It seems that I dropped the ball a bit on getting our vacation pictures up and posted. Not my intention, but I guess it is what it is. I realize now that it would take me far too long to write summaries for each of the thirty days we were gone. So I've selected the pictures below to share as an alternate form of showing you all what exactly we were up to when we disappeared for a month last summer. Enjoy! :)
All in all, our trip to Lebanon and Greece was amazing. Words can't describe it, and pictures don't really do it justice, but I hope these photos gave you some insight into everything we experienced. :)
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| Drinking fresh water from a medieval fountain on our way to a Druze wedding. |
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| "Thou art a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and flowing streams from Lebanon." - Song of Solomon 4:15 |
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| A Druze baraat! |
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| Enjoying the wedding |
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| Nish and Morgan in front of the beautiful view from Uncle Waseem's house |
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| Morgan, his twin cousins, Wafa, Nish, me and Aunt Ahlam |
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| Trying traditional Lebanese tea |
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| The mosaic Uncle Waseem created in the entrance of his beautiful home |
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| The Last Supper, anyone? |
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| Dining inside of a medieval fortress! |
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| Wedding reception! |
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| Morgan's family was so much fun |
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| Dancing the night away! |
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| Continuing the night at Beirut's famous SKYBAR |
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| Shots! |
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| Exploring the Beirut Souks |
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| The square where Hariri was assassinated |
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| Dining with the Shantouf family |
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| On our way to the Jeita Grotto |
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| The port at Byblos, one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world (approximately 8,000 years old) |
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| Enjoying the local seafood |
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| Photo op in front of the castle's entrance |
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| View of the town from inside the castle |
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| An intriguing staircase (one of many!) |
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| Another beautiful view |
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| Macho men |
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| Meditating just like the Crusaders did(n't) |
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| Artistic shot (kind of) |
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| Exploring forbidden places in the castle! |
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| A small theater facing the Mediterranean Sea - Nish is giving a speech... |
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| ...while I try to figure out what to do with a mosquito I smashed against my leg |
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| Excited to board the cable car to Harissa |
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| Nish is still excited - I'm terrified |
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| A view of the coastline at night |
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| Dinner at the Shantouf residence |
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| The spread Amal made was amazing |
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| Château Ksara - an amazing winery in the Beqaa Valley |
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| Nish acting like a wine connoisseur |
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| At the entrance to the ancient city of Baalbek |
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| Nish in front of the Roman Temple of Bacchus |
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| In awe |
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| Wait? You're not seriously going to make me come all the way up there again, right? |
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| Amazed at the intricacy inside the Temple of Bacchus |
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| Nish & I in front of a fallen ceiling carving of Cleopatra (if you look closely, you can see the poisonous asp on her chest that she was said to have committed suicide with) |
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| The view from our terrace on the Greek island of Sifnos |
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| Our adorable hotel in Sifnos |
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| The whitewashed buildings with bright blue trimming were gorgeous...Nish looks cute, too |
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| View from an alley on Sifnos |
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| Nish getting to know the local craftsman |
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| A beautiful view while awaiting the boat to Milos |
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| On our way to Milos |
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| Nish's favorite spot at our hotel |
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| Ready to tour the island |
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| Having fun! |
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| A gorgeous view from the path to the ancient Christian catacombs on Milos |
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| Sarakiniko - the white rock beach on Milos |
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| Next stop: Paleochori beach |
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| Ready for a night on the town |
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| Milos at night |
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| Enjoying some ice cream (like all the other little kids) |
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| Our hotel in Santorini |
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| The breathtaking view from our hotel |
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| A look at our hotel from the swimming pool |
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| Nish driving to the Peloponnese |
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| The roads were always this clear |
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| At the ancient city of Mycenae, where King Agamemnon is said to have ruled |
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| Our incredibly nice hotel in Nafplion |
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| At the ancient theater of Epidaurus |
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| The theater seats 15,000 people and is one of the best preserved in the ancient world |
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| Exploring the picturesque city of Nafplion |
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| Monemvasia - the site of an amazing medieval fortress |
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| About to enter the fortress |
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| Nish told me to wait to take the picture 'til he posed. And this was his pose... |
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| One of the many quaint cafés lining the streets of Monemvasia |
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| Ready for dinner |
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| Entering the Byzantine town of Mystras |
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| Going back in time |
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| I loved the stairways to nowhere |
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| A Byzantine church |
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| Just one of the beautiful frescoes inside the church |
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| Another view of the church |
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| Time to take a picture of us |
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| A 1,600-year-old copy of the New Testament |
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| Our hotel in Kalamata |
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| Enjoying a great dinner at the resort |
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| Getting ready to jet ski! |
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| Our last night in Kalamata |
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| Our last (and nicest) hotel in Amaliada |
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| The hotel lobby |
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| The pool |
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| Enjoying wine and fruit on the 1st anniversary of our court marriage |
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| Some beach time with the Tryfonopoulos family! |
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| A gorgeous sunset in Amaliada |
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| The men enjoying an extremely old bottle of whiskey? Scotch? Not sure |
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| The Greek Orthodox church where baby Panagiotis was baptized |
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| Inside the church |
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| Baby Panagiotis not enjoying his baptism |
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| But we are! |
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| About to enter the ancient city of Olympia (the site of the original Olympic Games, dating back to 776 B.C.) |
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| The vaulted stone passageway to the ancient stadium |
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| Nish and I were so tired after running up and down the track (yeah right!) |
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| Ancient Olympic statue #1 |
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| Ancient Olympic statue #2 |
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| Enjoying a delicious Freddoccino after a day in the hot Greek sun |
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| Nish carrying the Olympic torch! |
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| Enjoying a last dinner with our new Greek family! |
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| Driving back to Athens |
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| WE FOUND A MCDONALDS!! Oh, the excitement! |
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| Horrible picture, genuine emotion! |
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| We couldn't get enough! |
