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May 2006 Timeline: June 2006 July 2006

Germany vs Costa Rica
Munich, 9 June 2006 		Dani and Nora
Munich, 9 June 2006 		Greece
Delphi, 14 June 2006 		Ancient site of Delphi
Delphi, 14 June 2006
At the start of the worldcup... Low expectations at the Menterschwaige Beergarden...
German flag colors....
 Taking a mid-world cup break, Dani and me flew to Greece and rented a car. All the important matches still had to be watched.
First stop Delphi...
Red poppies
Delphi, 14 June 2006 		Temple of Apollo
Delphi, 14 June 2006 		Amphitheatre
Delphi, 14 June 2006 		View from Delphi
Delphi, 14 June 2006


Seatings...
 Across the big theatre..
Stadium
Delphi, 14 June 2006 		Sunset over Delphi
Delphi, 14 June 2006 		Dinner Time
Delphi, 14 June 2006 		Good morning
Delphi, 15 June 2006
One of the first stadiums in Greece at Delphi... The starter's marks were still visible
The view here was stunning... The setting of the ancient sites of Delphi was more impressive than the sites themselves.
First encounter with Souvlaki and Tzatziki for two weeks. After this we went to watch the Germany vs. Poland match....
 Wow, the most amazing view from our hotel room...
This is what you wake up to...
Delphi, 15 June 2006 		Mountain Drive
Amfissa, 15 June 2006 		Amazing colors on the way....
Amfissa, 15 June 2006 		Second Stop
Meteora, 15 June 2006
Clean crisp skies and air... Greece was already magical...
To the north...
 Looking like Utah....
 Meteora!!!
Kastraki
Meteora, 15 June 2006 		View across
Meteora, 15 June 2006 		Between the Rocks
Meteora, 15 June 2006 		Afternoon
Meteora, 15 June 2006
The town below the Meteora rocks
...to the Megalo Meteora monastery and the Varlaam monastery...

The sun getting to even better angles...
Found a pension...
Meteora, 15 June 2006 		Needle
Meteora, 15 June 2006 		Good morning
Meteora, 16 June 2006 		Monastery Garden
Meteora, 16 June 2006
...with a nice view... and you can spot the needle.... In Kastraki, which is closest to Meteora....
...with a climber on it...
 ...and what a view to welcome us....
 At the Rousano monastery...
Rousano
Meteora, 16 June 2006 		More Views
Meteora, 16 June 2006 		Even more views
Meteora, 16 June 2006 		Yet even more views
Meteora, 16 June 2006
Flags in the air at the Rousano Monastery
over Meteora....
 ...on an amazing day....
Rousano
Meteora, 16 June 2006 		James Bond
Meteora, 16 June 2006 		Kalampaka
Meteora, 16 June 2006 		Cable Car
Meteora, 16 June 2006
..and the other monasteries at the east side....
Climbed up the monastery to the left....
 Underneath Agia Triada....
 Still used to get things over there....
Meteora
Meteora, 16 June 2006 		Propaganda
Meteora, 16 June 2006 		Monk Skulls
Meteora, 16 June 2006 		Monastery
Meteora, 16 June 2006
...many very political exhibitions in Meteora and how important Greece's religion was in the fight against both the Turks and in later times the Nazis...
Maria helping against the Italian army...
Getting very hot....
Red stone...
Meteora, 16 June 2006 		Saying goodbye...
Meteora, 16 June 2006 		Only Day 3
Mesolongi, 17 June 2006 		Along the Coast
Mesolongi, 17 June 2006
Typical way to build these monasteries....
to Meteora from a distance... Truly a magnificent sight...
 And already our heads were so full of memories when we awoke at the small half-island outside of Mesolongi in a fishing village...
 Amazing Colors...
Bridge across to the Peloponnes
Andirrio, 17 June 2006 		Rion Antirion Bridge
Andirrio, 17 June 2006 		More bridge pics
Andirrio, 17 June 2006 		Crossing over...
Andirrio, 17 June 2006
2.8 kms long - which connects mainland Greece with the Peloponnes at the Patras area.
As seem from Andirrio...
...after just a few days we cross over to the Peloponnes...
Bridge from the Peloponnes...
Andirrio, 17 June 2006 		Zakynthos
Zakynthos, 18 June 2006 		Blue
Zakynthos, 18 June 2006 		To die for...
Zakynthos, 18 June 2006

After a nice night in a village near the sand dunes of Kalogria, we took an early morning ferry to cross over to Zakynthos.
Deep Blue....The sea in the midday sun...
 ...the coastline of Zakynthos...
Blue Grottos
Zakynthos, 18 June 2006 		Shipwreck Beach
Zakynthos, 18 June 2006 		More photos of Shipwreck Beach
Zakynthos, 18 June 2006 		Coastline Colors
Zakynthos, 18 June 2006
All along this area....
Surely the most famous landmark of Zakynthos is this former smuggler's boat.


Anchored Yacht
Zakynthos, 18 June 2006 		Coast Colors
Zakynthos, 18 June 2006 		From the Sea Level
Zakynthos, 19 June 2006 		High up there...
Zakynthos, 19 June 2006

It was getting late in the afternoon and we were touring more of the Island and then returning to our refuge in the South....
 After some swimming and snorchelling lessons we headed out to see the Shipwreck Beach in the late afternoon from the sea level... The light was perfect and the hordes of tourists had left...
 ...is the little cage from which I took the photos of the day before....
Shipwreck
Zakynthos, 19 June 2006 		More Shipwreck
Zakynthos, 19 June 2006 		Did I ever say....
Zakynthos, 19 June 2006 		Perfect
Zakynthos, 19 June 2006


...that I like Rust?
Shipwreck Beach
Zakynthos, 19 June 2006 		Our boat tour
Zakynthos, 19 June 2006 		Two Blues
Zakynthos, 19 June 2006 		And another shot...
Zakynthos, 19 June 2006

Brothers Potamitis at the Cape near the Lighthouse.... Excellent tour, very friendly and far less crowded than the tours starting at the east side...
...most photogenic....
A day later....
Pylos, 21 June 2006 		Hornet
Pylos, 21 June 2006 		Voidokilia Beach
Pylos, 21 June 2006 		Castle....
Pylos, 21 June 2006
...back at the Peloponnes near Pylos in a hotel recommended to me by my parents. The night before we watched yet another soccer game (England won)....
Summertime is Macro time
 As described by Homer....
 ...we were heading up there then....
Macro Time
Pylos, 21 June 2006 		Macro Time
Pylos, 21 June 2006 		Voidokilia
Pylos, 21 June 2006 		Castle
Pylos, 21 June 2006

Yuk....
 The Horse-show bay from above...
Reminds me of the arches at Canyonlands in Utah....
View onto Pylos...
Pylos, 21 June 2006 		Already panicked out
Pylos, 21 June 2006 		Going back down...
Pylos, 21 June 2006 		Castle
Pylos, 21 June 2006

We still enjoyed the view here...
...grasshoppers jumping on us every step of the way, snakes and spiders rushing around and us all alone in that castle with a broken down fence in which we crawled in our little sandals had made us a bit panicky.
Looking back up... we calmed down again....
Grasshopper
Pylos, 21 June 2006 		Bats
Pylos, 21 June 2006 		Methoni
Methoni, 22 June 2006 		More Methoni Fortress
Methoni, 22 June 2006
And more Macro time!
Huge bat party with bats flying all around... Incredibly fast....
Reminded me a bit of Eilean Donan Castle....
Looking back
Methoni, 22 June 2006 		Yellow
Methoni, 22 June 2006 		Mountains....
Pyrgos Dirou, 22 June 2006 		Pyrgos Dirou Caves
Pyrgos Dirou, 22 June 2006
...onto the giant fortress area....
Nice flowers....
 ...as we headed down another finger of the Peloponnes towards the Pyrgos Caves....
 After a day in the massive heat, it was great sitting down in a little boat and floating in a great quiet, dark limestone cave....
More caves
Pyrgos Dirou, 22 June 2006 		Inside my Nose
Pyrgos Dirou, 22 June 2006 		This reminds me of....
Pyrgos Dirou, 22 June 2006 		Boats and Cave
Pyrgos Dirou, 22 June 2006

Well, looks like it...
 ...the filling and crown that I lost that morning in my mouth... Thank god, Dr. Vreni was a call away....
 At the entrance of the caves....
The wreck of the Dimitrios
Gytheio, 22 June 2006 		More of the Dimitrios
Gytheio, 22 June 2006 		The rock of Monemvasia
Monemvasia, 22 June 2006 		Dusk
Monemvasia, 22 June 2006


For me one of the biggest surprises of our trip was this jewel... The city that is hidden inside this rock...
We arrived in Monemvasia just around sunset...
Looking up...
Monemvasia, 22 June 2006 		Next morning
Monemvasia, 23 June 2006 		Typical Monemvasia
Monemvasia, 23 June 2006 		The rock...
Monemvasia, 23 June 2006
Hidden inside the rock from the other side lies the town of Monemvasia. There are no roads or cars inside, but it is still an expensive hip area... A desert Venice... And you can hike up the steep wall to the top of the rock, where the old city's ruins are....
We got up after a nice breakfast and head into Monemvasia again...
 Flowers and narrow passageways...
 ...it was getting hot, still we planned to walk up all the way to the top and its old ruins....
View from the Western Wall
Monemvasia, 23 June 2006 		Western Wall
Monemvasia, 23 June 2006 		View over Monemvasia
Monemvasia, 23 June 2006 		View from the top...
Monemvasia, 23 June 2006

Monemvasia from the top inside its Northern alcove.... This is the West side, which is mostly under reconstruction. The same high wall was up on the other side and kept the city safe...
 Here you see the Eastern wall....
Lock
Monemvasia, 23 June 2006 		Tree
Monemvasia, 23 June 2006 		Monastery
Monemvasia, 23 June 2006 		Ruins
Monemvasia, 23 June 2006
....with rust on a door...
At the top of the rock...
 On the top of the rock lie the old ruins of a previous instance of the city... The only remaining building is the monastery...
 and Flowers.... Reminds me of a photo I shot in Monument Valley...
Cool down for drinks....
Monemvasia, 23 June 2006 		Method of Transportation
Monemvasia, 23 June 2006 		Green and Pink
Monemvasia, 23 June 2006 		Sparta
Sparta, 23 June 2006
...it was boiling hot... Time to get a cold Ice tea and head on....
Horses and little caterpillars are the only way to get through the small passageways of Monemvasia
 Oleander and Maple
 Sparta's fortress...
Sparta Ruins
Sparta, 23 June 2006 		Mule
Sparta, 23 June 2006 		Nafplio
Nafplio, 23 June 2006 		And Larrsen misses....
Nafplio, 24 June 2006
Ruins of Sparta
Dani was completely smitten by this guy... he got a nice apple which he absolutely loved...
 Getting closer to Athens again, we made a two day stop....
 Penalty at the Germany Sweden match... One German supporter and lots of Swedes...
Ancient Corinth
Corinth, 25 June 2006 		Fortress of Corinth in the background
Corinth, 25 June 2006 		Road to Lechaion
Corinth, 25 June 2006 		Fortress of Corinth
Corinth, 25 June 2006
Another famous site...
In the foreground the Temple of Apollo
 Very famous landmark...
 Reminds me of Sparta...
Channel of Corinth
Corinth, 25 June 2006 		Yacht passing through the channel
Corinth, 25 June 2006 		Bungie Jump into the channel
Corinth, 25 June 2006 		Good morning Athens
Athens, 26 June 2006


They time this so you don't hit a boat... Will only take a while until The Amazing Race comes here....
Akropolis
Athens, 26 June 2006 		Cityscape of Athens
Athens, 26 June 2006 		More Akropolis
Athens, 26 June 2006 		Moving Hotels
Athens, 26 June 2006

And the temple of the Olympic Zeus in the middle...
To the amazing Grande Bretagne at Syntagma Square... It was 40 degrees celsius in the afternoon, so we took a nap as the pool area was overfilled
Parthenon
Athens, 26 June 2006 		Akropolis area
Athens, 26 June 2006 		Columns
Athens, 26 June 2006 		Copies of the real statues
Athens, 26 June 2006
When it got cooler we went up to the crown jewel of Athens....A
Looks like on top of a rock... And the Parthenon in the background....
 Of the Parthenon
 Since the air did not treat them well... At the Caryatide Hall...
What is red and squishy?
Athens, 26 June 2006 		Ancient Agora
Athens, 26 June 2006 		Ancient Agora and the Akropolis in the background
Athens, 26 June 2006 		Athens at Night
Athens, 26 June 2006

And the Hephaisteion....
 Hephaisteion....
 The famous tower of the Winds....
Student Protests
Athens, 27 June 2006 		For most of the Students
Athens, 27 June 2006 		Greek National Archeological Museum
Athens, 27 June 2006 		Mighty Aphrodite
Athens, 27 June 2006
Froze central traffic
It was too hot though....

Stare
Athens, 27 June 2006 		German worldcup fans everywhere?
Athens, 27 June 2006 		Athena Statue
Athens, 27 June 2006 		Greek Battle Fleet
Piraeus, 27 June 2006
of the sculpture...
In front of a famous sculpture...
 Famous copy of the statue of the Parthenon
 In the port of Piraeus....
And another Wreck
Piraeus, 27 June 2006 		Akropolis
Piraeus, 27 June 2006 		Athens at Night
Athens, 27 June 2006 		Last stop before we fly home...
Athens, 28 June 2006
in the harbour...
...as seen from Piraeus...
 After watching yet more games....
 ...is to visit the great ancient Olympic stadium...
Ancient Stadium
Athens, 28 June 2006 		Yet more views...
Athens, 28 June 2006 		And nice playing around with depth....
Athens, 28 June 2006 		Germany wins against Argentina
Munich, 30 June 2006
It was the background for the Archery competition in 2004


And the city goes wild and people throw Mathias including his two mobile phones into the fountain....
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