Greece Photos

Athens, Greece - The Parthenon

In a nutshell? It was, you know...'aiight.' Unlike say, the Statue of Liberty or the Pyramids of Giza, it wasn't nearly as big as I'd envisioned, and the scaffolding (hello, offseason!!!) didn't really help. The hike up to it through Plaka was very scenic though...as was the market we walked through each day in Monasteraki, which sold everything from hundreds of birds, fresh sausages, pig heads (they're are so hard to find nowadays), fresh fruit, etc.

Meteora, Greece

Instead of flying down to the island of Santorini as planned, we decided to spend two nights in Meteora instead (central Greece). And land sakes alive...was it worth it! Not only was it the highlight of our trip, it also made our lifetime Top Ten list. 14th century monasteries perched high atop soaring meteoric-looking rocks...doesn't get much cooler than that!!!

Meteora, Greece

If you look just beyond my fat head, you can see another monastery nestled up there. This one was made famous by a James Bond flick in the 80s. Each time you wanted to see a monastery (we hiked to four out of the five main ones) you had to climb winding staircases over the rocks. This was much preferrable to the ancient way of getting up there, which was to be raised/lowered by metal basket via a pulley system.

Istanbul, Turkey - The Blue Mosque

Another highlight...the Blue Mosque. Definitely a toss up for one of the most amazing mosques we've ever seen. Just be prepared to make plenty of 'new friends' who are all hanging out near the exit eager to sell you a carpet at a 'great price.' ;-)

Istanbul, Turkey - Aya Sofia

One of the most fascinating architectural wonders than even I, a complete bonehead, can appreciate. As massive as this complex was, and as high as its domes soared, there were no visible columns supporting it. They're all apparently hidden within the 'ribs' (or skeleton) of the structure. Even more impressive were the large gold medallians with the Arabic calligraphy on them hanging from the walls.

Bonus Tidbits:

• I had to wear two new pairs of maternity pants on this trip (highly depressing when I packed them since I wasn't 'showing' yet...just eating too much). However, on the 2nd or 3rd night of the trip I *finally* noticed a hard bump in my stomach that became noticeably more pronounced each week! It feels like somebody stuffed a football in there.
• I didn't end up doing the much anticipated Turkish bath. Half the experience is the steam bath and I didn't want to steam broil the blueberry in the process. Child abuse and all that. Roy was vastly relieved (he was convinced he that his masseuse would be some scary looking, hairy Greek guy that would sweat all over him and scrub his balls). I tried to convince him that metrosexuality had its price, but he wasn't diggin' it.
• The Greeks have the best food in the world. Hands down.
• The Turks are the friendliest people we have ever encountered. EVER. But they also boast some of the priciest admission fees in the world! Their main international airport has the distinction /honor of selling the most expensive fast food in the world. We had the equivalent of $23 left to blow at the airport for lunch and thought we'd get a few meal deals at Burger King. Did we have enough cash? That would be a NO. We ended up getting one meal deal and a six-piece chicken tenders ($7.50 for the buggets alone if that gives you an idea)...we didn't even have enough cash to supersize Rich's meal so I could have more fries. No wonder Turks aren't chubby.
• Damn the weak a** dollar.