Memorable Mediterranean Trip 09

(If you want to see more pics I have a folder of different pics on my facebook).

1. Riding donkeys along the cliffs in Santorini.
2. Eating Greek, Turkish, & Italian food in little resturants.
3. Trying to zip all over the little island of Myknonos, Greece on a 4-wheeler.
4. Avoiding the naked men at Super Paradise Beach, Mykonos.
5. Smoking a water pipe (really just water)in Istanbul with the locals.
6. Stand up toilets in Turkey.
7. Hearing the calls to prayer, and seeing the covered women in Turkey.
8. Shopping for pottery at the Grand Bazar.
9. Seeing the Parthanon, Ephesus, the Coliseum - favorite historical sites.
10. Pompeii.
11. Almost missing the boat in Turkey, and the subway breaking down in Athens.
12. Riding on a pickpocket's motorbike in Napoli.
13. Real Italian pizza in Napoli.
14. Going out to dinner with good looking Italian men in Rome.
15. Jumping on the bed and flooding the bathroom/bedroom in our hotel room.
16. Being asked if I was from Russia or China, being called Amy Lee and Ginger Spice, and men proposing to me on the spot for my red hair.
17. The blue tiles in the harem at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul.
18. Witnessing the ceremony/celebration of a 10 year old the day before his circumscision.
19. The warm, blue Aegean sea.
20. All the people we took the time to talk to, have show us around, eat with, and learn stories from; you really learn about a country from its people.

Off to Greece!

My old passport served me well: England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Mexico. Now it's time to break in the new one! I won't be posting for a few weeks (not that I have been very regular lately) because I will be in Greece and Turkey! I'll post pics when I get home! I promise I will keep my money safe and not get kidnapped and sold into white slavery. :D But if I do--I'll have some good stories for you!

Pete's Christmas Miracle

I had a little mini-Christmas miracle yesterday and I thought I would share. I bought a new/used car a month ago (his name is Pete) and it is was just a few miles under its manufacturer's warranty when I discovered the air conditioning sporradically would decide not to work. I rushed it to the dealership 25 miles inside the warranty and they insisted nothing was wrong with it. Every time they turned on the air conditioner it worked fine. So after 3 days of having my car on their lot they said, sorry, it is working fine. After asking my dad to call the dealership because I was sure they didn't believe me because I am a female - and they kindly extended my ticket/warranty for 2 days. Monday I drove my car 150 miles up to SLC then to Park City, all around hoping it would break and that I could drive it to the dealership broken so they would believe me and fix it for free. Nothing happened. It wouldn't break! My parents kept telling me to have faith and pray and I thought - pray for my car to break down? This is a mechanical machine, is the Lord going to make my car break down? So after an entire day of driving knowing my warranty would expire the next day I sent a few frustrated prayers to Heavenly Father. I hate when I break down in frustration and feel like a Laman and Lemuel. Well, Tuesday I got up and drove to the temple to do a session in AF because Provo is closed for cleaning, resloved that the Lord was just not going to answer that prayer - wasn't going to make my car break down at will. A few miles from the temple in AF my air conditioning broke again and I prayed all the way back to Provo on the freeway it would stay broken until I reached the dealership. And it did! The mechanic was able to bring out another guy and they looked at it and in amazement realized I was right. 5 minutes later after they wrote up the work ticket it starting working again. The Lord made my car break down for me just long enough....and you might be skeptical, but I call it a Christmas miracle in June!