! It was absolutely beautiful! We took a bus ride up the coast, and drove through Bosnia as well. Then we stopped at a river and went for an hour riverboat ride to this restaurant that's only accessible by boat. We had an accordian and a guitar player on the boat, so that was kind of fun! The lunch was great and we met some people from the states who sat at our table. Then we headed back to the boat!
this was our live entertainment at the restaurant during lunch! Just when I was full and thought the meal was over, I realized I was only eating the second course!! haha..
these are the "walls of China" in Croatia and they go all around the mountain. It was really hot that day and we had the option of going to the top. Had I not had bad bronchitis and been able to breathe relatively well I might have done it!
this is a picture of Dubrovnik, the old port. The picture was taken from the bus, so it's not the greatest, but the city was beautiful!
What you've all been waiting for!
I left my three fish, Oscar, Leslie and Gabby all to their own for two weeks. No feedings, no tank cleanings. When I left I couldn't see them because the water was bright green. Now the tank is clear and they are all still alive after their short abandonment!!
Okay, stories and pictures of my trip to come later... but right now technically I should feel like it's nine in the morning (when it's midnight here) and I've been up for thirty hours. perhaps I'll go unpack!
Okay, stories and pictures of my trip to come later... but right now technically I should feel like it's nine in the morning (when it's midnight here) and I've been up for thirty hours. perhaps I'll go unpack!
Friday, August 11, 2006
quick update
hey all, going to make this quick,b ut just wanted to put in a quick update seeing that i haven't updated this in forever!
i'm in venice right now and excited to come home in a few days! The cruise was wonderful and i have ten million things to say about it, but will not as i don't feel like doing so right now! Have been doing some shopping here in venice and writing those little boats.
good experience to see things here, but not so sure it's a place i'd like to come back to! too many people and it's kind of dirty. but it's been good to see.
So much to say about the cruise and all the places we stopped! will have a thorough report up with tons of pictures when I'm home. My highlight was probably going to see Ephesus and all its ruins! Fascinating!! Anyway, check back in for an update after Monday! BYE!
i'm in venice right now and excited to come home in a few days! The cruise was wonderful and i have ten million things to say about it, but will not as i don't feel like doing so right now! Have been doing some shopping here in venice and writing those little boats.
good experience to see things here, but not so sure it's a place i'd like to come back to! too many people and it's kind of dirty. but it's been good to see.
So much to say about the cruise and all the places we stopped! will have a thorough report up with tons of pictures when I'm home. My highlight was probably going to see Ephesus and all its ruins! Fascinating!! Anyway, check back in for an update after Monday! BYE!
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