Saturday, September 1, 2012

Our Apartment and Around Arad

This post is a little overdue, but I wanted to share pictures of our apartment in Romania and some sights around Arad. We are leaving Arad tomorrow to start our next adventure in Colombia. We have has a great time in Romania and will always cherish the memories we created. We made amazing friends that will be in our lives forever.

Outside of our apartment

The grocery store across the street

Church in town

City Hall in Arad

City Hall

Andy on our walk

Theater

The river in Arad

Our dining room and kitchen

Another view of dining room and kitchen

Our bathroom

Our bedroom

Guest room


Sunday, August 26, 2012

Romania Road Trip to Dracula's Castle

This past weekend we took a road trip to Dracula's Castle in Bran. Going to see this monument famous in Romania was something we had been wanting to do! It was very interesting and historical. After we toured the castle, we drove about 30 minutes to the town of Brasov. Brasov is a bigger town, and this is where we were staying for the night. This was a very nice and quant place. We took the gondola up the mountain, hiked around and enjoyed the amazing views. We had a great time getting to some more parts of Romania!

Entering Dracula's Castle

Inside Dracula's Castle

Dracula's Castle

Courtyard of Dracula's Castle

Andy at Dracula's Castle

Inside Dracula's Castle

Dracula's Castle

Dracula's Castle

Dracula's Castle

Brasov, Romania

Mountain we hiked

Our gondola ride

Behind the Brasov letters

Andy on our hike

On our hike

Friday, August 17, 2012

Athens and Santorini, Greece

Arad, Romania
Thursday afternoon Andy's parents, Tammy and Amando, flew into Timisoara Airport. That night we had a great dinner at an Italian restaurant in Arad with some friends. On Friday Morning, Tammy and I went for a walk around town and around the river. We all met Andy for lunch at a smoothie and sandwich place. Our flight to Athens left Friday night. 

Athens, Greece
We arrived to Athens late Friday night, so we just checked into our hotel and got a goodnight sleep. Saturday, we were up bright and early to go to the Acropolis and beat the crowds. We spent the morning touring the Acropolis which included the Parthenon and the Agora. After the Acropolis we relaxed on restaurant patio and enjoyed some Greek appetizers, and then we walked through the street markets and shops. We did an afternoon walk through town and saw the Parliament, Olympic Stadium and other sites around town. For dinner, we had some delicious Gyros. 

Andy and his dad in the Acropolis 

The Ramirez Family

Acropolis 

View over Athens

Tammy and Amando

Parthenon

Acropolis

Parthenon

View over Athens

Mother and Son Pic

With my Mother-in-law with our Greek appetizers :)

Santorini, Greece
Sunday morning, we took a quick 25 minute flight to Santorini from Greece. Our hotel, Perivolas, is located in the area of Oia in Santorini. We enjoyed a delicious lunch at Mezzo off the main road in Santorini. After we were all checked-in to our hotel we laid by the beautiful infinity pool for the afternoon. Our hotel had amazing views and was absolutely gorgeous! We ate dinner at our hotel Sunday night on a terrace. On Monday morning, we went for a walk through town and hiked down the mountain to the Amoudi Bay. This is the area that is right on the water and is famous for their fish restaurants. After the trek back up the mountain, we relaxed and had lunch by the pool. Later that afternoon, Tammy and I went back into town to do some shopping. For dinner, we went into town and ate at a Greek restaurant with a gorgeous view. Tuesday morning, we went out on a catamaran, the Dream Catcher. The catamaran took you around to different famous spots in Santorini including the white and red beaches. We had lunch on a private beach of the catamaran company where they served us delicious Greek food. After lunch, the crew took us to a spot where there were Sulfur Springs to swim in. We also went to a beautiful cove to snorkel. We headed back to the pool after the catamaran. For dinner, we went to a beautiful restaurant, Ambrosia. We celebrated my birthday and our last night here. It was the perfect night! We flew out Wednesday morning. This was amazing trip! Thank you Tammy and Amando for everything!

At dinner at Perivolas


Dinner at Perivolas

View from hotel

Our hotel Perivolas

Santorini

By the pool at the hotel

By the pool at the hotel

Sunset before dinner

Sunset before dinner

Dinner in town

Catamaran 

Catamaran

Catamaran

Swimming to shore

Relaxing on the catamaran

Relaxing on the catamaran

Andy Snorkeling 

Before dinner at Ambrosia 

Before dinner at Ambrosia

Dinner at Ambrosia 

Dinner at Ambrosia