Greece!

Hey Everyone,

Before Lyndon and I went to Cambridge we went on our honeymoon to Greece. Here is what we did on our trip:


I conqured the Minotaur.


Lyndon with what could be the statue of Perseus holding the gorgons head.

Athens! It was not what I expected it to be. We did a lot though. Thursday we got into London I think around 1 pm. I am not sure. The flight was good. Neither one of us slept very well. I watched one of the movies and then kept dozing in and out of sleep. Lyndon threw a blanket over his head and I did not see his face again until we landed. When we got to London we had to check in with immigration so they would let us in to the country. We had no problem with getting our luggage which saved us a lot of hassle. After we left the airport we took the tube down to Kings Cross station. I saw where platform 9 3/4 should be (Yay for Harry Potter). We ended up going all the way to Cambridge that day. We called our warden and we were able to move into our apartment. Cambridge is beautiful! From the train station we walked all the way to our flat. That was fun! But really it was not. Both of us had two suitcases plus our backpacks. We did get to see a lot Cambridge though. Our warden and his wife are the nicest people. They have been to Tennessee! We are the only Americans living in our apartment complex. All the other students are from Bangladesh, China, Romania, Italy, Israel, Pakistan, Malaysia, and many other places. We went to dinner that night to have a authentic English meal. They had some different things on the menu. Have you ever heard of a oven baked jacket? We have come to find out it is just a baked potato so nothing exotic. Then Lyndon took  me around Cambridge and showed me some of the different colleges and cathedrals.


The Parthenon.

 Jet lag is not fun. We had to get up at 4:30 am to make the train to the airport. Both of us slept the whole way on our flight to Athens. I woke up in time to look out the window as the plane was flying over some of the islands. It was beautiful.  Then once we got the Athens we walked around for a long time. We got to see some fun stuff. The Acropolis where the Parthenon is located is beautiful. It sits on a hill over looking the whole city. We went to a Greek restaurant and had some delicious Greek food. The Greek salad was our favorite and we have been eating it just about every day since we got back. We saw the Archeological museum, the acropolis museum, tons and tons of places. Our legs now look awesome from all the walking we have been doing. Athens is built upon the ancient ruins. In the  Monastraki district there are walled off areas in the middle of the plaza, and when you look down in the pit there are ruins. Every where ruins. As you walk into the Acropolis Museum if you look down you see ruins underneath the walkway. Also we ran into the "Fun Police". In the archeological museum I was going to take a picture of Lyndon behind one of the headless statues and one of the museum employees came over telling us no funny poses are allowed. The Greeks take their heritage very seriously.


Welcome to Athens.

Our third day in Athens we finally made it to the Parthenon. It's awe-inspiring. Those Greeks sure knew their aesthetics. There are several other really well preserved temples. The Temple of Zeus has a few pillars still standing. The Thesseon (a temple to Hephaestas) was built about the same time as the Parthenon, but it is still mostly intact. Only part of the roof has caved in. The temple to Nike has been rebuilt several times and is still standing almost complete. They are in the process of restoring/renovating the parthenon which both of us think is a really good idea. Seeing the parthenon just makes you realize the genius of humanity. The whole complex reminds of the Roman forum but many buildings are still standing. Down from the Acropolis is the Agora. It is the ancient city center of Athens. The Temple of Hephaestus and the Temple of the Winds are both located there. The landscape in that area looks very similar to what Israel looks like from the pictures. There are many olive and fig trees. There is a rock we passed where the Apostle Paul gave a famous sermon. We took a trip down to the coast line in the afternoon to Piraeus. It is not really tourist friendly except if you are taking a ferry to any of the other islands. They do have a couple of massive cathedrals. We were able to go inside one and see the priest praying. The decor is amazing. So beautiful. There are paintings and everything is decorated with gold. We made a friend while we were there. We ran into this man about three times who kept asking for money. He was harmless but after the third time we ran into him we were ready to end the friendship.


View of Athens.

 The rest of Greece was pleasant. Delphi was beautiful. The town is located on the side of a mountain overlooking a valley of olive trees and the Corinthian Peninsula. Delphi is special because the oracle of Delphi was located there and it was called the center of the world. Tuesday we traveled all day from Delphi to the island of Zakynthos. We had planned to visit Olympia but we had to skip it because it was too far out of the way. We took the bus from Delphi to the town of Itea by the ocean. The Mediterranean is beautiful. The water is so blue. Then from there we traveled to Patra and then from there to Kalyissos hopped on a ferry and arrived on Zakynthos.


The view from our hotel room in Delphi. Stunning!


On the boat to see the Blue Caves and the Shipwreck Cove.

Zakynthos was our last destination, so we were happy to finally make it. Wednesday we went on a boat up the island to shipwreck cove. We had time to go swimming. The water is beautiful and crystal clear. So much more so than the gulf and nicer but colder. Then we went and saw the blue caves on our way back. They are just small alcoves were the water has eroded the rock away. On our last day we went on another water excursion this time to see the green loggerhead turtles that Zakynthos is famous for. We went on a yellow submarine; part of the boat was under water with windows so you could see under the ocean. It was pretty cool. Sadly we did not see any turtles. We did see giant jelly fishes called Medusas and more beautiful scenery. Then that night we flew back to London.


Getting ready to swim at ship wreck cove.


Us aboard teh Yellow Submarine on our way to Turtle Island!

 We had another long journey to Cambridge. We ended up having to stay over night in St. Pancras station across from Kings Cross station. Surprisingly we had a great time. We survived without sleep thanks to Starbucks hot chocolate. We caught the 5:45am train to Cambridge and finally made it back to our flat by 8am. Then to Lyndon's orientation where they explained how easily it is to start a fire and get robbed. Lovely.


St. Pancras Station at 4am.

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