Tours Galore

So this past cruise I made it my mission to escort as many tours as I possibly could. I signed up for one every day of this 10 day cruise. I went on 4, which was enough for me. It was exhausting. First was Ancient Olympia, Olympia Stadium, and the Archaeological Museum and Olympia Village. 

Ancient Olympia is located in the middle of a fertile valley near the Alphios and Kladhios rivers, the site was a sanctuary even before the Olympic Stadium was built, and the games took place in the sacred area known as ‘Altis’. The area’s most imposing monument was the outstanding Temple of Zeus. It housed the god-and-ivory statue of Zeus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. (from Description of tour)

The Olympia Stadium was one of my favorite parts of the tour. The tour guide asked our entire group if anyone wanted to run the track. The winner would get a crown of olive leaves. Being on the Silver Spirit, not too many people are spritely and young, so of course like the ridiculous person I am, I said I would run the track. I’m pretty sure I made a lot of elderly peoples day because when I was running back everyone was cheering and taking photos. Hilarious. I’m happy I did it though because how many people can say they ran on the track where the Olympics were first started? I can.

I'm not sure why this one is loading sideways...

where the training occurred

I recieved olive leaves for finishing my run

Our last part of the tour was to go to the Museum. The statues were incredible. It is beyond me how such intricacy was done without the tools we have today.

Nike

pretty much statues of raping and pilaging

Hercules fighting a bull

The second tour I did was a Jeep Excursion through Corfu.  I might have fallen asleep a couple of times...but the sights were amazing.

a delicious snack

 how is the view this amazing?

cyprus trees =)

There is not much else to tell about that excursion other than Corfu makes almost all of its money on tourists.

The third tour was a kayaking excursion in Montenegro! Needless to say, it was a great arm workout.

Lastly, I went on a Wine and Olive Oil Tasting tour in Civitavecchi that was not actually in Civitavecchi, but in Etruscan. It took about a good hour to get there, so I might have put my shades on and pretended to look out the window as I took a cat nap.

the olive oil factory

Etruscan

passing by windmills as we take our journey

how olive oil used to be produced

the olive oil farm we visited

So pretty much I had an awesome/very tiring cruise. Yay!

Mykonos

Oh Mykonos, pardon my french, but you are so... LE GAY. I'm pretty sure our word of the day was bumhole. That's how gay you are Mykonos. So let's all have a delicious girlie drink, pinkys up, and go on a modeling shoot by the sea.

so many plants!

windmills

hilarious. gabe is not thrilled.

up where they walk, up where they run, up where they stay all day in the sun!

...just being the little mermaid

the BEST drink EVER!

our gayter at our restaurant

King's Landing

History of Dubrovnik

Founded 1300 years ago by refugees from Epidaurus in Greece, medieval Dubrovnik (Ragusa until 1918) shook off Venetian control in the 14th century, becoming an independent republic and one of Venice’s more important maritime rivals, trading withEgypt, Syria, Sicily, Spain, France and later Turkey. The double blow of an earthquake in 1667 and the opening of new trade routes to the east sent Ragusa into a slow decline, ending with Napoleon’s conquest of the town in 1806.

The deliberate and militarily pointless shelling of Dubrovnik by the Yugoslav army in 1991 sent shockwaves through the international community but, when the smoke cleared in 1992, traumatised residents cleared the rubble and set about repairing the damage. With substantial international aid, the famous monuments were rebuilt and resculpted, the streets sealed and the clay roofs retiled. Reconstruction has been extraordinarily skillful but you will notice different shades of rose-tiled roofs as you walk around the city walls. [lonelyplanet.com]

Oh, and no big deal, but Game of Thrones is filmed there...

I think this video pretty much sums it up.  >>>

Athens at the Acropolis

In Athens I was able to visit the Acropolis. Visiting a place which is over 2000 years old was mind blowing, so of course I took pictures every chance I got. Before my friends Rebecca, Gabe, and myself decided to approach this historical site we saw the ever-delicious frozen strawberry lemonades that the tourist ticketing area sold. When we found out we weren't allowed to enter the Acropolis with the drinks, we took a seat and discovered the Grizabella (from CATS the musical) of pigeons...  >>>

three way high five 

hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil

yup...that's a big drop off of the ledge

mangy pigeon

olive tree and a donkey? lol.

Some fun mythology info...
ATHENA & THE OLIVE TREE
According to mythology, Kekrops, a Phoenician, came to Attica and founded a city on a huge rock near the sea. The gods of Olympus proclaimed that the city should be amed after the deity who could produce the most valuable legacy for mortals. Athena (goddess of wisdom) produced an olive tree, symbol of peace and prosperity. Poseidon (god of the sea) struck a rock with his trident and a horse sprang forth, symbolising the qualities of strength and fortitude. The gods judged that Athena's gift would better seve the citizens of Athens than the arts of war personified by Poseidon's gift.
[lonelyplanet.com]

Yanni had his concert here

The Acropolis

Doing our usual pose in a new and exciting historical place =)

another really really old theater

it's all Greek to me

find the witch on the broom tree

I'm on top of the world!

our friend Henry the turtle

Singing Telegram

Remember that time a guest asked me to come sing Happy Birthday in my Lady GaGa costume to her husband? ...in their suite...with about 12 other family members there? Yup. That happened.  As I was walking down the guest hallway dressed head to toe in my GaGa attire to their room I thought to myself...this is what I've become. A singing telegram. And yet...totally worth it because she gave me $20 after. The end.

Rome

Have you ever seen something in a history book and thought, WOW, this is unreal. I saw history in person. Seeing the Colosseum and the Forum in person was breathtaking. Though I didn't get to go inside the Colosseum (the lines were rediculous and we had limited time) I was able to walk around it as well as go inside the gates of the Forum. Here's a little video:

Decades

Dolly Parton

Lady GaGa