cheznmal

A typical street – notice the ruts in the stone from the chariot wheels and the stepping stones for people to cross the street when it rained (the streets had no underground drainage so they served as drainage channels during rain as well)

The amphitheater where they held gladiatorial games and sports events

A room in the brothel (firm mattress and pillow)

Painting on the wall of the brothel (there were other more “interesting” poses…)

Plaster-cast of people

Painting on the wall of one of the preserved villas. This is the best preserved painting at Pompeii

One of the bathhouses

A typical aristocratic villa

The local cafe

A view of Pompeii with Mt Vesuvius in the background

August 2012

The first of five villages – Riomaggoire

The first section of the walk between Riomaggiore and Manarola is called the “Love Walk”. It’s become a tradition for people to place a lock on this section as a sign of their love…there are many locks on this section!

The fourth village – Vernazza

The fifth village – Monterosso

August 2012

Sunset over Florence (from Piazza del Michelangelo)

The Duomo

Part of Michelangelo’s unfinished pieta (sculpture for his own tomb)

The feet of a Donatello sculpture

A typical Florentine street

Donatello’s bronze “David”

Michelangelo’s “David” (the replica)

And the real deal (no photos allowed so these are scanned postcards)

One of the many beautiful churches in Florence

Gelato!

Checking out the sights with Antonella (from Florence)

16 August 2012

The crowd filled the Plaza del Campo

The gala parade before the big race

The men in tights (and funny hats)

Old guys in tights with trumpets

The men in armour

The pooper scooper guy doing his thing

Waiting for the race to start

The race. Ten horses start but only four finish after the grey horse falls on the first corner, taking out five other horses.

The winner gets swamped by the crowd

The celebratory pizza!

The Siena Cathedral

Looking down on the Plaza the day after the race

Vikos Gorge – The World’s Deepest Gorge – 900m deep

Samaria Gorge – Europe’s Longest Gorge – 16 km

Meteora

The Obelisk

The Monasteries

Mt Olympus
The mighty Zeus (with Mt Olympus behind)

We made it half way up the mountain in Zeus before being stopped by an army roadblock!

The Acropolis

The Parthenon

The view of the Acropolis from our hotel at night

Acropolis Museum – Friezes from the Parthenon building

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Hope on the streets of Athens

National Archaeological Museum
A bronze statue of Hermes, recovered from a shipwreck (2000+ years old)

Marble statue of a boy, recovered from a shipwreck (2000+ years old). The right side of his body was buried in the seabed whereas the left side was exposed to sea organisms.

Temple of Hephaistos (built c. 460-416 BC i.e. around 2500 yrs old)

Temple of Olympian Zeus (built 6th century BC i.e over 2500 yrs old)