Pozadzides Chronicles

The Pozadzides

Greece – Drinks with Boutari

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Boutari-1We spent the early afternoon at one of Greece’s most famous wineries, Boutari. There are many wineries in Greece, but many produce too little to export or even sell outside of their local market… When traveling, go with an open palate – much of what you sample may not be available anyplace else on earth
Future Travel Note: When ordering red wines, remember that Greek’s like them “mild sweet.” As a dry red wine lover (Cab, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Malbec), these wines more resemble desert wines similiar to Port. It was difficult to find a dry red during our travels.

Here are some notes we learned from the tour: [Read more…]

Greece – Start in Athens

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Athens-23Jenny and I started our tour of Greece in Athens. While there are other points of entry, any trip to Greece requires at least two days to see the tremendous history, architecture, panoramas, artifacts and more. Here is my personal list of the places you must see while in Athens:

  • The Acropolis and the Parthenon
  • National Archaeological Museum
  • Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon
  • Piraeus – The Port
  • Syntagma Square
  • The Plaka
  • The Agora and the Temple of Hephaestus
  • Dozens of beautiful Orthodox Churches…

Here are some pictures detailing just some of the gems located in Athens: [Read more…]

Greece – The Rhodes of Many Civilizations

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Rhodes-42There aren’t many places with a history like Rhodes. So, if you ever get a chance, this is a place you must visit. While standing on the island, you can trace its history by to 5000BC. Equally important, you can wonder around ruins from the Romans, Crusades and Ottoman Empire within the walls of a castle! Nevertheless, I love this place. Before we get to pictures, here’s a quick rundown of their history: [Read more…]

Greece – Jenny’s Gone Wild (on ATV)

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ATV-4I have created a monster… Despite being “grown-ups”, Jenny and I prefer acting like kids as often as possible. This post is dedicated to my lovely wife and her pursuit of childhood fun riding our rented ATVs in Santorini and Paros.

After a few hours riding passenger as we explored Santorini, Jenny decided she could do it better (on Santorini and Paros). And, well, she was right. Here are a few pictures and videos: [Read more…]

One-Year Anniversary Surprise

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2009 Anniversary-3I have a great wife! Its our anniversary (Feb 2nd) and she asked to plan the day. Here’s a little rundown of our day…

  1. >Brunch at Backstreet Cafe (one of our favorites)
  2. A couples massage for 75 minutes
  3. Movie (we’ve been wanted to see Slumdog Millionaire, but never had the time)
  4. The Houston Auto Show (not really romantic, but she knew I wanted to go… and we don’t have much time together)
  5. A surprise dinner prepared back at our house (thanks to Michael, Henry and our friends at Sushi Hana

We had a great day. Next year is my turn to plan! Here are some pictures of our dinner: [Read more…]

Jenny’s Childhood Pictures

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…its a burden being cute. Jenny carries it well.

Here are a few pics:

Jenny Accepted To MD Anderson

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Today, we received fantastic news…

For those of you not in the medical world, here’s a quick tutorial: Every doctor attends four years of medical school. In the 4th year of medical school, students must decide which field of medicine (specialty) to practice. Each medical field requires a residency (a training period) of 3 or more years. Afterwards, if the doctor wants to specialize, they apply for a fellowship (and subspecialize)!

Entrance into residency and fellowships programs follow the same path… Candidates must interview for the programs. This is where the “Match” comes in.

The “Match” is run like a computer matching game. After completing the interview process, the candidates (either med students or residents) submits their ranked list of programs. At the same time, the programs rank the candidates that they prefer. On “Match” day, the program tells you if/where the candidate has been accepted!

So, what’s the good news? Today (Match Day), Jenny was accepted into Hematology/Oncology Fellowship at the #1 ranked MD Anderson. Jenny’s hard work, dedication, commitment to patient care, and pure love of medicine made this possible! In the end, Jenny will be Boarded in Internal Medicine, Oncology and Hematology. She will be a cancer-killing machine!

What does this mean for us? Jenny will keep getting smarter, I will inevitably become dumber, we’ll start our future family, and continue enjoying our #1 ranked city, Houston!

Hawaii – Honeymoon w/ Whales

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Whales-6Here’s another fun day of exploration… Jenny and I ventured out in search of whales!

Every year (from November thru May) hundreds of humpback whales visit the Hawaiian islands from Alaska. During the summer months, the whales gorge themselves on plankton and small fish (less than a 12”). However, the whales do not feed while in Hawaii and, consequently, loss up to 20% of their body mass. They come to Hawaii to breed and birth!

  • Fifth largest of the world’s great whales
  • Average size of a school bus (50 feet long and 90,000 pounds)
  • Life span between 40-60 years
  • Gestation period for the female is approximately 12 months
  • Whales do not feed while in Hawaii
  • Tail fins are individually unique (like humans’ finger prints) and are used to identify whales

If you’re interested in learning more, please visit the American Cetacean Society Fact Sheet on the Humpback Whale. Here are some pictures of our whale watching trip: [Read more…]

Hawaii – We Survived the Road to Hana!

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Hana-36On Friday, we made the famous trek to Hana. It’s a small town on the other side of Maui. The town in itself is not the point of the trip. The trip is the point of the trip. It’s about 45 miles of 600 hairpin turns and 52 one-lane bridges past gorgeous scenery. Because of the twist and turns, however, it is an all-day affair!

We rented a convertible, brought our GPS, iPod, and plenty of drinks/snacks. The road has so many picture points that you may find yourself stopping every 10 minutes… only to realize you’ll never make it to Hana. So, pace yourself. There are tons of waterfalls. If it’s been raining (like it did for days before our trip) the waterfalls will be even bigger.

On the winding road to Hana, we pulled into the Garden of Eden… This tropical garden boast some spectacular scenes, loads of wildlife and some famous (although we don’t know them and you probably don’t either) birds!

If you find yourself with a few extra minutes on the Road to Hana… this detour is worth it. Its an inexpensive admission to beautifully landscaped garden. The wildlife is a definite plus…

Once we arrived in Hana, we moved on… There isn’t really much to see. We ate at the Hana Hotel’s restaurant. It looks nice, has a great view, but the food was overpriced and not that good. However, we left Hana and continued down the road to view the Seven Pools. Of the four plus hours of driving, this last 30 minutes was the best. On this segment, you get to see beautiful homes (not the $$$ homes, but homes of regular Hawaiians). Moreover, the scenery converts to rolling hills by the coast and wildlife, and cattle abounds.

The Seven Pools themselves are amazing. Years of erosion have created seven distinct pools that water flows into, out of, and into the next pool. When the rains are too heavy, you can actually get in the pools. When we went, it was hard to distinguish the pools from whitewater. Nevertheless, it was beautiful.

The Road to Hana was our favorite part of our visit to Maui! Here are some pictures from our trip: [Read more…]