Seeing:
* UW beating USC!!!!! GO DAWGS!! And since I actually dreamed we won the night before (except the score was 24 - 21), I got to celebrate twice - once in my dream and once in reality!
* A big gigantic bug on the hood of my car. Fortunately it was on the outside of my car while I was on the inside and the windshield was between us.
* Fall season premieres - I did really enjoy my summer of extremely reduced TV watching, but there is something about the start of the fall season shows that sucks me in. And if I hadn't already been intrigued and planning on watching FlashForward, the fact that the future day is April 29th (my birthday!!) would have put me over the edge.
Hearing:
* Wicked!! There is an argument that this should be in the seeing section but I'm going to put it in the hearing section. It is such a good show!
* A "good for you!" cheer and some clapping while I was out running. Once again, my definition of "running" is running interspersed with walking and I'm sure many people can walk faster than I can run. But still, I love the cheer - it kept me going up the hill when I wanted to quit running and start walking.
Smelling:
* Not much since I am still battling a cold. I am feeling a lot better though!
Tasting:
* So Jessica & I have been going to the grocery store at the beginning of the week and getting sandwich fixings for the week. It has worked pretty well because for whatever reason, I'll make my sandwich at work, but not at home. Anyway, we made our turkey sandwiches on Monday and later that day neither of our tummies was happy. So no more turkey sandwiches for this week and instead we've been having smoothies for lunch, except for today when we splurged and got Red Robin.
* Lots and lots of tea to help with the cold.
Feeling:
* Still a little run down from my cold, but a little more energized from hot yoga.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Up and Down
This has been an up and down type of week. I flew home on Sunday (more to come on that) with either allergies or a cold. As the week progressed it became more and more evident that it was a cold. My routine became come home, drink tea and go to bed. Weighing in the back of my mind was the fact I had a triathlon coming up. Prior to my vacation I had decided this was going to be a fun race (not an "A" race). With the cold, I had to decide if it was worth doing even for fun. My decision changed pretty much hourly. Wednesday was a bad day and I officially decided against the race. But Thursday dawned and I was feeling much better. The race was back on!! And then came Friday. I had a coughing fit carrying boxes across the office. Even though I was feeling better, the cold had settled in my chest. The race was back to being off. Final answer? Yup. Oh well, there will be other races which was one of the deciding factors actually. The Tower of Terror 13K is in about a month and that is an "A" race for me. It is probably better if I sit this one out and get better.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Another Five Senses on Wednesday
Seeing:
* A great big beautiful moon in the sky the last couple days, along with less and less hours of daylight as fall is approaching.
* Several different families riding their bikes with no helmets. Seriously - make the kids wear helmets, especially riding on a somewhat busy road!!
Hearing:
* The rain as I lay snuggled, warm in bed, deep under the covers.
Smelling:
* Delicious smells wafting from Coldstone as I walked by.
Tasting:
* Wine at Chateau Ste Michelle & Columbia Winery before heading over to the Barking Frog for dinner where I had some yummy prawns and a very good beef tenderloin.
Feeling:
* Really awkward as I tried to breathe on the other side while swimming. I'm going to have to work on that.
* A great big beautiful moon in the sky the last couple days, along with less and less hours of daylight as fall is approaching.
* Several different families riding their bikes with no helmets. Seriously - make the kids wear helmets, especially riding on a somewhat busy road!!
Hearing:
* The rain as I lay snuggled, warm in bed, deep under the covers.
Smelling:
* Delicious smells wafting from Coldstone as I walked by.
Tasting:
* Wine at Chateau Ste Michelle & Columbia Winery before heading over to the Barking Frog for dinner where I had some yummy prawns and a very good beef tenderloin.
Feeling:
* Really awkward as I tried to breathe on the other side while swimming. I'm going to have to work on that.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Five Senses Friday #6
Seeing:
* My sister, looking beautiful, as she got married. And of course, me looking all dolled up for her wedding.
Hearing:
* About Michelle's first week of teaching juinor highers! Well technically reading her emails, rather than hearing. But I can just see Michelle telling the story, so that should count as hearing! :)
* "You go rockstar!" as I was riding my bike. This cheer was actually given to the girl ahead of me on the path, but I am taking it as mine because I'm a rockstar! :)
Smelling:
* Freshly baked bread as I walked by Great Harvest on my way to the grocery store.
Tasting:
* California burger & beer ice cream at Redhook Brewery - yum!! I had forgotten how good it was!
Feeling:
* The onset of an ear infection. Yuck!! I am trying to ward off with home remedies.
* Excitement for my upcoming trip to Krakow & Paris.
* My sister, looking beautiful, as she got married. And of course, me looking all dolled up for her wedding.
Hearing:
* About Michelle's first week of teaching juinor highers! Well technically reading her emails, rather than hearing. But I can just see Michelle telling the story, so that should count as hearing! :)
* "You go rockstar!" as I was riding my bike. This cheer was actually given to the girl ahead of me on the path, but I am taking it as mine because I'm a rockstar! :)
Smelling:
* Freshly baked bread as I walked by Great Harvest on my way to the grocery store.
Tasting:
* California burger & beer ice cream at Redhook Brewery - yum!! I had forgotten how good it was!
Feeling:
* The onset of an ear infection. Yuck!! I am trying to ward off with home remedies.
* Excitement for my upcoming trip to Krakow & Paris.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Five Senses Friday #5
Seeing:
* A white streak down my arm. How'd I manage to do that? And this is why I practiced several times before doing the spray tan for real, which will be this Saturday, before my sister's wedding on Sunday.
Hearing:
* What if dreams, as in what if we do win the lotto tonight? Mega Millions is up to some large number so a few of us pooled our resources. It is nice to dream! My what if dream? I would buy an around the world plane ticket and take a year to explore.
* Lots of geese honking as the geese police dog came and chased the geese away, and right in time too as I was about to jump in the lake for an early morning swim.
Smelling:
* I sit near the kitchen and the other day someone brought something in that did not smell very pleasant.
Tasting:
* Yummy cupcakes from NY Cupcakes for my sister's bridal shower. Yup, it's usually all about the sugar for me.
Feeling:
* Exhilarated after finishing my triathlon.
* Relief after picking up my dress for the wedding!
* A white streak down my arm. How'd I manage to do that? And this is why I practiced several times before doing the spray tan for real, which will be this Saturday, before my sister's wedding on Sunday.
Hearing:
* What if dreams, as in what if we do win the lotto tonight? Mega Millions is up to some large number so a few of us pooled our resources. It is nice to dream! My what if dream? I would buy an around the world plane ticket and take a year to explore.
* Lots of geese honking as the geese police dog came and chased the geese away, and right in time too as I was about to jump in the lake for an early morning swim.
Smelling:
* I sit near the kitchen and the other day someone brought something in that did not smell very pleasant.
Tasting:
* Yummy cupcakes from NY Cupcakes for my sister's bridal shower. Yup, it's usually all about the sugar for me.
Feeling:
* Exhilarated after finishing my triathlon.
* Relief after picking up my dress for the wedding!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Number 7
It's a little hard for me to fathom, but on Sunday I completed my 7th triathlon. Granted all of them have been super sprint or sprint distance, which are manageable distances, nothing crazy like the Ironman. I am feeling a bit proud of myself, especially considering how much I loathed gym all through school.
The hardest part might have been picking up my packet at the expo on Saturday. I arrived shortly before 10 a.m. and was greeted with a line down the block. I reached the end of the block and realized the line went down the next block. I reached the end of that block and realized the line kept going around the corner and up the next block! Finally I reached the end of the line! To amuse myself while waiting, I played games on my phone. I was feeling hopeful as I neared the building only to find a whole new set of lines inside the building. To quote my friend Nikki, it was as if the carpet of hope was ripped out from under me and I was left with the hardwoods of disappointment. Nikki & Diane were also helping to entertain me via posts on Facebook.
Finally I reached the end, of what turned out to be the first line, got my swim cap & timing chip. Then I decided to stand in another line (voluntarily) to sign up for next year's race. Why? Because this race sells out fast! And to have it done and not worry about getting up early the morning it opens to sign up was worth another line. Next line? The one to pick up my t-shirt. A couple of women in line were nice enough to hold my place while I went and stood in another line to get body marked so I was able to stand in two lines at the same time! Finally I was body marked, had all my goodies and my chip and signed up for next year. Then it was off to "rack" my bike. Considering all the people in front of me to check in, traffic wasn't too bad to go drop off my bike.
With the pre-race activities done, all that was left to do was the race! My parents dropped me off bright and early Sunday morning and I got on to the bus. The butterflies in my stomach had started fighting each other. I laid out my transition area, did a few stretches, went to the bathroom one last time before making my way to the swim start. I took a dip in the practice area to get used to the water temp, which wasn't too cold. Standing with my yellow swim cap wave, cheering on the waves in front of us, the familiar excitement began to build.
The Swim
The crowd counted us down and we were off! I started off in the back but was soon passing a few people. Yay me! I was able to keep a good tempo, with only two moments of slight panic where I stopped for a moment to refocus myself, and continued on towards the finish. I was feeling pretty good as I exited the swim and made my way over to my bike.
Transition 1
Let's just call this the "what I need to work on for next time" section. When I got to my transition area, I was surprised to notice there were a lot of bikes still on the racks! Shirt, race belt and sunglasses all went on pretty quick. Socks and shoes I struggled with a bit but not too bad. And then I went to put on my helmet. For whatever reason I could not get the helmet to fit right. I took it off and tried putting it on again but when I buckled the strap it still didn't feel right. I knew I was wasting time at this point but I could not make myself go faster. Finally the helmet went on. I wrestled my bike off the rack and was on the course!
The Bike
I was feeling good on the bike, passing a number of people, and getting passed as well. During my training I tried to work more on hills and I think it helped. It's on the bike where I am reminded of how much I enjoy this race and why - the echo of the screams in the I-90 tunnel, the "on your left, you go girl" encouragement as you are getting passed, basically the camaraderie. You are not running this race alone.
Transition 2
Nothing out of the ordinary here. My rack was a little crowded so it was somewhat of a challenge to wedge my bike back onto the rack.
The Run
Almost there! I started off slow but finally got into a rhythm - run 15 cones, walk 5. Once I started running it got easier to say run 5 more cones. Not long after I passed the half-way point I heard my name - it was my friend Joni. My new goal became to beat Joni to the finish line knowing she would catch up to me - and sooner rather than later. I crossed the finish line and a few steps behind me was Joni!
And let me just say, if the weather for my first Seattle Danskin was too hot, and the weather for my second Seattle Danskin was too rainy, the weather for my third Seattle Danskin was just right! And yes, I do feel a little like Goldilocks at the moment.
I do have to admit, when I first looked at my times I was a little disappointed. My long-term goal is to finish in under 2 hours, my short term goal was to shave time off my Orlando time. I did finish 36 seconds better than Orlando, which is a start. And when I started comparing my times, I started to feel better about my time.
Seattle Swim: 24.31
Orlando Swim: 26.29
An improvement of almost 2 minutes!! Assuming the course lengths were the same.
Seattle T1: 6.54
Orlando T1: 4.58
Oops! Stupid helmet.
Seattle Bike: 51.52
Orlando Bike: 51.51
Basically the same
Seattle T2: 3.00
Orlando T2: 1.27
Not bad, considering the size of the transition area comparatively speaking
Seattle Run: 43.05
Orlando Run: 45.12
Wow - another 2 minute improvement!!
And there you have it. There is another triathlon coming up in a few weeks and as of right now I am going to go for it. This may change depending on what life throws my way.
The hardest part might have been picking up my packet at the expo on Saturday. I arrived shortly before 10 a.m. and was greeted with a line down the block. I reached the end of the block and realized the line went down the next block. I reached the end of that block and realized the line kept going around the corner and up the next block! Finally I reached the end of the line! To amuse myself while waiting, I played games on my phone. I was feeling hopeful as I neared the building only to find a whole new set of lines inside the building. To quote my friend Nikki, it was as if the carpet of hope was ripped out from under me and I was left with the hardwoods of disappointment. Nikki & Diane were also helping to entertain me via posts on Facebook.
Finally I reached the end, of what turned out to be the first line, got my swim cap & timing chip. Then I decided to stand in another line (voluntarily) to sign up for next year's race. Why? Because this race sells out fast! And to have it done and not worry about getting up early the morning it opens to sign up was worth another line. Next line? The one to pick up my t-shirt. A couple of women in line were nice enough to hold my place while I went and stood in another line to get body marked so I was able to stand in two lines at the same time! Finally I was body marked, had all my goodies and my chip and signed up for next year. Then it was off to "rack" my bike. Considering all the people in front of me to check in, traffic wasn't too bad to go drop off my bike.
With the pre-race activities done, all that was left to do was the race! My parents dropped me off bright and early Sunday morning and I got on to the bus. The butterflies in my stomach had started fighting each other. I laid out my transition area, did a few stretches, went to the bathroom one last time before making my way to the swim start. I took a dip in the practice area to get used to the water temp, which wasn't too cold. Standing with my yellow swim cap wave, cheering on the waves in front of us, the familiar excitement began to build.
The Swim
The crowd counted us down and we were off! I started off in the back but was soon passing a few people. Yay me! I was able to keep a good tempo, with only two moments of slight panic where I stopped for a moment to refocus myself, and continued on towards the finish. I was feeling pretty good as I exited the swim and made my way over to my bike.
Transition 1
Let's just call this the "what I need to work on for next time" section. When I got to my transition area, I was surprised to notice there were a lot of bikes still on the racks! Shirt, race belt and sunglasses all went on pretty quick. Socks and shoes I struggled with a bit but not too bad. And then I went to put on my helmet. For whatever reason I could not get the helmet to fit right. I took it off and tried putting it on again but when I buckled the strap it still didn't feel right. I knew I was wasting time at this point but I could not make myself go faster. Finally the helmet went on. I wrestled my bike off the rack and was on the course!
The Bike
I was feeling good on the bike, passing a number of people, and getting passed as well. During my training I tried to work more on hills and I think it helped. It's on the bike where I am reminded of how much I enjoy this race and why - the echo of the screams in the I-90 tunnel, the "on your left, you go girl" encouragement as you are getting passed, basically the camaraderie. You are not running this race alone.
Transition 2
Nothing out of the ordinary here. My rack was a little crowded so it was somewhat of a challenge to wedge my bike back onto the rack.
The Run
Almost there! I started off slow but finally got into a rhythm - run 15 cones, walk 5. Once I started running it got easier to say run 5 more cones. Not long after I passed the half-way point I heard my name - it was my friend Joni. My new goal became to beat Joni to the finish line knowing she would catch up to me - and sooner rather than later. I crossed the finish line and a few steps behind me was Joni!
And let me just say, if the weather for my first Seattle Danskin was too hot, and the weather for my second Seattle Danskin was too rainy, the weather for my third Seattle Danskin was just right! And yes, I do feel a little like Goldilocks at the moment.
I do have to admit, when I first looked at my times I was a little disappointed. My long-term goal is to finish in under 2 hours, my short term goal was to shave time off my Orlando time. I did finish 36 seconds better than Orlando, which is a start. And when I started comparing my times, I started to feel better about my time.
Seattle Swim: 24.31
Orlando Swim: 26.29
An improvement of almost 2 minutes!! Assuming the course lengths were the same.
Seattle T1: 6.54
Orlando T1: 4.58
Oops! Stupid helmet.
Seattle Bike: 51.52
Orlando Bike: 51.51
Basically the same
Seattle T2: 3.00
Orlando T2: 1.27
Not bad, considering the size of the transition area comparatively speaking
Seattle Run: 43.05
Orlando Run: 45.12
Wow - another 2 minute improvement!!
And there you have it. There is another triathlon coming up in a few weeks and as of right now I am going to go for it. This may change depending on what life throws my way.
Getting dropped off
Crossing the finish line
Another medal!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Seattle Danskin = 2:09:24
The race went well, if not quite what I was hoping time-wise. But it was still a good finish time, for me anyway. More to come later!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Rain or Shine
In my last post, I made the foolish declaration of Thursday being a brick day come rain or come shine. Guess what it ended up being? It was pouring as I began to shut down at work so I talked myself into going to the gym for another "modified brick" but by the time I got out of the parking garage the rain had subsided so I made my way over to my new park of choice. I had forgotten how hilly that area was! I didn't end up going to far on my bike but enough to get that "my legs feel like a ton of bricks" feeling as I switched over to the run which ended up being mainly a walk/run instead of the run/walk that I have worked up to. Partly because the rain and slip factor, but mostly because I didn't feel like it - it was not my best workout. I made it to where I had planned to turn around but since I had started to feel good I decided to keep going, until I saw the two raccoons up ahead. They looked at me, and I looked at them, they looked at me and I let them win the staring contest. Raccoons can be mean so I decided it was a great time to turn around!
And that concludes the training portion of this race. I don't feel super ready, but when do I ever? Ha!
And that concludes the training portion of this race. I don't feel super ready, but when do I ever? Ha!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
All I can do is laugh
So here we are, less than a week to race day and boy is it shaping up to be an interesting week! I haven't been posting a lot of training posts, but I have been training. Sunday I was all set to do one last big brick (can you feel the foreshadowing?). I pulled my bike out of my car and was putting on my helmet when I heard "POP! Hisssssssssssssssssssss" and just like that my back tire was deflated. I debated briefly still running but instead threw my bike into my car and left as I had a gazillion errands to run (What, me exaggerate? I would never in a million years exaggerate!). While I was disappointed I didn't get my brick in, I was very thankful if my tire had to pop it did so before the race. And then when it was getting fixed the technician noticed I had a broken spoke. Whew! Sometimes a flat tire is a blessing in disguise!
Monday was fairly uneventful, with the exception of the rain that started pouring while I was out running. I usually don't mind running in the rain - I just don't want to catch a cold this close to the race.
Tuesday I woke up early, as I had an early morning chiropractic appointment. The rain was still falling steadily so I decide against taking my bike, which had been my plan. I arrive at the chiropractor right on time for my appointment. The receptionist looks at me as I walk in and tells me my appointment is on Thursday. I just start laughing. Dang it!! I am such a creature of habit - I knew I had an appointment this week and since my appointments are usually on Tuesday I assumed this appointment was also on Tuesday. Whoops! This is so unlike me. By the time I get to work the rain has pretty much subsided but my bike is at home so instead I go to the gym after work where I discover I have left my shirt at home. Fortunately I have a backup gym shirt! Woohoo!! I do a modified brick in that I do the stationary bike and then the treadmill. Which means I will be doing a real brick on Thursday, come rain or come shine. Hey, isn't that a song?
Considering the direction this week has taken, I am thinking I probably won't participate in the kickball tournament at tomorrow's work picnic, just to be on the safe side.
Okay so I re-read my post and it was a lot funnier in my mind when I was composing it. But hopefully you see the humor!
Monday was fairly uneventful, with the exception of the rain that started pouring while I was out running. I usually don't mind running in the rain - I just don't want to catch a cold this close to the race.
Tuesday I woke up early, as I had an early morning chiropractic appointment. The rain was still falling steadily so I decide against taking my bike, which had been my plan. I arrive at the chiropractor right on time for my appointment. The receptionist looks at me as I walk in and tells me my appointment is on Thursday. I just start laughing. Dang it!! I am such a creature of habit - I knew I had an appointment this week and since my appointments are usually on Tuesday I assumed this appointment was also on Tuesday. Whoops! This is so unlike me. By the time I get to work the rain has pretty much subsided but my bike is at home so instead I go to the gym after work where I discover I have left my shirt at home. Fortunately I have a backup gym shirt! Woohoo!! I do a modified brick in that I do the stationary bike and then the treadmill. Which means I will be doing a real brick on Thursday, come rain or come shine. Hey, isn't that a song?
Considering the direction this week has taken, I am thinking I probably won't participate in the kickball tournament at tomorrow's work picnic, just to be on the safe side.
Okay so I re-read my post and it was a lot funnier in my mind when I was composing it. But hopefully you see the humor!
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Weekend Magic
Hi-ho! Hi-ho! It's off to Disneyworld we go! Way back in May, it seemed a good idea, since I was planning to go back in October, to buy a annual pass to Disneyworld. And because I had an annual pass, any excuse to go would do! The excuse this time? I have an annual pass, there was a sale on hotels, and I would need to make a trip by the end of the year to ensure I keep my silver elite status on Continental. It didn't take much rationalization on my part!
Jana & I met up at the Orlando airport and were soon off to our hotel. This time we were staying
at Pop Century. We arrived at the hotel, dodged the rain drops and checked in. Before heading to our room we made our first purchase, a Mickey poncho which turned out to be the best $6.10 I spent this trip! :) We got to our hotel, changed and were off to Hollywood Studios to catch Fantasmic, as this was the only night it was showing while we were there. We were greeted at Hollywood with the news the 9 p.m. show of Fantasmic was cancelled. As the rain had pretty much stopped, we decided to chance it and stay, assuming the 10:30 p.m. show would not be cancelled. We had dinner and did a bit of shopping and before we knew it, it was time for Fantasmic, which was as usual, Fanstasmic!! It is probably one of my absolute favorite things to watch at Disney.
Hollywood had extra early magic hours so we set the alarm and managed to make it there to enjoy some time before the park opened. We didn't manage to make it on Rockin' Rollercoaster as we decided to use our fast pass on Toy Story Midway and the regular line was just
a little too long for our liking. But it helped knowing we would be back in October (so we can run in the Tower of Terror race). We finished up at Hollywood and set off for Magic Kingdom!! We arrived at Magic Kingdom in time for it to start raining - perfect time for lunch! We had lunch at Tony's restaurant (Italian - are you surprised?) and lingered over dessert as it was still pouring. Finally we finished, put on our ponchos and headed out into the rain. The scariest ride of the day turned out to be the Jungle Cruise - it was dark when we went on it and a little frog jumped into the boat and onto Jana. It probably wouldn't have been such a surprise had it not been so dark. The best ride of the day turned out to be Dumbo - we got on just as they were doing the fireworks and so we were flying while watching the fireworks go off - it was really spectacular! Magic Kingdom had extra evening magic hours and while we didn't make it until 2 a.m. we did get close.
Extra magic hours in the morning
and evening makes for an extremely long day! It seemed as if my head had just touched the pillow when it was time to wake up. Off to Animal Kingdom! There were a ton of giraffes and rhinos on the safari ride!! After hitting the highlights (for us), we headed over to Epcot to visit Nemo, hang glide in Soarin' and tour the world. The previous day was catching up to us, along with the heat, so we decided to make it an early night.
We finished up the trip by exploring Downtown Disney until it was time to go home. See ya real soon!
Jana & I met up at the Orlando airport and were soon off to our hotel. This time we were staying
at Pop Century. We arrived at the hotel, dodged the rain drops and checked in. Before heading to our room we made our first purchase, a Mickey poncho which turned out to be the best $6.10 I spent this trip! :) We got to our hotel, changed and were off to Hollywood Studios to catch Fantasmic, as this was the only night it was showing while we were there. We were greeted at Hollywood with the news the 9 p.m. show of Fantasmic was cancelled. As the rain had pretty much stopped, we decided to chance it and stay, assuming the 10:30 p.m. show would not be cancelled. We had dinner and did a bit of shopping and before we knew it, it was time for Fantasmic, which was as usual, Fanstasmic!! It is probably one of my absolute favorite things to watch at Disney.Hollywood had extra early magic hours so we set the alarm and managed to make it there to enjoy some time before the park opened. We didn't manage to make it on Rockin' Rollercoaster as we decided to use our fast pass on Toy Story Midway and the regular line was just
a little too long for our liking. But it helped knowing we would be back in October (so we can run in the Tower of Terror race). We finished up at Hollywood and set off for Magic Kingdom!! We arrived at Magic Kingdom in time for it to start raining - perfect time for lunch! We had lunch at Tony's restaurant (Italian - are you surprised?) and lingered over dessert as it was still pouring. Finally we finished, put on our ponchos and headed out into the rain. The scariest ride of the day turned out to be the Jungle Cruise - it was dark when we went on it and a little frog jumped into the boat and onto Jana. It probably wouldn't have been such a surprise had it not been so dark. The best ride of the day turned out to be Dumbo - we got on just as they were doing the fireworks and so we were flying while watching the fireworks go off - it was really spectacular! Magic Kingdom had extra evening magic hours and while we didn't make it until 2 a.m. we did get close.Extra magic hours in the morning
and evening makes for an extremely long day! It seemed as if my head had just touched the pillow when it was time to wake up. Off to Animal Kingdom! There were a ton of giraffes and rhinos on the safari ride!! After hitting the highlights (for us), we headed over to Epcot to visit Nemo, hang glide in Soarin' and tour the world. The previous day was catching up to us, along with the heat, so we decided to make it an early night.We finished up the trip by exploring Downtown Disney until it was time to go home. See ya real soon!
Friday, August 07, 2009
Five Senses Friday
I think we're up to #4!
Seeing:
* A brand new stoplight at the intersection near my house. I can now go this way to work and not worry about whether or not I will ever be able to turn left!
Hearing:
* "it's a small world after all" which is still stuck in my head after being back from WDW a few days now, also stuck in my head "The Monkey's Uncle", another Disney song
Smelling:
* I'm trying a new lotion - plum. It has an interesting scent, but I think I like it.
Tasting:
* Hot chocolate - the air conditioning at work finally caught up with the weather only for the weather to turn cool.
Feeling:
* The heat wave was good for at least one thing - Lake Washington wasn't quite as cold this morning when I went for a swim!
* I will be feeling relaxed after my massage tomorrow!!
Seeing:
* A brand new stoplight at the intersection near my house. I can now go this way to work and not worry about whether or not I will ever be able to turn left!
Hearing:
* "it's a small world after all" which is still stuck in my head after being back from WDW a few days now, also stuck in my head "The Monkey's Uncle", another Disney song
Smelling:
* I'm trying a new lotion - plum. It has an interesting scent, but I think I like it.
Tasting:
* Hot chocolate - the air conditioning at work finally caught up with the weather only for the weather to turn cool.
Feeling:
* The heat wave was good for at least one thing - Lake Washington wasn't quite as cold this morning when I went for a swim!
* I will be feeling relaxed after my massage tomorrow!!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Five Senses Wednesday
The theme for this week is, wait for it, "heat wave". I'm early this week as I'm leaving tomorrow for Disneyworld!! Have I mentioned how much I heart Disney? :)
Seeing:
* You know, I had a good one for this all picked out and now I got nothing. I blame the heat.
Hearing:
* The soothing sounds of a multitude of fans, every where I go, except when I'm at the store wanting to buy another fan and then they are nowhere to be found.
Smelling:
* Stale, muggy air
Tasting:
* My new favorite restaurant - Tutta Bella. The pizza was yummy and the gelato was so good. I tried the blueberry and lemon - the blueberry was super, the lemon was good as well, if a little on the tart side.
Feeling:
* Very hot - my cube at work is right near the window and the shades do not offer much protection from the heat. And then I get home and my house is hot as well.
* Anticipation for my weekend jaunt to Disneyworld!
* The impact of the first jet of cold at my very first spray tan - my sister is getting married in a few weeks and I thought what better occasion for me to try out a spray tan!
Seeing:
* You know, I had a good one for this all picked out and now I got nothing. I blame the heat.
Hearing:
* The soothing sounds of a multitude of fans, every where I go, except when I'm at the store wanting to buy another fan and then they are nowhere to be found.
Smelling:
* Stale, muggy air
Tasting:
* My new favorite restaurant - Tutta Bella. The pizza was yummy and the gelato was so good. I tried the blueberry and lemon - the blueberry was super, the lemon was good as well, if a little on the tart side.
Feeling:
* Very hot - my cube at work is right near the window and the shades do not offer much protection from the heat. And then I get home and my house is hot as well.
* Anticipation for my weekend jaunt to Disneyworld!
* The impact of the first jet of cold at my very first spray tan - my sister is getting married in a few weeks and I thought what better occasion for me to try out a spray tan!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Five Senses Friday No. 2
Let's see how long I can keep up with this! I like it because it's a creative way of thinking about your week. Although this one will have a lot of references to training as my race is in three weeks!! Yikes!
Seeing:
* The sun slowly setting as I race to get through my first brick of this training session. I make it and then I am treated to a fantastic sunset on my way home.
* Fishes!! This was a week of firsts - first brick and first lake swim.
Hearing:
* Chatter everywhere about the coming "heat wave". It is supposed to be 95+ in Seattle starting on Sunday. It is a favorite topic of discussion at the moment.
Smelling:
* Hm, nothing really comes to mind for smelling.
Tasting:
* Ice cream sandwiches!! It was ice cream treat day at work and boy was it yummy!
* Jamaican Jerk Chicken Pizza from CPK - I gave in to temptation.
Feeling:
* The cold water as I tiptoe into Lake Washington for my first lake swim, along with the slight ebb and flow of the waves.
Seeing:
* The sun slowly setting as I race to get through my first brick of this training session. I make it and then I am treated to a fantastic sunset on my way home.
* Fishes!! This was a week of firsts - first brick and first lake swim.
Hearing:
* Chatter everywhere about the coming "heat wave". It is supposed to be 95+ in Seattle starting on Sunday. It is a favorite topic of discussion at the moment.
Smelling:
* Hm, nothing really comes to mind for smelling.
Tasting:
* Ice cream sandwiches!! It was ice cream treat day at work and boy was it yummy!
* Jamaican Jerk Chicken Pizza from CPK - I gave in to temptation.
Feeling:
* The cold water as I tiptoe into Lake Washington for my first lake swim, along with the slight ebb and flow of the waves.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Five Senses Friday (on Sunday)
I saw this on Mandi's blog and it looked like fun, but as usual I'm a little late.
Seeing:
* lots and lots of cameras as I'm trying to narrow down the many choices out there
* fluffy white clouds against a beautiful blue sky
Hearing:
* not a lot - it is summer time so the office is really quiet as people are using their vacation
Smelling:
* ew! skunk cabbage or something like it on my bike ride this morning
Tasting:
* smoothies
Feeling:
* the cool side of the pillow as it has been on the "hot" side (for Seattle anyway)
* the air from my new fan (also to help combat the temperature)
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Today's Date
So today is July 8, 2009 or 7/8/09 as in why was 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 ate 9!! That has amused me all day, especially when I've written out the date, which I've had to do a bit today.
Here's a new joke (or new to me):
What did the grape say when he got stepped on by the pig?
Nothing, he just let out a little wine!
It doesn't take much to amuse me! :)
Here's a new joke (or new to me):
What did the grape say when he got stepped on by the pig?
Nothing, he just let out a little wine!
It doesn't take much to amuse me! :)
Saturday, July 04, 2009
15 Books in 15 Minutes
When I first saw this meme on Mandi's blog I thought no problem, I can do this. Fifteen minutes came and went without a complete list. But I did finally come up with fifteen books. And what does my list tell me? I probably need to visit my library a bit more. After I started working I began reading, almost exclusively, what my mom would call "trash" books but what I call fluff books - purely for entertainment and books that don't make me think too hard, which means they usually don’t leave much of an impression.
Instructions: Don’t take too long to think about it. List 15 books you’ve read that will always stick with you — the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Copy the instructions into your own note, and be sure to tag the person who tagged you.
1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." I was hooked from the beginning.
2. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - the intricacies of the revenge plot were so masterful.
3. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - Oh fiddle dee dee! I was fascinated in the beginning with the description of the dresses and the plantation and soon was absorbed into the story.
4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - This is probably my least favorite book but my dislike has stuck with me (20+ years later) so it made the list. What really stuck out in my head was the fact someone interrupted the wedding. I probably should re-read this now to see if my opinion is still the same but I shudder anytime I think about reading it again. It's like broccoli - my tastes have changed but every time I even think of trying broccoli, I'm immediately transformed into a kid at the dinner table being forced to eat it.
5. Persuasion by Jane Austen - my favorite Jane Austen book by far. I am a sucker for unrequited love stories.
6. Exodus by Leon Uris - an amazing book, interweaving several stories against the backdrop of the birth of the modern Israel.
7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Scout was the coolest.
8. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - the red hair, Anne spelled with an "e" (which is my middle name), Gilbert - such a great story. Prince Edward Island is on my places to visit list because of this book.
9. Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne - this is for both the actual book as well as the Disney read-along version which I wore out as I child. I love Winnie the Pooh!
10. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White - the first chapter book I ever read.
11. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - a great mystery set on a train with a satisfying ending. It was a thrill for me when I was in Istanbul to eat dinner at the hotel where the actual Orient Express would stop on its journey.
12. The Babysitter's Club #3 The Truth about Stacey by Ann M. Martin - so when I first saw the title of this book I thought it said The Babysitter's Clue and I was super excited to read it because I thought I had found a new mystery series to read. But no, instead I found the tales of Kristy, Mary Anne, Stacey & Claudia which I devoured. I would save my own babysitting money to buy these books. I had quite a collection until one day I sold it at a garage sale.
13. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - a simply magical story.
14. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne - I never actually read this book. I read a lot as a kid and my mom began making me read a "good" book before I could read Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley Twins (later Sweet Valley High), Trixie Beldon, or the Babysitter's Club. I was in a rebellious mood when she gave me this one to read and decided only to read the end of this book (sorry Mom!!) so I could hurry up and read something else. Whew, I feel better having gotten that off my chest. Confession is good for the soul!
15. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen - Elizabeth & Mr. Darcy, what more can I say? I have read this book many times and still get so caught up in the story.
And there you have it! What's on your list?
Instructions: Don’t take too long to think about it. List 15 books you’ve read that will always stick with you — the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Copy the instructions into your own note, and be sure to tag the person who tagged you.
1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." I was hooked from the beginning.
2. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - the intricacies of the revenge plot were so masterful.
3. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - Oh fiddle dee dee! I was fascinated in the beginning with the description of the dresses and the plantation and soon was absorbed into the story.
4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - This is probably my least favorite book but my dislike has stuck with me (20+ years later) so it made the list. What really stuck out in my head was the fact someone interrupted the wedding. I probably should re-read this now to see if my opinion is still the same but I shudder anytime I think about reading it again. It's like broccoli - my tastes have changed but every time I even think of trying broccoli, I'm immediately transformed into a kid at the dinner table being forced to eat it.
5. Persuasion by Jane Austen - my favorite Jane Austen book by far. I am a sucker for unrequited love stories.
6. Exodus by Leon Uris - an amazing book, interweaving several stories against the backdrop of the birth of the modern Israel.
7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Scout was the coolest.
8. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - the red hair, Anne spelled with an "e" (which is my middle name), Gilbert - such a great story. Prince Edward Island is on my places to visit list because of this book.
9. Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne - this is for both the actual book as well as the Disney read-along version which I wore out as I child. I love Winnie the Pooh!
10. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White - the first chapter book I ever read.
11. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - a great mystery set on a train with a satisfying ending. It was a thrill for me when I was in Istanbul to eat dinner at the hotel where the actual Orient Express would stop on its journey.
12. The Babysitter's Club #3 The Truth about Stacey by Ann M. Martin - so when I first saw the title of this book I thought it said The Babysitter's Clue and I was super excited to read it because I thought I had found a new mystery series to read. But no, instead I found the tales of Kristy, Mary Anne, Stacey & Claudia which I devoured. I would save my own babysitting money to buy these books. I had quite a collection until one day I sold it at a garage sale.
13. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - a simply magical story.
14. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne - I never actually read this book. I read a lot as a kid and my mom began making me read a "good" book before I could read Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley Twins (later Sweet Valley High), Trixie Beldon, or the Babysitter's Club. I was in a rebellious mood when she gave me this one to read and decided only to read the end of this book (sorry Mom!!) so I could hurry up and read something else. Whew, I feel better having gotten that off my chest. Confession is good for the soul!
15. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen - Elizabeth & Mr. Darcy, what more can I say? I have read this book many times and still get so caught up in the story.
And there you have it! What's on your list?
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
One of those days
Ever have one of those days? What exactly does that mean anyway? Ever have a frustrating day and you are on your way to yoga to work out your frustrations when you get stuck in the garage at work? So really, it was more annoying than anything and it could have been much worse. The garage door would only go about halfway up before stopping and coming back down. I made a new friend though - she was stuck as well and she and I tried what we could to get the door to come up but nothing worked. Finally security showed up and fixed the door but it was too late for yoga so instead I went home. And that ends my day. Wonder what tomorrow will have in store?
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Adventures in Training
I haven't been keeping up with my training as in my mind I still have several months, while in reality time is passing by quickly!! I went for a bike ride this morning and took a curve a little too fast. Halfway around I knew I was going to fall and tried to catch myself. It didn't work and I ended up in the bushes. Yes, I was fortunate enough to fall into the tall grass that grows along the river. I tried to jump up as quickly as possible to assure anyone who saw my tumble that I was fine! I never jumped up so fast! A runner was behind me and came over to make sure I was okay. All I could do was laugh.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Greece
It's only been a month since my trip - but finally here is my trip report!
Greece!! To this day, I'm still not sure how we happened to choose Greece, but we did. The "we" in this trip is myself, Jessica and Nilufer (who will probably be referred to as Nilly), friends of mine from work. Also on the trip was Cedric, a little traveling gnome our boss had given us to take along on our travels. The flight to London was fairly uneventful until baggage claim. Because of the flight times, we had decided to spend the night in London before heading to Greece early the next morning. At baggage claim Jessica's bag emerged followed closely
by mine and what looked like Nilly's bag but it wasn't. As it turned out, Nilly's bag was back in Seattle. After checking into the hotel, we spent our first moments in London shopping so Nilly could at least have a few things as the airline wasn't sure at this point when she would be reunited with her luggage. From there we made our way over to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge to at least see the famous monuments. And then it was off to Buckingham Palace, where we discovered Cedric was not very photogenic. We walked over to see Big Ben before meeting another co-worker who was at the tail end of her trip. We had tickets for the London Eye, unfortunately the weather was cloudy, but it was still fun to fly high above the city and admire the sights. Dinner was Italian (big surprise, right?) and then we said our goodbyes and headed to our respective hotels.
Three hours later (more or less) we were waking up to catch our extremely early flight to Athens. I have no recollection of this flight - I was sound asleep. Jessica & I got our luggage and so did Nilly! Her luggage had caught up with us in Athens. We checked in for our next flight and hung out in the Athens airport until our flight was called. We landed in Santorini and had an extremely
interesting cab ride to our hotel. The cab was going fast on these small, narrow, winding roads and I think he sped up when he saw our white knuckles holding on for dear life. We checked into the hotel and then dragged our luggage down a steep hill to our cave room. It was a nice big room with a beautiful terrace. After dropping everything off and freshening up we headed out to explore. We walked down to the town of Fira and explored the narrow streets, stopping for gelato. Yum! After exploring a bit more and watching the sun begin to sink in the sky, we found a restaurant for dinner where I had moussaka. We then began the long climb up to our hotel. These stairs were brutal, especially in the dark! It was at this point my goal for the entire trip became not to trip and fall.
The next morning dawned bright & early as there were no shades on the windows. Surprisingly, for me, I was able to ignore the sun and slept a little bit longer. We finally got up and switched on the hot water heater and waited the requisite 15 minutes for the water to heat up before beginning the round of showers. Finally we
were all ready to start our day. After breakfast at the hotel, we stopped at a travel agency for information on a boat tour out to the volcano for the next day. We ended up deciding to join a bus tour starting shortly, plus the boat tour. We hurried down the hill and through the narrow, twisting roads to catch the bus. Whew! The tour was neat - it took us up into the mountains and down to the beach. Lunch was not the best but as it was the only restaurant around we didn't have much of a choice. After lunch we went down to the beach to relax a bit before getting back on the bus. We finished up the tour at a winery. After the bus dropped us off in Fira, we explored down the narrow streets, popping in and out of shops that caught our eye. Dinner was Italian, at a restaurant most of the way up the hill so we didn't have too far to walk back to our hotel.
Volcano day!! I had really been looking forward to seeing the volcano! We took a bus along a very narrow, winding, steep road to the new port where we boarded our boat which took us to the volcano. We climbed and climbed and climbed and finally made it to the top of the volcano, enjo
ying the view and catching our breath before starting the trek back to the boat. From there we went to another island where we had an opportunity to swim to the hot springs. I am not a good jumper into cold water which is basically what I had to do! I hung on the ladder for as long as I could before plunging into the freezing cold water! It wasn't too far of a swim to the hot springs, which were actually more like lukewarm springs. I smeared a little bit of mud on my arms as it was supposed to be therapeutic. The boat stopped for lunch at the island of Thirisia, where you could climb up the cliff to the town at the top, or you could eat lunch at the restaurants at the bottom. We chose not to climb. It was then over to Oia where we could watch the spectacular sunset. This time we had no option but to climb up the stairs. Well, we did have an option to ride a donkey most of the way up which I wasn't too keen on, but Jessica was, however she decided to trek up the stairs with me & Nilly. Those stairs were super steep and seemed never-ending but finally we made it to the top! After that we definitely deserved some gelato! We wandered around until we realized it was about sunset time and hurried over to the end of the island where we basically just missed the sunset, or maybe we didn't and it just wasn't that spectacular. I'm not sure which. We still had time before the bus would drop us back in Fira and as we were tired and hungry we decided to take a cab back to our hotel. We got crepes from a store not far from our hotel and took them back to our room to eat while watching X-Men.
Our last day in Santorini! We thought about waking up early and going to the beach, since we never made it but decided not to wake up early and just to walk down to Fira, after a breakfast of crepes from the place where we had got them the night before! Those crepes were good!
Before we knew it, it was time to catch the ferry over to Naxos. We arrived in Naxos and took a taxi to the hotel, which was actually not the main hotel, but another building down the road. The taxi driver let the hotel know we were there and someone from the hotel drove over to check us in. It was an interesting room, in an interesting part of town. I wasn't sure what to expect. After claiming beds and freshening up, we headed out to explore a bit. We walked over to a travel agency to see about booking a bus tour only to find out there were no seats available. We contemplated what to do, including taking a ferry over to Mykonos, while we walked over to the Portara. There we met a couple from San Francisco on their honeymoon, who convinced us to rent a car and drive around the island. I have never before rented a car in a foreign country, usually because I don't want the hassle of driving or navigating in a foreign country. In the end, they made it seem easy so we decided that's what we could do the next day. We wandered around, getting somewhat lost in the process, before finally making our way into the center of town. At the hotel, they had told us about a good Italian restaurant which we finally found. And boy was it worth it!! The owner (or who we assumed was the owner as it was her life story on the menu and her name was Susanna and the name of the restaurant was also Susanna) was really nice and the food was delicious!! And get this - I had spaghetti carbonara, not margherita pizza! After dinner we walked back down to the center to get gelato before trying to find our way back to the hotel.
Rental car day!! We walked along the waterfront to a restaurant that had been mentioned in our guidebook for breakfast. It was then time to begin our car rental adventure. We decided to ask and see if they had an automatic as Jessica & both had driven sticks before and probably could again, but if there was an automatic available we would take it to cut down on the stress! The
first place didn't but he called around and found a nearby car rental place that did. We could have two drivers on the car and I was not allowed to be a driver as I was to be the navigator. I'm not sure if I should feel insulted by this or take it as a compliment! :) The route the clerk at the car rental place suggested was very similar to the bus tour. We stopped at the gas station to fill up and the attendant gassed up the car and we were off. Our first official stop was the Temple of Demeter, located along some back roads. We tried to find a Venetian tower next and I think we drove by it twice but couldn't find a good place to park. This would be a theme for the day. Any tower or castle we were not able to find. Next we stopped at the town of Halki or Chalki, depending on which map you are looking at. We walked out to see a church, visited the Kitron distillery (made from citron, a fruit similar to a lemon) and looked around the town before continuing on. Up and up the narrow winding roads we drove to Apiranthos, the “marble village” where we had lunch and were entertained by a couple of kids playing, and one kid pouting. Nilufer took over driving duties after lunch and drove us to our next stop, Panayia Drosiani, a tiny little church. Our next stop was to see an unfinished statue. We saw the first one and decided to hike up to see the next one. It ended up being a little farther than we anticipated! On the “you are here” map it indicated the remains of an aqueduct were nearby. We searched high and low for the aqueduct but as it would be getting dark soon we decided to give up and walked back to the car and headed back to town. Not too far down the road we saw a sign for the aqueduct! Woohoo!! We found it, or at least part of it. We pulled over and saw a section of the aqueduct. After that we drove back to town and dropped off the rental car. We explored the old town of Naxos before going to Susanna’s for dinner. I was back to my old staple, margherita pizza. It was really good!
On to Athens! Someone from the hotel drove us to the port where we caught the ferry to Athens. A mere 6 hours later we arrived at Pireaus. To say the taxi line was chaotic would be a gross understatement. Trying to find the end of the line proved difficult and when the driver from the first taxi in line came up to us, I figured he was legit and we climbed into the cab. One of the warnings of Athens was the potential to be ripped off by cab drivers. Knowing this, I should have asked what the price was prior to getting into the cab, but being in the actual taxi line, I figured we’d be okay. The cab driver seemed friendly enough and charged us €20, explaining there was a €5 surcharge from the port. I had read in both my book and Jessica’s book that the surcharge from the port was only €1 and so I argued and asked the hotel clerk how much the fare should be and he said €15 -17. Now the thing of it is, had he not said there was a €5 surcharge I would have paid the €20 without even thinking about it. We settled on €17 and he drove off. This was so not an Emily thing to do, but it was the principle of the matter.
With that settled we checked into the hotel and then headed out to start
exploring Athens. Our first stop was the Temple of the Olympian Zeus. When I was in middle school/high school, I was intrigued by Greek mythology and read all about Zeus, Hera, Athena and the rest so I was really excited to be in Athens. From there we walked along the promenade around the Acropolis before heading into Plaka to have dinner. After dinner we wandered around a bit more before making our way back to the hotel. At first glance, Athens reminded me of Rome. Or should I say Rome reminded me of Athens as before all roads led to Rome, I’m sure a number of them led to Athens.
Even though we had successfully driven around Naxos, we weren’t sure if we wanted to do it in Athens and instead signed up for a tour out to Delphi. This was another thing I had really wanted to do because the Oracle at Delphi featured in so many of the myths. It was about 3 hours to
Delphi and our tour guide regaled us with stories of history and mythology such as Delphi was considered to be the center of the earth (or the naval) because Zeus had sent 2 eagles to the opposite ends of the earth and they met in Delphi. The guide took us up to the Temple of Apollo where the people would come to ask the oracle questions. After explaining more about the oracle, she let us explore on our own and we walked up to the theater and then to the stadium before meeting back up with the guide to go through the museum. The bus then took us to lunch. Lunch was not very good. We had hopes for dessert though, until they passed around a basket of dirty, moldy fruit. No thank you. The journey back to Athens took forever – there was construction and an accident and traffic in general but finally we arrived back in Athens. They dropped us off at a hotel near Syntagma Square. We asked for dinner recommendations and ended up at Cibus, an Italian restaurant with a great view up to the Acropolis.
We signed up for another tour, this one a half day to Corinth, so it was another early morning to catch the tour bus. Our first stop was at the Corinth canal which cuts through the Isthmus of
Corinth. It is really cool to see! The next stop was ancient Corinth where we explored the ruins and saw where St. Paul preached to the Corinthians. We once again ran into traffic on the way back, but finally arrived back in Athens. I had printed off Rick’s “Welcome to Athens” walk so we decided to follow it, hoping to find a spot to have lunch on the way. There hasn’t been much mention of Rick so far and that is because his Athens book didn’t come out until after I got back. The walk started off in Syntagma Square, right in front of the Parliament building and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. From there we strolled down a pedestrian street, stopping to have lunch at a noodle bar and doing a bit of shopping. We continued along the walk, missing one monument which threw us off track but finally after taking a roundabout way we caught back up with the tour. Along the way Jessica became fascinated with the graffiti and it became a mission to find the coolest graffiti on our walk. Our walk finished in Monastiraki Square. We were beginning to become familiar with this area. We had dinner at a pizzeria in Plaka, unfortunately it was not very good.
Ruins, ruins and more ruins! Today was the day for ruins - the Acropolis, the Agora, etc. We were going to be on ruin overload by the end of today. But first, before heading to the Acropolis,
we found the missing monument from our walk the day before. From there we hiked up stairs and hills and more stairs, passing by the Theater of Dionysus and other ruins before reaching the top, the Acropolis! The Parthenon was amazing! And to think it is still standing after all these years. I attempted to take a picture of Cedric, however couldn’t quite get a good angle and got close to the ruins. An attendant came up to me and said to delete the picture, which I did, thinking it was because I had gotten too close. So we tried again, holding Cedric in the air but again the attendant came over and we finally realized it was Cedric himself they didn’t want a picture of with the ruins. I wish they had posted the rules somewhere because I am generally a rule follower, if I know the rules. We continued exploring the Acropolis before making our way over to Mars Hill, where St. Paul preached to the Athenians. There were two options to get to the top of Mars Hill, the steps cut into the hill, or the metal staircase. Knowing my penchant for tripping, I took the metal staircase option. From there we walked down to the agora and admired the Temple of Hephaestus. We were on our way to lunch when the unthinkable happened – I broke my camera! Fortunately, it was the second to last day and we had just finished up with the Acropolis. We went to lunch where I pouted a bit about my camera. Although I have been wanting to buy a new camera and now I have no excuse not to buy a new one! So really, it was a good thing. After lunch we headed to the Roman agora and Nilly lent me her camera as she wasn’t much of a picture taker. Jessica had wanted to see Omonia Square so we started walking towards it, coming across a cheap jewelry store (think Claire’s) and of course had to stop. We continued on to Omonia Square, this time passing by a riot squad in full riot gear which we walked rather quickly by. We arrived at the square, looked around, and headed back to Plaka. None of us was really hungry so we decided to get a couple of appetizers to share. Our couple of appetizers turned out to be a lot of food! And so much for us not being that hungry, as we made quite a dent into all the food.
Our last day in Athens! Jessica had suggested waffles for breakfast so we headed out, only to find out the restaurant didn’t open until a little later so we continued on to the flea market. There were treasures to be found at the flea market, if you took the time to look. We browsed through the various stalls until we figured the restaurant was open and headed back for our waffles. Yum! It was Sunday so the streets were fairly deserted. We were walking past Parliament when we noticed guards making their way to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier so we stopped to watch
the changing of the guard. It was really interesting ceremony – the guards had very elaborate, intricate footwork. Our next stop was the top of Lycabettus Hill so we went in search of the funicular. I thought we were doing okay when we reached a fork in the road and as we paused to check the map a lady walking by who asked if we were going to the funicular. She motioned for us to follow her, which we did, and thank goodness for that because she led us, turning down a couple of different streets, to the funicular. We never would have found it on our own! The funicular took us up to the top, where we admired the view of Athens before heading back down. We decided to visit the Panathenaic Stadium, which was used for the “first” Olympic Games in 1896 and the Olympic Games in 2004, plus for the Panathenaic Games in ancient times. We started towards the stadium when we came across a street that looked familiar to Jessica. She and Nilly had wanted to see the Running Man statue but since we had no idea where it was (they had seen it from the bus on one of our tours) we didn’t think we would see it until we came across the familiar road so we detoured to find the Running Man statue. It was pretty cool – made up of stacked glass. The detour didn’t last long and we were at the stadium, which was really neat. The stadium is made of marble. We walked back to Plaka, stopping by the Temple of Olympian Zeus one last time. Coming out of the Temple I tripped on a rock and stumbled for probably a good 5 to 10 feet before finally catching myself. I didn’t fall, but I came so close. It seemed as if I was in slow motion. Well, at least I didn’t fall! We spent the rest of the evening as we had most of our evenings in Athens, strolling around Plaka. On our way back to the hotel, Nilufer and I got the giggles and Jessica was embarrassed to be seen with us.
We woke up early the next morning to go to the airport, ending our trip to Greece.
For more pictures, click here.
Greece!! To this day, I'm still not sure how we happened to choose Greece, but we did. The "we" in this trip is myself, Jessica and Nilufer (who will probably be referred to as Nilly), friends of mine from work. Also on the trip was Cedric, a little traveling gnome our boss had given us to take along on our travels. The flight to London was fairly uneventful until baggage claim. Because of the flight times, we had decided to spend the night in London before heading to Greece early the next morning. At baggage claim Jessica's bag emerged followed closely
by mine and what looked like Nilly's bag but it wasn't. As it turned out, Nilly's bag was back in Seattle. After checking into the hotel, we spent our first moments in London shopping so Nilly could at least have a few things as the airline wasn't sure at this point when she would be reunited with her luggage. From there we made our way over to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge to at least see the famous monuments. And then it was off to Buckingham Palace, where we discovered Cedric was not very photogenic. We walked over to see Big Ben before meeting another co-worker who was at the tail end of her trip. We had tickets for the London Eye, unfortunately the weather was cloudy, but it was still fun to fly high above the city and admire the sights. Dinner was Italian (big surprise, right?) and then we said our goodbyes and headed to our respective hotels.Three hours later (more or less) we were waking up to catch our extremely early flight to Athens. I have no recollection of this flight - I was sound asleep. Jessica & I got our luggage and so did Nilly! Her luggage had caught up with us in Athens. We checked in for our next flight and hung out in the Athens airport until our flight was called. We landed in Santorini and had an extremely
interesting cab ride to our hotel. The cab was going fast on these small, narrow, winding roads and I think he sped up when he saw our white knuckles holding on for dear life. We checked into the hotel and then dragged our luggage down a steep hill to our cave room. It was a nice big room with a beautiful terrace. After dropping everything off and freshening up we headed out to explore. We walked down to the town of Fira and explored the narrow streets, stopping for gelato. Yum! After exploring a bit more and watching the sun begin to sink in the sky, we found a restaurant for dinner where I had moussaka. We then began the long climb up to our hotel. These stairs were brutal, especially in the dark! It was at this point my goal for the entire trip became not to trip and fall.The next morning dawned bright & early as there were no shades on the windows. Surprisingly, for me, I was able to ignore the sun and slept a little bit longer. We finally got up and switched on the hot water heater and waited the requisite 15 minutes for the water to heat up before beginning the round of showers. Finally we
were all ready to start our day. After breakfast at the hotel, we stopped at a travel agency for information on a boat tour out to the volcano for the next day. We ended up deciding to join a bus tour starting shortly, plus the boat tour. We hurried down the hill and through the narrow, twisting roads to catch the bus. Whew! The tour was neat - it took us up into the mountains and down to the beach. Lunch was not the best but as it was the only restaurant around we didn't have much of a choice. After lunch we went down to the beach to relax a bit before getting back on the bus. We finished up the tour at a winery. After the bus dropped us off in Fira, we explored down the narrow streets, popping in and out of shops that caught our eye. Dinner was Italian, at a restaurant most of the way up the hill so we didn't have too far to walk back to our hotel.Volcano day!! I had really been looking forward to seeing the volcano! We took a bus along a very narrow, winding, steep road to the new port where we boarded our boat which took us to the volcano. We climbed and climbed and climbed and finally made it to the top of the volcano, enjo
ying the view and catching our breath before starting the trek back to the boat. From there we went to another island where we had an opportunity to swim to the hot springs. I am not a good jumper into cold water which is basically what I had to do! I hung on the ladder for as long as I could before plunging into the freezing cold water! It wasn't too far of a swim to the hot springs, which were actually more like lukewarm springs. I smeared a little bit of mud on my arms as it was supposed to be therapeutic. The boat stopped for lunch at the island of Thirisia, where you could climb up the cliff to the town at the top, or you could eat lunch at the restaurants at the bottom. We chose not to climb. It was then over to Oia where we could watch the spectacular sunset. This time we had no option but to climb up the stairs. Well, we did have an option to ride a donkey most of the way up which I wasn't too keen on, but Jessica was, however she decided to trek up the stairs with me & Nilly. Those stairs were super steep and seemed never-ending but finally we made it to the top! After that we definitely deserved some gelato! We wandered around until we realized it was about sunset time and hurried over to the end of the island where we basically just missed the sunset, or maybe we didn't and it just wasn't that spectacular. I'm not sure which. We still had time before the bus would drop us back in Fira and as we were tired and hungry we decided to take a cab back to our hotel. We got crepes from a store not far from our hotel and took them back to our room to eat while watching X-Men.Our last day in Santorini! We thought about waking up early and going to the beach, since we never made it but decided not to wake up early and just to walk down to Fira, after a breakfast of crepes from the place where we had got them the night before! Those crepes were good!
Before we knew it, it was time to catch the ferry over to Naxos. We arrived in Naxos and took a taxi to the hotel, which was actually not the main hotel, but another building down the road. The taxi driver let the hotel know we were there and someone from the hotel drove over to check us in. It was an interesting room, in an interesting part of town. I wasn't sure what to expect. After claiming beds and freshening up, we headed out to explore a bit. We walked over to a travel agency to see about booking a bus tour only to find out there were no seats available. We contemplated what to do, including taking a ferry over to Mykonos, while we walked over to the Portara. There we met a couple from San Francisco on their honeymoon, who convinced us to rent a car and drive around the island. I have never before rented a car in a foreign country, usually because I don't want the hassle of driving or navigating in a foreign country. In the end, they made it seem easy so we decided that's what we could do the next day. We wandered around, getting somewhat lost in the process, before finally making our way into the center of town. At the hotel, they had told us about a good Italian restaurant which we finally found. And boy was it worth it!! The owner (or who we assumed was the owner as it was her life story on the menu and her name was Susanna and the name of the restaurant was also Susanna) was really nice and the food was delicious!! And get this - I had spaghetti carbonara, not margherita pizza! After dinner we walked back down to the center to get gelato before trying to find our way back to the hotel.Rental car day!! We walked along the waterfront to a restaurant that had been mentioned in our guidebook for breakfast. It was then time to begin our car rental adventure. We decided to ask and see if they had an automatic as Jessica & both had driven sticks before and probably could again, but if there was an automatic available we would take it to cut down on the stress! The
first place didn't but he called around and found a nearby car rental place that did. We could have two drivers on the car and I was not allowed to be a driver as I was to be the navigator. I'm not sure if I should feel insulted by this or take it as a compliment! :) The route the clerk at the car rental place suggested was very similar to the bus tour. We stopped at the gas station to fill up and the attendant gassed up the car and we were off. Our first official stop was the Temple of Demeter, located along some back roads. We tried to find a Venetian tower next and I think we drove by it twice but couldn't find a good place to park. This would be a theme for the day. Any tower or castle we were not able to find. Next we stopped at the town of Halki or Chalki, depending on which map you are looking at. We walked out to see a church, visited the Kitron distillery (made from citron, a fruit similar to a lemon) and looked around the town before continuing on. Up and up the narrow winding roads we drove to Apiranthos, the “marble village” where we had lunch and were entertained by a couple of kids playing, and one kid pouting. Nilufer took over driving duties after lunch and drove us to our next stop, Panayia Drosiani, a tiny little church. Our next stop was to see an unfinished statue. We saw the first one and decided to hike up to see the next one. It ended up being a little farther than we anticipated! On the “you are here” map it indicated the remains of an aqueduct were nearby. We searched high and low for the aqueduct but as it would be getting dark soon we decided to give up and walked back to the car and headed back to town. Not too far down the road we saw a sign for the aqueduct! Woohoo!! We found it, or at least part of it. We pulled over and saw a section of the aqueduct. After that we drove back to town and dropped off the rental car. We explored the old town of Naxos before going to Susanna’s for dinner. I was back to my old staple, margherita pizza. It was really good!On to Athens! Someone from the hotel drove us to the port where we caught the ferry to Athens. A mere 6 hours later we arrived at Pireaus. To say the taxi line was chaotic would be a gross understatement. Trying to find the end of the line proved difficult and when the driver from the first taxi in line came up to us, I figured he was legit and we climbed into the cab. One of the warnings of Athens was the potential to be ripped off by cab drivers. Knowing this, I should have asked what the price was prior to getting into the cab, but being in the actual taxi line, I figured we’d be okay. The cab driver seemed friendly enough and charged us €20, explaining there was a €5 surcharge from the port. I had read in both my book and Jessica’s book that the surcharge from the port was only €1 and so I argued and asked the hotel clerk how much the fare should be and he said €15 -17. Now the thing of it is, had he not said there was a €5 surcharge I would have paid the €20 without even thinking about it. We settled on €17 and he drove off. This was so not an Emily thing to do, but it was the principle of the matter.
With that settled we checked into the hotel and then headed out to start
exploring Athens. Our first stop was the Temple of the Olympian Zeus. When I was in middle school/high school, I was intrigued by Greek mythology and read all about Zeus, Hera, Athena and the rest so I was really excited to be in Athens. From there we walked along the promenade around the Acropolis before heading into Plaka to have dinner. After dinner we wandered around a bit more before making our way back to the hotel. At first glance, Athens reminded me of Rome. Or should I say Rome reminded me of Athens as before all roads led to Rome, I’m sure a number of them led to Athens.Even though we had successfully driven around Naxos, we weren’t sure if we wanted to do it in Athens and instead signed up for a tour out to Delphi. This was another thing I had really wanted to do because the Oracle at Delphi featured in so many of the myths. It was about 3 hours to
Delphi and our tour guide regaled us with stories of history and mythology such as Delphi was considered to be the center of the earth (or the naval) because Zeus had sent 2 eagles to the opposite ends of the earth and they met in Delphi. The guide took us up to the Temple of Apollo where the people would come to ask the oracle questions. After explaining more about the oracle, she let us explore on our own and we walked up to the theater and then to the stadium before meeting back up with the guide to go through the museum. The bus then took us to lunch. Lunch was not very good. We had hopes for dessert though, until they passed around a basket of dirty, moldy fruit. No thank you. The journey back to Athens took forever – there was construction and an accident and traffic in general but finally we arrived back in Athens. They dropped us off at a hotel near Syntagma Square. We asked for dinner recommendations and ended up at Cibus, an Italian restaurant with a great view up to the Acropolis.We signed up for another tour, this one a half day to Corinth, so it was another early morning to catch the tour bus. Our first stop was at the Corinth canal which cuts through the Isthmus of
Corinth. It is really cool to see! The next stop was ancient Corinth where we explored the ruins and saw where St. Paul preached to the Corinthians. We once again ran into traffic on the way back, but finally arrived back in Athens. I had printed off Rick’s “Welcome to Athens” walk so we decided to follow it, hoping to find a spot to have lunch on the way. There hasn’t been much mention of Rick so far and that is because his Athens book didn’t come out until after I got back. The walk started off in Syntagma Square, right in front of the Parliament building and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. From there we strolled down a pedestrian street, stopping to have lunch at a noodle bar and doing a bit of shopping. We continued along the walk, missing one monument which threw us off track but finally after taking a roundabout way we caught back up with the tour. Along the way Jessica became fascinated with the graffiti and it became a mission to find the coolest graffiti on our walk. Our walk finished in Monastiraki Square. We were beginning to become familiar with this area. We had dinner at a pizzeria in Plaka, unfortunately it was not very good.Ruins, ruins and more ruins! Today was the day for ruins - the Acropolis, the Agora, etc. We were going to be on ruin overload by the end of today. But first, before heading to the Acropolis,
we found the missing monument from our walk the day before. From there we hiked up stairs and hills and more stairs, passing by the Theater of Dionysus and other ruins before reaching the top, the Acropolis! The Parthenon was amazing! And to think it is still standing after all these years. I attempted to take a picture of Cedric, however couldn’t quite get a good angle and got close to the ruins. An attendant came up to me and said to delete the picture, which I did, thinking it was because I had gotten too close. So we tried again, holding Cedric in the air but again the attendant came over and we finally realized it was Cedric himself they didn’t want a picture of with the ruins. I wish they had posted the rules somewhere because I am generally a rule follower, if I know the rules. We continued exploring the Acropolis before making our way over to Mars Hill, where St. Paul preached to the Athenians. There were two options to get to the top of Mars Hill, the steps cut into the hill, or the metal staircase. Knowing my penchant for tripping, I took the metal staircase option. From there we walked down to the agora and admired the Temple of Hephaestus. We were on our way to lunch when the unthinkable happened – I broke my camera! Fortunately, it was the second to last day and we had just finished up with the Acropolis. We went to lunch where I pouted a bit about my camera. Although I have been wanting to buy a new camera and now I have no excuse not to buy a new one! So really, it was a good thing. After lunch we headed to the Roman agora and Nilly lent me her camera as she wasn’t much of a picture taker. Jessica had wanted to see Omonia Square so we started walking towards it, coming across a cheap jewelry store (think Claire’s) and of course had to stop. We continued on to Omonia Square, this time passing by a riot squad in full riot gear which we walked rather quickly by. We arrived at the square, looked around, and headed back to Plaka. None of us was really hungry so we decided to get a couple of appetizers to share. Our couple of appetizers turned out to be a lot of food! And so much for us not being that hungry, as we made quite a dent into all the food.Our last day in Athens! Jessica had suggested waffles for breakfast so we headed out, only to find out the restaurant didn’t open until a little later so we continued on to the flea market. There were treasures to be found at the flea market, if you took the time to look. We browsed through the various stalls until we figured the restaurant was open and headed back for our waffles. Yum! It was Sunday so the streets were fairly deserted. We were walking past Parliament when we noticed guards making their way to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier so we stopped to watch
the changing of the guard. It was really interesting ceremony – the guards had very elaborate, intricate footwork. Our next stop was the top of Lycabettus Hill so we went in search of the funicular. I thought we were doing okay when we reached a fork in the road and as we paused to check the map a lady walking by who asked if we were going to the funicular. She motioned for us to follow her, which we did, and thank goodness for that because she led us, turning down a couple of different streets, to the funicular. We never would have found it on our own! The funicular took us up to the top, where we admired the view of Athens before heading back down. We decided to visit the Panathenaic Stadium, which was used for the “first” Olympic Games in 1896 and the Olympic Games in 2004, plus for the Panathenaic Games in ancient times. We started towards the stadium when we came across a street that looked familiar to Jessica. She and Nilly had wanted to see the Running Man statue but since we had no idea where it was (they had seen it from the bus on one of our tours) we didn’t think we would see it until we came across the familiar road so we detoured to find the Running Man statue. It was pretty cool – made up of stacked glass. The detour didn’t last long and we were at the stadium, which was really neat. The stadium is made of marble. We walked back to Plaka, stopping by the Temple of Olympian Zeus one last time. Coming out of the Temple I tripped on a rock and stumbled for probably a good 5 to 10 feet before finally catching myself. I didn’t fall, but I came so close. It seemed as if I was in slow motion. Well, at least I didn’t fall! We spent the rest of the evening as we had most of our evenings in Athens, strolling around Plaka. On our way back to the hotel, Nilufer and I got the giggles and Jessica was embarrassed to be seen with us.We woke up early the next morning to go to the airport, ending our trip to Greece.
For more pictures, click here.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
32 Things To Do Before I Turn 33
If this list looks just a tad familiar, it should! A majority of these items were on my 31 Things list, some stayed on the list because they'll probably always be on my list and others stayed to give me another chance to cross them off the list!
1. Travel to a country I've never been to before.
2. Run (or walk) a half-marathon. Yup, it has been awhile since I've done a half-marathon so I guess it's time to try again.
3. Buy a new laptop.
4. Take a photography class.
5. Be a better correspondent (i.e. keep in better touch with my friends).
6. Try out a new recipe.
7. Start consistently doing a weight-training or strength-training program, either with a trainer or on my own.
8. Organize all my flotsam and jetsam - either to be scrapbooked or to be disposed of.
9. Visit the Olympic Sculpture Park.
10. Make it through a hot yoga class doing all the postures.
11. Travel to one new city in the US.
12. Write a chapter for my novel (which I still haven't figured out what it is about).
13. Start seriously looking at buying a house/townhome/condo.
14. Go to an athletic shoe store where they look at how you walk and recommend a type/style of shoe.
15. Run (emphasis on run) a 5K.
16. Attend a dance class (hip-hop, salsa or styling). I've been meaning to do this for awhile but haven't.
17. Take a wine-tasting class.
18. Go to an acupuncturist.
19. Go to an outdoor movie.
20. Go kayaking.
21. Go to a Husky game and go to a Sounders game.
22. Treat myself to a facial.
23. Take a couple of weekend trips (Oregon coast, Vancouver B.C., etc.)
24. Get a manicure every couple of months.
25. Organize my file cabinet. It was organized once upon a time, but since then I've gotten behind and I need to catch back up.
26. Go to trivia night. I used to do this fairly regularly but then life got in the way! Let's see if I can start up the tradition again this year.
27. Get the most out of my annual Walt Disney World pass. That's right folks, I got me an annual Disney pass this year.
28. Buy a new camera. This really has to happen now as I broke my camera in Greece!!
29. Set up an IRA.
30. Go for a hot air balloon ride.
31. Go to the podiatrist.
32. And one I'll keep to myself for now.
1. Travel to a country I've never been to before.
2. Run (or walk) a half-marathon. Yup, it has been awhile since I've done a half-marathon so I guess it's time to try again.
3. Buy a new laptop.
4. Take a photography class.
5. Be a better correspondent (i.e. keep in better touch with my friends).
6. Try out a new recipe.
7. Start consistently doing a weight-training or strength-training program, either with a trainer or on my own.
8. Organize all my flotsam and jetsam - either to be scrapbooked or to be disposed of.
9. Visit the Olympic Sculpture Park.
10. Make it through a hot yoga class doing all the postures.
11. Travel to one new city in the US.
12. Write a chapter for my novel (which I still haven't figured out what it is about).
13. Start seriously looking at buying a house/townhome/condo.
14. Go to an athletic shoe store where they look at how you walk and recommend a type/style of shoe.
15. Run (emphasis on run) a 5K.
16. Attend a dance class (hip-hop, salsa or styling). I've been meaning to do this for awhile but haven't.
17. Take a wine-tasting class.
18. Go to an acupuncturist.
19. Go to an outdoor movie.
20. Go kayaking.
21. Go to a Husky game and go to a Sounders game.
22. Treat myself to a facial.
23. Take a couple of weekend trips (Oregon coast, Vancouver B.C., etc.)
24. Get a manicure every couple of months.
25. Organize my file cabinet. It was organized once upon a time, but since then I've gotten behind and I need to catch back up.
26. Go to trivia night. I used to do this fairly regularly but then life got in the way! Let's see if I can start up the tradition again this year.
27. Get the most out of my annual Walt Disney World pass. That's right folks, I got me an annual Disney pass this year.
28. Buy a new camera. This really has to happen now as I broke my camera in Greece!!
29. Set up an IRA.
30. Go for a hot air balloon ride.
31. Go to the podiatrist.
32. And one I'll keep to myself for now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)