The Ladders!!!

I think most everyone knows that our hike through Switzerland in early August included some very challenging routes. Perhaps the most challenging (mentally that is) was the day that we left Cabane Des Dix perched high among the glaciers and hiked to the small town of Arolla.

The day started out by spending over an hour crossing the glacier (which from above looked to be just some small piles of rocks). It was very nerve racking as the rocks shifted in the glacial ice under our feet. We were cautious to stay on the marked path to be sure that we didn't run across any crevasses that could be dangerous. After crossing the glacier, we climbed up the rocky, steep Pas de Chevres and were met with the 70 foot section of iron ladders mounted into the vertical rock face. Needless to day, I (Angela) was about to hyperventilate at this point.

Here are a coouple of photos that Matt of me while I climbed up the laddders (and I do mean ladders plural as you had to cross from one ladder to another about 10 feet away from the top). That is me with the light blue fleece on.




Here is a link to the gallery where I've posted all the photos from the ladders. There are pictures of me and also of some friends that were climbing right in front of us.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ARShetzer/HauteRoutePhotos

Boy was I glad when that morning was over!!

Another scrapbook page from Athens, Greece

I finished up another couple of pages late last night that should finish up our first full day in Athens. We finished up this hot, busy day by climbing up Filopappou Hill to view the Acropolis. I think we all agreed that this was probably our favorite spot in Athens. Very quiet and fantastic views!!

This is the combination of the two pages.

Credits:
Based on a sketch by Becky Fleck
Papers and all embellishments by cottagearts.net (Fall Flutter kit)
Alphabet by cottagearts.net (Chip Square)
Photos by Angela & Matt Shetzer
Font: Georgia


Here is page 1 in more detail

Here is page 2 in more detail.

Journaling reads:
The day was very hot so we decided to go back to the hotel for a rest about 2:30 in the afternoon. After naps and showers we set out for the Acropolis area of the metro. We walked around the base and then up the Filopappous hill for a wonderful 360 degree view of Athens (boy was the city a huge maze of white concrete buildings) and the Acropolis.
On our way down we stopped at the Café Dyonasis for coffee & beer. We sat on the wonderful terrace and watched the Acropolis glow with the setting sun. We set out for the Gazi area to find the restaurant Mamacas that Kim had heard of. We figured out what metro stop we thought was closest but weren’t too sure where to go when we came out of the metro. We started to look at a map as Matt noticed that the restaurant was immediately across the street from the metro stop. We had a long relaxing dinner outside on the terrace and started towards home about 12:15am to find the subway closed. A very nice Greek man and his son directed us back to Omonia Square (about a 30 min walk). We were amazed at the traffic and people out at that time.

Catching up... & a new scrapbook page from this summer in Athens

Its been a quiet day here today with very little wind so very little beach time and lots of time to scrap. We're not sure if Tropical Depression Ingrid is messing up our wind pattern or not.

I wanted to share a couple photos that I took of Matt's new birthday present (Yes, I know its about a month late!). He got a new 10 meter kite for his birthday to let him sail on windier days. His old kites weren't quite enough to let him sail at all times.

Here he is checking it out in the middle of our apartment.

And... Yes, it folds up to be very compact:
Here are a couple more photos from the past week that I haven't gotten posted yet:

Matt enjoying the beach and waiting for the wind:


Matt & Damien playing with their "inflatable pool toys" on a very light wind day yesterday:


I've finished another layout from our first full day in Athens. I should have another layout to do and that will finish up our first full day there. Boy, I'm never going to get done at this rate.

Here are the two pages joined together:

Credits:
Based on a double page sketch by Chris Greiser
Papers, flowers, brads from Traci Sims' kit "Be Free"
Photos by Angela & Matt Shetzer
Fonts: Arial, Century Gothic & Engravers MT

Here is the first page:

Here is the second page:

The journaling reads:

We then headed to the flea market at Monastiriki where we wandered around and stumbled upon the Ancient Agora site. After a great traditional Greek lunch of assorted Greek foods, we set out for the Agora. We visited the Temple of Hephaistos and the Stoa of Attalos. We were trying to figure out what the impressive structure high on the hill was and finally we determined it was the Acropolis.

“The Agora was the heart of ancient Athens, the focus of political, commercial, administrative and social activity, the religious and cultural centre, and the seat of justice. The site was occupied without interruption in all periods of the city's history. It was used as a residential and burial area as early as the Late Neolithic period (3000 B.C.). Early in the 6th century, in the time of Solon, the Agora became a public area.” From: http://odysseus.culture.gr

Syntagma Square - Athens, Greece

Well, I'm finally getting into the swing of things and really figuring out my new organizing program (ACDSee) for scrapbooking and its working nicely. I'm finally able to scan the 100's of gig's of digital scrapbooking kits that I have and find the perfect one to use on a layout.

I've started on our trip this past summer since everything is still really fresh and I can remember it all (or at least most with the help of my journal).

This layout is another double page layout (they look so much better when printed in the books when the pages coordinate with each other). Here is what it looks like when joined together:

Credits:

Based on a 2 page sketch by Connie Petertonjes
Papers, alphabet and elements from Traci Sim's Firewater kit (http://www.your-digital-dream.com)
Font is Kartika
Photos by Angela & Matt Shetzer

Here is the first page in a bit more detail: And here is page 2 in a bit more detail.
Since its a bit small, here is what the journaling says on page 1:

We started out our first day in Athens with great pastries and coffee. Our first stop was to visit the changing of the guards at Syntagma Square in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was quite confusing as police officers were yelling and blowing their whistles to move the crowd in multiple directions. They could not seem to make up their minds. We watched the parade and the replacing of the soldiers.

Here is more information from http://greece-travel.suite101.com:

In Greece, every male devotes two years to military service. The Evzones, those chosen for Ceremonial duty, represent the best of the best. To be chosen, they must stand over six feet tall and have the ability to remain motionless for extended periods of time. While on duty the soldiers stand with back straight, head held high for hours. Although they can call their superior for help by banging the butt of their rifle sharply on the ground, even that motion is barely noticeable. As the sound cracks across the Square, a superior officer appears to straighten a tassel or scratch a nose. The Evzones are so good that barely an eyelash flickers when a small child posing for a photo reaches up for the guard’s hand. Since the Ceremony is for the public, the Evzones dress in traditional Greek uniforms worn by mountain fighters in the War of Independence. This consists of a kilt, a shirt with flowing sleeves, a form fitting vest, wool leggings with tasselled garters and hobnail shoes with pompoms on the toes. A fez sporting a long tassel on one side tops off the outfit.

If you are interested in downloading any of these layouts, I've created a separate album on picasa where I will be uploading each finished page. http://picasaweb.google.com/ARShetzer/2007EuropeScrapbookPages

Just another beautiful day in the Caribean...

With Matt in school for the last five days, I've had lots of time to scrap and finally have started on our trip from this summer.

The first two pages are a double layout that will serve as the overview for the trip with a couple of highlight pictures from each country. We've been asked several times on our itinerary and here it is:
June 15 - July 24 in Greece (June 15 to July 4, we were joined by Kim to tour around the mainland and the islands)
July 24 - July 30 in England where Matt showed me around all the sites
July 30 - August 14 in Switzerland for the Haute Route hike
August 14 - August 26 in Egypt with the rest of the Shetzer clan for a family reunion

It looks a little strange in the middle because of joining two separate pages into this one file, but I think you get the gist!!

Remember to click on it to enlarge in another window so you can read the journaling.

Credits:
Based on double page sketch by Connie Petertonjes
All papers and embellishments by CottageArts.net (most from Autumn Breeze Kit)

New Blog Feature!!!

Hey!! We've been trying to figure out ways to keep in touch with everyone as we travel. In researching all the various elements you can put on a blog, I came up with the "Cbox".

If you look at the bottom right hand side of the blog (you may have to scroll down a bit to see it), you will see a bright yellow box. This is a comment box. All you have to do is enter your name, email address and message and it will post to the blog for us all to read. I've entered in a couple of messages to try it out.

Let us know what you think!!!

I wanted to share a picture taken a couple days ago of the beach and Matt pumping up his huge 14 meter kite!!!

{Click on the photo to enlarge it in another window}

Yeah... Internet Connection!!!

Well, we finally have internet connection in our apartment here so I'll be able to get the blog updated with photos from this summer and some scrapbook pages that I'll be able to get to.

Today, Matt and I attended a First Aid Training class here in Cabarete. Matt needed the class for his kite board instructors class while I just took it to have the basic skills for all of our adventures. Today was the first day that it wasn't really windy but since we were in class all day, Matt didn't miss a day of kiting. He has 5 more days of classes to attend so I'm hoping to get lots of pool time and scrapping!!

I wanted to share just a couple of photos from a couple days ago (Sep 2 to be exact).

This first one is Matt as he is coming in from kiting.

This one is Angela's view of the beach... Pretty nice if I do say so myself!!!!!

Cabarete!!

We are all settled into Cabarete (although still waiting for the promised internet connection).

Matt has been kiteboarding everyday since we got here and the wind seems to be holding well. I’ve been working on my tan, a few books and a few scrapbook pages. I’ll upload some new ones of Katelyn with this post.

Here is a picture of Matt and his 9 meter kite that I took yesterday.

Here are a couple of pages that are from photos from Easter in 2006 (yes, I know I’m very behind!!).

This first one is of Katelyn and “Unca Matt” with her lion that we brought back from our trip to Africa in March of 2006.

Credits:

Papers & brads from Atomic Cupcake, Eggzhiliartion kit

Flowers from Atomic Cupcake

Based on a sketch by www.littlescrapbookshop.com.au

Photos by Angela Shetzer

Font: Lucida Handwriting & LuggerBug

This layout is from the same time and it is of Katelyn hunting Easter Eggs and a cute photo of Uncle TJ and Aunt Jamie.

Credits:

Based on a sketch by Chris Greaser

Photos by Angela Shetzer

Papers, flowers, buttons, brads, wordart, alphabet and embellishments by Atomic Cupcake (most are from her Eggzhilaration kit)

Fonts are Stencil & Kirsten ITC

End of our summer holiday...

Well, we are packing up and preparing to leave Cairo on Sunday morning (Saturday evening in the US). We'll fly to NY and then on the Denver late on Sunday night (over 24 hours of traveling). We'll have a very hectic 48 hours as we prepare to go to Dominican on Tuesday evening.

We promise to do lots more pictures once we get to Dominican and we have some time.

Just wanted to share another photo from the pyramids at Giza of the Shetzer family.
Just the father and son's pyramids are pictured here.

August 15 - Cairo, Egypt

We arrived late in the evening (August 14) from Geneva, Switzerland and were met by our tour company as soon as the plane landed. We drove over an hour from the airport to our hotel (Le Meridien in Giza) and marveled at how horrible the Cairo traffic was. We would later learn that although there are some traffic signals in Cairo, they are not used and there are no rules of the road. Also about 95% of all cars driven do not have insurance.

We started out the next day by visiting the old town of Memphis and its open air museum. The city of Memphis was the capital of Egypt and was founded around 3100 BC. This is a photo of us in front of the sphinx weighing in about 80 tons.

We then made our way to the Step Pyramid of Saqqara. This is the pyramid of Djoser built around 2600 BC. Until this time, all royal tombs had been built underground using one flat layer of mud brick. This structure represented six layers of stone instead of mud brick and starts to form the pyramid shape that we are familiar with.

Our last stop of the day was to the ancient burial grounds of Giza on the west bank of the Nile across from Cairo. These three pyramids were constructed between 2686 - 2181 BC for three kings.

From left to right:
The Great Pyramid for King Khufu
The Pyramid of Khafre (son of Khufu) - It is actually shorter than his fathers although it doesn't appear so
The Pyramid of Menkaure (the grandson of Khufu)

Here is a close up of the second pyramid (and yes, the camel patrols around it). If you notice the top of this pyramid seems to be very smooth in comparison to the rest of the pyramid. This is the way the pyramids were all built, however later on, the covering of the pyramids was striped and it was used to line aquaducts for the ancient cities.

And last but not least is the Guardian of the Giza plateau, the Sphinx. This huge statue was supposedly used to scare away would be grave robbers from the tombs of the kings behind in the pyramids. Needless to say, it didn't work.