So... We are home at last! It is so good to sleep in my own most comfortable bed. I loved the trip and the experience that it brought with it. We flew home on Transat, and we tried to check in, we found that we could only bring 5 kg on our carry ons! We had to switch everything around, and that took about half an hour. Then we got on our plane and flew with very boring movies to Toronto. The we flew to our lovely home. We went to Oma's for dinner and had meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner, then we slept there over night with Luca. And that is that I guess, of our grand voyage from London to Athens...or really to London again. It was a lot of fun but I am happy to be home sweet home.
Josephine
Monday, April 5, 2010
Almost home! (Our last day in London)
Today is our last day till we go home! I'm really happy to be somewhere familiar. (Sort of at least.)First we went to Windsor castle. The Queen lives there a lot of the time. When she comes there they put up a special flag so that every one knows where she is. My favorite part was queen Mary's doll house. Every thing was made miniature, including the crown jewels! It was really cool. Then we saw the state rooms, there were a lot of them but I liked St. George's hall the best. It was all redone after the fire that they had there. Unfortunately St. George's hall was all wood! I can imagine it burned up rather quickly. The King's drawing room was also pretty nice. After Windsor castle we wanted to go to St. Paul's but it was way too expensive. Then we went to the Mouse trap which is an Agatha Christie play. It was really really good. We all had fun watching it. Then we ate supper at the Mediterranean place by the hostel.
Bye!
Emy
Saturday, March 27, 2010
The Acropolis and Athens
Today we went on a three hour tour, first we started in the train station which is basically a mini museum. They had some old pipes, a skeleton, and bits of pottery. Then we got to see the changing of the guards in front of the parliament building. It was so funny! They had pom-poms on their shoes and wool leggings! They stuck their legs really high in the air and touched their toes. Then we went to Zeus's temple of which there are only a few columns left. After that we went to the acropolis which was really amazing. It was soo big and there were tons of columns. After one of the wars they had the acropolis was completely destroyed so they dug a big pit and shoved all the ruins into it, then they covered it up and left. Then we went to a museum *Yawn*. Lots of pottery and statues... not very interesting. But they did have some helpful dioramas. And that's the end of the day...
Bye!(pics tomorrow...not loading!)
Emy
Bye!(pics tomorrow...not loading!)
Emy
Sea Turtles!
Today we had to wake up early, at 8 and walk to the tram. Then we had an hour ride before we reached the Sea Turtle rescue center, where we volunteered for the morning.We began to chop up squid and fish, with the help (or not) of the four cats who lived there. Then we got to feed the. Most of them, we dropped the food into the bottom of their tub, but some we got to feed with tweasers. Most of those wouldn't touch their food, but I had two who did, a tiny little Loggerhead, but he took a long time to chew, and a bigger loggerhead who was blind in one eye. The biggest turtle was as big as a... car wheel, if not bigger. The smallest one was smaller then a cookie.
After that we got back on the tram, and went to the agora. We got in, and went straight up the the best preserved temple in the world. It was a black smith's temple, it was rather small, and under construction, but beautiful all the same. Then we went for lunch just outside before going back to the hostel. We leave for London tomorrow.
P.S. Dad didn't feed the sea turtles... Sucks to be him!
Josephine
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Athens March 24th
Hello all
We are safely in Athens! The worries that I had about getting here never came so I thank you all for your prayers.
We arrived on the 22nd and so far we have put a lot of Km on our shoes, however we have not gone to see the sites yet, we are going to see most of the ruins on Friday with a tour guide.
The Greek food here is amazing and we are loving the flavors. Yesterday I went to the war museum and I was surprised by all the people that have fought with Greece and how many times they were defeated by the Grecian people. As a Canadian I am happy that we didn't have to fight so many different nations. The loss of life must have been high! After I left the museum there was a demonstration however it was quite peaceful and nothing really happened.
Today we went to a sea turtle rescue centre and were taken aback by the size of the leather backs. Jane and the kids will probably go back on Sat to help out, I think I will stay here and protect our valuables. It was quite difficult to get out to the centre since today there was a parade downtown with all the school kids. Something to do with a national holiday, not that anything was closed. Tomorrow is the big day Greece independence day. There is a big parade down town which we are hoping to catch, since nothing is going to be open anyway, so why not hey!
Bye for now from Greece where the temp is around 20 every day so far, sweet.
Mike
We are safely in Athens! The worries that I had about getting here never came so I thank you all for your prayers.
We arrived on the 22nd and so far we have put a lot of Km on our shoes, however we have not gone to see the sites yet, we are going to see most of the ruins on Friday with a tour guide.
The Greek food here is amazing and we are loving the flavors. Yesterday I went to the war museum and I was surprised by all the people that have fought with Greece and how many times they were defeated by the Grecian people. As a Canadian I am happy that we didn't have to fight so many different nations. The loss of life must have been high! After I left the museum there was a demonstration however it was quite peaceful and nothing really happened.
Today we went to a sea turtle rescue centre and were taken aback by the size of the leather backs. Jane and the kids will probably go back on Sat to help out, I think I will stay here and protect our valuables. It was quite difficult to get out to the centre since today there was a parade downtown with all the school kids. Something to do with a national holiday, not that anything was closed. Tomorrow is the big day Greece independence day. There is a big parade down town which we are hoping to catch, since nothing is going to be open anyway, so why not hey!
Bye for now from Greece where the temp is around 20 every day so far, sweet.
Mike
Sunday, March 21, 2010
House of Mary
Today March 21st was a fantastic day in Turkey, it was warm and we had an exciting day in and around Ephesus.
The city/ruins of Ephesus covered a vast area and most of it was toppled due to earth quakes that have occurred over the past several centuries. I have to say that it was kind of awe inspiring to walk in the same area that John would have walked several thousands of years ago. 
The site has been some what restored however but since it was one of the biggest Roman cities out side of Rome it will take many more centuries to uncover it all. The amphitheater and the library were quite impressive.
After lunch, which is not worthy of mentioning, we headed off to see a weaving factory! Yea... We saw how they made carpets and how the different types of carpets felt. They had pure woolen ones and some that were made from pure silk. Of course they tried to sell our group some carpets, but we avoided buying one. Once we escaped the carpet factory we headed off to Mary's house. This is supposedly where Jesus's mother had stayed while in Ephesus. You can believe the story or not that is what our guide said. He explained all of the facts concerning this belief and left it up to us to judge for our selves. Personally I could believe it!
The day was so nice out that you could see Greece from Mary's house as well as the islands that belong to Turkey. Then we headed over to one of the great wonders of the world, the Temple of Artemus, enough said it was just a bunch of rocks
on the ground...and people trying to sell us crap. Now was the time we were all looking forward to going to the beach! (Ephesus was once very close to the sea however over time the land filled in with sediment and now the sea is about 7k's away.)The beach was only 6k's away and the weather was nice and so sitting on the beach for awhile was going to be nice! We got to the beach and the guide pointed it out we turned around and headed back to town, what a huge disappointment for all of us on the bus! No one was happy that we just got to see the beach, we wanted to feel the beach and thought since we were ahead of schedule that we could spend some time there. NOPE nada nothing of the sort. We were heading off to another factory!! This time it was a leather factory, we were not impressed by this, we had enough and just wanted to go home, however since we were captives on this bus we had to go.
Once inside of this factory we had a fashion show, yes a fashion show, where male and female models came out wearing wonderful jackets. The best part of the show was when Jane and I were picked to be models, yes you got it Jane and I were models for a moment in time. I think the kids shot some action shots of it and if you ask nicely maybe you can see them. Once we got out of the coats we and the factory we headed to our hotel, the Paris Hotel, not sure why it is called that but it is.
Tomorrow we are off to Greece and I ask all of you to pray for us while we are there. The reason why is that Greece is going through some turbulent times right now and we need God's protection while we are there. Thanks for reading my blog.
Mike
The city/ruins of Ephesus covered a vast area and most of it was toppled due to earth quakes that have occurred over the past several centuries. I have to say that it was kind of awe inspiring to walk in the same area that John would have walked several thousands of years ago. 
The site has been some what restored however but since it was one of the biggest Roman cities out side of Rome it will take many more centuries to uncover it all. The amphitheater and the library were quite impressive.
After lunch, which is not worthy of mentioning, we headed off to see a weaving factory! Yea... We saw how they made carpets and how the different types of carpets felt. They had pure woolen ones and some that were made from pure silk. Of course they tried to sell our group some carpets, but we avoided buying one. Once we escaped the carpet factory we headed off to Mary's house. This is supposedly where Jesus's mother had stayed while in Ephesus. You can believe the story or not that is what our guide said. He explained all of the facts concerning this belief and left it up to us to judge for our selves. Personally I could believe it!
The day was so nice out that you could see Greece from Mary's house as well as the islands that belong to Turkey. Then we headed over to one of the great wonders of the world, the Temple of Artemus, enough said it was just a bunch of rocks
on the ground...and people trying to sell us crap. Now was the time we were all looking forward to going to the beach! (Ephesus was once very close to the sea however over time the land filled in with sediment and now the sea is about 7k's away.)The beach was only 6k's away and the weather was nice and so sitting on the beach for awhile was going to be nice! We got to the beach and the guide pointed it out we turned around and headed back to town, what a huge disappointment for all of us on the bus! No one was happy that we just got to see the beach, we wanted to feel the beach and thought since we were ahead of schedule that we could spend some time there. NOPE nada nothing of the sort. We were heading off to another factory!! This time it was a leather factory, we were not impressed by this, we had enough and just wanted to go home, however since we were captives on this bus we had to go. Once inside of this factory we had a fashion show, yes a fashion show, where male and female models came out wearing wonderful jackets. The best part of the show was when Jane and I were picked to be models, yes you got it Jane and I were models for a moment in time. I think the kids shot some action shots of it and if you ask nicely maybe you can see them. Once we got out of the coats we and the factory we headed to our hotel, the Paris Hotel, not sure why it is called that but it is.
Tomorrow we are off to Greece and I ask all of you to pray for us while we are there. The reason why is that Greece is going through some turbulent times right now and we need God's protection while we are there. Thanks for reading my blog.
Mike
Calcium hurts your feet!
Today we went to Pammukale, an old Roman city along the silk road. It's mostly ruins though there are a few things still standing. There are a lot of graves in the Necropolis, (city of the dead) did you know that after 15 years the graveyard committee would come to the graves, take out the bodies and give them to the families, then they would take out all the jewelry and put the grave up for rent! Then we went into the city and saw the latrine! Definition of Latrine: Large communal bathroom of ancient times. Women were separated from men, no toilet paper or sinks just a small stream of cold water. All of this = Nasty, and very unpleasant! Then we went to the Antique bath which we didn't swim in. Then we went to the theater which was very big.
After that we went to the calcium deposits and walked down the so-called travertine.
The dry parts hurt my feet a bit but the rare wet parts were nice. Then we had lunch which was very good. After that we went to the red spring which was full of very hot water. It was about 35 degrees! I wouldn't touch it though. Then we went to another Onyx factory! Then we got on the bus to go to Selcuk.Bye,
Emily
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