Poros Island, Greece
11:45 am
Well, from the lack of postings I'm sure you can tell how busy we've been the past few days since we left Florence. Our last morning was spent exploring the city of the Renaissance. I managed to drag Laura with me to see a few sites that we didn't see on our city tour the day before, but were places that I studied in my Italian Renaissance class (haha). We then traveled to Rome where we spent 2 nights. Our second day was spent touring the major historical sites. We tossed our coins into the Trevi Fountain (in front of which you see me posing in one of the pics with a CRAZY old man in a Roman soldier costume), walked through the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona, then made our way into the Vatican City. We took a tour of St.Peter's Basilica, where we of course saw the Sistine Chapel and all of Michelangelo's beautiful frescoes, including the Last Judgement, God's giving life to Adam (center of the ceiling), and the giving of the chapel keys to Saint Peter. My neck hurt from looking up at the ceiling after only 15 minutes, so it is hard for me to imagine the 7 years it took for Michelangelo to paint it all!
Afterwards we continued on to see the Colosseum with some of the group and went inside to see what it must have been like to be a spectator of the gladiators during Roman times. My friend Jill and I took to fighting with our invisible weapons... haha.
Next we departed for Sorrento peninsula, ate lunch in town, and relaxed by the hotel pool for the afternoon while some of our group took an excursion to the Isle of Capri. We chose to enjoy our last night in Italy at our leisure and took several pictures of the scenic cliffs and blue waters of the gulf of Naples.
The following morning we departed for Pompeii, where we had a very knowledgeable tour guide take us through the city. I could hardly believe the quality of preservation of some of the architecture and the artwork within, which were all original from 79 A.D. before the eruption of Mt.Vesuvius. After continuing to Bari Port, we boarded our overnight ship to Greece. We took some really nice pics of the sunset on the Adriatic Sea! (see below) We then landed in Patras and drove along the coastline of the Corinthian Sea across the Peloponnese Island to Galatas, where we boarded a small boat that took us to Poros.
Needless to say, the scenic views have been nothing short of breathtaking. Blue-green waters (my favorite color!) matched with a rugged coastline that would be difficult to get sick of. Our hotel is located in Neorion Bay, a short 10-15 minute bike ride away from the island's downtown area. Today is our second day relaxing on the beach with the sun and, of course, an occasional Pina Colada. "When in Rome..." Well, I guess you could say we've been there and done that actually (haha!). Plenty of pictures to follow when its not costing me the equivalent of 2 or 3 US dollars every 10 minutes to write this!! Besos y abrazos from Greece!
11:45 am
Well, from the lack of postings I'm sure you can tell how busy we've been the past few days since we left Florence. Our last morning was spent exploring the city of the Renaissance. I managed to drag Laura with me to see a few sites that we didn't see on our city tour the day before, but were places that I studied in my Italian Renaissance class (haha). We then traveled to Rome where we spent 2 nights. Our second day was spent touring the major historical sites. We tossed our coins into the Trevi Fountain (in front of which you see me posing in one of the pics with a CRAZY old man in a Roman soldier costume), walked through the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona, then made our way into the Vatican City. We took a tour of St.Peter's Basilica, where we of course saw the Sistine Chapel and all of Michelangelo's beautiful frescoes, including the Last Judgement, God's giving life to Adam (center of the ceiling), and the giving of the chapel keys to Saint Peter. My neck hurt from looking up at the ceiling after only 15 minutes, so it is hard for me to imagine the 7 years it took for Michelangelo to paint it all!
Afterwards we continued on to see the Colosseum with some of the group and went inside to see what it must have been like to be a spectator of the gladiators during Roman times. My friend Jill and I took to fighting with our invisible weapons... haha.
Next we departed for Sorrento peninsula, ate lunch in town, and relaxed by the hotel pool for the afternoon while some of our group took an excursion to the Isle of Capri. We chose to enjoy our last night in Italy at our leisure and took several pictures of the scenic cliffs and blue waters of the gulf of Naples.
The following morning we departed for Pompeii, where we had a very knowledgeable tour guide take us through the city. I could hardly believe the quality of preservation of some of the architecture and the artwork within, which were all original from 79 A.D. before the eruption of Mt.Vesuvius. After continuing to Bari Port, we boarded our overnight ship to Greece. We took some really nice pics of the sunset on the Adriatic Sea! (see below) We then landed in Patras and drove along the coastline of the Corinthian Sea across the Peloponnese Island to Galatas, where we boarded a small boat that took us to Poros.
Needless to say, the scenic views have been nothing short of breathtaking. Blue-green waters (my favorite color!) matched with a rugged coastline that would be difficult to get sick of. Our hotel is located in Neorion Bay, a short 10-15 minute bike ride away from the island's downtown area. Today is our second day relaxing on the beach with the sun and, of course, an occasional Pina Colada. "When in Rome..." Well, I guess you could say we've been there and done that actually (haha!). Plenty of pictures to follow when its not costing me the equivalent of 2 or 3 US dollars every 10 minutes to write this!! Besos y abrazos from Greece!
Here is a pic of Laura & I enjoying some delicious baklava at a little bakery in Poros. I know I have quite a sweet tooth, but I could only eat one little square of that stuff.... it was just that good. (haha) 
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