Get ready for a VERY long blog! I figured it was about time to finish up blogging about our Med. cruise in June since we are leaving on Saturday for 16 days to Venice and Vicenza! I already wrote about Croatia, so I'll just take up from after that when we headed to Greece.
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The second stop on our vacation was to Corfu, Greece- a beautiful island full of history, perfect views, and magnificent beaches. This pic is from a monestary we visited high up in the mountains of Corfu.
The view from the monestary...breathtaking!
Thought this was so funny! One authentic Greek bar and Starbucks.
We found the most adorable playground in Corfu and stopped to let Parker play :)
On to our third stop- Olympia, Greece! This is where the original Olympics were held and where they got their name (most people think the Olympics were named after Mount Olympia...now you know!)..
This is the entrance to the original Olympic Stadium.
This is the exact spot where the Olympic torch is lit every two years!
Behind Karl and Parker is the Temple of Zeus- one of the seven wonders of the ancient world!
Parker ordering room service
Our fourth stop (and our absolute favorite!) was Santorini, Greece- everyone should visit here at some point in their lives! Santorini is the island that is photographed most often in Greece with it's white buildings and blue roofs.
The buildings are so perfectly white that they just blend together in the background.
Views from the winery we visited on the island.
To get to the top of the town, you have to walk from the port up this winding staircase...or take a donkey!
I took a donkey! This was a terrifying experience and I won't do it again...once the little old man let me go with the donkey the dumb animal kept slamming me into the walls and cutting off the other donkeys...not to mention I didn't smell too great when we were done!
Our next stop was to Kusadasi, Turkey. We spend a lot of our time in the Bazaar and rug shops...by far the best shopping day of our vacation was here!
A perfect view. I didn't expect Turkey to look this way!
We also went to the house of the Virgin Mary. This is believed to be the location that Mary lived and died at.
Parker was helping us pick out a carpet!
After Turkey, we headed back to Greece to visit Athens! It was great to see the Acropolis and something everyone should do, but in general I didn't like the city much and was my least favorite of all the places we visited.
Parker and I at the Olympic Stadium with the Acropolis Hill behind us...see the Parthenon?!?!
On the hill with the Ampitheater behind me.
Karl and a sleeping baby at the Acropolis.
Another family shot...Parker slept through most of this trip.
After a day at sea, our final stop was in Messina, Sicily. We went on a "In the Steps of the Godfather" tour and visited all the towns that they filmed the Godfather series. I've never seen the movies, but Karl was very excited throughout the day :)
This is the bar/restaurant where the guy asked the dad to marry his daughter...once again sorry for my lack of details!
The Sicilian Coastline
We took over 300 pics and I have them all on Snapfish, so let me know if you want me to email them your way! I'll have so much to post about when we get back in August...tomorrow is Parker's big first birthday and party at the pool, then we leave on Sat. for the next trip! Thanks for putting up with my tardiness on the blog!
This is the exact spot where the Olympic torch is lit every two years!
Behind Karl and Parker is the Temple of Zeus- one of the seven wonders of the ancient world!
Parker ordering room service
Our fourth stop (and our absolute favorite!) was Santorini, Greece- everyone should visit here at some point in their lives! Santorini is the island that is photographed most often in Greece with it's white buildings and blue roofs.
The buildings are so perfectly white that they just blend together in the background.
Views from the winery we visited on the island.
To get to the top of the town, you have to walk from the port up this winding staircase...or take a donkey!
I took a donkey! This was a terrifying experience and I won't do it again...once the little old man let me go with the donkey the dumb animal kept slamming me into the walls and cutting off the other donkeys...not to mention I didn't smell too great when we were done!
Our next stop was to Kusadasi, Turkey. We spend a lot of our time in the Bazaar and rug shops...by far the best shopping day of our vacation was here!.
We went to a carpet demonstration at Turkmen Rugs and actually bought a beautiful silk carpet with the tree of life design on it...I plan to hang it on our wall soon!
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This is a pic of how they get the silk from the worms and then spin it into thread for the rugs.
A perfect view. I didn't expect Turkey to look this way!
We also went to the house of the Virgin Mary. This is believed to be the location that Mary lived and died at.
Parker was helping us pick out a carpet!
After Turkey, we headed back to Greece to visit Athens! It was great to see the Acropolis and something everyone should do, but in general I didn't like the city much and was my least favorite of all the places we visited..
The Schlegel's at the Acropolis and Parthenon!
Parker and I at the Olympic Stadium with the Acropolis Hill behind us...see the Parthenon?!?!
On the hill with the Ampitheater behind me.
Karl and a sleeping baby at the Acropolis.
Another family shot...Parker slept through most of this trip.
After a day at sea, our final stop was in Messina, Sicily. We went on a "In the Steps of the Godfather" tour and visited all the towns that they filmed the Godfather series. I've never seen the movies, but Karl was very excited throughout the day :).
This is the view from the church where someone married some girl in the movie...Karl knows all the details.
This is the bar/restaurant where the guy asked the dad to marry his daughter...once again sorry for my lack of details!
The Sicilian Coastline
We took over 300 pics and I have them all on Snapfish, so let me know if you want me to email them your way! I'll have so much to post about when we get back in August...tomorrow is Parker's big first birthday and party at the pool, then we leave on Sat. for the next trip! Thanks for putting up with my tardiness on the blog!
