Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Athens Greece

For our fall break Emily and I set our sights on Greece.




As we walked the streets under the Acropolis it seemed everywhere you turned there were ancient ruins.

Listening to some classic Greek music on the Lute (Greek guitar).

The first day we spent touring the sights of Athens which included the new Acropolis Museum. As they built the museum they kept running into ruins as they dug, so they strategically built the supports on the not so important ruins. The entire floor of the museum is glass to see what they have uncovered so far.

The most impressive part of the museum is the statues recovered from the Acropolis area.

Looking at the Acropolis with the Parthenon on top from the Museum.

The gateway to the Acropolis.

Looking North from the Parthenon.

Where the Sanctuary of Pandion once stood.


The Parthenon in the background.

The sprawl of Athens in the background.
Odeon of Herodes Atticus was a theatre built at the foot of the Acropolis in 161 AD and still hosts musicians such as Elton John, Andrea Bocelli and Sting.

We headed to the coast for a nice dinner and decided to pass on the restaurant invaded by cats

Sunset dinner.

Emily before tasting the Ouzo.

After a few days in Athens we hopped this hydro-foil boat to the island of Poros.

Exactly what Emily pictured for a Greek island.

Emily enjoying our hotel balcony.

This fried feta dish was one of the best things we've tasted in a while. (fried feta and peppers covered with honey and sesame seeds)

Just like we imagined.

Emily thought this guy was collecting nets from the ocean. I told her that is exactly what he was doing, but the fish were just making it harder to pull in.

Looking East from Poseidon's Temple.


"The water is fine...come on in"

Mediterranean swimming in early November. The water was so clear you could see the bottom 50 feet below.

Sunset from our balcony.

Emily got crazy on account of the baklava.
Soak'n it in.

Stretching our last few hours on the island with one more scooter ride.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

San Salvatore Switzerland

Field trip Friday for the sixth grade class meant a hike to the top of San Salvatore mountain and a funiculare ride down.

A view from on of the 9th graders dorm room on campus.

A view of the main part of campus.


Heading for the trail.

Half way up the trail the boys found these make shift huts.

Mrs. Abell's and Ms. Fowler's class at the top of San Salvatore.


Panorama's from the top of S. Salvatore.




Riding the Funiculare down.

Full moon overlooking Lugano and Paradiso.
The mountain we climbed on the hike is directly below the moon with the light tower on top.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Braunlingen Germany

Two weeks after going to Munich for Oktoberfest, a group of 10 of us heading to the Black Forest in Germany to run in the Schwarzwald Marathon. In preparation for running the half-marathon Emily and I ran a total of 9 miles the two weeks before the race... yep quite a training program.


Passing Lake Lucerne


Peter thinking these chips were made for him.




Bathing in the sun at our hotel.


The view from our room.


A little human chess action.


Fall in Brunglingen Germany.


Braunlingen city entrance.




Peter super psyched about the Spider Murphy Gang coming to town.


Cruising town.


Trying on the Viking hat fountain.


Catching falling leaves for good luck.


A little Cafe Uno while we wait to register for the race.


Pasta dinner the night before.



Emily at the half way point.


Soaking up the fan support.




The cold cheering section.



The full marathoners Ilana and Matt.



Post race survivors.

Emily threw down a blazing time of 1 hour 45 minutes (8:03 miles) and was in the 9th percentile for women.

I came in at 1 hour and 50 minutes (8:26 miles) and was just happy to finish.



The gang.