Mavrovouni

Location: Mavrovouni, Greece
Address: Mavrovouni 232 00
Date: Aug 2015

   Mavrovouni is a small Greek village located in the South Pelopponese.  The name Mavrovouni means Black Mountain.  The village sits on the top of the mountain above. 

  A short distance from Mavrovouni is the larger fishing town of Gytheio.  You can see the homes of Gytheio and Cranae Island as you look across the water.

  As you work your way to the top of the mountain you go past the homes with their terracotta rooftops and white painted walls.  We made this climb several times in the heat of the mid-day sun.

  At the very top of the village stands the church The Three Holy Hierarchs.

  On land next to the church sits Goulades Castle.  This castle was built in the late 1700s.

  The view from the hills spreads out revealing the beautiful scenery.

 

    As the sun begins to set, you get an even more spectacular view as you look towards the Mediterranen Sea.

  The sun sets behind the rows of olive trees.  The sky, sea and land come together as one to reveal shades of blue, orange, pink and yellow.  A typical end to another day in a small village beside the sea.

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Map of Our World

Mavrovouni
The Three Holy Hierarchs , Goulades Castle , Ahmotiko Cemetery

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Post # 284

Easter Island Dreaming

Location: New York City, New York, USA
Address: 200 Central Park West
Date: Sept 2007
Website: https://www.amnh.org

  Easter Island remains on our bucket list.  It is a small island located about 3220 km west of Chile and received its name from a Dutch explorer who found it on Easter Sunday 1722.  The island is famous for its large stone sculptures called moai.  Just because we have yet to make it to the island, does not mean that some of the island has not made its way to us.

  At the American Museum of Natural History in New York City there is a plaster cast of a moai statue on display.  The mold was made from one of the real moai during a museum expedition to Easter Island in 1935.  A copy of this cast statue comes to life and was featured in the movie Night At The Museum.  Brad Garrett voices the character that spends most of its time asking for some gum.  Sorry, gum gum.

  Las Vegas always tries to copy everything so it makes sense that it has a replica of an Easter Island statue.  The Vegas strip has its own Eiffel Tower, Venice, New York City and even an active volcano among the copied structures.  The strip used to have two Easter Island statues outside the Aku Aku restaurant which was part of the Stardust casino.  The restaurant and casino are no longer around.

  One of the statues was moved off of the strip and placed in Sunset Park. It sits on an island in the pond at the center of the park.  Not quite Easter Island but it is still an island none the less.

  London, England  has a few replica Easter Island statues as well as the real deal.  There are replica statues sunken in the shark tank at Sea Life London Aquarium.

  Sand Tiger Sharks spend their days swimming around while these giant heads keep a close eye on them.  Unlike these replica statues the real Easter Island statues all reside on land although many have sunk deeper into the soil through the centuries.

  The closest we have ever come to Easter Island is at the British Museum where they have an actual statue that was transported from the island back in 1868.  This statue is called Hoa Hakananai'a.  Easter Island has requested that it be allowed to return home again.  If they let us know, we will gladly accompany it on the ride home and then we can cross another item off of our bucket list.

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Map of Our World

Sea Life London Aquarium
Sunset Park
American Museum of Natural History , British Museum

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Post # 283

Dan's Greenhouse

Location: Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, USA
Address: 626 Front Street #4
Date: Feb 2017
Website: www.facebook.com/DansGreenHouse

  Front Street in Lahaina is filled with many shops and restaurants.  One of our favourite places to visit when on the Hawaiian island of Maui is Dan's Greenhouse.  We leave Front street and hurry up the stairs to the top floor.  The shop is filled with exotic plants, birds and usually one or two mini-pigs.

  There are Fuku bonsai trees and other plants just waiting to thrive under the Hawaiian sun.  As tourists we were not looking to take a plant home and didn't think customs would let us anyways.  We came to spend a little time with the wild animals who seem to enjoy seeing us as much as we enjoy seeing them.

 A black palm cockatoo was sitting by the window.  It looked as if he was in charge of flipping the OPEN sign at the end and start of each day.

    In the next window sat a beautiful female eclectus parrot.  These parrots have extreme sexual dimorphism.  The female is bright red and the male is bright green.  Easy to tell them apart, but people used to think they were two different species.

  In a small little pen in the middle of the store were two little piggies.  They were so cute and were wearing floral leis.  These are known as Göttingen mini-pigs and grow to be about 35 kg as adults.  The myth of the teacup pig isn't true.  Be careful if buying a pig as a pet as you don't want your little cuddly piglet to end up being a 200 kg plus porker.  These two little guys grew on us while we were visiting, but only in our hearts.

  As we headed for the door, one last bird wanted our attention.  A bare-eyed cockatoo was speaking to us.  It wasn't long before it had hopped up onto one of our shoulders to get a better look.  We spent some time talking with our new feathered friend until the store owner moved it back to its perch.  Good-bye little friends.  That includes all of you pigs, birds and even plants.  After all some positive words never hurt a plant's growth.

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Map of Our World

Dan's Green House

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Post # 282