Europe - Day Four

Morning Ferry, Olympia, and Tolo

Olympia has won my heart. I was wowed by everything and could have cried when we got to see where the olympic torch is always lit. I loved being able to race where the olympian athletes used to compete, I loved climbing and exploring, and I loved the lizards.

Love that little tug boat.
He helped us arrive in Patras.
Loveliest tour guide yet. I coveted her Greek accent and sweet style.
Beginning of the olympic torch.
Find the cicadas. Ugh! They are so loud!
Cicada climbing out of his shell.
Honestly, that's the truth. It's not what you initially think.
I see you lizard.

Running my little heart out, skirt decides to slide a titch.
Smoked 'em all.
Anna showing me the true victory march.
Outside of the Archaelogical Museum at Olympia Turns out you're not supposed to pose.
Greek Salad

Dad befriending a kind little pup.
Uncle Bill in front of our Tolo hotel.

I think he borrowed Dad's cell to call Sara.
Beachy
View from our hotel in Tolo.

I sat on the little diving board and dipped my toes in. Sigh, if only the pool hadn't closed already.
Pack o' dogs.

Dogs were constantly roaming the streets, and the majority of them were German shepherds! They had tags on, and Mary (our tour guide) explained that the city took care of them.

Europe - Day Three

Pompeii and the Night Ferry

After the mountainous volcano behind Pompeii erupted, the city was left in pieces. Everything was covered with a thick layer of ash, which in turn preserved most of the artifacts. We hiked around the city, enjoyed our tour guide's colorful stories, endured the heat, and giggled at all of the inappropriate symbols that our tour guide pointed out on the walls/streets.

One of our first open views of Pompeii.
One of our first open views of Pompeii, take 2.
Street used mainly by the various modes of transportation. Those clever Romans included sidewalks.

Stepping stones used to cross the street when the water was raging down.
Em hearts our tour guide.
The mountain is barely visible in the background. Dang you little pocket of morning clouds.
Body preserved by the ashes.
Dog preserved by the ashes. Our guide made sure to point out that the dog must have died quickly ... broken neck possibly due to falling debris from the city.

Final view of Pompeii.
Em's doing her part to finish off my delish pizza.
Me and my mom enjoying the night ferry that's taking us from Italy to Greece.
Uncle John, Uncle Billy, and me.
Lone swimmer.
After the flash of my camera, he kept encouraging me to join him. Nah.
Some dork panicked, "Our ship is taking on water!" My dad and I laughed really hard.

Europe - Day Two
Rome!

Due to our delayed flights, we missed the 1st half of our day in Rome. No colliseum tour, no Vatican City, no St. Peter's Basilica, no Sistine Chapel. Ugh! I forgave the colliseum (sort of) because our taxi driver drove us practically all the way around, but I still shake my head at missing the Sistine Chapel. Actually, the other group didn't really get to experience St. Peter's Basilica because the Pope was there. Shrug, at least they got to see the Pope. (Comment from the group, "Not worth missing St. Peter's Basilica.")

Me and Mom at the Spanish Steps.
We can drink the water!
Fillin' up the water bottle.
Me in Rome!
Trevi Fountain - Throw three coins.

1st one granted a return to Rome.

2nd: Make a wish.

3rd: Get a husband.

(I only had American coins at this point; does that count?)

Trevi Fountain take 2
We can't remember the name of this building, but the Pope's apartment was in the building to the right. (Not shown, and the pictures we took turned out crappy.) His light was on, I figured he'd be tuckered out already.

Colliseum at night. Love the sweaty bangs and angel affect.Andrea and I conked out on the bus.Our 1st hotel room! It was heaven, definitely one of our best stays.

Europe: Day One/Two
SLC to Phoenix to Boston to New York to Frankfurt to Rome

Ugh to the max. Due to weather, we were re-routed to Boston because if we continued to circle, we would have run out of live-giving fuel. We missed our flight from New York to Frankfurt, so we had the pleasure of sleeping on the floor (literally, no fancy chairs for us) at JFK Airport.

Poor Dad, but I know he slept because we could hear the oh-so-familiar snoring.

7 of us had the joy of stand-by tickets from Frankfurt to Rome. We didn't make the flight that the rest of our crew was on. However, we were smiled on and had the pleasure of meeting Andre from Outkast and Jon Heder in Frankfurt of all places.

My dad shook Andre's hand, "Are you a musician?" Andre was so polite, said he couldn't get pictures taken due to myspace and what-not, but, "I'll sign something for you." What a gent. He looked so hot with his huge silver headphones and what looked not unlike a tape cassette player.

The other group did get to meet Don Johnson. Like I would have recognized Don Johnson.

We're Back! We've had disastrous luck with our flights, resulting in a 4 A.M. return to my parents'. I showered, then snoozed, then redeemed my absence at church by doing Em's and my laundry. Here's a delightful snap of just the items that shouldn't be put in the dryer.
I will post pics of our amazing adventures, but they are currently still uploading.
Be patient sweethearts.

Em and I entertained ourselves by listening to the water in her belly. We were laughing so hard, definitely a consequence of jetlag/lack of sleep. My mom called out from the other room, "What on earth?" if you listen carefully, you can hear it at the end of the 2nd video.

Let me Hear Your Pillow Talk I made pillow covers from leftover scraps!
Front side of the pillow.
Back side of the pillow.
Mr. Big Stuff

I was having a rough time just hanging out at my parents', anxiously thinking over all of the things that I packed for Europe. We have to be, "In the car with our seatbelts on at 4:30 A.M." so I decided to spend the night. I could only be outside for about 15 minutes at a time; it was a scorcher today, and being inside made me depressed. Then I remembered my pillow project. I am quite pleased with myself. Thank you dear mother for all of the guidance.

Father's Day Project -

The boys were coming over so I was put in charge of assembling the gift that Em and I gave to my mom for Mother's Day.

Out of the box.
My life for the next hour and a half.
Little things were easier to blow up.
Dad tried to help with the pump. It didn't help.
This was the status when I had to take a break and eat something to ease my lightheadedness.The Scurvy Dog: Ready for the boys to come over. Success!
Eli was nervous around Ezra's rambunctious splashing. Grandma's lap was safer and more enjoyable than getting water in your face.