Greece

We had a fantastic time in Greece. I would recommend all to visit this beautiful part of the world. Ryan and I met in Athens took an over night ferry to Crete spent two nights, then went to the island of Santorini, the island of Ios and spent the last two nights back in Athens. The atmoshpere was great. We had a fun-filled, but relaxing time.

Iraklio, Crete the 5th largest city in Athens, this is the port area

Knossos, Crete where the legandary King Minos, the Minotaur and labyrinth were said to exist

Island of Santorini, an ancient volcanic island that had black sand (seen here), red sand and white sand beaches.

Main city of Phira in Santorini, extremely beautiful.

Island of Ios, a view of the beach area from just outside our hotel

Chiros, Ios the main city on the island, full of night-life

The legandary Parthenon

I spent the day in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki traveling back to Istanbul, this is a 3rd century church in the middle of town

Egypt: Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Alex.

We spent nine days in Egypt following the Nile south then back north. We landed and spent 3 days in Cairo, then traveled to Luxor and saw the valleys of the tombs. Then continued to Aswan and saw the dam. Then we went to Alexandria for 2 days and relaxed. There is so much to say and so many pictures to display I simply can't. Here are some of my favorites.

A great picture showing how much western culture has spread. We needed a bathroom after seeing the pyramids and this was the view on the way out of...?

A faluka (sailboat) ride up the Nile

A top our hotel in Luxor over looking the Nile and a beautiful sunset.

The step pyramid of Zoser.

Oh yeah, we took camels to the pyramids.

The group and the Pyramids.

Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

This is one of my favorite pictures. This is in Coptic Cairo, which the population is Greek Orthodox. Here is one of many graves portraying the great blending of culture. A picture that would surprise most.

Temple of Philea, now under water do to the Aswan Dam.

The Mohammad Ali Mosque in Cairo