Sunday, January 31, 2010

Nafplio Trip: Stolen Pictures

Suzy, John, Cydni, Me and Emily standing in a balcony.
Cydni, Suzy, John, Me and Maria sitting on the wall.
John holding me up as I was standing on a wall that is near the edge of the cliff.
Me, John and Emily sitting on the wall off the boardwalk.
Cydni, Maria and I standing on the bridge at the Corinth Isthmus.

The Fortress

During the Ottoman period Nafplio was an important port city. They Fortress remains on the highest hill near the coast. We climbed to the top, which has between 900 and 1000 stairs. It was a painful but rewarding experience.

We left the hotel at 8am to begin the ascent to the top. The staircase was rocks put by each other to make is into a staircase. For a good majority there was no wall on either side, so falling to your death was a good possibility. ;) All survived.
The view through a whole in the wall, about 3\4 of the way to the top.
Maria, Cydni, Emily and Suzy in a small hallway. It was like Alice In Wonderland, the entrance was small and it opened up as you got to the end.
Suzy and I in a little window. There were many around the fortress, I can only imagine so that soldiers could lay there with thier bow\arrows or terrible shot guns.
Katie and I, we are celebrating the victory of making it to the top!
There was a rainbow that morning. This is maybe 1\4 of the way up the hill.

The way up was hard on the legs, but the way down was worse. Our legs were so shakey that if we stood still you could see them shaking. But well worth the trip.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Nafplio Exploring

Nafplio is about 2 hours from Athens. It is a small coastal city in the Peleponese and it was the first capital of Greece after the Greek Independence. It is now a common weekend vacation spot of Greeks.
Maria and I showcasing the little island with a small building on it. It is thought to have been used as a means of controlling the port at one time.
Walking on the board walk, we sat on the wall and enjoed the view. It was a foggy day and the sun was just starting to peek through over the mountains.
There were tons of Purple Sea Urchins all around the port. These ones are trying to camoflague themselves byu putting rocks on top of themselves.
We went exploring and ended up on one of the hills. This is the view of the beach, we didnt go swimming it was too cold.
Emily pushing Maria off the side of the hill. ;)

Friday, January 22, 2010

My New Apartment

The left side of my room. I know it is messy, but i am still in the unpacking\organizing stage of moving in. Plus, when is my room EVER clean?! (Morgan, that is your computer!!! I was watching a moving on it! :D)
The right side of my room. My old roommates would have been so jealous of this apartment, it has soo many mirrors. I mean I have a full size one in my bedroom! The wire thing with my clothes on it, is the drying rack.
My well stocked cupboard! Thanks for all the stuff you guys sent!!!
The view from the main balcony. Isnt she gorgeous!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Berlin: Reichstag and Brandenberg Gate

The Entrace to the Reichstag. We didnt go inside because there was a long line to get in and it was really cold. Plus, we werent sure if the view would be good since it was so foggy.


The Bradenberg Gate. It was nice, you cannot realy tell anything happened there or around there, unless yo upick up on the fact that every building is new. It is so frustrating that Germany tears down or destroys the history that it doesnt want anymore. But I guess we all...

Berlin: Aquarium

The plan was to go to the Zoo, but it is an outdoor Zoo and it was really cold and snowing. So we passed and went to the Aquarium.
The Entrance to the Berlin Zoo.
A GIANT Crab. That is not on zoom, I just put the camera on the ledge next to the glass.
Jelly Fish. They had about 6 tanks of different kinds of Jelly Fish, some were bigger, some smaller, some colorful, some bland. I was surprised.
A cute little Alligator that was peaking his head out of the water. He was standing tip toe on a log that was underwater. A cute turtle in the background.
A cute little Turtle eating a peice of straw by picking it up with his tongue. Look closely and you can see his tongue!

Berlin: German History and Jewish Museum

We arrived in Germany just fine. That is when the fun began ... But I suppose you always have to get lost before you can know your way.
In the German History Museum, they had a huge display of armour and weaponry. It was really cool. (Don't I look cute in my new jacket!)
The sign nex to this was about how because Jews were exiled from the community they had alot of free time, so they invented games. This is an early pinball machine!
This is a giant bullet. It was used on a ship during WWII, I think. I couldnt believe how freaking big it was!
This is at the Jewish Museum. They had a pretty cool layout, and a lot of it was to help remember the Jews as living members of a society not as Holocause victims. This is me wearing a backpack that a travelling Jewish salesman would have used. It was pretty heavy and uncomfortable!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Friday Market

Mom this one is for you! :D

I was in a very indulgent mood this morning ... and bought myself strawberries. I paid an arm and a leg for them too. For one bucket (it looked like a pound) it was nearly 4 euros so like close to $6! But they are perfectly ripe - I havent had strawberries this good in a LONG TIME!
I also was jealous because Michael bought almonds and was eating them last night when he was talking to me. And I wanted almonds too, but they are also very expensive. But I found these that were still in the shell, they were less expensice but still like $4 for a half pound! But I am going to put a little sugar and cinnamon on them and bake them. Yum!
All the stuff I bought at the market: bananas, almonds, strawberries, an orange pepper and 8 eggs.


Mom, I thought of you and Kristi the whole time I was there! Love you!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

I just want to go home...