Delphi, Greece

We got into Delphi after about 8 hours on the bus.... It was SO long!!! but now we're in Greece so its totally OK... Along the way we saw alot of interesting things.. a castle for one, goats, and rain which apparently is rare this time of year...

 At the border... the driver went by the "Welcome to Greece" sign way too fast so I couldn't get a pic...

 Random castle on the way to Delphi

 Delphi from the valley. Delphi is on a hillside overlooking a huge valley full of olive trees. The tour guide said that at one point, the whole valley was ocean and has since been silted in.

 Our hotel... The Acropole

 Two single beds... Umm... ya

 View from my balcony at sunset

 Cool arch I want to recreate in my front yard in Flagstaff...

 LOTS of stairs... everywhere... all the time.

 Cool Morgan on the side of the main road

 Me on the main staircase in town

 View from the top of a park bench on the main stairs

 This is what I woke up to this morning.... Absolutely beautiful.

We went to the Archeological site after breakfast and a ridiculous fiasco with the hotel computer...It was huge and really hot... i had a back pack on and it stuck my shirt to me.... lets just say things got a little sweaty.

Model of the Delphi Oracle site with the Temple of Apollo and a bunch of other buildings

 Treasury of the Athenians

 Cool purple flowers...

 Me with my professional photography skills...

 Entrance to the (now ruined) Temple of Apollo

 Amphitheater... Me and Denise hopped the rope to take a picture in the middle of the stairs...

 Stadium all the way at the top of the complex where the Pithean Games were held...

 Lauren, Beth, Me, Denise

A little bit down the hill, Denise and I took a short cut of sorts, but it ended badly for me when the hill was too steep and the drainage ditch at the bottom was too wide... I launched my self off the hill and landed on the other side of the ditch... to my horror I ha ripped another pair of jeans... This time in the knee...EKK!!! I felt so dumb and Denise and Beth didn't help by laughing for the next few hours...

 I tried to draw this bit of column for an assignment and failed.... miserably... lol

 The Charioteer recovered from the site almost intact...

 Another model of what it looked like back in the day.


After we finished at Delphi, we went down the mountain and into the port town to have lunch. Low and behold we pulled up to this seaside restaurant... We piled out of the bus and headed straight for the water... just for some pics tho... Jim called us back to have lunch soon enough. I had stuffed grape leaves in olive oil.... Got to admit they were a bit funky.

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 Tori messed it up the first time, but it still looks cool lol

 After lunch we got back on the bus and headed out. We crossed this huge bridge which went over the entire isthmus thing... Big engineering...

We got to Olympia around 5 and everyone headed for the pool while I sat in my room and sewed my pant knee back up.... dinner is in about ten minutes here at the hotel and tomorrow we head to the Archeological site here in Olympia.... I'm ready lol...

Macedonia (Pictures)

Alright, so we made it to Olympia from Delphi after a crazy scenic ride along the seaside... As promised, here are some of the pictures I took while there.


First, we left DC and flew to Vienna, Austria which took about 8 hours... It was cloudy the whole time, so no ocean view, but I got to see the sun rise and set over Western Europe... It was so cool! I didn't fall asleep for the whole flight... And mind you there weren't many things to take picture of... but they had some good food...

 If you look in the bottom right, you will see the coast of Luxembourg on the English Channel.

 Sam & Me on the plane... Kevina featured in dead center...

This was the plane we took from Vienna to Skopje (The capitol of Macedonia)...

Macedonia

We got to Skopje and took a bus to through the city to the Old Bazaar District and had lunch in the Macedonian Kitchen. Afterwards, we toured the Bazaar on foot. I was crazy tired and sick of walking buy the time we were done. When we finally got to our hotel in Veles, I had been awake for more than 32 hours... gross.

 We ate inside the courtyard of an Inn originally built in the 16th Century.

 Above is the tower of the fortifications overlooking the town of Skopje built by the Turks over 400 years ago.

 This is the grave of a Christian who fought against Turkish rule. He was buried near the entrance to a 15th century Byzantine Church (which we weren't allowed to take photos in... Sad day) 

 This is a Mosque which is being renovated as a cultural site and not a functional mosque.

 This is the view of a Turkish Inn in the Bazaar

 Shots of the streets and Mosque from the Bazaar

This is the National Museum in Skopje

After Skopje, we drove 45 minutes to Veles where we stayed at the Hotel Romantique. Our hotel room had alot of mosquitoes when we first got inside, but we killed all of them... Go Team!

 The pool was really nice, I only sat on the edge and played cards with some folks while everyone else did their own thing...

 We were right by this huge lake, there was a dam at one side keeping the water back  

 We went to a restaurant in town called "Snoopy" (haha funny I know).... The food was actually really good... lots of meat and really good crepes...

 Me and Ambra

 (nice face)

 Mateo, Denise, Kevina

There was a huge soccer game going on while we were eating and everyone in the restaurant kept cheering... I sat underneath the TV to avoid it haha... 

Habitat for Humanity

Our whole purpose in Macedonia was to volunteer for Habitat on a building project. To ensure that we did our work and not just sit around and take pictures, we weren't allowed to bring our cameras till the last day... so I didn't get alot but the work we did was worth the sacrifice. I helped: dig post holes, paint railings, varnish wooden doors, paint, dig a drainage trench, clear gravel, prep a piece of ground for a side walk.... Tiring but so much fun...

 These are the apartments we worked on... Some of the families who will be living here actually came and helped on the site for a couple days. Only the mom spoke English but we were able to have a broken conversation and they all seemed really cool... the kids spoke English well and they were hilarious... 

This was my supervisory position... 

This is the view of Veles from the second floor of the apartments where we painted hand rails.

Popova Kula Winery

On the last day of the Habitat project, the Dorrances (who are the generous husband and wife who established the scholarship that covers my trip and my scholarship...) came to see us and brought some of their friends. They are the coolest people! And they're down to earth, in touch with the world around them.... which is always good.

We drove to a town about an hour from Veles called Popova Kula which means "Priests Tower" in Macedonian. On one of the hills, there was a huge vineyard and above that was the tower that had been converted into a winery. We had a tour, a wine tasting (which I didn't take part in...), and and dinner. Before we went on the tour we were invited to take part in a party that was going on and some of us joined in on a traditional Macedonian Dance.... I had fun lol

The Tower

 Cisterns where the wine ferments...

 Kegs that the wine is stored in to add flavor

 The view was incredible, it was jaw dropping.

This is Jackie Dorrance, primary donor and namesake of the scholarship. She ate dinner right next to me and gave me all sorts of tips on the best way to eat your food in Europe... Balsamic vinegar, olive oil, bread, and tomatoes are key...

I learned alot in Macedonia and had a blast! Hopefully the families will love their new homes and I'm sop grateful they let us come in and help build their homes.