Back on the Mainland

We've returned to the mainland in Athens, after 5 very relaxing days in the Cyclades. We had a great time braving the winds along the beaches with our ATV. We also had a great night out with our fellow hostel guests, Ryan from Australia and Amir from Israel, who were probably the only other tourists on the island, and thankfully ones that wanted to talk politics and american sentiment over pool and beers (please vote for obama so our reputation doesn't precede us...shameless plug, sorry) After Naxos, we made a last minute decision and cut our stay at the lovely Hotel Soula short and hopped a ferry to nearby island of Paros on Monday morning. Lucky for us Paros was even better than Naxos, mostly becuase the weather picked up, and the hospitality at Anna's Pension was even better. On thursday we got to experience a National Greek Holiday, Feast of St. Demetrius, as the local children paraded throughout the main street in Parikia and the locals all celebrated at the cafes and bars. After enjoying the white washed buildings and blue shutters we rented a scooter and took off for some of the sights around the island. We stumbled upon a private beach sheltered from the wind by the rocks and the bay and laid out for while before driving around the rest of the island and experiencing an amazing sunset along the water. Sadly on Wednesday we returned to Athens for some sightseeing. Our hostel is in the Monstiraki section of the city, which is the eqivilent to the lower east side of NYC....super cool, looks rough around the edges, but has all sorts of awesome grafiti, hipsters galore (authentic ones that is), neat shops, and awesome bars. From the balcony of our room we have a perfect view of the Acropolis lit up at night. Yesterday afternoon we explored the Agora...as in the actual agora, not BC's super-fangled-web-meeting place-technology (but you can see where it gets it's name.) Conor noted that he felt like he was arriving just a few minutes late and missed one of Socrates great orations.....if only! Then we had another amazing Greek Dinner....and fresh huumus and tzitziki.

Today we hit the biggies...first a strenous hike up to the Acropolis we saw the Temple of Athena Nike, The Parthenon and the great views of Athens below. From up on the hill you can see the entire landscape. NExt we ventured down the south slope down to Hadrian's Arch, and the Temple of Zeus...which is HUGE. Hard to imagine how big it must of been, but the Corinthian Columns give a pretty good indication. From there we walked to the first Olympic Stadium. In the 04' Games the Marathon Finished inside the stadium, and held the archery games...since it's not that big, but does have amazing white marbles for all the seating. Then we wandered the rest of the streets, checking out the Syndagma and Plaka neighborhoods.

Sadly Greece must come to an end as we head to Prague tommorrow and finally say good bye to mild weather....although from the sounds of it we're getting a good deal compared to the weather back home. Ya Mas!

Capri

This shot, taken by a wily old German fellow who was hysterical even though we dont speak German, is from on top of Anacapri, which is only reachable by the chairlift.







Shot from a cove named Marina Picola. We enjoyed a frothy libation right under that umbrella in the center, after a swim in the lovely mediterranean.










The view from the terrace of our B&B. You probably cant tell the difference between the sky and the sea...that is just how blue the water was...

A little Rome and a little Capri

In Capri, before our off-trail hike...and a vicious case of backsweat








The alleyway up to our B&B in Anacapri....yes, that is an extra human i am carrying on my back Watch out Dad, my calf muscles will be the size of yours in no time!!









At the winebar with Maggie and her friend Stacy. As I mentiond a few days ago, Quadruple T was long gone at this point










My 200th helping of gelato on this trip, this one enjoyed on the Spanish Steps in Rome

Roma Sights

Outside the Colesseum, site of Russell Crowe being one of the toughest dudes ever and also where one king sent 9,000 gladiators and 11,000 animals to fight/die over a 117-day period. Not kidding.










Centro Storico, looking down from Palatine Hill....Lindsay was in heaven (in her 4th grade "what do i want to be when I grow up" report for Mr. Salvastrini, Lindsay insisted she would grow up to be an archeologist and actress...wow)










Saint Peters Basilica.....









The Trevi Fountain at night, where you throw a coin in order to assure yourself a return trip. We threw three (the 1-eurocent ones, of course. The dollar aint doing that well)

Naxos Part Two

Our transportation for the day, perfect for off-roading, which we did plenty of. And if anyone has ever ridden a water tube on Tyler Lake when Ted is at the helm, you can understand what it is like to ride shotgun on this with Lindsay at the helm...t-t-t-terrifying...











There were hundreds of these churches all over Naxos that looked like they could only fit one family.










After a major offroading extravaganza, we found ourselves up in what seemed to be an abandoned work site up on the mountain and were able to get this view....

Welcome to the Cyclades, Naxos Part One

After Italy we arrived in Athens on Friday and immediately set out for the islands VERY early Saturday morning. Here is sunrise over the Aegean, taken from our boat on our way from Athens out to Naxos...











Getting up early wasn't fun, but the sunrise made it worth it!










Just a little windy! Here we are looking out from Mikra Viglia a great surfing beach on Naxos.










Obvisouly a very beautiful place, especially if you visit it before October, when the weather is warmer...we were dying to go swimming but it was just too cold.

Pictures from our drive along the Amalfi Coast

We set out on a day trip along the terrifying roads of the Almalfi Coast....in our SMART CAR!

Overlooking the bay between Almafi and Ravello where we ate lunch.










A great view overlooking Positano. The only problem with it is that we thought we might somehow add to the beauty of this picture by inserting ourselves in the photo.










Can you tell how sick we were of taking the same picture of us with a beautiful landscape in the background? We decided to jazz it up for this one...










Sunset in Sorrento. We almost missed this photo because it took me about 20 tries to parallel park a SmartCar. I think that might make it into the Guinness Book of World Records.