Greek Islands

Yasas! - That's hello in Greek.



We are in Greece; actually we are on the Greek island of Santorini.





After our last post, we headed south to Naples to check out the ruins of Pompeii. It was EXTREMELY cold there, but the ruins were cool! Mount Vesuvius (th volcano) actually had snow on it!!

After that, we took a "superfast" ferry (16.5 hours) overnight to Greece. We upgraded hugely to get a private outside cabin, and it was definitely worth the splurge.

We spent three nights in Athens, in the "Plaka" district - a pedestrian district full of cafes, shops and small hotels. It was a great atmosphere - and very close to the Acropolis. You could see it from the street in front of our hotel.

We visited the Acropolis (which is undergoing restoration and had alot of scafforliding and a few cranes around it), as well as some other ancient and roman ruins around the city.

Now we are in Santorini, after another ferry ride.

There are NO tourists here - it is definitely the low season. But the weather has been good enough to lay on the beach. Here is Rob with all the other tourists!

Roma

Hey Everyone,
Thought we'd give an update as we have FREE INTERNET at the place we are stying in here in Rome. It may seem like a small thing, but at prices from 1 Euro to 8 Euors per hour, the internet is an important commodity in our budget.
Italy has been an amazing country, to say the least. Definitely both of our favorite so far. Venice was very picturesque, and we met some really fun people at our hostel. Checked out the Rugby world Cup semifinal game between England and France in the most packed bar I have ever witnessed. Very cool atmosphere there!
In Florence, we saw a ton of art and love d eating! We have been gorging on pasta, pizzas, and gelati (Italian ice cream). Amanda's favorite is the Bacio flavor (like a Baci chocolate) and Rob really likes coconut.
After Florence, we spent two days along the coast of the Italian Rivera in Cinque Terre National Park. Literally, it meand "the Five Lands", and it consists of five small villages along the sea, linked by a (sometimes challenging) hiking trail. Outside of Canada, it is probably the most beatiful place either of us has ever been. We'll post some pictures soon. The trail ended in a village called Monterosso, where there was a sandy beach and we went swimming in the Meditteranean. It was chilly, but very refreshing after the long hike in the sun.
From there, we headed to Rome where we currently are. Yesterday we went to the Vatican and (believe us, it's true) there was NO lineup to get into the vatican museums, which includes the Sistime Chapel. This is quite the feat - especially for October, which is high season and we were told to expect a 2-3 hour wait. Needless to say, we saw Michelangelo's "The Creation" and "Last Judgement" at the Sistine Chapel, as well as Raphael's "School of Athens". We also went to the amazing St. Peter's Basilica. After seeing what seems like hundreds of churches in the past 6 weeks, this one was a definite standout.
Today we went to the Coloseum, Palatime Hill, and the Pantheon. The weather is unusually cold for Rome, but we are going to brave it and head out for a night open-top bus tour around the city and see all of the important monuments lit up.
Tomorrow we are headed to see Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii, then we aare taking an overnight ferry to Athens, Greece. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will get to relax on the beaches of the Greek islands.
Keep your fingers crossed for us.
Rob and Amanda

Italy and stuff.

Hey Everyone,
It's been a while since we've updates, and we've been very busy!!
From Madrid, we took a train south to Grenada, in Andalucia. We went there to see the Alhambra - a fortress built when the country was ruled by the Moors (Muslims). This contained the Nasirid palaces, very beautiful and intricate palaces where the rulers lived.
Here is the outside of the Alhambra:










And here is Amanda in front of on of the rooms in the palace:











Wee tokk a night trainto Barcelona, and our berth was nicer than some of the hotels we've stayed in!!













Here is la sagrada familia in BArcelonaç It' not near finished, and it was started in 1882!!















In Venice, we visited Plaza San Marco and visited the Duomo:











Here is a beautiful canal in Venice:

And yesterday we arrived in Venice. We got to see Micheloangelo's David - way bigger and bore impressive than we imagined.

Tomorrow , unless our plas change, we are heading to the Cinque Terre, and from there, we're on our way to Rome.

Spain - and a little more France

So, we are now in Grenada and have a chance to post a couple more pictures. And this time I even get a chance to give some captions, so you can actually know what you are looking at.
By the way, if you click on the pictures, they will open up alot bigger and you can see much more detail!
This is the Arc du Triomphe (Arch of Triumph) in Paris.

This is fairly obvious, but this is the Louvre Museum in Paris. A unique characteristic of Paris is that may of the building and streets are aligned so that if you look in a certain direction, you can seeseveral imprtant monuments along the plane. For example, from the entrance arch to the Louvre, the glass pyramid aligns perfectly. From there, you look through the mini Arc du Triomphe, through the Jardins du Tuileries (Tuilerie Gardens), to the Obelisk at the the Place de la Concorde, down the Champs Elysees, through the Arc du Triomphe. Of course, it´s all along a couple of kilometres, so it´s very difficult to get in a photo!

We visited the Pantheon and saw the crypt. Many famous people are buryied there - Louis Braille, Voltaire, and Pierre and Marie Curie. Here is the plaque from Marie Curie´s crypt.

From Paris, we went to Normandy - specifically the town of Bayeux. Here is the old gothic cathedral there:

We took a tour from Bayeux to the beaches of Normandy. Here is a picture from Pont du Hoc, which was a former location for German bunkers and was heavily bombed in the days before the D-day invasions. The area was never repaired, wo you can see all the bomb craters and the destroyed bunkers. US army rangers scaled the cloffs from the sea here.

After Normandy, we went to Tours and took a tour of the Loire valley. We went to Chateau Chenonceau, a private chateau that produces wines. Here is the outside of the Chateau. You may have to tilt your head a little to see it - it really is straight in person!!From there, we went to Biarritz, near the border of Spain. There was a storm, so the sea was looking farly angry that day:This is in the Plaza de Independencia in Madrid. And here is a view that Rob insisted I include - it´s what was outside the window of our "hotel" in Madrid. Quite the view - I hope it is the lowlight of our trip!


We are in Grenada particularly to visit the Alhambra. Here are some pictures taken there, in the Nazirid Palaces. The detail of the carvings in the walls and ceilings, as well as the tile work is absolutely amazing. I can´t imagine how long and how many people it took to do that!


Love Amanda