May 2, 2009 – Day 128 – Athens, Greece

The National Gardens in Athens are dreadfully boring. Although admission is free, there are essentially no flowers except a few small rows of pansies and petunias by a couple entrance gates and around the base of a monument. Mostly it’s just a park with dusty paths and over pruned hedges on the verge of death. There is a filthy little fish pond with turtles too but the water is so dirty that you can’t even really see the fish but only a few orange darting spots below the surface. The turtles just hang around on the rocks that are oddly stacked in the middle while pigeons hop from one turtle shell to another, completely oblivious to the fact that they are standing on top of a (very unhappy) fellow creature.

Flowers and the fence

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Day 126: Athens, Greece

It’s more than a perfect day. The sky is clear blue, the sun is shining pleasantly, the air is warm with a slight breeze and we are clamoring all over the ancient ruins scattered with overgrown grass and wild brilliantly red poppies streaking the landscape in fiery bursts. Even the air smells like summer. It feels like late May in Indiana today, characteristic for Greece but a nice reminder of the changing seasons we’re missing at home.

Poppies and the ruins

Day 123: Segovia, Spain

Snow capped mountains, ancient city walls, and tiny cobbled streets make for a lovely backdrop while you stroll around the old town fo Segovia. Situated just half an hour by (fast) train outside of Madrid, Segovia offers quiet respite from the hustle and bustle of Madrid, a vibrating city going 24/7. Remanents of Roman, Moorish and Celtic rule as visible in the buildings, decor, and leftover structures like the aquaduct.

Church spires

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Day 20: Flores, Guatemala

Another rainy day but we went to Tikal anyway. We arrived by shuttle around 7:30AM. A guide is not required (they cost extra and go very, very slow…but they do give lots of interesting facts) but it’s good to buy a map for a couple bucks when you purchase your ticket ($20US). It turned out to be even more spectacular than on a sunny day. Read the rest of this entry »

Day 13: Copan Ruinas, Honduras

Got up really early (it’s totally worth it to beat the hordes of tourists who arrive about 9 or 10:00) and walked to the ruins (to learn more about the Copan Ruins click here for the wiki-link). Read the rest of this entry »