Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Handsom dude!


They call these glasses BCG's (birth control glasses). They are the ones the military issue out for free. Aren't they hideous!!!


I thought dad would think this picture is funny. I have one of me with speghetti all over my face just like this when I was about the same age.








"Dude, check out my new hair-do. I'm the man huh?"



Ok, I know this is so pathetic, but I just have to post these pictures of Gabriel. I couldn't decide which one to post, so I'm posting all of them. He's so dang cute. He is at that age where he smiles for the camera. The second I pull it out, he's giving me a huge grin. He got his first hair cut on Sunday. Daddy took the clippers to it. He looks much older now I think.










Sunday, January 18, 2009

Part 7: Barcelona


Barcelona is full of amazing architecture. Most of the work done is here is by the architect Guadi. He was so amazing. We went to this public park that has his work all over it. His house is in the middle of the park. The big cathedral here is still not complete and they started it in the 1800's. It's so ornate.


This is the main entrance to the park. Eva slept almost the entire time we were there.






This was Guadi's house and is now a museum of some of his work.







Part 6 and 1/2: Malta


I thought this was the cutiest bike rack ever.

Notice how clean this street is. All of the streets here were that clean. This was in the city of Mdina.


Their buses look like they are from the 60's.



All their buildings in Mdina have red accents. I love it! The roof of the dome is an example of it.




Part 6: Malta













We loved Malta! The weather was beautiful, the people were friendly, and the scenery was amazing. I would love to spend more time here. We hired a taxi to take us around for four hours and tour the countryside.


Part 5: Egypt














The kids were really bad this day. It was a long day. We had to take a bus 3 hours from Alexandria to Cairo and then back again. We also went to the egyptian museum in Cairo, but weren't allowed to take pictures. That was completely amazing! It was wonderful to see the pyramids. It was very dirty and the toilets freaked me out. I don't really have the desire to go again. It was a great experience being able to see the pyramids, but other than that, Egypt wasn't much but desert and dirt.

Part 4: Izmir, Turkey


We didn't do the typical tourist thing here in Izmir. We walked thru the real streets of this city to experience life of turkish people. It was very interesting and a wonderful day. The people of turkey are so wonderful and kind. We had some great experiences with some of the local people. We walked everywhere that day.


It was extremely dirty and the buildings were run down. I thought this was picture was interesting though. There was a tree and green shrubs growing amidst the rubble.





There are wild animals everywhere here. I saw so many stray cats and dogs. I thought this was funny though. I've never seen cats and chickens dwelling together like this.




These little girls are so beautiful. They were playing with some jewlery. I went closer and got a close-up picture of them and they thought it was so cool to see their picture on the digital screen. Their moms came out and smiled and were so nice. They didn't speak English, but they were still very sweet and friendly.



Part 3 and 1/2: Athens, Greece


This was the theatre next to the acropolis. We loved being in Athens. It was such an amazing city. Every inch of land was used in some way or another. It was so beautiful, dirty, but beautiful.



You all are probably thinking why I took this picture of the tree, but I thought it was beautiful with the pigeons in it and the background. This tree just stuck out to me with the background.






most of the trees in this picture are olive trees.




Part 3: Athens, Greece












This picture is of the olympic stadium in Athens. The benches are all made out of marble.



Part 2 and 1/2: Tip of Italy and Cicily


After we left Rome, we traveled thru the strait between the tip of Italy and the island of Cicily. It was amazing because the tip of Italy we getting a really bad storm but Cicily was really nice and sunny. The two pieces of land are extremely close to each other. It was a narrow strait so it was cool to see that once side had a storm and the other didn't. The first two pictures here are of Cicily and the last two of the tip of Italy.










Part 2: Rome, Italy


Here we are at the spanish steps in Rome. It was really crowded that day because it was a catholic holiday. The cistine chapel was closed because of the holiday and the trains weren't running as frequently. We were really rushed because of the train schedule. We wish we could have spent more time there, but we did see some really amazing things.


This is the trevee fountain. This was amazing.
Here we are at the pantheon. We got there at 1:30 in the afternoon only to find out it closed at 1 because of the holiday, so we weren't able to go inside and see the whole in the dome. That was a bummer. There were lots of crazy things going on around this square though. Lots of fun.



The coloseum was the first thing we saw and the surrounding areas. This was pretty amazing.







Cruise Pictures: Part 1-Ship


The swimming pools were heated but the water was salty so we only got in once with the kids. The hot tubs weren't salty though and were really nice.


This next picture was taken in Barcelona. If you look out to the sea, you'll see two large cruise ships at port. Ours is the one on the right.


This is in our room. We were lucky to have a nice large window to look out at the waves. The kids loved jumping from the ledge onto the bed.


This is Hans and Gabe standing outside in front of the ship. Look at the mass of this thing!






Well, we're back from our wonderful cruise. We took a 12 day cruise on the Mediterranean. I will be posting pictures of our trip in different parts. Part one is of the cruise ship. Then other parts will be of our different ports. We left and ended in Barcelona. I will post Barcelona pictures last because we spent an extra day there when we got off the cruise ship. Here are some pictures of the ship.