Meteora (Greece day 2)

We spent the second of our two days in Greece headed out to Meteora. Or Kalabaka and the surrounding geology. It was a full three hour trip each way, but it looked to dramatic to pass up. Here's the illustrated tourist map posted outside the train station. 

We headed straight north out of town into the dramatic looking hills/mountains/pillars.

I'm not much of a hiker, and it was a bit of a climb getting up to the monasteries. As in, the tops of those rock formations in the pictures above! But the scenery kept me going.

David was mostly taking the epic pictures from the top, but I grabbed a few:

In fact, most of my time at the top was spent drinking water and taking pictures of David taking pictures. He was excited about the camera. 

On the way down, we encountered both cows and goats. Those inspired selfies. 

And, a man on a motorbike informed us that his mother would make us the best food we'd ever eaten just 500 m down the road. We passed on that opportunity, but I did grab a picture of the sign.

And our google maps route down the mountain ended in a muddy slog across some grazing land - I don't even know how it happened, but it was scenic.

And that's Greece! :-)

Thessaloniki (Greece day 1)

Ever since I noticed that I had leftover vacation from last year, I've been meaning to use it, and this week is it - a combination of staycation and a short trip to Greece! I didn't even know Thessaloniki was a city. We picked it because google flight told us we could get there for less than 100 euro (for two of us) booking only a week ahead of time. Win!

After locating pastries, we climbed the white tower on the edge of the water. Awesome views.

One of the coolest things about the city is that there are ruins in the middle of it. I'll leave you to decide if it's better with or without the selfie!

We booked a tiny AirBnB with a really awesome view of the sunset. This is the best my phone could do, I'm hoping David got some better shots with his real camera. 

And, of course, the milk vending machine. Which made me think of this podcast episode - where I learned that in Greece, rules about ultra-fresh milk protect local farmers.

Birmingham (not Alabama)

Went away for the weekend to a choir retreat in Birmingham. Here are just a few pictures, presented without comment. None of the actual retreat, since that was more about people and music! 

Snow at JFK

My flights back to Berlin (from a meeting near Dallas) were delayed a total of five hours due to snow in New York. Flights at JFK were cancelled or delayed because there was only one runway working at a time while another was being plowed. 

I was torn between thinking "nobody should be in a plane in this weather" and "why can't they handle snow?"

The worst part was after landing on a runway that didn't look very plowed, we spent an hour in the Tarmac because there were massive plane traffic jams. I stared out the window at the winter chaos - motionless planes, but plenty of movement by baggage carts, plows, and other cars.

I made my connection (it was last call in the airport, but we spent an additional 40 minutes at the gate). My bag did not make the connection, and is still hanging out in NYC. 

Mount rainier at sunrise

Yesterday's early flight had the benefit of sunrise over mount rainier - so pretty! 

Scenic ferry

We took the ferry back to Seattle from David's sister's house and it was irresistably scenic. Between that and the excellent beer, I am feeling homesick Seattle urges! 

Scenic PNW

We're back at David's sister's house, and there is a super nice bay right down the block. Very scenic! 

Hamilton!

Sorry, blog, I know I've been neglecting you. That whole weekly post thing got lost in various other pursuits.

I will try to keep up from time to time, though, and most recently we saw Hamilton! I got tickets by calling ticket master (via Skype) within an hour of them going on sale. 

It was awesome and amazing. The cast was great, and it wasn't at all diminished by knowing so much about the production (eg, a stage that rotates in two sections, videos of choreography) and music (can sing along/rap along with most of it). 

In other words, awesome! 

England, for the first time

I promised my mom I would try to post something while traveling, do here it is (hi mom!!) 

First, I always think the walk into schonefeld is scenic, especially around sunrise: 

And then two pictures from Leicester. One of a war memorial: 

And another just in a street: 

I told one of the grads that I thought all the little streets and shops were cute, and she was confused. One city's normal is another city's cute, I suppose. 

One more Madison lake picture

Taken on my way out - Lake Mendota was looking quite lovely! 

Clouds and Sun

From yesterday, my early run on a cloudy lake: 

And sunny food trucks at lunch:

Pest inspection

My day was so full and busy that I didn't capture lakeside terrace views or nice food trucks or anything else. I did find this notice when I got back to my room, which I initially thought indicated I was entered in a contest. 

I suppose if they had found pests, they would have done something more than just leave a note!

Giant air stairs

It seems to be much more common in Europe - and especially at Berlin's far outgrown airports - that the gate takes you on a bus that takes you to the plane. This is the largest plane I've boarded via the air stairs!