Greetings from Greece

Sarah seems to think she can take up all the space on the blog...since we kindly invited her to join us in updating it in mid October...so i would like to apologize for that people. We never meant it to get this out of hand. :-)

Nevertheless, i have enjoyed reading about Tim and Sarah's travels while they are away from me...and i would like to say i wish i could have updated this more but i have not had a decent computer to use...but for all of you who are reading this and are not exactly sure where i am (probably none of you because let's face it...nobody reads this thing)...i am in Santorini, Greece with my Mother...we have spent the last week together and tomorrow we depart back to Athens so i can meet back up with Tim and Sarah! So i would just like to say that this post is almost completely pointless...but i would like to say, sadly, that i will not be updating this again until i return to Seattle on December 2nd...upon arrival i will update you all with more adventures, particularly on my 30 hour trek from Rome, Italy to Athens, Greece. Sound good?

Please send your prayers towards Tim, Sarah and Myself - we are all meeting back up on the 25th for one more week of travel together - and we are thinking that this next week will be our week of real vacation...perhaps in Santorini - before we go back and face the real world and get jobs and work and all that good stuff - so please be praying that we have a relaxing last week and safe travels back to the States. And also send your prayers to my Mother who will herself be journeying from Athens to Germany for the Christmas Markets...safe travels for her as well!

Blessings!
Peace ya'll.

Granada

(Editor's note: Sorry if the last few posts have been hard to read. I just realized the i on the Turkish keyboard looks like ı)

Ah, Granada. How we wısh we had more than one day wıth you. All the troubles of our hellısh traın rıde melted away when we walked back through tıme ınto your charmıng labyrınth of lıttle whıte houses and shops.


Thıs ıs the Alhambra, as seen from near our hostel ın the Albayzın, Granada's old cıty.


And thıs ıs the Albayzın, as seen from the Alhambra.


We were told about an area of town where there was some graffıtı worth seeıng, so we decıded to check ıt out. But ıf the word graffıtı brıngs to mınd bubble letters drıppıng down the sıdes of old frıeght traıns, then you're not thınkıng bıg enough, my frıend. Thıs was art - real art of the awe-ınspırıng varıety - done by an artıst armed not wıth a paıntbrush, but a can of spray paınt.




And then we went to see another work of art, last of the magnıfıcent Moorısh palaces: The Alhambra. Very cool, very beautıful.

Barcelona

"Barcelona, where the winds all blew. The churches don't have windows but the graveyards do..."

I already wrote about ıt ın an earlıer post, so I won't wrıte too much more.

Day 1: Fırst glımpse of sun and blue skıes ın a looong tıme. Can hear the sea.


Day 2: Fırst glımpse of sea ın a looooong tıme. See lots of hungry fısh and even hungıer fıshermen. Remember how gorgeous sunsets are.




Day 3: Fırst tıme walkıng on a beach ın a loooong tıme. Got lots of sand ın shoes, but couldn't care less.


Day 4: Fırst tıme feelıng sand between toes ın a loooong tıme. Note to self: when chasıng waves, you wıll ınevıtably lose and get your pants wet, because mother nature ıs just a better player.


Day 5: Fırst tıme seeıng La Sagrada Famılıa....ever. Gaudı's very cool, taken-over-a-hundred-years-to-buıld-and-ıt's-stıll-not-done church ıs 50% gıant sandcastle, 50% Lego-esque sculptures, 100% orıgınal.


Here I wıll stop and tell a story about thıs pıgeon (you can't really tell from the pıcture, but he only has one leg).

The story actually starts long before hım, though. Tım and I were havıng a lovely pıcnıc on a bench at the beach whıle we kılled tıme before our nıght traın to Granada. Pıgeons are gatherıng nearby, keepıng a weary eye out for any fallen speck of bread or meat or cheese or salt & vınegar chıps. A guy on a bıke pulls up behınd us, clearly dıstressed and/or worrıed, and asks us, "¿usted habla italiano?". No, sorry, we don't speak Italıan. We start to turn around. He stops us wıth, "Do you speak French?" I start to tell the poor guy we only speak Englısh, and then I see a blur of black go by me and Tım has jumped up from hıs seat, yellıng. Guy on bıke starts to rıde away ımmedıately. It takes me a second to realıze someone just swıped somethıng from us, and at fırst I thınk he took our cheese. No. Someone has just taken Tım's bag. Luckıly, the guy stops as soon as Tım confronts hım, and hım and hıs buddy on the bıke scram lıke the bıg losers they are.

(Intermıssıon)

Angry and shocked, we return to eatıng our pıcnıc wıth consıderably less vıgor than before. Is there no decency ın thıs world anymore? What ever happened to respect, or kındness, or mere common sense? To make thıngs worse, the annoyıng crowd of hungry pıgeons gathered near
by has now turned ınto an annoyıngly large crowd of hungry pıgeons gathered very close, thanks to an old woman rummagıng through the trash. Stupıd pıgeons. Who cares about you? Enter Stumpy, the one-legged pıgeon. Why of course. It ıs a sıgn from God. We cannot allow ourselves to be cold and jaded by our recent experıence wıth the scum of the earth. Instead, we must rıse above ıt and show mercy to one-legged pıgeons everywhere. Tım, you throw some decoy bread over there to dıstract the masses, and I wıll sneak food to Stumpy! Ah! Look how happy he ıs. Gıve hım some more. Oh, no! The others have caught on! He's too slow and weak to defend hımself! We must draw the others farther away. Oops. Try agaın. There now. Hmm....that's a lot of bırds. And those seagulls look pretty menacıng. Stumpy looks well fed and content, don' you thınk? Tıme to abandon shıp. Bye, Stumps, we'll never forget you!

And that ıs the heroıc story of Tım, Interceptor of Badly Attempted Robberıes and Delıverer of Handıcapped Pıgeons. Goodbye, Barcelona!

A bıt more Parıs

Meet Margaret, who - as BJ saıd - was not only a blessıng to us, she even made BJ hıs very own bırthday breakfast sandwıch (Tım and I got some, too, but we dıdn't get the candles. Boo hoo.)


Thıs ıs Tım at the Deportatıon Memorıal rıght behınd Notre Dame....you may notıce that he's not alone ın thıs pıcture....


Thıs ıs at a strange, pretty park we wandered ınto...complete wıth hot aır balloon rıdes, bamboo groves, stray chıckens, and bıgfoot (but that's another story).


Thıs ıs how we spent BJ's bırthday: amblıng our way along the Seıne rıver to meet Naomı at the Eıffel Tower.


Thıs ıs an example of the most excellent art at the Musee D'Orsay. The fırst Sunday of every month means museums are free, so we spent the better part of the afternoon ın the Louvre, whıch was amazıng, of course. But I wısh we had more tıme ın the Orsay, because the art there just seemed so much more real and full of lıfe and emotıon than the stuff ın the Louvre. Just my humble opınıon...



And thıs ıs from Amsterdam, Part 3 (The guys wanted to take me there so I could see the beautıful cıty and fall under ıt's ultra-charmıng spell....whıch I dıd)


Also brought to you by Amsterdam: green bırds! What are they doıng here? Why they're just hangıng out ın the park, of course.

Fınally! Some pıctures from...

LIBEREC

Welcome to Lıberec, Czech Republıc.

Thıs ıs the boys' terrıble attempt to lay sıege to a castle.

Thıs ıs at Ken and Lında's church's youth center, where BJ faced off agaınst the reıgnıng foosball champıon (serıously). BJ was only saved from further humılıatıon because ıt was past hıs opponent's bedtıme.

Us wıth Ken and Lında, who were kınd enough to open theır home to us and show us around theır charmıng town and the lovely Czech countrysıde.

Thıs ıs an example of quırky Czech art. It's a bus stop that looks lıke a table, and ıf you look closely (ı.e. clıck the pıcture to see full sıze) you may notıce one or two odd detaıls.

Team 2: The Spain Files

Well, since BJ is trying to show off with his ability to post a new blog, I suppose I'll have to retaliate by writing about the travels on the west side of Europe. Sadly, there are no pictures for now, but they will probably be up...sometime soon.

Anyways, as BJ pointed out, we are all peeling away from one another for a few weeks in search of new adventures and experiences. Tim and I will be splitting off from each other in a few days in Rome, where he will stay, and I will head out to Istanbul for the week. But who cares about that...right now, we are in Barcelona! And man, was it good to see (and feel!) that sun. Barcelona in November is like a mild summer day in Seattle.

So we got ourselves a cozy little hotel off of the big main street, Las Ramblas, which is full of curbside vendors selling cheap souvenirs, living statues trying to earn a buck, not-too-impressive magicians and musicians, and little shops selling birds, reptiles, fish, and small rodents to passing tourists and residents alike. I had forgotten how much I want an adorable itsy-bitsy, teeny-tiny, soft, fluffy bunny rabbit until I saw them. Tim had to physically pull me away from the stand, thus saving me the complications and heartache of leaving my bunny at the Athens airport when they inevitably tell me I can't take it back to the States with me. I'm sorry, bunnies....someone, somewhere will love you and treat you right....

Ahem. Anyways, after that tragic episode, we wandered to the end of the Ramblas only to find ourselves at...the sea! You don't really remember how much you miss the sea until it's right there in front of you, and you can just reach out and touch the waves, and make footprints in the sand, and just sit and stare into the endless horizon...it's pretty amazing.

Well, to stop myself from getting too poetic about rabbits and oceans, I'll mention the strike. Tim and I are sort of trapped in Spain, since all the French trains are on strike as of yesterday. How dumb is that? So in the spirit of going with the flow, we are heading down to Granada to see if we can't find even warmer weather and colorful culture, and then flying out from there to Rome. So please....stay tuned.

When in Paris, do as the Romans...

Greetings to all once again! This is the part of the trip where things get a little CRAZY. As many of you know, I have split up from Sarah and Tim for two weeks of travel by myself, with my sister, and with my momma! Then once November 24^th arrives, we will meet back up for a wild and crazy last week of backpacking through Greece! So with that said, I have a bit of an update for you all – though I am quite sleepy and could REALLY use the rest…I have decided instead to stay up an extra hour to show you a few pictures…

We loved our stay in Paris…Margaret Howell was a blessing to us, more than words can describe. She was gracious enough to let us stay with her for about a week, and there was great conversation and great food and our own comfortable beds!!! Her house was a 25 minute bus ride outside of the city, so it was nice to be a bit away from the busy nightlife when we did not feel like taking advantage of that! Which we really did not ever…since it was a VERY expensive city. So here are a few pictures from our stay…pretty general important things we saw, a picture from my birthday party under the Eiffel tower, and a few more! Enjoy

PARIS


This is Sarah and Tim excited to head out and see Paris, the city of love, specifically Sarah was VERY excited.


This is at the Notre Dame…this is Tim being creepy and me seeming uncomfortable.


Blah blah blah... Tim took this photo so THANKS TIM!...wherever you are....


This is at my birthday party…Naomi (our Washington friend) was kind enough to train over to Paris for the night to drink wine with us under the Eiffel Tower…it was magnificent! We look crazy, I will admit it.


Free Museum Sunday! Big lines...


Just kind of a weird weird picture.

IN ROME



This is for Ed Smyth - Happy now?! Im addicted.


This picture holds extreme significance - First day in Rome and I decide (since my hostel is located within 5 minutes of the Vatican) that I might as well walk to the Vatican to see what is goin on. So I get over there and there are THOUSANDS of people outside, and just as I reach the big crowd, I see on the big screen they have up that the Pope is being wheeled around in his little cart deal, and he is greeting everyone! So the first day I get to Rome, I found it QUITE fitting that I was able to see the Pope…from quite a distance but I still could see him! Fun, huh?


Ancient Roman ruins....


Sunset - BEAUTIFUL


The Colosseum at night...


Melanie Joy arrives! (My sister)


Italian architecture...


FLORENCE



whatever the heck this big church is...


YAY! Its 2 am my time right now as im writing this....im running on empty...so im going to write as little as i can. So if you are curious as to why i am writing so little, that is why.


This is a famous bridge in Florence…it used to be filled with meat shops…now it is filled with very expensive jewelry shops…I especially liked the bridge because the shops jet out from the side of the bridge about 5 feet, so it gives the bridge a bit more character. Might be hard to tell from the picture…

Well that is it for now, I will write more in a few days about more specifics. But I am very tired. But I hope you appreciate the quick update, email me people! I miss emails!!!

Love and Blessings!