Thursday, April 2, 2009

More London

Second time in London was nice. We met with more friends and played around in Regent's Park. We ate near St. Paul's Cathedral. The Science Museum was the best ever. They had a really fun Wallace and Gromit interactive exhibit. We also watched a 3D Imax movie. Shakespeare's Globe Theater was cool. The original burned down in a fire. The last thing we saw was the Tower Bridge. We had a great view. Next stop: Home

































Harry Potter

I had a great time seeing Harry Potter sites. We went to Oxford to see the steps where Mrs. McGonagall met the 1st years in movie number 1. Also, the banquet hall is based on the dining hall there. In London, we saw the place where the Leaky Cauldron scenes were filmed in numbers 1 and 3. The spot was different in each movie. We went to King's Cross Station to see platform 9 3/4. It was not actually filmed at platform 9, but at platform 4. In the 6th movie, coming out this summer, Death Eaters destroy Millenium Bridge on the Thames (pronounced Tims) River. We also went to the place that Grimmauld Place was based on. We went to many more cool Harry Potter sights too! I can not believe it is almost time to go home.






































England

England was so much fun! We went to Hampton Court Palace, which was owned by King Henry VIII. There was a giant hedge maze and many awesome rooms. Then, we went to Stonehenge. It is a mystical rock arrangement. Some people (like Carson) think they were dancing giants, turned to stone by aliens. Lastly, we went to Legoland Windsor. There were so many fun rides and shows all based on legos. It was too fun to express! I can not believe we are almost done.



































Sunday, March 29, 2009

Greece -- Athens, Olympia, & Temple of Poseidon

I can not believe how wonderful Greece was. We went to the Acropolis. On top, is not only the Parthenon - but also, the Temple of Athene NMike, The Stod, and Dionysus' Theatre. A little ways off is the super columned Temple of Olympian Zeus. We drove for 4 hours to the site of the ancient Olympics. In the site was the training grounds, Temple of Zeus and Hera and the ancient track. The Temple of Zeus was almost all rubble, but one of the columns stands to show how tall it was. We then ran 4 laps on the ancient track. We had it all to ourselves for a long time! On the way back, we drove to the Temple of Poseidon. It is on a cliff and we also had it all to ourselves. I hope we have a fun last week of travel!

Acropolis...












Parthenon...














Ancient Olympia...











Starting Line at Ancient Olympia Track











Temple of Poseidon...












* The last picture isn't actually the Temple of Poseidon in Greece :-) Does anyone know where it is from (except Nonni, Mimi, and Pa).


Friday, March 27, 2009

Greece: Santorini

Pretty, Pretty, Pretty! Our hotel had a great view, 2 floors, and a jacuzzi. The first few days we just hung out at the hotel with the occassional walk around. One day, Carson and I spent 5 hours in the Jacuzzi. Later in the week, we went to the volcano and hot springs. At the volcano, we had a nice walk across the lava (not flowing). The hot springs were unenjoyable -- cold and not very much worth a long freezing swim to get there :-) On the last day, we traveled around the island to go to both red and black sand beaches, see some other sights, and catch the sunset in Ia (ee-ah). I had the most lazy and relaxing time of my life.












































Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Turkey - Istanbul

I had the nicest time in Istanbul. It is a very clean and exciting city with the nicest people EVER. It is the only city in the world that is on two continents (Europe and Asia). We stayed in a small, but stupendous hotel near Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. First, we went to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. The inside of the Blue Mosque was beautiful. A Mosque is a Muslim church. The Hagia Sophia is a 1500 year old church which was eventually turned into a Mosque. We also walked around an ancient underground cistern that was dark, wet, and cool! We took a cruise down the Bosphorous which is the waterway that divides Europe and Asia. We met a friend of my mom's from High School in Istanbul whose name is Jennifer. She is a writer and she was so nice. She gave us a box of the best Turkish Delight ever. It was covered in Chocolate. We ate the whole box in just a few days!

We had a really great time in Istanbul!


























































Jordan - Amman with Friends

Jordan is a really great country with a ton of fun stuff to do. It is bordered by Iraq, Syria, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.

I had a fantastic time with our friends in Amman (the Capitol of Jordan). We met them during our tour in Egypt. The kids (Rhys, Rahdika, Carson, and I) played, made a band, and watched movies. We ate a scrumptious home cooked dinner. It was really nice to see our friends.


























Jordan - Wadi Rum

I had a phenomenal time in Wadi Rum. Wadi Rum is a big desert area in Jordan. It is where Lawrence of Arabia lived. We stayed in a Bedouin camp with the Bedouins who live in the desert. We took a jeep ride through the desert with a Bedouin named Aboud. He showed us a few sites and then he started driving really fast through the desert and flying over big sand dune cliffs. I was in the back of the truck with no seat belt on. After that, we took an evening camel ride deeper into the desert to watch the sunset. When we finally got back to camp, we ate a deliciously delicious dinner of rice, lamb, beef, chicken and pita bread. Our room was a tent with a cloth door and lit by candle light. My family had a great experience in Wadi Rum.
















Sunday, March 8, 2009

Jordan - Petra

Petra was AMAZING! Petra was a city built by the Nabataens over 2000 years ago. They were a desert people who controlled the trade routes. Most people think that Petra was just the treasury building, but it was actually a whole city. When you are walking in, you see an Obelisk tomb. To get to the treasury, you walk through a siq. A siq is a very narrow canyon. After walking through the siq, you get to the main attraction -- Al-Khazneh (or the Treasury). It was delicately hand carved into the side of a mountain. All of the buildings were carved into mountains and use the styles from the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and other desert people. After a long but enjoyable additional walk up about 1000 steps, we reached a monestary in the mountains. It was very beautiful.

































































Jordan - The Dead Sea

Jordan has been a tremendous hit so far. The Elliott's would like to thank John DeBlasio for helping us set up our trip here. We stayed in a super Marriott with 3 swimming pools, 4 or 5 restaurants, and the Dead Sea. We had a delicious dinner with John, his Jordanian business partner Walid (who took care of most of the trip details), and Walid's family. We also played in the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea has 7 times more salt in it than the ocean. You can float so high you can even read a book without it getting wet. You can't play in it too long though. The salt starts to sting after a while. The sea is the lowest point on Earth. It is over 400 meters below sea level. We also caked ourselves in Dead Sea healing mud. It is supposed to make you feel younger. Carson said that he felt like he was 3 (Carson is actually 6). I can not wait to see Petra.











































Jordan - The Biblical Part

Once we got to Jordan, we went to a church in Madaba. Madaba is famous for it's Mosaics. Inside the church, there were a lot of beautiful mosaics. We then went to Mt. Nebo which was where Moses finally saw the promised land and then died. From the top, we saw Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Jericho. We then went to the River Jordan and saw where Jesus was baptized. Across the water was Israel. I can not wait to go to the Dead Sea.