- The window in the birthing suite looked out over the street that I went up and down on my bike every day my last semester in college. (Mills out to the apartment on South St)
- His eyes were SUPER blue when he was born. Here's to hoping he wasn't addicted to spice and he's not going to be possessed by Barron Harkonnen. (This is from Dune. Dune is a series of sci-fi novels by Frank Herbert, and has also been adapted into a movie and a mini-series)
- I was surprised by how much of a non-event changing diapers is. A bunch of people were trying to give me grief about having to do it before he was born. When I had to do it wasn't even a thing.
- Time dilation is real when you've got a new baby. I started reading MMQB at 9 in the morning and finished at 6 PM.
- Nathan just decided to prove these last 2. He decided to show me what he was capable in a diaper and as a result I'm getting back to writing this an hour later.
- New games came Friday at 11. The box got opened at 9 that night and then I didn't even open each of the games. Only peeked in 2 of 3.
- Same thing Saturday with a big colleciton of minis that Carl had gotten for me. Dropped off around noon, lid came off last night around 7 and as of noon the next day I haven't even looked inside.
- Can't wait to see how much stronger my legs get from doing squats to help calm him. Not sure why he likes the up and down rocking more than side to side.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Brain dump
Tons of things I wanted to capture from my first 6 days with Nathan
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Small update
Now that we're home and the internet isn't $0.50 a minute I've uploaded higher resolution images to the Picasa web albums. You know, just in case you want to print and frame my beautiful photography to hang on your wall.
Venice
Sorry this has taken so long to put up but we've been really jet-lagged.
The cruise into Venice was pretty cool since we got to go right alongside the city. A bunch of the first pictures were shot right from the balcony of our room. After disembarking we took the slowest shuttle on the water down to St Mark's. We took it pretty easy looking around since we'd have a full day on Monday for more sightseeing with hopefully less crowds.
While trying to get back to the ship we got kind of lost. The problem would be that you could see where you wanted to go but as soon as you rounded the corner you'd run into a canal without a bridge in site! On the trek back we wandered through one of the residential sections of the city. It was pretty interesting to see how much quieter it was there vs the touristy areas around St Marks. Katie had a great observation though for why it was so quiet... no cars!
Dinner was on the ship and final packing so we could disembark the next morning.
Disembarking was no big deal and after stowing our gear at the hotel we headed out into the city again. Of course being in a foreign city where we knew about 20-30 people max from the cruise we ran into a bunch of them over the course of the day. Highlights from what we saw were finally getting into St Mark's and also going up in the bell tower, the Venice academy gallery, and an exhibit featuring recreations of DaVinci's engineering projects from his notebooks. We also tried what our guidebook claimed was the best gelato spot in Venice. It really was good and I think my new favorite combination is now the green apple and caramel that I had there!
The flight back home was fairly uneventful but long since we had an extra stop in SLC that wasn't on our original itinerary. It kinda sucked that we didn't have the individual touch screens in the seat back on the Venice->JFK leg like we did coming over.
And that was it. Definitely an awesome trip all around.
The cruise into Venice was pretty cool since we got to go right alongside the city. A bunch of the first pictures were shot right from the balcony of our room. After disembarking we took the slowest shuttle on the water down to St Mark's. We took it pretty easy looking around since we'd have a full day on Monday for more sightseeing with hopefully less crowds.
While trying to get back to the ship we got kind of lost. The problem would be that you could see where you wanted to go but as soon as you rounded the corner you'd run into a canal without a bridge in site! On the trek back we wandered through one of the residential sections of the city. It was pretty interesting to see how much quieter it was there vs the touristy areas around St Marks. Katie had a great observation though for why it was so quiet... no cars!
Dinner was on the ship and final packing so we could disembark the next morning.
Disembarking was no big deal and after stowing our gear at the hotel we headed out into the city again. Of course being in a foreign city where we knew about 20-30 people max from the cruise we ran into a bunch of them over the course of the day. Highlights from what we saw were finally getting into St Mark's and also going up in the bell tower, the Venice academy gallery, and an exhibit featuring recreations of DaVinci's engineering projects from his notebooks. We also tried what our guidebook claimed was the best gelato spot in Venice. It really was good and I think my new favorite combination is now the green apple and caramel that I had there!
The flight back home was fairly uneventful but long since we had an extra stop in SLC that wasn't on our original itinerary. It kinda sucked that we didn't have the individual touch screens in the seat back on the Venice->JFK leg like we did coming over.
And that was it. Definitely an awesome trip all around.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
Athens
Very fast post for today while we accept the hospitality of the port of Piraeus' free internet service! It only works while we're out on our balcony. Finally the starboard side room pays off!
Today was easily my favorite of the whole trip. We got a great sense of the ancient city climbing the Acropolis and seeing the Parthenon and a feel for modern Athens as well. We went to the Acropolis first on our tour. What I didn't know before was that Acropolis really is just the highest point in the city. We got to see the Parthenon where they were replacing the iron used during the previous reconstruction efforts with titanium to prevent rusting. We also had a great view of the city from up there and I uploaded a nice shot of the ruins of the temple of Zeus from up above.
After climbing down we went to the temple of Zeus, saw Hadrian's arch (he gave the money to finish the temple). Next we went to the metro station where they had a big display of the ancient ruins they found while excavating for the station. Finally before lunch we saw the parliament building and the tomb of the unknown soldier.
Lunch was excellent with dolmades, pastitsio, and souvlaki. Unfortunately the honey puff places were about a 20 min walk from where we had lunch so we didn't get to go. Some quick shopping in the Plaka and a scenic drive to the top of Likavitos to see the city.
That's all for now, we'll be at sea tomorrow and then in Venice. I don't know if we'll post again before we get home or not.
Today was easily my favorite of the whole trip. We got a great sense of the ancient city climbing the Acropolis and seeing the Parthenon and a feel for modern Athens as well. We went to the Acropolis first on our tour. What I didn't know before was that Acropolis really is just the highest point in the city. We got to see the Parthenon where they were replacing the iron used during the previous reconstruction efforts with titanium to prevent rusting. We also had a great view of the city from up there and I uploaded a nice shot of the ruins of the temple of Zeus from up above.
After climbing down we went to the temple of Zeus, saw Hadrian's arch (he gave the money to finish the temple). Next we went to the metro station where they had a big display of the ancient ruins they found while excavating for the station. Finally before lunch we saw the parliament building and the tomb of the unknown soldier.
Lunch was excellent with dolmades, pastitsio, and souvlaki. Unfortunately the honey puff places were about a 20 min walk from where we had lunch so we didn't get to go. Some quick shopping in the Plaka and a scenic drive to the top of Likavitos to see the city.
That's all for now, we'll be at sea tomorrow and then in Venice. I don't know if we'll post again before we get home or not.
Ephesus
Today we went to Ephesus ancient city after drive from Kusadasi port. We arrived late around noon and were only in port until 5. Ephesus was really impressive because unlike so many of the other places that we visited, nothing was built on top of it over the years. There were three main areas to the ruins: the political area, the commercial area and the residential area. The excavation of the terrace houses is the residential area. There are pictures of it all as usual.
After Ephesus we saw what was left of the temple of Artemis (1 pillar), and the ruins of St John's Basilica. Once again we were invited to see rugs being made (we passed). The grand bazaar didn't impress any more here than in Istanbul.
One unique thing though was today was the only rain we've seen the whole trip. Not a lot just a few sprinkles at Ephesus and about 10 min in Kusadasi at the bazaar.
I won't miss Turkey. Tomorrow is Athens!
After Ephesus we saw what was left of the temple of Artemis (1 pillar), and the ruins of St John's Basilica. Once again we were invited to see rugs being made (we passed). The grand bazaar didn't impress any more here than in Istanbul.
One unique thing though was today was the only rain we've seen the whole trip. Not a lot just a few sprinkles at Ephesus and about 10 min in Kusadasi at the bazaar.
I won't miss Turkey. Tomorrow is Athens!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Istanbul
This morning we arrived in Istanbul. We docked about a half hour late, maybe because there were several other cruise ships in port. It's been a cloudy day, and the high was only 60. But it's not as windy as it was yesterday.
We met our guide, Hela, outside the terminal and we were off. Istanbul has two sides: one in Europe, and one in Asia. They're connected by several huge suspension bridges. We stayed on the European side today because apparently the Asian side is mainly residential. It would have been nice to say that we were in Asia, but tomorrow Ephesus is in Asia, so we can still say we were there.
First we went to the site of the Hippodrome. This was used for horse races in the time of the Romans, and is now a public square with several ancient columns and obelisks. Our next stop was the Blue Mosque. I think it's official name is the Sultan Ahmed Mosque after the ruler who built it, but because it is decorated inside with tile coveredin blue designs, it is called the Blue Mosque. This is the second biggest mosque in the city. Inside it is really beautiful. The tiles are very pretty, and apparently they are quite famous because of how and where they were made (the Nicea area).
Next we went to Hagia Sophia, which is actually right across the street. The current building is actually the third Hagia Sophia, but it was built in the 500s. After the city was captured from the Byzantines, it was converted to a mosque and the mosaics inside were plastered over. Then when Turkey became a republic in the 1920s it became a museum and the mosaics were uncovered, so you can see both Christian and Islamic decorations inside which is quite interesting. It's a very impressive building, and until St. Peter's in Rome was built it was the largest dome in the world.
Our next stop was the Byzantine cistern. This was also built in the 500s, and was only discovered about 20 years ago by accident. There was a water shortage in the city, but some citizens found the water in it and were using that. By chance some archaeologists saw this, and when they checked out the hole they found this place completely intact. The columns used in it were scavenged from other buildings, so they're mismatched, and several are even supported by Medusa heads that were from an ancient temple.
After that we checked out the Topkapi palace where the Ottoman sultans lived. It has an impressive collection of items, including the world's second largest diamond, and pretty much gold- and silver-plated everything.
We spent an hour in the grand bazaar, but it was extremely crowded and full of pushy salesmen. And it's very smoky because everyone here seems to smoke. So we weren't impressed. Our last stop was the Spice Bazaar, and we liked that a lot better. Less crowded, cheaper prices, no haggling, much better. Zach & I loved seeing the huge piles of spices for sale (anyone need a giant barrel of tea?).
We got back to the ship a little early, which was fine because we had already walked 6.5 miles! Tomorrow we don't arrive in Ephesus until noon, so it will be nice to sleep in for a change.
We met our guide, Hela, outside the terminal and we were off. Istanbul has two sides: one in Europe, and one in Asia. They're connected by several huge suspension bridges. We stayed on the European side today because apparently the Asian side is mainly residential. It would have been nice to say that we were in Asia, but tomorrow Ephesus is in Asia, so we can still say we were there.
First we went to the site of the Hippodrome. This was used for horse races in the time of the Romans, and is now a public square with several ancient columns and obelisks. Our next stop was the Blue Mosque. I think it's official name is the Sultan Ahmed Mosque after the ruler who built it, but because it is decorated inside with tile coveredin blue designs, it is called the Blue Mosque. This is the second biggest mosque in the city. Inside it is really beautiful. The tiles are very pretty, and apparently they are quite famous because of how and where they were made (the Nicea area).
Next we went to Hagia Sophia, which is actually right across the street. The current building is actually the third Hagia Sophia, but it was built in the 500s. After the city was captured from the Byzantines, it was converted to a mosque and the mosaics inside were plastered over. Then when Turkey became a republic in the 1920s it became a museum and the mosaics were uncovered, so you can see both Christian and Islamic decorations inside which is quite interesting. It's a very impressive building, and until St. Peter's in Rome was built it was the largest dome in the world.
Our next stop was the Byzantine cistern. This was also built in the 500s, and was only discovered about 20 years ago by accident. There was a water shortage in the city, but some citizens found the water in it and were using that. By chance some archaeologists saw this, and when they checked out the hole they found this place completely intact. The columns used in it were scavenged from other buildings, so they're mismatched, and several are even supported by Medusa heads that were from an ancient temple.
After that we checked out the Topkapi palace where the Ottoman sultans lived. It has an impressive collection of items, including the world's second largest diamond, and pretty much gold- and silver-plated everything.
We spent an hour in the grand bazaar, but it was extremely crowded and full of pushy salesmen. And it's very smoky because everyone here seems to smoke. So we weren't impressed. Our last stop was the Spice Bazaar, and we liked that a lot better. Less crowded, cheaper prices, no haggling, much better. Zach & I loved seeing the huge piles of spices for sale (anyone need a giant barrel of tea?).
We got back to the ship a little early, which was fine because we had already walked 6.5 miles! Tomorrow we don't arrive in Ephesus until noon, so it will be nice to sleep in for a change.
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