Blogs from Europe - page 6

From Neapolis, we headed to Ancient Philippi. Finding it was quite the adventure because it was called Filliopi on the map & didn't even register on the GPS! But it was worth the effort. Phippi is named after Alexander the Great's father. During New Testament times it was a busy Roman colony. It boasted a great library, theater, & forum. Today it is ruins. Paul preached here & established the 1st church in Europe. We walked on the Via Egnatia (the superhighway of the ancient world that connected everyone to Rome), checked out the Forum (the shopping center that Paul would have visited), sat in the ancient Theatre, & visited 3 ancient churches. We sang (a little off key - we needed Barbara or the choir to help us!) at the prison that held Paul & ... read more

SIFNOS IS SMALLER THAN SERIFOS SO WE ARE ONLY STAYING FOR 2 FULL DAYS. TODAY IS SIZZLINGLY HOT AND WE ARE HAVING A LAZY DAY. WE EXPLORE KAMARES. IN THE MORNING. IT IS A SMALL BAY WITH A PORT AND SANDY BEACH WITH THE USUAL TAVERNAS LINING THE WATER FRONT. WAITERS WAITING EXPECTANTLY FOR YOUR CUSTOM. THE SMELL OF HOT BREAD AND CAKES OOZING FROM THE BAKERS AND LAZY CATS SNOOZING ON THE STEPS WHICH MEANDER TOWARDS THE BACK OF THE TOWN. I AM GOING TO HAVE TO TRADE IN MY HUSBAND. OFF HE GOES TO BUY BREAKFAST FROM THE BAKERS AND HE GETS ME A CHOCOLATE CHIP CROISSANT....FOR BREAKFAST I ASK YOU? Seemed perfectly acceptable to me. WE GO TO BUY OUR NEXT FERRY TICKET TO MILOS WHICH IS 13 EURO EACH AND ENQUIRE ABOUT ... read more

On the way back to Thessaloniki, we decided to drive to Mount Olympus. What the heck...we are only here once! We found Olympos on the map, but would you believe the GPS kept saying no results found! So we headed southwest, we figured that we couldn't miss it! Olympos is actually a range of mountains - Olympus being the tallest. Our poor little car chucked & sputtered up the mountain. The speed limit was 50 km, but we would have killed Aaron if he went that fast around the hairpin turns. Because it was so late when we started, we only went 3/4 of the way up (nosebleed territory). I didn't want to go down it in the dark. We turned around at the "Avenue of the Gods" (a dirt road that led to the horsecamp) ... read more

TOLEDO Friday 14th to Sunday 16th June 2013 I made my way by metro from the hotel to the Madrid Atroche train station. That part was easy - firstly I lined up in the line for a ticket for 'short' distances only, then, after moving to the correct section of the station, and getting a numbered ticket to be served in order, I waited 45 minutes. More people watching time. Consequently I just missed a train and had to wait nearly 2 hours for the next - the joys of travelling! The train journey to Toledo only takes about 30 minutes and the train reached a speed of 250km/h. After a short taxi ride I was at the Hotel Eurico, in the centre of Toledo, very close to the cathedral. To think that earlier in the ... read more

CORDOBA SUNDAY 16TH TO TUESDAY 18TH JUNE It's Monday night (I think) and I'm sitting in the courtyard/bar of the El Conquistador Hotel in Cordoba. Another amazing place! Unlike hilly Toledo, Cordoba is flat and the old town, known as the Jewish Quarter, is compact and quite easy to get around. The train journey from Toledo went well and I was here in the hotel around 1:30pm yesterday. I took a short walk - short because again it was very hot - 38 degrees! - and then sat in the bar until it was time to walk the short distance to the Royal Stables for the 'Espectaculo Ecuestre' (Equestria Show) showcasing the Andalucian horses - dancing flamenco with brightly dressed women, racing in a 'chariot' like rig, and making movements that looked like they were skipping, ... read more

Hello!! Today we left Derry and headed for Belfast. We made a few stops on the way. The first stop was at Dunluce Castle. The Castle was pretty cool. It didn't take long to go through it. My favorite part was the prison like room. That was pretty cool. It was a small round room. We also got to go under the castle. That was neat. After Dunlice Castle we headed to Giants Causeway. That was fun! We hiked along the shore and listened to the history of the Giant Causeway. When we got to the middle of the causeway we were able to climb some of the rocks. That was fun except it was real slippery. When I was coming down my foot slipped into a muddy puddle of water. I continued on the path ... read more