Mykonos, Kusadasi Turkey, Patmos Day 1 and 2 Cruise

Day 1 & 2 Greek Cruise

Mykonos

After being in Athens for two days we were ready to get to the Greek Islands and be on our cruise ship. The first hour was pretty hectic on the cruise ship. You have a meeting right when you get on the ship giving you all the information you need about the cruise and then you have a safety drill where you have to go stand in front of your life boat with your life jackets on in case of an emergency. We were ready to get on the cruise ship and relax and have a drink and all of a sudden we felt like we were back in school with meetings and safety drills scheduled right off the bat. Once we were done with all the necessary meetings and drills we were able to relax and enjoy the view on our way to our first stop in Mykonos. We weren't expecting much from Mykonos because we weren't getting to the port until 7 and we had to be back on the boat by 11:30. We were mistaken about Mykonos. It was one of our two favorite places out of the whole cruise. It was what you would expect Greece to look like with the white villages and right on the sea with beautiful views. It had the greatest shopping out of all the islands visited in my opinion and wonderful restaurants to choose from. After we walked around the village we decided to choose a waterfront restaurant and enjoyed the view and Greek cuisine. In the slide show you will see two things we thought were very interesting in Mykonos. First off, octopus is a very popular dish in Greece. Clifton and I were not brave enough to try it but we took a picture of the octopus on the grill and a few ready to be thrown on the grill. The other thing we loved was the massive pelican we got a picture of. The pelican is an integral part of the island and is considered the mascot of the island. It's name is Petros or Peter and is usually seen along the harbor which is where we got the picture of it. We were so sad to leave Mykonos but it was definitely a great start to our cruise.

Kusadasi, Turkey

The next morning we arrived in Kusadasi, Turkey where we had booked an excursion to see the House of the Virgin Mary and Ephesus. Our first stop was the House of the Virgin Mary which is believed to be where the Virgin Mary lived and died. It is an amazing story but entirely too long for me to fit in this blog for how this house was believed to be where the Virgin Mary lived and died. Here is a link to find out more information about this sacred site. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/ephesus-house-of-the-virgin

After we visited the house of the Virgin Mary we took off towards Ephesus. Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era. In the Roman period, it was for many years the second largest city of the Roman Empire; ranking behind Rome, the empire's capital. Ephesus had a population of more than 250,000 in the 1st century BC, which also made it the second largest city in the world. This was another great sight to see. Only 20% of the actually Ephesus city has been found and they are finding more and more every year.

There were so many objects like tombs, statues, pedestals, lying around that had been

excavated. It was incredible to take a tour through this area that again had so much history. After

Ephesus we took our bus back to the city and walked through some of the stores. We

were warned that you need to bargain with the Turkish people trying to sell you things and that

some of the stores will rip you off. These people in front of the stores were so aggressive and

made you not want to walk into their stores. I did walk in a couple of stores that didn't have the

aggressive sales men and women in front of the store and I had my first experience of haggling.

Clifton was so proud of me. I really wanted this hand painted mirror but it was 20 euro and I said

10 euro and she said 15 euro and that is final and I actually walked out but was soon chased by

the woman and offered 13 euro where I said sold. I do not haggle with anything. If I see a price

and I like it I buy it and that goes with cars and houses. I am pretty much told by my husband to

be quiet when house shopping or looking at anything to where you can come down on the price.

After this purchase Clifton said to me I am so proud of you and just couldn't believe that I walked

out of the store. He had nothing to do with my bargaining. So one of the pictures in the

slide show is of my victory at the store. This picture might actually be framed and placed next to

my amazing purchase! hehe!

Patmos

After Turkey we headed towards Patmos where we had another excursion booked to see the cave

of the Apocalypse and St. Johns Monastery. After our visit to Turkey and Patmos we felt like we

had seen so much history in one day. The cave of the Apocalypse is believed to mark the spot where St. John received his visions from Christ that he recorded in the Book of Revelation. After

the grotto or cave we then went

to St. Johns Monastery.The Monastery of St. John the Divine also known as the Monastery of St. John the Theologian, is a fortified Orthodox monastery. Both places were incredible and Patmos is the third most sacred city in the world.

These three cities I have written about were all amazing and different. Mykonos was great shopping, food and nightlife and then Kusadasi and Patmos were very sacred cities with incredible history. Our first two days in the Greek Islands were enlightening and brilliant.

Athens, Greece

Athens Day 1 and 2

This last week has been my fall break so Clifton and I decided to take a trip to Greece. Our first two days were spent in Athens. I have to be honest and say it was very disappointing to both of us. Don't get me wrong the Acropolis was incredible and magnificent to see but the rest of Athens was a let down. We were luckily warned before hand that Athens is a dump and that we will love the Greek Islands so much more so we were somewhat prepared for our disappointment. The buildings, walls and monuments are covered with graffiti and the streets are dirty. The service was not good and the people were actually rude. We didn't even take many pictures of anything besides the Acropolis and the Plaka area because the rest of Athens was not worth taking pictures.

Now to the good part of Athens. The first day we went to the tourist area which is called Plaka. The streets were filled with amazing stores, full of handmade products and of course some of your cheap souvenirs. The streets were also filled with dogs and cats. It is amazing how many cats and dogs just roam around the streets. They are all friendly and will just lie in the middle of the street passed out. It was pretty funny! We ate at a restaurant that had a great outside patio and this cat came up and jumped into my lap and just fell asleep in my arms. It made me kind of sad because it was obvious it just wanted a cuddle so I held him for a little bit and then had to put him down once we left. The next day we reserved for the Acropolis. This is probably the most amazing sight I have seen to date.The Parthenon and other main buildings on the Acropolis were built by Pericles in the fifth century BC as a monument to the cultural and political achievements of the inhabitants of Athens. The term acropolis means upper city and many of the city states of ancient Greece are built around an acropolis where the inhabitants can go as a place of refuge in times of invasion. You can see the Acropolis from all over Athens. It was built in 432 and is so surreal to walk on and around. The whole Acropolis is still an archaeological dig site. They are excavating all the time and there are tons of pillars, pedestals and statues just sitting around that have been found. When I used to think of the Acropolis I just thought it was the Parthenon and not this massive area that is still being worked on to find more artifacts. After the Acropolis we decided to go the Acropolis museum. The whole front of it has all glass to where you can look down and see the dig site that is where they found many of the artifacts. So as you are walking toward the museum you are looking down to this old civilization that they have found many statues, pottery and other objects from the ancient Athens civilization. The museum is dedicated to all of the items they have found in the excavation. A lot of the first floor was glass as well so you could see the dig site inside as well.

So I know I said that Athens was disappointing but anyone going to Greece has to go to Athens because the Acropolis is incredible but my suggestion would be to only stay one night and go to the Plaka area and the Acropolis and then head out to the Greek Islands. We feel so lucky that we got to see such history in Athens and it was only the start of our trip. There was much more history to be seen on our cruise.

Stavanger Volleyball Tournament

In September I went to Stavanger, Norway for my JV volleyball tournament. It is the one tournament/game we have for the entire season and we only had three weeks to prepare and only two practices a week. So a total of 6 practices to get my team prepared for a tournament. Another coach and I were responsible for 18 boys and girls in another country which was pretty intimidating to me. We landed in Norway and immediately had issues getting into the country because we had an Indian and Chinese passport holder and they did not have the proper paperwork to get into the country. Depending on what country you are from they require special visas along with the passport to enter certain countries. After 45 minutes and a lot of pleading with the Norwegian customs officers allowed them into the country. We arrived at the International School of Norway and ate dinner and then headed to the hotel. We were exhausted and we had an early morning game so I went straight to bed. The next day was pretty interesting for me. It was the most relaxed tournament I have ever been in and this was the first time I was a little stressed about the fact that I did not speak the native language because not many people spoke English. I luckily had a Norwegian girl on my team and she was forced to stick by my side most of the day due to the amount of people trying to communicate with me in Norwegian. We ended up winning one game out of four which I was proud of considering we were playing club teams and I had girls who had never played and only 6 practices. In looking at my team you could see that we were definitely an international team. I had three Canadians, two Americans, one Iranian, one Austrian, one girl from Belgium, one girl from Holland, one girl from Trinidad and Tobago and one Norwegian.

That night we got to do a little sightseeing around Norway which was great. It is a very cold and rainy city. Even colder and rainier than Aberdeen which was shocking to me but I still liked it. We also go to do a little sightseeing the next day before we took off to go home. It was a great experience for me and it ended up being fun. After this tournament I was asked to go to London to coach the JV girls soccer team. I of course said yes since it is a free trip to London. I am only coaching them during the tournament because their coach cannot attend the tournament so hopefully I do OK!!

Start of the School Year

I started school two weeks ago and I was very apprehensive about it because I have never taught computer or the younger grades in Elementary school. I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised that I enjoy it. It is absolutely exhausting and very different from middle school students. You tell a middle school student to sit down and start their work, they usually do it. You tell a kindergarten student to do that, it takes a lot of please and thankyou's, and sweet voices, and focus to get them back to their seats. I was frightened for the children for having me as a teacher but I think they like me and I like them. Now if I had them longer than 45 minutes a week I might not. Ha! But for 45 minutes a week they are so cute and fun. So just to explain what my position is at the International School of Aberdeen I teach Kindergarten, 1st grade, 4th grade and5th grade computer class. I have two classes per grade for 45 minutes a week. Then because obviously that does not fill up an entire week of hours I also assist the Kindergarten, Second grade, and 5th grade classroom teachers. So I go in and help one on one with students who are a little behind or just learning English. I also coach the JV volleyball team and I have my one and only tournament in Stavanger, Norway in two weeks and we are NOT ready. I do have twofunny stories about my first week teaching the little ones. The first computer class I had I was going through my rules and procedures for the computer lab. I had a fun picture slide show since they can't read. One little boy tooted so loud and another boy started giggling and raised his hand, but did not wait for me to call on him of course, and asked did someone just fart. Then he started to giggle. I quickly moved on hoping they all would not start thegiggling and it worked. Then my other funny story is I was again going throughmy rules and procedures with one of the Kindergarten classes and this little girl was sitting right in front of me and I guess she liked my shoe because she took it off and just started to pet it and stare at it in amazement. I very nicely asked Eleanor if I could havemy shoe back and just continued on with my rules. Again this is all so new to me and I have to remind myself not to laugh at this stuff. So far I truly am enjoying it and I look forward to going to work everyday.

Other than work Clifton and I are just doing our normal stuff. Working out, cooking, grocery shopping and hangingout at home. Though last night started football season for us and we got the sports package on SKY TV this year that includes ESPN America. That means we get to actually watch some American football this year. To celebrate this we made queso, guacamole, ranch dip and invited our friends Amber andIan over to watch football with us. After a while of watching football we decided to play a game on the Wii. It is called Just Dance and it is so much fun. You have to mimic the dance moves on the screen and you get points for how well you are matching the dancer on the screen. It was hilarious to watch the boys doing it and it is a really good work out. We had toopen all the windows and get a fan in our living room because we were so hot. Oh that is because no one has air conditioning in Scotland. There is no need! Just an FYI! So this weekend was just a lot of getting stuff done and fun and football with our friends.

Inverness Day 3 Slideshow

Inverness Day 3

We left Inverness that morning heading out to see a bunch of sites on the road home. Our first stop was the Elgin Cathedral.Elgin Cathedral, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, sometimes referred to as The Lantern of the North is a historic ruin in Elgin, Moray, north-east Scotland. It was established in 1224 on an area of ground granted by Alexander II. It was a very beautiful cathedral ruin. The next stop was the Johnston's Cashmere heritage center. I wanted to take a tour through the cashmere mill but it was closed that day. They did have a great cafe where we ate lunch. They had home and clothing stores and a small information center about cashmere. I could have bought everything in the store. Clifton was lucky I got out of there with no bags. I had built up our next stop because Clifton and Zac were not excited about this stop. It was the Dean's Shortbread Factory. I thought there was an actual tour and fresh shortbread off the line. I was wrong. I kept saying how amazing it was going to be and we showed up and they had a viewing gallery of the factory but no one was there because it was Sunday and they were off. They didn't even have any fresh shortbread but we did buy a box on our way out. We all laughed about it though as we were leaving. Lucy fell in love with shortbread too! The last stop of the day was Huntly Castle.Huntly Castle served as a baronial residence for five centuries. Many impressive features include a fine heraldic sculpture and inscribed stone friezes. The earliest stronghold on the site sheltered Robert the Bruce in the 14th century. To date this is my favorite castle ruins. It is not in the most beautiful location like Dunnotar or Urquhart but the inside was kept up very well so there were a lot more rooms to go through. It was an awesome castle. After we walked through Huntly castle we walked over to the playground to let Lucy get out some energy. We had a lot of fun at this playground too. Our trip to Inverness was awesome and I can't wait to go back. I have to say it is the most beautiful place I have ever been. The sights on the Loch Ness are spectacular. Scotland has so much to offer and I can't wait to explore Scotland more.

Trip to Inverness Day 2

Our second day in Inverness started with a boat trip on the Loch Ness and then a drop off at Urquhart Castle for an hour. I wanted to be first in line so we could get a great seat to see the Loch Ness Monster just in case he decided to appear that day. We got an amazing seat at the top of the boat but the crew did not warn us that on moderately wavy days the top of the boat is like a log ride at an amusement park. The first splash just sprinkled us a little and then it was like we were in a monsoon. We grab Lucy and take off for the bottom of the boat almost falling in the process down the stairs but we made it down safely but completely soaked. And I mean soaked! Poor Lucy was traumatized by her first boat ride and held on to me the whole time and anytime the boat rocked too much she would just moan. She did not enjoy the boat ride to the castle. We thought for sure she would never want to get on a boat again. We arrived at Urquhart Castle which offered some of the most amazing views I have ever seen. You can see for yourself in the slide show.The earliest history of the castle may begin in the time of St. Columba in the 6th century. Of course like many of the other castles in Scotland it was burned down so now it is in ruins. After we walked through the ruins we headed back to the dock to get on the boat. We were certain Lucy would throw a fit about getting on the boat again but she ended up loving the boat ride back and loved looking out the back window. After our wet boat ride we went back to the city center of Inverness to take a look at some of the cathedrals, the Victorian Market and Leakey's secondhand bookshop. Inverness is a very small town but has some great sites to see. On our way back to the apartment to settle in for the night we passed Heroes for Sale which is where Zac had the highlight of his vacation. There was a life size Hans Solo frozen in carbonite. He was so excited about this and actually wanted to buy it and have it shipped back. Clifton called and found out it wasn't for sale. Zac was still extremely excited that he was able to see it. When we got home I gave Jamie a pedicure because she had walked so much and she needed one. Lucy was amazed by what was going on and kept putting up her foot to get the same thing done to her and then she wanted to do it to Jamie or I. It was pretty funny! After we put Lucy to bed we hung out on our balcony and there was a Seagull near us and Jamie thought it would be a genius idea to feed it some bread so that his friends would come. Well I told her the Scottish seagulls are not friendly and extremely scary. She soon believed me. Another seagull came to join the party and so now we had two seagulls begging for bread. We decided to go in and they literally stalked us at the doors and windows for the remainder of the night. They had there heads right up by the door just staring in waiting for more bread. Jamie learned her lesson about the seagulls. Don't mess with Scottish seagulls ever! They are crazy. We then went to bed after a very eventful day but we still had another one left.