Wednesday, May 27, 2009

CRUISE P1. Olympia, Athens.


Sorry for such a late post, i just really have not had much time.

Anyways, the cruise was amazing, the food, the places. it was excellent.




^^ the glass elevators and the view down.

^^the view of the ship.

^^ the "main area" i guess this would be called.


Olympia, Greece is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in ancient times, It has the ruins of the Temple of Zeus (the god of Greek Gods.)



^^ The temple of Zeus.

^^ The first running track of the Ancient Olympics. (i am 2nd from the left.)

^^ another view of the olympic running track.

^^ there were SO many of these beautiful pink trees around, they really stood out against the ruins.

^^ the temple of Zeus.


Athens, We drove through the "Naval Harbour of Zea" built in the 5th centuryBC by Themistoclos. Went to Acropolis 5th C BC. Most famous building is Parthenon, Built as a temple for Athena (godess of Wisdom). Panathenaic Staduim, the only Major staduim build in the world, made fullyof white marble.

^^ the city of Athens.

^^ sitting with the "wind in my hair" in athens on an ancient stone wall.
As you can see, the day was beautiful.


^^ I actually did not realise a photo was being taken. This is one of the Temples. Unsure if it is to Athena or not.


^^ This was a building seen from the Bus, lucky shot.

^^ the staduim.
Miss You.
xx. S
NEXT POST: HOPEFULLY OVER THE WEEKEND.









Sunday, May 10, 2009

Florence & Siena. P4 easter trip

We were in Florence for 3 days. Like all the other cities we had been to in Italy, we had tours in the morning and then free time in the afternoon.

^^ The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore . The basilica is one of Italy's largest churches.





^^The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore agian, until the modern era, the dome was one of the largest in the world. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed.







^^ one of the museums i went to in florence. The detail in these where AMAZING.
take the photo below for example.



^^ this is at the same museum, however i cannot remember the name. If you can see the image, the roof detail in this stairway is amazingly beautiful.







^^ the statue of david. You are not aloud to take photos in this building, however i thought you need to see this. All throughout the walk we could hear the italian women screaming "NO PHOTO" but i think it was worth it.



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Siena was small, but beautiful at the same time.

^^The Duomo of Siena (that little black shadow is me)

^^ the streets of Siena.
* in Siena there where not many photos taken.
next posts will be of the cruise.
xx.. S

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Vatican & Pisa. P3 easter trip

We didn't see the whole town of Pisa, we just saw the Piazza dei Miracoli (plaza of miracles) and the Leaning towner of Pisa.



^^ here is The Plaza of Miracles.This name was created by the Italian writer and poet Gabriele d'Annuzio who described the plaza as The Ardea rotated over the sky of Christ, over the meadow of Miracles."


^^some of the girls and i with the leaning tower.



^^ b&w. Holding the tower of Pisa. (can i be more of a tourist?)



^^ agian, a tourist photo. Me trying to hold up the tower.





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We had a tour to the Vatican City. The Tour Guild showed the group where the Pope came to give his two yearly speaches to the public and then where he waved to the public on sundays before church. The italians were getting ready for the Easter Celebration and to me, it looked like thousands of chairs all lined up row after row. It interests me greatly how the Vatican City is its "own country" with the population at 826.


St. Peter's Basilica holds 60,000 people in one sitting.



^^ The interior of St. Peter's Basilica. It was amazing, it really was.




^^Here i am inside St. Peters Square. Infront of St. Peter's Basilica .


^^a statue of Mary holiding Jesus.
I find that this statue is beautiful.




^^ The interior of St. Peter's Basilicas agian.






^^The outside of St. Peter's Basilica.






xx. S