This page is intended for links to photos from our 2006 Tour to Croatia, Sicily, and Italy. Please send me links if you have a site with some pix! Also, see Elizabeth's poem about the tour!
Individuals' photo albums:There are several websites that offer free photo hosting, meaning you can put your photos on their big computer so that anyone can see them anytime via the web. These sites generally make it easy to upload your photos; see their "Help" or "FAQ" pages. Some sites have a free introductory version but greatly improved features in the "pro" version for a reasonable fee.
Here is one review of the "top 9" sites
(as of last December).
Here is a comparison many such free photo hosts.
(This listing is not complete, however.)
Here are some popular sites that friends like:
dotphoto
webshots
PhotoBucket
My wife and I share an account on
flickr
where we pay $25/yr for their "pro" version, giving us more storage than we
could ever use...
One consideration is the amount of storage space you need for the photos you want to share. Modern digital cameras take pictures that can easily be 5 megabytes or larger--these are BIG files. For purposes of sharing them on the web, most viewers are only going to look at them on the screen, for which a much smaller resolution is fine. So some of these sites perform automatic resizing of photos down to a more reasonable size (a good thing since they then take less storage); or you may want to resize them yourself using Adobe PhotoShop or Microsoft Photo Editor or something similar (but use "Save As" so you don't destroy your original!). And if they get resized BEFORE uploading to the site, the uploading goes a LOT faster. ("PhotoBucket" does auto resizing but only after the upload. "flickr" has an "uploadr" program that resizes first if you choose. Mine were auto-resized to 1280 pixels wide.) Many sites only accept files of 1 megabyte or smaller.
The planning began two years ago with a tour company search anew.
We looked at several options - South America & Spain & Portugal too.
But the mystique of Croatia & Sicily appealed to us one and all.
Especially seeing Palermo, the ancestry of our leader Sal.
Finally after all the dreaming, the day of departure arrived.
It was soon apparent that all 49 of us miraculously seemed to jive.
A long flight across America then over the Atlantic we flew.
Finally landing in Zagreb a day later, where we lost a day no one knew.
Met Yvonne Zumpolie, tour guide extraordinaire.
She knows her stuff and managed through it all to handle us with great care.
Opatija seemed like a dream come true, a lovely town by the sea.
The Adriatic beckoned; it's waters so luscious and free.
Our first concert at St. Jacob's Church went without a glitch.
But soon enough we felt the heat but nary a kvetch.
A long ride down the Dalmatian coast left many an aching bone.
All though we searched all over Dubrovnik, nary the breed was to found.
The walled city of Dubrovnik, with red tiled roofs galore.
And cruises on the clear cool waters left many wanting some more.
The concert at St. Blaise's Church was the hottest program yet.
With sweat pouring out of every conceivable pore, a memory we'll never forget.
Across the Adriatic on an overnight ferry, confusion seemed to reign.
Some stayed up and partied late, others quickly gave up the game.
The Italian countryside of rolling hills helped the ride across the boot slip by.
Staying near Amantea in Campora San Giovanni by the seaside.
Singing in the grotto was a first for this intrepid crew.
The audience started out as Hummers but slowly and steadily grew.
On to Sicily and Siracusa and a tour of the island of Ortigia.
Singing in Parrocchia Immacolata while the World Soccer Cup was on.
On to the Imperial Villa of Casale, wow, was it ever hot!
At least 100 degrees F in the shade but still we did not stop.
Outside of Agrigento we had a beautiful hotel for the night.
The swimming pool was manmade heaven - most of us in the pool was quite a sight.
On to the Valley of the Temples, on a hilltop near Agrigento.
The mythical gods had the good life, choosing the coolest time to go.
Then on to Monreale's mosaics where the priest had us double-booked.
With a choir from Oxford, England, parts of the Mass we each took.
Finally to Palermo, Sal's family home.
We filled the Chiesa Valdese with our best-yet songs.
Cefalu was wonderful, the water so delicious and cool.
To go there and not have a good time, one would have to be a fool.
This time we boarded our overnight ferry with afternoon light to spare.
A drink in hand on the stern of the boat left us feeling without a care.
Later on came dinner then another drink at the bar.
A vacation from our vacation - the best day so far.
The offshore breeze, a hazy moon and Jupiter shining bright in the sky.
Ah, what a wonderful feeling – an incredible natural high.
Woke up in Naples then on to Pompeii, buried in 79 AD.
A walk through the town to see forum & streets was really quite something to see.
To Rome and Hotel Cicerone, a fancy place to dwell.
A shower and rest and dinner left everyone feeling swell.
The sights of Rome, so much to see, so much history unfolds.
The Coliseum, the Forum, the Vatican too – many stories are told.
At long last, the coup de grace, singing at St. Peter’s Mass.
After waiting so long to finally get there, the moment went by too fast.
Alas it’s time to say adieu and begin the journey home.
With such wonderful memories of sights and songs and more tours to come.
Page last updated 09/26/2007