R&R with Ryan and Rachael

Last week Rob and I had our friends Ryan and Rachael in town! We were so excited to have them visit and we planned an action packed 8 day adventure. I must admit though that some of these pictures are not mine, but Ryan's...I'm going to have to make him teach me everything he knows when I get home!

Ryan is always looking for the best shot!

We spent the first two and a half days touring Athens. We saw all of the major sites and museums including: Acropolis, Greek Agora, Roman Agora, Keramikos, Temple of Olympian Zeus, Hadrian's Library, Tower of the Winds, Temple of Hephaestus, Mt. Lycabettus, Pan Athenaic Stadium, many churches, National Archeological museum, Acropolis museum, Byzantine museum, Folk Instrument Museum, etc. We also had many wonderful dinners along the way, and Ryan and Rachael had the opportunity to try almost all of the traditional Greek foods.

Ryan, Rachael and Rob at the Acropolis.

Our dinner in Psyrri at a Greek-Turkish taverna.

After we completely wore Ryan and Rachael out we decided to give them a bit of a break and take them to Rhodes! We took a 45 minute flight over to the island and spent four wonderful days exploring it. Our hotel was in the Medieval city and had fantastic views from its rooftop where we ate our daily breakfast. During our first day in Rhodes we explored the Medieval city and relaxed by the harbor.

The entrance for our hotel, Via Via, was on this narrow alleyway.

The rooftop was full of colorful flowers and plants
and had a terrific view of the city and sea!

One of the major squares in Rhodes town with the
Palace of the Knight's of St. John in the background.

Ryan's creativity shows as we pose for fun pictures at the harbor.

Beautiful view towards Turkey as we watched the cruise ships leave for the day.

Day two in Rhodes was a bit more eventful as we decided to rent a car and explore the island. Thanks be to Ryan who volunteered to drive the manual transmission Kia that got us around! We explored Filerimos Monastery, the ancient sites of Ialyssos, Kameiros, and Lindos, and even had time for some wine tasting, road side honey tasting, and a quick dip in the Aegean Sea.

This was our car. Ryan has his foot to the floor most of the
time as we were going through the hillside. Oh, and if you see Ryan
ask him about the Bee Incident in the car.

Our 'almost private' beach. The water was chilly but the views were amazing!

The four of us at Monolithos Fortress on the southwest side of the island.

Rob poses on a ship carved into the rock side at the entrance to the ancient site of Lindos.

The rest of us pose at the entrance of Lindos. This site was one of our favorites because of its location and the ability of the visitor to visualize what the site would have looked like.

A view of the sea beyond the propylaia of the Lindos acropolis.

Two different views of the partially-reconstructed temple of Athena Lindia.

White-washed houses of the modern city of Lindos.

On the third and fourth day in Rhodes we stuck a bit closer to Rhodes City. We took a nice walk along the medieval walls of the city, visited a few museums and took advantage of two beaches, one in Rhodes town and another in Kallithea.

A view of Rhodes Town from the Medieval walls.

Our beach in Kallithea was situated in the quarries
where the stone for Medieval walls originated.

After an amazing four days in Rhodes we said goodbye and made our way back to Athens. We didn't stay long, however, because the next morning we took the train to the ancient site of Corinth! Our American School friends who are excavating in Corinth were having a BBQ so we had lunch with them and gave Ryan and Rachael a tour of the site, museum, and current excavations.

Rachael gets a hands-on lesson in pottery reading at the pot sheds.

A view of the current excavations in Corinth.

A great shot of Ryan and Rachael in front of the ancient temple of Apollo and the Acrocorinth.

We finished our day in Corinth by climbing the Acrocorinth (the mountain you see in the pic above, just behind the temple of Apollo) so Ryan and Rachael got to see some amazing views of the Corinthian Gulf, Saronic Gulf, and the isthmus that connects the Peloponnese with the rest of Greece.

We had so much fun during Ryan and Rachael's visit to Greece! Our trip to Rhodes was the first time that Rob and I have vacationed with friends and we created memories that will last a lifetime!

Corinth

Rob and I have spent the past three weeks living in Corinth, Greece! He has been working on the excavations at the ancient site, and I have been working in the museum. For some reason, I'm not able to put our pictures in order, so I'm just going to explain each one as you see them. :)




This shot shows the small village of Ancient Corinth. The village is very small, but being here has been a great change of pace for both of us.




Here you see the Temple of Apollo in the ancient site at sunset. The sunsets in Corinth have been beautiful and we will definitely miss them when we return to Athens.



This is a view from our hike up Acrocorinth (which you'll see a picture of below). You can see the ancient site as well as the sea!





These two photos show Rob working in his trench. The first picture shows what the workmen do to Rob when he makes them dig too hard! Notice the box in the second picture...this contains the small finds that they have found for the day.




Rob and I have been making the climb up Acrocorinth almost daily and these two photos show Rob at the base of Acrocorinth and again near the top. The only thing that beats the amazing workout on the way up is the view!



While working in the museum one of my 'jobs' has been to inventory the sculpture. So far I've been through about 4000 pieces, mostly made of marble like the statues you see here.



Don't tell Rob's mom, but I've learned how to practice my clarinet while reading the news on wowt.com and google chatting with Zac!!



Finally, here is a shot of Boukman! Boukman is the mid-morning break we have (breakfast is at 7:00 and lunch is at 14:00) so we don't die of hunger before lunch. Sandwiches, strawberries, coffee, and tea seem to keep everybody happy!

What is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea?

Sicily! Rob and I just returned from a 10 day journey throughout the island of Sicilia. We started our tour in Palermo and went in a counterclockwise direction around the island until we reached Catania. The weather was warm and the wildflowers were in full bloom. We visited many cities and sites including: Palermo, Monreale, Segesta, Erice, Motya, Selinunte, Agrigento, Piazza Armerina, Morgantina, Gela, Noto, Pantalica, Syracuse and Catania. We also took advantage of the local cuisine by eating plenty of pasta, pizza, gelato (almost every day), prosciutto sandwiches, seafood, and cannoli. Here are a few pictures we took along the way.

The Cathedral of Palermo was built in 1185 and is characterized by the presence of different styles, due to a long history of additions, alterations and restorations, the last of which occurred in the 18th century.

A view of the interior of Cappella Palatina. As you can see, this church is known for its beautiful mosaics.

A view of the mountains from the harbor in Palermo.

Katie posing for a photo from the rooftop bar at our hotel. Behind you can see the Pretoria fountain which known for its nude statues. AKA: Fountain of Shame.

Rob took this beautiful photo of the temple of Segesta overlooking the valley.

These salt windmills could be seen as we boarded a small boat for the island of Motya near the town of Marsala.

This is all that remains of the Punic Ship. This ship was recovered in an underwater excavation and had to go through a long process taking it from saltwater to freshwater to no water at all! Notice the building it is housed in. This building in Marsala was one of the first places to produce Marsala wine.

We visited an ancient rock quarry where I posed to show just how big these columns would have been. It's likely that this particular column had a defect so it was never used in a temple.

This is a view from the rooftop of our hotel in Selinunte. The ocean was very pretty, but still too cold to swim in.

Rob posing on a column capital to show just how HUGE these temples really were.

Natalie and I do a little dance to celebrate the end of our marathon day at Selinunte.

One of the many temples at Agrigento.

Another temple at Agrigento, this time taken at night from our hotel room window.

Mount Etna! The largest active volcano in Europe.

The mosaics at Piazza Armerina.

More mosaics at Piazza Armerina.

The piazza at Syracuse. Such a gorgeous city!

Self-portrait in front of the church in Syracuse.

Rob presenting on the Siege of Syracuse. It was his best yet in my opinion!!

The church at Syracuse by night.

The piazza in Catania.

This is in the middle of the piazza in Catania. The elephant is carved from the black lava of Mount Etna.

The Bellini Theater in Catania.

The last meal in Sicily. As you can see from all of our smiles, it was one of the best!