Greece!

First, my apologies for taking so long to post some Greece pictures. It took me longer to get back in the swing of things after our travels (I think we can thank Isabel for that :) ) and then it seemed that Thanksgiving and holiday preps were already upon us. So, here are just a few of the many many pictures we took while in Greece.

Our trip to Greece was amazing...the best vacation of my life so far. At every corner it seemed that we would come across something thousands of years old. It was almost hard to comprehend how old everything was, and the history behind the various temples and ruins we visited. We spent most of our time in Athens, but were able to take 3 day trips to some surrounding areas.

This is the Panathenaic Stadium, which held the first modern Olympics back in the 1800s. It is constructed entirely of marble. It is also where the Athens marathon ends each year.

Hadrian's Arch. You'll have to do a google search to get the full history :).

The Parthenon. The Parthenon is undergoing a major restoration...guess we'll have to return again to see the finished product! The Parthenon is located at the Acroplis.

Erectheion.

Temple of Athena Nike at the Acroplis

Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens.

Changing of the guard at the parliament building. The guards wear kilts (though they do get to wear underwear), and do this funny slide, kick, walk march. Their shoes also make a tapping sounds each time it hits the ground. The shoes each weigh 5kg and are completed with a lovely "poof ball."

Geoffrey did a great job using his timer to get this pictures of us. You can see the Acropolis in the background (and also see some pretty visible signs that Isabel is certainly growing).

The Gulf of Corinth. Our first day trip was supposed to be do Delphi...except the tour company managed to forget that the Athens marathon was the same day as our tour, which means all the roads get shut down. Our bus driver road around for a while, yelling at people (including cops), finally stops the bus and yells "off bus, tour cancelled." It was pretty funny. We rescheduled our tour for later in the week, and used the opportunity to go to Corinth, where the Corinthians once lived. It was pretty cool, especially since that is where St. Paul spent some time preaching, and wrote his letters to the Corinithians.

Our second day trip took us to Aegina, one of the greek islands. Due to my lack of sea legs, we opted for the island closest to the mainland. We wandered around the town, looked at more ruins and enjoyed a delicious fresh seafood lunch along the water. Above are some of the ruins we looked at.

Another shot of Aegina

Mmmm, Baklava. The food in Greece was sooo good...I was in heaven. The only downer was I couldn't eat most of the dairy, as it isn't pasturized and pregnant women are to avoid such foods. Geoffrey did an excellent job of tasting all the things I couldn't though. My favorite food there, that I could enjoy was the baklava. I don't know that words can describe how delicious the layers of pastry, nuts and sugar, drowned in honey tasted. But you can probably get an idea based on my facial expression. Geoffrey missed out on this food, as he dislikes nuts.

On our last day (day 7) we were able to take our rescheduled tour to Delphi. Not only was it great to be so far away from civilization, but the beauty and history of the Delphi was remarkable. One of the tourists on our trip commented he was more amazed by Delphi than the Great Wall of China. Above is a stadium at Delphi, where they held their own sporting competitions.

The Temple of Apollo at Delphi

Well, my fingers are tiring, so I hope these pictures give you just a glimpse of our Greek vacation. I could go on and on about our trip, but we'll have to save that for an in person meeting. A final note about Greece involves Isabel. She must enjoy traveling as she "kicked" for the first time while we were there, such that Geoffrey could feel her movements. A few days later we could even see her "poke" out of my belly...kinda freaky but cool at the same time. And her activity level has only increased with each day. She is certainly a lively one. Geoffrey says she must take after me, and just can't sit still.

And with that, its time for me and Isabel to get some rest. I'll also work on getting a more recent belly picture up...there is no doubt about it, I look pregnant...and absolutely love it :).

Small World

First, we haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Geoffrey and I were lucky enough to sneak away for a vacation before little Isabel arrives in March.

Anyways, 3 events have happened this week that really make me believe that the world is much smaller than we think.

1. Monday morning I got an email from one of the 10 girls in my "pregnant moms' meetup group." She happened to notice a picture in my profile and one of my pugs looked very familiar. When she saw his name was Gizmo, she decided to email me letting me know how much he looks like the Gizmo her brother in Fredericksburg had to give up due to allergies. Well, Gizmo did indeed come from a guy in Fredericksburg who was allergic, so I sent him his name. Turns out the Gizmo is one and the same! She said how delighted her brother was to hear that Gizmo had indeed gone to a good home.

2. In talking to my new office neighbor this week, I learned that he moved here from Florida, and used to work for Pratt & Whitney. I mentioned that Geoffrey had once co-oped there and he said the name actually sounded familiar. I told G about it, and he said "do you knwo how big pratt is?", but I told him the guys name anyways. He said it did sound familiar, so I told the guy what area Geoffrey had worked in. Turns out Geoffrey co-oped with the guy back in spring of 97!

3. And finally the not-as-great, but still crazy coincidence. While reading the Washington Post Wednesday morning, Geoffrey points to an article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111302033.html and picture and asks "does she live in our neighborhood?" I said "no, thank goodness, but she does look familiar." About 15 seconds go by when I blurt out "I think she was in our baptism preparation class!" Turns out, it is the same lady who attended the class with her husband, as their daughter was getting ready to be baptised.

So, in the past month I've met the former "sister-in-law" of Gizmo, a 10 year old co-worker of Geoffrey's and a lady who is in some serious trouble with the U.S. Government. Just crazy.

Have a great weekend everyone and stay tuned for pictures from Greece :).