Kiting... and Greece...

We had great weather today. It started out rather cloudy and overcast, but the winds came up this afternoon. Matt was excited as he got to sail his new 10 meter EH kite which he prefers because it is a faster kite. I got some great photos of him jumping and also some good photos of some friends kiting. I want to do a great layout of a sequence of jumps that I caught this afternoon (hopefully tomorrow).

I also managed to finish a scrapbook page of our last day in Athens (June 18) before we headed out to Crete. I had forgotten just how busy we were during those days until I realized that it took me 3 double page layouts (or 6 pages) just to finish the day.

Because of this layout with the very large photo of the Acropolis, I am only going to show both pages together because it looks a little strange to see one page at a time.

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Credits:
Based on a sketch by Page Maps
All papers, embelishments, alphabets (recolored) are from thedailyscrap.com's "Ides of March" kit
(I had originally bought this kit to do all the Athens photos, but I lost track of it and just found it)
Photos are from Matt & Angela

Journaling reads:

We made the trip back to Omonia Square to have chicken pitas at the Neon. We rested until about 6:00pm and then set out for Filopappous Hill with wine and cheese for a sunset shot of the Acropolis. After dinner at Stifros we boarded the metro back to our hotel. We enjoyed the view of the Acropolis from the rooftop of the restaurant.

Theater of Dionysis & Temple of Zeus - Athens, Greece

I finished another layout last night from our trip this last summer in Greece. I have almost finished all the layouts from our first couple of days in Athens. Its been tons of fun reliving all the wonderful places that we saw. The history is just incredible there.

We visited the Acropolis in the morning and then after a short break in the shade we walked to the base of the hill that the Acropolis stands on and visited the Theater of Dionysis. A short walk through the Plaka district of Athens stands the Temple of Zeus that was so amazing.

Here are both pages together from our afternoon on June 18.

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Credits:
Based on a sketch by Becky Fleck
Papers & embellishments by Peppermint Creative "Twinkle Toes" kit
Vellum journal paper by Atomic Cupcake "Have & Hold" kit
Font: Trajan Pro
Photographs by Angela & Matt Shetzer

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The journaling reads:
After a quick break and some water, we set out for the Theater of Dionysus. We walked around the perimeter of the Plaka area on our way to the Temple of Zeus. This amazing structure consists of only a few remaining columns but the size and details were amazing.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Olympian_Zeus_%28Athens%29

The Temple of Olympian Zeus was began in the 6th century BC, but it was not completed until the reign of the Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD. In the Hellenistic and Roman periods it was the largest temple in Greece.

The temple was built of marble from Mt Pentelicon. It consisted of 104 Corinthian columns, each 17 meters high, (about)2.6 meters in diameter, weighed (about) 802,363 pounds, of which 48 stood in triple rows under the pediments and 56 in double rows at the sides. Only 15 of these columns remain standing today. A 16th column was blown down during a gale in 1852 and is still lying where it fell.

Acropolis - June 18, 2007

We are still watching Tropical Depression Ingrid and she is looking like she might get a bit closer to us than we originally thought but we are not worried as she continues to stay weak.

Today we had lots of rain showers, thunder and lightening and managed to get thoroughly soaked on our walk home from dinner. It was a good thing we still had our bathing suits on under our clothes. Matt didn't get to kite today so no new pictures of him out. We went down to the beach for about half an hour before the rain and nasty clouds drove us in.

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Here is our trip to visit the fantastic Acropolis in Athens. We were amazed at the amount of reconstruction that was going on. As you can see in the picture of the Parthenon, there were cranes, scaffolding and workers everywhere.

Here are the two pages combined:

Credits:
Papers, Alphabet, Tag & Staples by Atomic Cupcake (Guy Thing Kit)
Arrows from an unknown designer
Based on a sketch by Suzanne Powell
Fonts are Hobo Std & Comic Sans
Photos by Angela & Matt Shetzer

Here is the first page in a bit more detail:


Here is page two in more detail:


Journaling on Page 2 reads:

Our second full day in Athens started with pastries and coffee at the corner bakery about 8:00am. We set out for the Acropolis hoping to beat the heat. We hopped on the red line metro and went 3 stops to the Acropolis. We left the metro and started up the beautiful grey cobblestone road. Matt found the place to check all of our backpacks as we started the climb into the area. We were amazed at the amount of reconstruction on the Parthenon and the Erechtheum as every structure was covered in scaffolding. We walked around the perimeter and looked in wonder at the wonderful structures.

The Parthenon is a temple of the Greek goddess Athena built in the 5th century BC on the Acropolis of Athens. On September 28, 1687, an Ottoman ammunition dump inside the building was ignited by Venetian bombardment. The resulting explosion severely damaged the Parthenon and its sculptures.

The Erechtheum, an ancient Greek temple on the north side of the Acropolis was built between 421 BC and 407 BC. On the north side, there is another large porch with columns, and on the south, the famous "porch of the maidens", with six draped female figures (caryatids) as supporting columns.

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

Athens - June 18, 2007

We decided to spend our second full day in Athens viewing the monuments remaining at the Acropoli. We walked through the new gates, past the Parthenon and on to the temple of Athena. It was amazing that restoration work began in the 1800's on the temples and was still continuing. The views were somewhat diminished by all of the cranes and scaffolding around but it was still amazing to be gazing at these ancient temples.

Here Matt and I are standing in front of a colonnade called the "ladies". If you look closely at the pillars on the back of the temple, you will notice that they are ladies and not columns.



Here is Kim and I at the top of the Acropoli with the Greek flag flying in the background.


Later in the evening we decided that we needed to go back up Filapapo Hill for some more Acropoli shots. We also decided that a bottle of wine was needed!!!


We hung out at the top of the hill for Matt to capture the following gorgeous views of the Acropoli at sunset and the Parthenon night.

A few pics... and more to come...

We are now on the island of Naxos in the Cyclades grouping of islands. We got in about 9:30 last night and have spent the day wandering around the very narrow streets and castle district.

We have internet in our room, so I'm going to try to catch up on posting some pictures within the next couple of days.

These are a few pictures from June 17, while we were in Athens.

We boarded the metro (subway) for 2 stops to end up at Syntagma Square where we watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The soldiers had a very intricate (and high stepping) march. This is a photo of the soldiers before they began their march away from the monument. And boy, we thought we were hot in shorts and a T shirt!!!


After visiting Syntagma square, we hoped on the metro for another stop and came to the flea market at Monastiraki. While wandering through the narrow streets filled with shops and street vendors, we happened to come across the Ancient Agora. It is a very roman portion of old Athens. Here is a picture of Kim and Angela in front of the Temple of Hephaistos (God of the smith and ugly son of Zeus and Hera).



After a short metro ride again, we came to the Acropoli (Acropolis). We walked up Filapapo Hill to view the Parthenon perched high on its rocky ledge.