Athens and the Acropolis

By far this is the oldest stuff I have ever seen. We spent the day touring around Athens. The ruins are inspiring. We started off seeing the original Olympic stadium built in marble. So much marble that Stephen Tracy would be proud. The finished the first ever competitive marathon at this spot, and also concluded the mens and womens marathon for the 2004 Olympics at this stadium as well. It has put the bug in me to run a marathon here if they finish in the stadium. Anyone want to join me???

After the stadium we went to the Zues temple, followed by the Acropolis. There is no way I can do justice to the beauty, and grandeur of these places. It is a shame that war has destroyed a good portion of these temples. They are no doing reconstruction and re-fortification of the Acropolis. You can see this from all the construction stuff in the below pictures. While is may be under construction it did not take away from the experience.

Our hotel looks right out at the Acropolis. By far, the nicest hotel to date. Too bad it is only one more night here.

John and I haave been feasting on mousaka, souvlaki, ka-bobs, gyros, and tonight is probably pasticio. The people here are beyond friendly. They are warm, and always willing to assist with directions and ideas on things to do.

I spent an hour at the pool, which also overlooks the Acropolice.

We are off to dinner. Enjoy the pictures.

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=709888002/a=21881784_21881784/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=comcast2/

Old Prague

An amazing city built in 800. The architecture is sooooo old. Lots of different styles. John and I had a great 5 hour tour with Mareck, our private guide. Visited the Castle, the old town square, the site of the uprising in 1990, the Jewish Ghetto, and many other sites. The people here are so friendly and very beautiful.

Saturday--We spent a great day at the city park laying out and getting sun. I got yelled at by a park ranger for walking around barefoot. Hmmmm...

We ate at the old city square while the sun went down. During the meal all the lights in the square went on. It was magical.

Pictures:

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=698464002/a=21881784_21881784/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=comcast2/

Music City, Vienna is classical

Vienna is a beautiful city. The architecture, palaces, music, and people are wonderful. John and I have had a great few days here. Not enough time to really get to know the city, but I love it. Just like one of their most famous recent celebrities, "I'll be back"

We arrived Sunday evening after a nice train ride from Budapest. We met a really interesting woman named Shockdi that lives in Texas. The really interesting part is that she lived in Hamden for 12 years about 1 mile from our house. She and her partner now run a guest house in Austin. Who knew there were gay people in Texas.

After dinner on Sunday we walked to the Opera house. They actually broadcast what is going on in the Opera House right outside the Opera House. We sat and watched for a while. I find it funny when people tell me they do not like Rock and Roll because it is too load and you can't understand what they are saying. I feel the same way about Opera.

Monday we took a tram ride around the city center and scoped out all of the architecture. The city center makes you fell like you are back about 200 years ago with Mozart, Shubert, and Strauss. Later on Monday we went to the Freud Museum. A very interesting place where he did most of his writing. Freud left his house do to the Nazi's in 1937. There are many original works that have been returned to the museum. Unfortunately the couch is not there, so I remain as carazy as always. Notice from the pictures that he only saw patients for an hour each day. Nice office hours.

Today we spent the morning at the Hotberg Palace. This is where the Hapsburgs ruled for 600 years. The last main residents were the incomperable Franz Joseph and his wife Elisabeth (Sisi). The Austrians just love Sisi. She was assassinated back in 1909? and she became world famous from the tragedy. Her life story, and her husbands are extraordinary. After romping through their palace we made our way back to the hotel. The hotel is right in the heart of the city by St. Stephen's Cathedral.

The weather has been spectacular, so I spent a few hours at their main city park. There are statues of all the famous composers in the park. Burned my back, and then back to the hotel. John and I then went to Mozarts House where he composed The Marriage of Figgarro. Small museum, but very interesting. After over eating (a train that is becoming all too common) and ice cream, it is now time to turn in.

Off to Czech Republic in the morning.

The pictures:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=672258002/a=21881784_21881784/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=comcast2/

My run:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http:%2F%2Ftrail.motionbased.com%2Ftrail%2Fkml%2Fepisode.kml%3FepisodePkValues%3D8417960&ie=UTF8&z=15

Beautiful Budapest

John arrived on Thursday after a very nice flight and landed about 5 minutes before I arrived from Krakow. After a nice ride into the city we arrived at the Gellert Hotel. This is a very famous hotel with the best Thermal Baths in Hungary. There are about 10 diffrent thermal pools, a wave pool, sauna's and steam rooms. Going to the Baths is a way of life for people from Hungary. We spent a lazy day at the hotel, Jos and Gilbert arrived the same day and we had a great 5 course dinner.

Friday we went to the Marketplace and did some shopping for gifts. We then went to The Royal Palace and Fisherman's Castle.

Today we spent the morning catching some sun at the pools and then did a great 5 hour tour seeing all the sites. This is such an old city, with buildings back to the 1200's. They have a terrible history with siding with losing empires. The city is very unique do to all the different folks who have conquered Budapest.

Most importantly, today was John's birthday. He wanted me to thank the well wishers who sent emails. Gilbert and Jos treated us to a fabulous dinner. We are now tired and off to bed.

We leave for Vienna tomorrow afternoon.

The pictures:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=652356002/a=21881784_21881784/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=comcast2/

A city celebrates, and I visit the saddest place on earth

I am stuck in the middle of some really powerful stuff here. I am in Krakow which is celebrating the 20 year anniversary of the fall of the Soviet rule. At the same time I spent the day at the saddest place on earth Auschwitz. I will write about Krakow later, a great city that does need to be separated from the devastation and inhumane treatment of mankind that I exhibited today.

What can one say about a place the size of about 6 football fields that 1,500,000 people were killed at? How can I put into words the total devastation that I felt. I can not. I can tell you some random thoughts though.

• First of all we all have a duty to make sure that something like this never happens again.


• The museum did an excellent job on the exhibits and their guided tours


• The torture and living conditions are beyond comprehension.


• While not Jewish my father, brother , sister and I would have been killed immediately. My mother and other sister would have probably lasted 40 days, the average life expectancy for victims.


• Most of all of my friends would also have been immediately killed.


• There were over 250,000 children below the age of 15 that were killed within 30 minutes of arriving at camp. They show a room filled with baby and child shoes that brought a tear to my eye. They also have a room filled with human hair that was shaved off of all victims before the bodies were burned.


• To walk into a gas chamber and then the crematorium made me physically sick.


• All Polish children are required to visit the camps prior to their 14th birthday. If it was possible, I think all children should need to do this.

I could go on and on, but I need to stop that thought process so I can go to bed. I would like to let everyone know what a beautiful city Krakow is. It is very old and has the largest public square in Europe. It is surrounded by spectacular churches and towers. The square is alive 24 hours a day. On the hour, every hour, a fireman plays a beautiful revelie on a trumpet. He does this 4 times as he switches windows to play the melody in each direction. It is wonderful.

Enjoy the pictures, the early ones are of Krakow, followed by the ones from Auschwitz.

Off to Budapest in the morning. More importantly John will be there where I arrive!!!

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=633464002/a=21881784_21881784/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=comcast2/

Getting lost in Krakow

I went for a run this morning and got lost. While being a bit nerve racking as no one spoke English on that side of town I got to see a part of Krakow that most do not. You can check out my run and see where I stopped running in a circle.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http:%2F%2Ftrail.motionbased.com%2Ftrail%2Fkml%2Fepisode.kml%3FepisodePkValues%3D8367679&ie=UTF8&ll=50.057139,19.95203&spn=0.012895,0.037422&z=14

Krakow is a great city with a beautiful old city square that is lively 24 hours a day. The square is surrounded by many churches. I also went to Pope John Paul II church. I'm off to Auschvits in about an hour.

Flying at Neuschwanstein Castle

Pretty butch picture huh? I could not resist posting this one. Today I flew off of a perfectly good mountain. What do I mean? I went Paragliding. This is where you are attached to an instructor and you soar off a mountain and go gliding in a parachute 2000 feet in the air. We did this at Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. This castle, as you can see from the pictures was built by Ludwig II, and is the basis for the Cinderella castle from Walt Disney.




Paragliding was amazing. I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I am so glad I did. There is nothing I have ever done that felt the same way. First you take a tram to the top of this huge mountain. You then get the chute all set up, get in my suit and harnness and practice takeoff. Before you know it you are ready to go. The first several pictures of today are me flying. My instrucure was Tiger, and he has flown over 5000 times. My knees were shaking so bad when it was time for us to run off the side of the mountain. Before I knew it we were sailing in the air and climbing up higher. We flew over the castle and around the mountains for about 20 minutes. We even did some acrobatics on the way down. Landed safely, and din't even fall to the ground. Just amazing.


The rest of the day was fantastic as well. I went down an alpine slide, hiked up a waterfall, and then visited Neuschwanstein Castle. The castle is amazing, built by a crazy gay monarch - Richard Wagner's lover -- back in the 1860's. It cost about a billion dollars to build.



I am beyond exhausted, still need to eat dinner and pack. I'm up at 4 tomorrow.


The pictures:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=615690002/a=21881784_21881784/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=comcast2/
To see a great video on what paragliding is like, click on this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFI9qyiRHvY&NR=1