Argostoli, Greece

Argostoli, Greece in Kefalonia. Not much to see here, but went for a walk anyway and wandered through the markets. 

Path along the water

Argostoli, Greece

Light House - Argostoli, Greece

Onions

Water Wheel 

Detail

Tugboat!! 

Street Art 

Acropolis :: Athens, Greece

Here are a few photos from Athens! I spent about 20-30 mins on the Acropolis itself and the rest of the day in the Acropolis Museum. Truth be told there is not much to physically see on the Acropolis.  Most everything of value is all in museums. 

Doric Columns of the Parthenon

Corinthian Columns 

Ionic Columns

The Erechtheion - Porch of the Maidens

Caryatids 

Caryatids

Caryatid

Porch of the Maidens

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

Parthenon

Parthenon

Reconstruction of the Parthenon

Proof

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

Gibraltar, Gibraltar

Hello Folks! Now that the Grand Voyages are over I'm finding I have some free time once again in which to edit photos! The list has piled up - so I think I'll just do random posts at this point. 

Gibraltar is truly an amazing place to visit. I've had the pleasure of being able to explore the rock twice now. The landscape of Gibraltar is incredible, it literally just juts out of the sea at the end of a little peninsula. The rest of the spanish landscape is relatively flat in comparison. The rock itself is about 430m above sea level and there are a number of ways to venture to the top. Cable car, taxi, or my favourite... hiking! 

There is a pathway to the top called the Mediterranean Steps - not sure how many steps there are, but it's definitely steep and quite the challenge. Brett (location guide) and I have hiked the steps twice now. As if it wasn't challenging enough the first time, when we hiked it the second time we put about 20-30 lbs of rocks in our backpacks for an extra challenge. 

Here are a few photos from my two days in Gibraltar. The summit is home to Barbary Apes and a number of seagulls who make their nests in the cliffs of the rock. 

East side of the rock and the Spanish landscape to the North

Tunnel to the Mediterranean Steps

Mr. Ape - giving me the eye 

Ape looking for insects - Snack time anyone? 

Seagull - ;) 

The Apes sleep in the weirdest positions. Hope he doesn't fall backwards!

View to the South - Coast of Africa is in the centre of the photo

View to the North - the runway is basically the border between Spain and Gibraltar

I spotted a cave above the road on the way down and of course we had to find out if it was just a cave or a tunnel left over from WWII - problem was our legs were so shaky from the hike up that it made scaling the rock quite a challenge. I took one step on the rock and my legs couldn't hold me so then Brett tried - made it most of the way up but didn't want to fall so he came back down. I had rested for a few mins and decided to make a second attempt - this time I got all the way up! It was only a cave :( 

Getting down was quite the challenge. But I made it, and didn't fall lol 

Brett 

Myself 

MADE IT!! - barely made it down lol 

Dr. Seuss built this fence... 

Some of the flora on the Rock 

Mr. Ron Perlman - Hell Boy 

Barbary Ape 

Barbary Ape

Barbary Ape

Hijacking the Taxi

Beware of Apes! 

Panama Canal

We started entering the Panama Canal Locks at 8:30am and I was able to see the ship enter the first one. We had to go up first into the canal and then to exit the canal we went back down. We actually went through three different locks. One at 8:30, one about 10:30-11:00, and the last one about 2:00pm.

Entering the Panama Canal Locks 

Panama Canal Locks

I was able to see the first one and then after that I was indoors teaching classes from 10:30-2:30pm. So I ended up missing most of the canal. But I left my curtains open in the Workshop and every once in a while I would see something nice outside and pause class to take a look. The guests didn't mind - they also wanted to look outside!!

San Blas Islands, Panama 

After the Panama Canal we sailed to the San Blas Islands which were REALLY TINY - tendering took a long time so I didn't get off the ship. But I did spend some time in the sun on the top deck. It was a beautiful and such an amazing experience to transverse the Panama Canal!

Puerto Montt, Chile - The Photos

I haven't done much site-seeing here because I've been studying up on some of the sessions I'll be teaching. But I did walk around a little bit yesterday. It was gorgeous and sunny and I enjoyed sitting beside the water soaking up some Vitamin D :)

Ship coming into the Harbour, Puerto Montt, Chile

The fog from yesterday began lifting and I saw a ship coming into the Harbour. (PS my favourite show as a kid was "Theodore the Tugboat" and I still love watching ships in harbours and yes, sometimes I pretend I'm the 'Harbour Master' and make up scenarios in my head :P)

Statue on the 'boardwalk' of the Harbour

This statue seems to be a huge tourist attraction and overlooks the harbour. I like that he's wearing red lipstick too.

View to the East, Puerto Montt, Chile 

You can't really tell in this image, but there are snow-capped mountains in the background.

Graffiti - Puerto Montt

And of course some more graffiti. I think this one says "Refresca tu mente en colores" which I think translates to something like "colour refreshes your mind" - Something to think about :) 

Goodnight!

Puerto Montt, Chile - Morning Fog

I woke up this morning super excited to look out my window and see what Puerto Montt looks like. and this is what I saw: 

Puerto Montt, Chile in a blanket of fog

At some points during the morning I couldn't see this little Island there was so much fog. However
now I'm starting to be able to see ships coming into the harbour and it's starting to clear up. Looks like it'll be a nice day!

Puerto Montt, Chile