πυλώνες

"πυλώνες" (say it pillo-ness) means "pillars" in Greek!

 

So let's start off this blog about pillars at a place where we saw absolutely no pillars: 

In Katakolon, Greece.

 

They had geraniums in the windows...

 

 

Olive Wood gift shops...

 

yummy baklava...

 

teeter-totters...

 

blue windows...

 

and bouganvilla...but NO pillars.

 

But, you know...then we went to the Acropolis in Athens.

 

Here is the view of Athens from Mars Hill.

 

Again...not pillars, but we're getting closer.  This is the Odeon of the Acropolis.

 

It's basically a concert hall.  They actually still use it today.

 

And here are some of the pillars that make up the entry to the Acropolis.

 

And here are a few more.

 

The Parthenon!  Look at all those pillars and.....scaffolding!

 

And here are some broken pillar fragments.

 

And some pillars that have been restored.

 

Pillars from a different angle.

Kieran jumping in front of pillars!

 

Lady pillars...(They really call them that...or Caryatids, if you want to be more proper.)

 

The Parthenon was built at about 450 BC and dedicated to the goddess Athena.

 

And these are the Nike pillars.  Nike actually means victory in Greek.

So we went to a cool museum that has the artwork and relics from the Parthenon.  But they don't let you take pictures inside.  So here's what it looks like on the outside!  Hey, they have something new - modern  pillars! 

 

And in case you haven't seen enough pillars, we decided to go to Zeus's temple.  It was the largest of the Greek temples ever constructed.

 

But it's kind of falling down and partly missing.

 

So we've got like a couple standing up pillars and one falling down pillar.  Someone pillaged the rest of the pillars.

 

It wasn't me...

 

Join us next time for more pillars in Turkey...

Drámai Befejezés

"Drámai befejezés" means "Dramatic ending" in Hungarian.  And so for the dramatic ending to our trip to Budapest...

 

The other half of the city that is two cities....let's just look at "Pest."

 

This is probably the most famous building in Budapest - the Parliament Building.

 

 

And yet...another Kieran jumping picture.

 

Hungarian flowers!

 

This is what it looks like in the night time...

 

 

So for Thanksgiving dinner, we went to this restaurant.

 

And then we got the bill....have you ever had a dinner bill for $13,755?  Well, we haven't either. 

Luckily it wasn't dollars, it was Hungarian Florints. (Phew!)

 

No, this is not strange modern art.

 

 

They are wooden rollers used to make a delicious cinnamon crunchy thing.  They cook it over coals while you stand there and watch.  Yum!

 

So while we were in Budapest I got to go to my very first Opera.  This is the opera house.

 

 

 

Here is what it looks like on the inside...

 

We saw Giuseppe Verdi's Il trovatore.  Let me tell you a little about the plot...so we open up, like most great pieces of operatic works, with gypsies burning babies in the fire...The story moves along and they sing about love and how much they love.  Then the guy gets an urgent message that his  mother is about to be killed.  So instead of rushing off to save her, he stops to sing a five minute song about how he feels about rushing off to save his mother...even though he's just kind of standing there...singing...not rushing off...Right.  So when he finally gets there, by some miracle she is still alive.  And he jumps in with a sword...which was about the most exciting part of the whole opera.  Then, there's a huge climax and then he gets burned instead of his mom...and wait...surprise - the guy who killed him was actually his brother!  Dramatic ending.  Fin.

 

So what's weirder than finding out the person you just killed was actually your brother?  How about going to a Christmas Market on Thanksgiving?

 

They had just about every flavor of marzipan ever.

 

And a big blue Christmas tree!  (Behind the tree you can see St. Stephen's Cathedral.)

 

And here it is on the inside!

 

The usual Cathedral décor...

 

Super fancy schmancy dome.

 

 

Stained glass windows.  (Note the name on this one...Does that say Bulldog Godzilla?)

 

Of course we had to climb to the top of the dome.

 

Inside the dome...

 

More random places we went in "Pest": This is called Hero's Square.

 

 

 

There is ice skating in the city park...

 

And a mini Transylvania castle called  Vijduhunyad Castle right there in the park.

 

They had trees in the park...

 

And a zoo...with.....wait for it....

 

Giant Otters!!!

 

 

The last place we went in the park was the Széchenyi Thermal Baths.

 

The thermal baths are a natural hot springs that you can go relaxing in.

 

Of course they built a big fancy building around it.

 

There are baths on the inside and outside, and you can go all year round.

 

Since it was so cold outside, you can see the steam coming off of the water.

 

The temperature in the outdoor pool was 38 degrees Celsius, which is 100.4 degrees Farenheit.

 

The temperature in the air outside was about 4 degrees Celsius, or 40 degrees Farenheit.

 

Here we can see across the river to Buda!  Here is the Palace... 

 

 

Here is the Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion.

 

And here is the view from our top floor hotel room, looking down to the lobby.

They had the hotel decorated like an advent calendar.

 

With a Christmas Tree.

 

And the best thing about the hotel was...

 

Breakfast...

 

Because here, they do hot chocolate right.  If it sticks to your spoon, it's perfect.

 

So...a little late...but Merry Christmas...Oh, I mean early...

 

Merry Christmas early 2015!  Stick this in the back of your mind, and when Christmas rolls around, remember, I was the first one to wish you a Merry Christmas 2015!