Spain

We finished up our adventure in Barcelona, Spain.  Just like before the ferry we were on was running late.  Thankfully, this time it was only two hours late.  So we had ate dinner at a normal Spanish time on the first night, 9:00 pm.  We then went to our hotel, and our hotel was amazing!!!!  The next morning in Spain he had our walking tour of Barcelona, we saw all kinds of things.  Las Ramblas, which is a famous street, Christopher Columbus state, the famous church (right) that is still not finished.  They have been building it and adding on to it for like 50 years, and they still have a least 20 years to go.  Crazy.  It was also cool to see some of the Olympic stuff, we drove by the stadium, the pool where they had the diving competition, and a few other places.  Then a small group of us went to the Pablo Picasso Museum.  We didn't have much time because the line was super long, (but we got in free) it was worth it because where else are you going to see that many Picasso's.  I didn't realize that when Picasso was younger, his style wasn't the same, it was more realistic and not abstract.  I guess you learn something new every day right?

Our group at the famous tile lizard statue.  Don't mind everyone else in the picture, it is a very busy spot.

One of my favorite things from the whole trip is getting to go to see the stadium for FC Barcelona.  Only five of us wanted to do it, but it was amazing.  You start out going through a soccer museum, then you get to see all different areas of the stadium.  We got to sit in seats at field level, in the middle, then at the press box.  Just in case you are like me and don't read Catalan "Mes que unn club" means "More than a club."

Italy

Ever since my junior year of college, visiting Florence, Italy has been on my Bucket List.  After spending three days in Greece, it was time to travel to Italy.  We were traveling by ferry...super cool by the way, but bad news...the ferry was running five hours late.  So we had to wait around in this little tiny terminal at the dock for FOR-EV-ER.  Finally the boat arrives, but then they have to unload everyone and all the trucks, eventually we get on the boat.  The trip itself from Greece to Italy, at least the path we were taking was about 26 hours of travel.  It was cool to walk up to the top deck after the sun had gone down and just think that you were cruising along the Ionian Sea, in the middle of the ocean, without a thing in sight.  We arrive in Italy at 11:00 at night, no big deal right...WRONG!!! We still had a four hour drive ahead of us to our hotel.  I didn't get much sleep on the bus, and the last hour or so was rough as my motion sickness medication wore off.  We arrived in the town of our hotel only to drive around the town at 3:30 in the morning for another twenty minutes because the bus couldn't find the hotel.  Eventually we got out and walked to the hotel, I was just thankful to get off the bus.

I didn't get to sleep until after 4:00 am, thankfully we got to sleep in until 8:30 the next morning, but then it was off to Florence.  We first had a walking tour of Florence with our local guide, we saw things like the Gates of Paradise, the Duomo Church (above) which is the fourth largest church in the world, and a demonstration on how the make leather. Then we got some free time, first things first...Gelato at the most famous gelato place in Florence...Vivoli.

To be honest, it was AMAZING.

After gelato, some of us wanted to go see The David, I mean it is only the most famous statue in the world.  I teach about The David every year, so of course I wanted to see it in person.  They do have a replica outside, but I HAD to see the real thing.  Standing in front of this wonderful piece of artwork was a dream come true and something that has completely changed my life, that is a story for another day.

 Then it was time to climb the 500 steps to the top of the Duomo.  At the top of the large church is a dome, that was the largest dome in the world from 1436-1881.  You can walk up about 500 steps to the highest point in Florence to get a view of a lifetime.  I'm not going to lie, the last hundred steps or so was rough, but I made it to the top and I'm thankful I did.

The next day we had about half a day to get to see Rome.  We weren't even suppose to go to Rome, but our Tour Director was able to fit it in for us.

Trevi Fountains: Legend says if you throw in one coin- you will return to Rome, two coins- you will return to Rome in love, three coins (depends on who you ask)- return to Rome married or divorced.  Any guesses on how many coins I threw in???

Italian Pizza...enough said

We literally got 15 minutes at the Vatican.  Basically we only had time to walk around St. Peter's Square, but it was still pretty cool.  I will want to go back and actually get to experience more of the Vatican.

After our fast visit to Rome, it was off to the port to board the next ferry, this time headed to Barcelona.  

Greece

 I have had one amazing summer!!!  After the school year ended, I turned my attention to getting ready for my European adventure.  On June 14, the adventure officially began....at 4:00 am.  Since we were a group checking in at the airport we needed to get to the airport early, so me and the other leader were waiting for our students at 5:00 am.  We got all checked in and eventually got on our flight to Atlanta, from Atlanta we boarded a flight to Amsterdam.  Long Atlantic flights always make me a little nervous, because I know I most likely won't sleep.  After we boarded and took off, we were informed that in entertainment system was broken and they would have no movies or anything to help pass the time.  So...eight hours in a middle seat staring at the seat in front of me.  After the longest flight of my life...we arrive in Amsterdam, we get ready for our last flight to Athens, Greece.  We FINALLY make it to Greece and have to wait a little bit longer as another group was arriving soon after us.  We get on a bus and head to the hotel and meet our tour director, Kostas.  Since we had four different groups in our one large group, day one was a pretty easy day, well as easy as it could be after 24 hours of travel.  We got our room assignments and then went off to the beach.  Our hotel was only about two blocks for the beach, we were all excited to get to go swimming in the Aegean Sea.  This beach was beautiful, but very different from the beaches I am used to on the Atlantic or even the Pacific.  Instead of sand, the beach was rocks...ROCKS.  You did not want to walk along the beach feeling the sand between your feet.  In fact you didn't want to take off your sandals at all.  The rocks made it different, but going to the beach in Greece was still AMAZING!

                                                        Look how clear the water is!!!


Our hotel was not in Athens, but in a town right outside of Athens.  So day two meant going to Athens and doing your typical Athens stuff.  I was looking forward to this day most in Greece...I teach about Ancient Greece every year and it was a dream to go to the Parthenon and see all these amazing things first hand.

Our Taylorsville group.  The Parthenon was breath taking...like literally.  I could not believe how amazing and beautiful it still is.

The next day, we went on a one day cruise to three different islands.  We went to this island, Hydra that was your typical Greek island.  They had no cars on the island.  The only modes of transportation were donkeys and bikes.  I of course paid to take a donkey ride around the island, it was pretty cool.

 Our view of Hydra as we docked the boat...beautiful.  We continued on to two other islands before we returned to mainland Greece.  On the last island, we again went swimming, but this time after I got in I soon got stung by a jelly fish.  So I got out and went and got some medicine from our cruise ship.

The next day we headed to Corinth, Greece...as in 1 Corinthians.  I was awesome to sit in this ancient city and read some passages from Corinthians.  I know it is a little nerdy, but cool to me.

I didn't want to overwhelm everyone with pictures, so I hope these few are enough.  Adventures from Italy to come soon.