Happy Holidays!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!!
So life in the Hammer is not nearly as exciting as in the Old City, but I figured I would keep posting some pictures for anyone who cares to see them, for my own entertainment, and in the hopes that they might someday entice some of you down (or up - you know who you are) this way...

We had a good thanksgiving with a lot of food, tennis (and sadly a lot of homework for the guys) -- and even some turkey. We also made our way just outside of Hamilton to Webster's falls for a hike. There are so many trails in the area - we hiked for about 2 hrs or so (me, in the always inappropriate flip flops) which takes you to an overlook of Dundas and Hamilton and Lake Ontario -- super nice.

ok that's all for now i guess

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BROTHERS MICHAEL AND MIKE!!

Who knew Hamilton could look so exotic...

Two cans of white paint can be a girl's best friend. Hey Eric and Traci, if you look close you can see my tiny $2.00 pomegranite in the back of the bowl, brutal...

Here are some pictures of our new place back in Hamilton for those of you who were wondering...the green (if you can tell) is the living room, the purple (it used to be blue) is the bedroom. Tomorrow we are painting the kitchen and some furniture so i will put up some more pictures when the place is more done. Thank goodness for good help from family and friends...

Here are a few pictures (while this internet is working) from Rome for all those still, or now, far away...

Above is the front of the Vatican. Below I'm on top of St Peters.

This is the view from the very top of the Basilica, it is quite a climb to the top. Below is inside St. Peters.
The Sistine Chapel, a bit blurry though, it's pretty dark in there.

The Vatican at night, below, the Trevi fountain.

Titus' Arch
The Forum

Hi All
I guess it is a week of lasts here as we are trying to get packed up. We have a few more things to finish up -- today Traci and I are hiking up the Mount of Olives for one last time, tomorrow we are heading to Ein Karem to see some churches and a synogogue, tuesday we will be finishing our StarWars mini marathon at Luke and Sara's (there was great shock when everyone found out that Jer had never seen the last 3, the old good ones I mean). I'll also be doing a bit more shopping here in the old city if anyone has any last requests. We will then head out to Tel Aviv for a couple days at the beach with Eric and Traci and Luke and Sara. We were in Netanya last weekend and there were a number of jellyfish in the water -- they are huge, and Jer and Eric both got stung quite a bit. Anyway, we are hoping there won't be too many in Tel Aviv yet. Then we are off -- we will be cancelling our internet in a few days but will still be checking our email in Rome I think, but the posts on this page may be few and far between, we'll see. Alright, See everyone soon!!!!!

This is one of the jellyfish -- they are really heavy and bigger then a basketball and were all over the beach and in the water. The picture below is so funny because it looks like Luke has no body. funny. I think that Eric is lost under the wave to the right of Jer.

Summer is here, but i guess it has been for a couple months already. Anyway, here are a few random pictures -- our picnic in the park (i walk an hour to see this grass), and (just part of) the shuk below with all of it's nice fruit that we will miss...I was just taking some pictures for our photo book but thought I would post some since I'm a bit bored today.

I guess that's all, off to bed.

Hi Heidi

Here are a few pictures from last weekend. We headed south with Sara and Luke and spent some days in Petra (and Eilat again).

Sara and I entering the Siq (the 1 km entrance to Petra).

The Treasury -- the first building/tomb you see when you leave the Siq. We arrived quite early in the morning and we had the whole place mostly to ourselves (besides the bedouin and camels/donkeys) -- great for pictures.

Jer and I at the Treasury -- it's really big...

You can see some more of the tombs carved into the rockface in the distance.

More tombs...

The amphitheater below

Temple ruins

More mosaics from more Byzantine Churches. This one was just discovered in 1993 or 94.

When we first got to Petra I was expecting to see this incredible natural coloured rock and was sort of disappointed, but then the noon sun hit and this happened. There are two paths/hikes in Petra -- most people do one per day. Jer and I ambitiously decided to do both. This one was the second one we did, a little later on in the day. We climbed over 800 steps in over 100 degrees to see this altar.....

This was the better choice of the two hikes. This is the Monastry.

Here is a Bedouin (in the white shirt if you can see him) getting ready to jump on top of the Monastry. He scaled the side wall, climbed to the very top of the middle 'urn' and then jumped from peak to peak. It was terrifying to watch.

Here he is climbing at the top in the middle.Jer and I stood in front to show how big the Monastry is. We are at the bottom by the entrance. These buildings are all just facades for tombs with really just a small square room for an inside.

One more picture for Chris, this was outside of Petra, pretty funny.

Anyway, Petra was great. Here are (a lot) more pictures from Eilat with some actual fish in them.

All the black spots are fish -- too bad all of their colours don't show...

This is a parrot fish which are everywhere in Eilat -- they are about 1.5 - 2 feet big and all sorts of colours. The green and purple ones are nicer but this is the best picture I got of (half of) one through my mask and a big plastic camera.

That's all for now