Tons more pictures!
I have so many more pictures and short movies to share with you. It has been a bit complicated getting to an internet cafe. We have been seriously tired. Today, we are in Athens, Greece. We visited the Acropolis and took pictures in front of the famous Parthenon. It was 115 degrees F today and we just about cooked!!!! It was definetly a slow simmer.
We also shopped in the Plaka (http://www.athensguide.com/plaka.html), which is an Athenian outdoor flea market shopping center. We got lots of cool souvenirs
Tomorrow, we will be boarding our cruise ship to Mikonos and the rest of the Island. We are all looking forward to see the white washed houses with the Aladdin blue domes (www.greekislands.com/mykonos/ ).
There will not be a Cruise phone line where you will be able to reach us. Instead, please use this number if you need to reach us: 011 30 693 269 1649. The phone belongs to Miky, our tour guide. He will be the one answering the phone. If you have any problems getting thru to this number, please dial 00 on your phone and ask the international operator to help you connect with that number (extra fee)
I hope that the ship has wireless internet or an internet cafe so that I can send you more pictures.

Meteora

Pat and Jeremiah worshiping at the cliffs of the Holy Monasteries of Meteora. 

Arrivederci Italia
With heavy hearts, we boarded our ferry in the Italian port of Brindisi to leave Italy and go to Greece. 

Pompeii

This is a picture of us in the ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii. We were amazed at how big and modern the ancient city had been before it was destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius. 

Here are some of the group at the rim of the crater of Mt. Vesuvius. We saw signs (smoke!!) that the volcano was still active. 

Climbing Mt. Vesuvius

This picture was taken just before we climbed Mt. Vesuvius 

Playing in a Roman Pool 

Making a wish at the famous Trevi Fountain 

Yes, that is the Circus Maximus or Colesseum behind us. 

Sending postcards from inside the Vatican 

Rome
Inside St. Peter's cathedral. 

This is the amazing monastery of Assisi. We got to tour the incredible Basilica and see the cript of St. Francis. There were many Franciscan monks walking around the city but I didn't feel respectful taking pictures of them. 

Assisi
Drinking from ancient water sources in Asisi. (No, the water here does not carry some funky ebola)

 

Tuscany
We stopped at a winery in Tuscany to learn about Tuscan wines. Here you see one of our mini lesson on the finer points of wines. 

Home Away from Home
Life in our chartered bus. Don't forget to click on the pictures to make them larger 

Piza
Can you recognize the bell tower behind us?? We had a blast that day.
 

Florence
Walking thru the streets of Florence. In the background you can see il Ponte Vechio (the old bridge). Old indeed, it dates back to the medieval ages. 

We got to ride gondolas thru the beautiful city. 

Venice
Standing in Piazza San Marco in front of the Cathedral of St. Mark and its famous bell tower.
 

WE ARE IN GREECE!!

We arrived in Greece this morning. We took a night Ferry from Brindisi, Italy to Greece. We drove 6 hrs thru the amazing mountains of Greece and arrived at the town of Kalambaka, home of the amazing Meteora cliff monasteries. We will be visiting them tomorrow. I have been having problems finding internet cafes and time to blog. Greece looks promising though. I will continue to try to get pictures on this blog asap. The pictures are amazing. The kids are having a fantastic time. Today most of them did their own laundry by hand (yes, please take a moment to find a chair) and hung everything to dry like all the Mediterraneans do. It was cute. Wait till you see the pictures.

June 20th Day 5
We have been playing so hard that it has been nearly impossible to blog. We visited Venice on day 3 (pictures to come). It was a fabulous day and we all got to experience the European carefree culture first hand. We arrived in Venice in a bus boat (Venice is on a Laguna), met our local tour guides and went to see a demonstation of Venician glass blowing. It was amazing (pictures to come). The techniques used by todays artists are the exact ones used by Venicians centuries ago. We also got a chance to buy some Venician glass

On Day 4, we travelled to Florence. We travelled thru the beautiful Appenine Mountain Range to reach my most favorite city. We had some free time to see the sights when we arrived and most students hit the famous flee markets of Florence. We also got a chance to eat the famous Bistec a la Florentina, which is a very juicy steak (from very special beef grown only in Tuscany). The meal came with other Tuscan marvels like their fried potatoes and real Tuscan Chianti.

On Day 5, we travelled again to Florence. We had a tour of Bruneleschi's Dome Cathedral (il Duomo). He was only 26 years old when he began this 10 year project. Michael Angelo, later copied his design to raise the dome of the cathedral of St Peter in Rome. We got to see that statue of the David and many other Michael Angelo and his pupil's works. We will stop by the tomb of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michael Angelo on our way to Piza today.

I promise to have many pictures soon (or as time permits). There is so much to do that our motto has become...."We will sleep when we get home"!!!

Everyone has arrived safely in Italy and is enjoying their new surroundings. Tomorrow I will be adding pictures and more information. Keep watching this site for updates.

Using your headphones responsibly

I personally am addicted to my ipod. My headphones/earphones are on all the time. However, I am going to curve the use of your earphones on tour. When your headphones/earphones are on, it is difficult to absorb life around you. There will be many foreign things that you will need to observe and get use to. The last thing you need is to further isolate yourself with a wall of loud music (audio books are my sin). You will be encouraged to use your earphones on the plane, on the bus (when there is no audio tour), on the ferry, on the cruise ship, etc. You may not use your headphones/earphones while walking in the streets, in the stores, on a tour or in restaurants (or eating context). In fact, I encourage you to leave your gadgets in your hotel room during such times because you will need to be alert and extremely aware of your surroundings. This will be important for your safety and that of the whole group

"...at Target they have a travel size roll of toilet paper for like 99 cents. There are 55 sheets in them... I thought it is a good idea to bring a few." Gayle Armelagos

"1 tip I do have is to take an old towel, cut it up washcloth size. That way you can just throw them out when you are done. " Michelle Carson