Shopping in Milan... not cheap.
Lunch with Valentina's cousins... Ecco lo qua!
After watching a balet at La Scala Theatre. The pic is a little fuzzy but oh well.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Pics from Milan... just a few
Shopping in Milan... not cheap.
Lunch with Valentina's cousins... Ecco lo qua!
After watching a balet at La Scala Theatre. The pic is a little fuzzy but oh well.
Cruising the Med
We are currently on Santorini in Greece. This time the weather is brighter and more clear than before so we're taking in this beautiful little island once again. The food on the ship as usual has been stellar. I'm going to post a few photos from places we've seen in between Athens and the Cruise. And hopefully when I get a better internet connection I can add some more videos: some informational, some ridiculous. :)
Friday, November 16, 2007
A little update
It's hard to compete with Ian's video blogging skills...but I wanted to let everyone know that our short stay in Milan was topped off with a ballet at La Scala theater where both of us were probably the worst dressed in the entire place (sold out performance). Oh, yes...I looked great from the ankles up...but the walking Merrell shoes just didn't finish off my outfit the way I thought they would. Ian was in jeans and his best sweater...appropriate for a moderately priced restaurant.
Now we are in Verona...the city of Romeo and Juliet. We are getting excited about next week when we'll see my parents who have agreed to join us on a 10 night mediterrenean Royal Caribbean cruise!!!! We'll post some more pics and, of course, the infamous videos when we get a better connection.
Now we are in Verona...the city of Romeo and Juliet. We are getting excited about next week when we'll see my parents who have agreed to join us on a 10 night mediterrenean Royal Caribbean cruise!!!! We'll post some more pics and, of course, the infamous videos when we get a better connection.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Ian Lee reporting: Mt. Vesuvius
A small taste of the insanity. Ok, it's out of order in terms of our trip but whatever!
A short follow up vid... we barely lived through that.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Athens Pics
Temple of Olympian Zeus... or it used to be. You can't tell from the picture but these columns are absolutely HUGE. This temple must've been something back in the day.
During subway excavations during the last 30 years, the Athenians have unearthed a lot of ancient city ruins. Here is a roman tomb opened up and left on display at the metro stop (complete with bones!).
The Parthenon from our hotel room.
Anywhere in the world, you can almost always get a Mickey D's icecream.
The Parthenon - maintenance work continues despite our trip.
At Syntagma Square in Athens hanging out.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Video: Amalfi Bus Ride
This was the week before we left to Athens. I'm sort of testing if I can actually upload these videos easily to the blog. We have a ton of these so I'll add more if it works out.
The honking sound you hear is the driver alerting cars around the curve that he's coming.
The honking sound you hear is the driver alerting cars around the curve that he's coming.
BIG News
Ok, we're back in Italy. This time in the north. It's been a pretty exciting couple of weeks for us and a lot of the excitement is coming from over seas!
The big news is... My brother and his wife are pregnant with their 4th child--wait... Did I say four? I meant 4th AND 5th... TWINS!! I've gone over a few possible names with them: Ian, Iana, Iania, Ianzino, Ianution, etc... you get the idea. Congrats Steve and Mary. Don't worry, I'm sure five kids is MUCH easier than it seems like it's going to be.... maybe. :)
The big news is... My brother and his wife are pregnant with their 4th child--wait... Did I say four? I meant 4th AND 5th... TWINS!! I've gone over a few possible names with them: Ian, Iana, Iania, Ianzino, Ianution, etc... you get the idea. Congrats Steve and Mary. Don't worry, I'm sure five kids is MUCH easier than it seems like it's going to be.... maybe. :)
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Athen's Bad Reputation
After staying in Athens for a few days, I find the majority of the guide books to be wrong. Their advice was this: see the acropolis, see the museum of archeology, get out. Their out-dated advice called the city poluted and nasty.
As I understand it, the 2004 olympics was a turning point for the city. Many projects got underway and cleaned up many of the areas that were previously ugly. One of the guidebooks said, "forget about the rest of Athens and just pretend the Acropolis and Plaka district are all that there is in the city". I have two points here: 1) If all my city has was the Acropolis and the Plaka district I think it would be pretty fantastic. 2) This city has much more than just that. It's pretty spread out but just speaking of the city center, there are some gorgeous/fantastic areas including the national gardens, constitution square, and an ultra-modern business district that can rival a lot of big cities in the US for style and architecture. Not to mention a plethora of cool museums.
Being here longer than the guide-book recomended, two days I have to say that I've enjoyed this city at least as much as Rome. I don't know if I'm biased because I'm sitting on my balcony while typing this and turning my head to the right I can see the Parthenon perched on the Acropolis with its huge columns lit from below by spot lights. Uh, awesome...
Don't get me wrong though, there are areas here in Athens that I wouldn't pass through with a swat team but isn't that true of every big city? Generally, when I'm in Miami and driving to the beautiful Coconut Grove area I consider a red-light at the intersection of Douglas and Grand to be more of a suggestion than a hard rule. :)
As I understand it, the 2004 olympics was a turning point for the city. Many projects got underway and cleaned up many of the areas that were previously ugly. One of the guidebooks said, "forget about the rest of Athens and just pretend the Acropolis and Plaka district are all that there is in the city". I have two points here: 1) If all my city has was the Acropolis and the Plaka district I think it would be pretty fantastic. 2) This city has much more than just that. It's pretty spread out but just speaking of the city center, there are some gorgeous/fantastic areas including the national gardens, constitution square, and an ultra-modern business district that can rival a lot of big cities in the US for style and architecture. Not to mention a plethora of cool museums.
Being here longer than the guide-book recomended, two days I have to say that I've enjoyed this city at least as much as Rome. I don't know if I'm biased because I'm sitting on my balcony while typing this and turning my head to the right I can see the Parthenon perched on the Acropolis with its huge columns lit from below by spot lights. Uh, awesome...
Don't get me wrong though, there are areas here in Athens that I wouldn't pass through with a swat team but isn't that true of every big city? Generally, when I'm in Miami and driving to the beautiful Coconut Grove area I consider a red-light at the intersection of Douglas and Grand to be more of a suggestion than a hard rule. :)
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Back in Athens...
Crete was a fantastic place even though we were unable to visit some of its most magical places due to the fact that many sights close at the end of tourist season. Nevertheless, it really captured us – the sounds, people, food, and culture were truly wonderful. We left Hania by ferry to the island of Santorini (Thira) where we spent two nights. Now we are currently back in Athens.
Athens is a vibrant city. There are tons of people walking the streets, huge shopping areas, outside restaurants, street performers, and street sellers. We still haven’t done much sightseeing here but have an incredible view of the Acropolis from our hotel’s balcony. We are not sure how much longer we’ll be here – several nights at least until we find out our next destination. We are certainly moving a little more often than we had planned to but will soon settle in our next homebase in Spain.
Athens is a vibrant city. There are tons of people walking the streets, huge shopping areas, outside restaurants, street performers, and street sellers. We still haven’t done much sightseeing here but have an incredible view of the Acropolis from our hotel’s balcony. We are not sure how much longer we’ll be here – several nights at least until we find out our next destination. We are certainly moving a little more often than we had planned to but will soon settle in our next homebase in Spain.
A sense of timelessness...
For some time I wondered if those theories you get by email about the earth spinning faster making the days seem shorter could possibly be true. My dad and I were convinced that time was passing too quickly; that the years were being spent in what seemed to be no longer than a day. Now, I’m back to doubting all of those theories which leaves me with an even bigger sense of discomfort…if it’s not the earth spinning faster, what do we blame it on?
In one of my early posts I mentioned still battling the need to slow down; to rid myself of that sense of urgency that seems to plague so many of us day after day. As if by coincidence my watch battery died about a month into our trip. It wasn’t sudden – as I’m sure is the case when other watch batteries die. I had about three days of warning when I couldn’t figure out why I was constantly wrong on what time of day it was. Looking back now I realize that even those three days were part of my training! I spent about 3 weeks without a working watch and didn’t care much for what time of day it was (unless, of course, we had a train or bus to catch). Even when I did get my watch fixed, it wasn’t until the owner of a little Hania restaurant mentioned to us that the hour had been set back that we were actually running on accurate time. It has been a freeing sensation – to know that one really does own each single second of the day.
In one of my early posts I mentioned still battling the need to slow down; to rid myself of that sense of urgency that seems to plague so many of us day after day. As if by coincidence my watch battery died about a month into our trip. It wasn’t sudden – as I’m sure is the case when other watch batteries die. I had about three days of warning when I couldn’t figure out why I was constantly wrong on what time of day it was. Looking back now I realize that even those three days were part of my training! I spent about 3 weeks without a working watch and didn’t care much for what time of day it was (unless, of course, we had a train or bus to catch). Even when I did get my watch fixed, it wasn’t until the owner of a little Hania restaurant mentioned to us that the hour had been set back that we were actually running on accurate time. It has been a freeing sensation – to know that one really does own each single second of the day.
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