On Wednesday, the sun appeared! Since we are going to Egypt tomorrow (Friday) The Egyptian sun god RA must be looking out for us. Our Turkey itinerary included a boat trip on the Bosphorus Strait and we were watching the weather for the best day hoping for sun. Having scouted the various options for a boat trip we decided to take the tram to the harbor for a short cruise. Upon our arrival at the dock we discovered the trip we wanted to take only runs on Sunday, but fortunately for us there were several other options and we quickly grabbed an opportunity on a small boat that was leaving immediately. Cruises are very popular and there are a number of large ferry and tourist boats that regularly take passengers to several ports along the straits. The ferry charges 1.75 Turkish Lira which is about $1.10 US, this is the same fare as the tram, so you can travel all over Istanbul for a couple of dollars.
The boat we decided to take holds about 20 people and there were 10 passengers including Ginger, the professor, plus the captain and a mate. The larger boats can handle several hundred passengers so you can see this was a bit smaller than what we had originally expected. The trip took about 3 hours to travel toward the Black Sea, then turn around and make one stop on the Asia Minor continent. So in the same day within a few hours we were on two continents, Europe and Asia Minor. The water was a little rough especially when we passed in the wake of one of the aforementioned large ships. I noticed the life preservers and life vests were fastened to the roof of the boat with nylon zip ties, these zip ties will resist normal human efforts to release the ties since they are rather strong. So without saying anything to Barb about the potential for disaster(she still does not know the danger we were in) should we have to go for a swim in the rather chilly waters, I made sure my knife was available to cut the ties should the need arise. Fortunately the captain was experienced, we made the three hour tour without incident and returned to a different location on the dock which just happened to be close to his brothers restaurant where they were cooking fresh fish.
Istanbul has for millenia been the crossroads between the East and West, the Silk Road ended in Istanbul, spices from the East were sent to markets all over the Mediterranean, goods from Europe traveled East. The Bosphorus strait is lined with castles, palaces, luxury homes from the past and present. Last night we saw over 50 large ships waiting in the Sea Of Marmara to transit to the Black Sea, as our waiter explained, the car traffic and the ship traffic is very congested and the ships have to wait their turn to travel up the Bosphorus.
There is some archeological evidence in the far distant past the Black Sea was not connected to the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea. A land bridge existed separating these bodies of water, but at some time, possibly with the help of an earthquake the land bridge collapsed sending a catastrophic flood of water along the narrow valley. Some scholars believe this is the origin of the Biblical story of Noah.
Turkey has been an amazing experience, the people are friendly, helpful, and everywhere we went there was a lot of very old stuff. I can imagine that anywhere you put a shovel in the earth artifacts would be revealed since this are is considered the cradle of civilization. I am looking forward to return next month for a car trip along the Aegean to Ephesus, Bodrum, Heriaopolis, and Pamukkule.
We are returning to Athens this afternoon to overnight before departing on Egyptair to Cairo.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The Blue Mosque & Hagia Sophia
The weather in Istanbul continues to be cool and windy, today the high was 7 degrees Celsius (44.6 Fahrenheit) with the wind a breezy 32 kmh (20 mph), I finally had to buy a hat! Tomorrow is supposed to be bit warmer so we are planning a cruise on the Bosphorus in the afternoon.
In spite of the cool weather we walked first to visit the Blue Mosque, built in 1609 using some of the stonemasons who built the Taj Majal, this Mosque is considered one of the most famous religious buildings in the world. The interior is decorated with Iznik tiles and mesmeric designs employing flowing arabesques, and delicate stained glass. We were able to enter the mosque by removing our shoes, when prayers are not being offered. The Muslims pray five times each day and the call to prayer is heard all over the city from the minarets and loudspeakers. This is truly a beautiful structure.
Not far from the Blue Mosque is Hagia Sophia, the church of holy wisdom, built by the Roman emperor Justinian in 537. Considered to be one of the world's greatest architectural achievements, the central dome is 184' high. In the 15th century, the Ottomans converted the church to a Mosque which was later returned to use as a museum. The interior was once covered with religious mosaics, a few which still survive after more than 1400 years. The imposing size of the structure is hard to comprehend, especially considering the engineering required to build this massive structure in 537 AD.
Situated close to these buildings is Topkapi palace the home to the sultans for 470 years. Abandoned in 1853 the site was opened to the public as a museum in 1924. Fabulous collections of ceramics, glass, jewelery, manuscripts, and the archeological museum with artifacts from all of Mesopotamia dating back thousands of years are housed in numerous buildings.
Braving the wind we walked to the main port to arrange our cruise in the Bosphorus tomorrow, then took the long way back to the hotel. The tram service is excellent, but the walking is good for us. Today there were more people in the tourist sites, mainly group tours, I can only imagine what it must be like in high season with thousands of tourist and large tours. Being here for a few days, we are impressed with the people, we have not seen one person with a cardboard sign, no beggers, only people on the street selling things, everything from small packages of facial tissues to knock-off watches, purses, hats, gloves, toys and food. Lots of small food vendors sell roasted chestnuts, corn and bread from pushcarts, larger kiosks sell hot food, and along every street are storefront cafes selling hot sandwiches. Many stores sell high end clothing and other goods. Although we have learned a few words of Turkish, English is widely spoken, the people are very friendly and helpful. We have been surprised at the high cost of food and other goods, lunch today was $41 USD for a plate of various vegetables a diet coke and coffee. The food is excellent, colorful and tasty, just expensive. Our breakfast is covered as part of the hotel so considering we buy only one meal per day, the overall cost is not to much.
Two more days in Turkey, then on to Egypt! Only 1044 miles from Tripoli! If we poke our head above the clouds we can almost see Gaddfi.
In spite of the cool weather we walked first to visit the Blue Mosque, built in 1609 using some of the stonemasons who built the Taj Majal, this Mosque is considered one of the most famous religious buildings in the world. The interior is decorated with Iznik tiles and mesmeric designs employing flowing arabesques, and delicate stained glass. We were able to enter the mosque by removing our shoes, when prayers are not being offered. The Muslims pray five times each day and the call to prayer is heard all over the city from the minarets and loudspeakers. This is truly a beautiful structure.
Not far from the Blue Mosque is Hagia Sophia, the church of holy wisdom, built by the Roman emperor Justinian in 537. Considered to be one of the world's greatest architectural achievements, the central dome is 184' high. In the 15th century, the Ottomans converted the church to a Mosque which was later returned to use as a museum. The interior was once covered with religious mosaics, a few which still survive after more than 1400 years. The imposing size of the structure is hard to comprehend, especially considering the engineering required to build this massive structure in 537 AD.
Situated close to these buildings is Topkapi palace the home to the sultans for 470 years. Abandoned in 1853 the site was opened to the public as a museum in 1924. Fabulous collections of ceramics, glass, jewelery, manuscripts, and the archeological museum with artifacts from all of Mesopotamia dating back thousands of years are housed in numerous buildings.
Braving the wind we walked to the main port to arrange our cruise in the Bosphorus tomorrow, then took the long way back to the hotel. The tram service is excellent, but the walking is good for us. Today there were more people in the tourist sites, mainly group tours, I can only imagine what it must be like in high season with thousands of tourist and large tours. Being here for a few days, we are impressed with the people, we have not seen one person with a cardboard sign, no beggers, only people on the street selling things, everything from small packages of facial tissues to knock-off watches, purses, hats, gloves, toys and food. Lots of small food vendors sell roasted chestnuts, corn and bread from pushcarts, larger kiosks sell hot food, and along every street are storefront cafes selling hot sandwiches. Many stores sell high end clothing and other goods. Although we have learned a few words of Turkish, English is widely spoken, the people are very friendly and helpful. We have been surprised at the high cost of food and other goods, lunch today was $41 USD for a plate of various vegetables a diet coke and coffee. The food is excellent, colorful and tasty, just expensive. Our breakfast is covered as part of the hotel so considering we buy only one meal per day, the overall cost is not to much.
Two more days in Turkey, then on to Egypt! Only 1044 miles from Tripoli! If we poke our head above the clouds we can almost see Gaddfi.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Istanbul
The weather is Istanbul was on the cool side with a light rain, the wind was a bit stiff so we had to button up our coats as we headed for the Grand Bazaar which has been in operations since 1453. The bazaar is a huge collection of small shops offering goods of every imaginable type. The shop owners are friendly yet aggressive to sell you something. We did look at one of the rug stalls where the owner has traveled in the US selling his carpets, we were offered tea and shown a number of carpets even though we told him we were not interested in buying. These people could sell refrigerators to the Eskimoes! The carpets are beautiful, made of silk or wool from different parts of the Arab world, the cost for a 3' x 5' silk carpet is $3500, ancient carpets are even more expensive.
We did buy a few small items, including our magnets, and then started looking at a Turkish coffee maker, these are small metal cups where the coffee and water is boiled over heat to make the coffee, it is quite a process to make the coffee just right. The owner was very friendly, we learned he started in the business when he was 15 working with his family, then went into the military, later worked for Carnival Cruise lines and finally came back to the business in the Bazaar. His family has three stalls in the bazaar. We were offered Turkish coffee and invited into the small shop where he showed us more of the coffee makers and some of the other goods. We ended up purchasing a coffee maker, two cups and saucers made in the traditional blue ceramic colors, and small hand decorated boxes made from camel bones, and a ceramic Aladdin's lamp. The workmanship of these items is excellent. He also had hand inlaid cases for Backgammon or chess that were beautiful. Very nice man and reasonable prices, overall a pleasant experience.
Later we walked to the Suleymaniye Mosque, a beautiful mosque built in 1550 for Suleyman the Mgnificent (the same guy that conquered the Knights of St. John). The mosque is being renovated but we were able to enter the main part of the mosque since it was between prayer times. Included in the mosque complex was a hospital, soup kitchen, schools, and bath house that provided a welfare system feeding over 1000 of the city's poor.
Our last stop for the day was an underground cistern built in 532 by the Roman emperor Justinian. This huge cistern supplied water to the roman palace, it contains 336 columns 26' high, holding up the roof. The cistern was rediscovered in the 19th century when people were found to be collecting water and even fish through holes in their basements.
The traffic here is very heavy, the drivers crazy and pedestrians have no rights. While the tram system is excellent, I am not sure how anyone can get anywhere driving a car, the roads are clogged and almost at a standstill. We learned to cross the streets in a crowd hoping there is some safety in numbers, the cars do not stop and will drive right through the intersection. With that said, the wind blew Barb's hat into the street in front of a bus, she said to let it go and forget it, but being the ever gallant husband, I dashed into the street in front of a bus to retrieve the hat. Actually, gallant means I made sure the traffic was stopped before running out in front of the bus, and the bus driver did not move until I was back on the curb. I am surprised Barb did not want me to stop so she could take a photo.
Tomorrow we plan to visit Topkapi Place, Hagia Sofia, and the Blue Mosque. On Wednesday we will take a cruise up the Bosporus.
We did buy a few small items, including our magnets, and then started looking at a Turkish coffee maker, these are small metal cups where the coffee and water is boiled over heat to make the coffee, it is quite a process to make the coffee just right. The owner was very friendly, we learned he started in the business when he was 15 working with his family, then went into the military, later worked for Carnival Cruise lines and finally came back to the business in the Bazaar. His family has three stalls in the bazaar. We were offered Turkish coffee and invited into the small shop where he showed us more of the coffee makers and some of the other goods. We ended up purchasing a coffee maker, two cups and saucers made in the traditional blue ceramic colors, and small hand decorated boxes made from camel bones, and a ceramic Aladdin's lamp. The workmanship of these items is excellent. He also had hand inlaid cases for Backgammon or chess that were beautiful. Very nice man and reasonable prices, overall a pleasant experience.
Later we walked to the Suleymaniye Mosque, a beautiful mosque built in 1550 for Suleyman the Mgnificent (the same guy that conquered the Knights of St. John). The mosque is being renovated but we were able to enter the main part of the mosque since it was between prayer times. Included in the mosque complex was a hospital, soup kitchen, schools, and bath house that provided a welfare system feeding over 1000 of the city's poor.
Our last stop for the day was an underground cistern built in 532 by the Roman emperor Justinian. This huge cistern supplied water to the roman palace, it contains 336 columns 26' high, holding up the roof. The cistern was rediscovered in the 19th century when people were found to be collecting water and even fish through holes in their basements.
The traffic here is very heavy, the drivers crazy and pedestrians have no rights. While the tram system is excellent, I am not sure how anyone can get anywhere driving a car, the roads are clogged and almost at a standstill. We learned to cross the streets in a crowd hoping there is some safety in numbers, the cars do not stop and will drive right through the intersection. With that said, the wind blew Barb's hat into the street in front of a bus, she said to let it go and forget it, but being the ever gallant husband, I dashed into the street in front of a bus to retrieve the hat. Actually, gallant means I made sure the traffic was stopped before running out in front of the bus, and the bus driver did not move until I was back on the curb. I am surprised Barb did not want me to stop so she could take a photo.
Tomorrow we plan to visit Topkapi Place, Hagia Sofia, and the Blue Mosque. On Wednesday we will take a cruise up the Bosporus.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Turkey!
Sunday afternoon and we are in Istanbul, Turkey. The flight from Athens was only one hour, yet we had a nice dinner on Aegean Air since it was an international flight. We took the train and tram from the airport to the front door of the Hotel for about $3.00 USD, very easy and no one picked our pockets. Since Monday is supposed to be cool with some rain we are going to the Grand Bazaar which has been in existence for since 1453. There are thousands of shops in a labyrinth of streets, with goods spilling out and relentless shopkeepers. Hopefully we won't get lost or spend all our money! The hotel is conveniently located in the old town within walking distance of all the great attractions.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Rhodes, Greece
I think we are finally starting our adjustment to the nine hour time difference, this morning I was awake at 3:oo AM performing emergency surgery on the mouse, unfortunately, the surgery was not a success. I continued my search for a replacement in the old town of Rhodes but apparently computer mice are not considered tourist souvenirs. Either that, or the 10,000 feral cats living here have eliminated the mice population. More of the stores were open today since a small cruise ship was in port. Most of the vendors are busy fixing up the stores for the expected arrival of tourists when the season starts in late April. At times there are six or seven big cruise ships in port with thousands of passengers, so now is a really good time to be here. We bought a couple of items today and received discounts due to the season and lack of tourists, the restaurants are not busy and have touts calling out to the passers by to entice them.
Yesterday we toured the Street of Knights, Palace of the Masters and the Knights of St. John which is now a museum housing old Greek stuff, some thousands of years old. Rhodes is an island with 6000 years history of occupation, conquest, exploitation, and now tourism. It has one of the best preserved walled medieval cities in Europe, the walls are approximately 2 miles in diameter and were built by the Knights of St. John in the 1300's. The knights protected the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and pilgrims to the Holy Land, they were eventually defeated by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1522 After this defeat they ended up on the island of Malta; today they are still a recognized religious order of the Catholic church.
Our hotel is located about 100 meters from the Palace of the Masters and was constructed in 2007 inside one of the old stone buildings. The palace of Masters was rebuilt by the Italians in 1920 for Mussolini, it is a grand palace and has many ancient works of art plus mosaic floors from the Island of Kos dating back several thousand years. Attached is a link for more information http://www.greeka.com/dodecanese/rhodes/rhodes-history/rhodes-palace-grand-masters.htm
Rhodes is also known as the site of the Colossus of Rhodes (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world) a 130' tall statue built in 293 BC, it was destroyed by an earthquake in 227 BC. According to some legends, the statue was at the entrance to the harbor, today the harbor is known for the stag and dear statues located on either side of the harbor entrance.
One more day in Rhodes, then we are back to Athens and then to Istanbul.
Yesterday we toured the Street of Knights, Palace of the Masters and the Knights of St. John which is now a museum housing old Greek stuff, some thousands of years old. Rhodes is an island with 6000 years history of occupation, conquest, exploitation, and now tourism. It has one of the best preserved walled medieval cities in Europe, the walls are approximately 2 miles in diameter and were built by the Knights of St. John in the 1300's. The knights protected the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and pilgrims to the Holy Land, they were eventually defeated by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1522 After this defeat they ended up on the island of Malta; today they are still a recognized religious order of the Catholic church.
Our hotel is located about 100 meters from the Palace of the Masters and was constructed in 2007 inside one of the old stone buildings. The palace of Masters was rebuilt by the Italians in 1920 for Mussolini, it is a grand palace and has many ancient works of art plus mosaic floors from the Island of Kos dating back several thousand years. Attached is a link for more information http://www.greeka.com/dodecanese/rhodes/rhodes-history/rhodes-palace-grand-masters.htm
Rhodes is also known as the site of the Colossus of Rhodes (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world) a 130' tall statue built in 293 BC, it was destroyed by an earthquake in 227 BC. According to some legends, the statue was at the entrance to the harbor, today the harbor is known for the stag and dear statues located on either side of the harbor entrance.
One more day in Rhodes, then we are back to Athens and then to Istanbul.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
In Athens!
Delta flight 232 departed Seattle at 2:15 PM, slightly late, banked to the North and headed out over Canada for the ten hour flight to Amsterdam. The flight was completely full, mostly crying babies and screaming young children with a few sickly folks hacking and coughing just to make sure no one got any sleep. Although the flight was scheduled for ten hours, it must have taken at least twenty hours which required mid-air refueling. Fortunately I was able to sleep for at least nine minutes so we arrived in Amsterdam fully refreshed and ready to catch our next flight to Athens on KLM.
The KLM plane is a Boeing 737-800 which is configured for a single class, although the front cabin has the same six abreast seating for the entire airplane, the First Class class divider is easily moved to make the FC section as many seats as necessary, they simply fold down a tray in the middle seat so only two of the seats are occupied. This provides some flexibility to configure First Class with virtually any number of seats. I was just watching the flight attendant chatting with the first office, something you generally do not see in the US since there are some rules about not leaving the flight deck door open. The captain was in the biffy so I assume the plane was ion autopilot.
Amsterdam Schiopol airport is reputed to be “the most beautiful airport in the world”, I think mainly because it has endless shopping opportunities, so I am guessing whoever wrote the review of the airport is probably a person who likes to shop. Fortunately we only had a little over one hour between flights so not much time for shopping, the down side is on our return trip we have a three hour layover to buy whatever time we missed during our vacation.
My little computer mouse decided to quit working on the SEA AMS leg of the trip so I am struggling with the touch pad on the computer. For some reason, my fat hands do not work with the touchpad and if I am not careful, all of the words I have just typed are jumbled and I have to start over. If only I was able to take advantage of the shopping at AMS, then I could have replaced my mouse, I am hopeful I will be able to find a mouse somewhere in Greece, Turkey, or Egypt. With any luck I can find a mouse faster than a café moulin (coffee grinder) in Nice.
We wandered the airport last night since it is across the street from our hotel, The airport is new and very nice with lots of shopping. There are a couple of nice museum displays showing artifacts found during the construction of the airport, it is my guess anywhere you put a shovel in the ground, artifacts will be found. We had dinner in the airport in a small restaurant. There is a food court with the usual Sbarro's, Dominoes Pizza, Asian Cuisine, some authentic Greek food and of course the McDonalds. McDonalds offers a shrimp sandwich, fried shrimp, shrimp salad and spring rolls, all nicely fried. Even the 'healthy' salad had fried something in it.
I did find a replacement mouse for 25 euros ($35.44) since this price seemed a bit steep, I will continue looking and keep correcting my mistakes as I type. At this moment it is 10:10 PM in Athens, 1:10 PM in Seattle; with a nine hour time difference our bodies are somewhat confused, and we are struggling with trying to sleep.
Tomorrow, at 0500, we board an Aegean Airlines plane for Rhodes where we will stay in the medieval city founded by the Knights of St. John, one of the last of the crusading knight’s organizations founded in 1107, more history on that later.
Rhodes http://www.rhodestravels.com/
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Tempus Fugit!
Less than 7 days left before we depart. Where has the time gone? Unfortunately the time we are in Greece will fly by even faster! I am returning from Newark this evening, trying to finish up my projects before we depart. Barbara has been busy taking care of last minute details to make our departure free of problems.
Egypt is frustrating, Libya is close to civil war, and the rest of the area is still in a state of turmoil. And, Greece is experiencing a wicked late winter storm with icicles dangling from the eaves! But, looking back in history, nothing has changed, only the names! Be it the Macedonians, the Selcuks, Spartans, Alexander the Great; the names have changed, but the turmoil continues!
With over a month in Lesvos, we are exploring the possibility of another side trip to Turkey, the ferry ride is only 1 1/2 hours and since we already have a car rented we could simply take the ferry and drive in the dangerous countryside of Turkey to Ephesus, Pamkkule, and Heliopolis. We have downloaded all the Turkish road signs, the only problems is translating the signs from Turkish to English or Greek. I have mastered four Greek words so I could at least have a few signs translated. The one I like best is "May God protect you". I think the locals say this as they close their eyes and blast through the round-about. There are a number of hot springs in the Turkish countryside, renowned for their medicinal healing properties; the ancient Greeks and Romans nursed their war wounds in these therapeutic spas, perhaps we can nurse our wounds from driving in the Turkish country.........
Egypt is frustrating, Libya is close to civil war, and the rest of the area is still in a state of turmoil. And, Greece is experiencing a wicked late winter storm with icicles dangling from the eaves! But, looking back in history, nothing has changed, only the names! Be it the Macedonians, the Selcuks, Spartans, Alexander the Great; the names have changed, but the turmoil continues!
With over a month in Lesvos, we are exploring the possibility of another side trip to Turkey, the ferry ride is only 1 1/2 hours and since we already have a car rented we could simply take the ferry and drive in the dangerous countryside of Turkey to Ephesus, Pamkkule, and Heliopolis. We have downloaded all the Turkish road signs, the only problems is translating the signs from Turkish to English or Greek. I have mastered four Greek words so I could at least have a few signs translated. The one I like best is "May God protect you". I think the locals say this as they close their eyes and blast through the round-about. There are a number of hot springs in the Turkish countryside, renowned for their medicinal healing properties; the ancient Greeks and Romans nursed their war wounds in these therapeutic spas, perhaps we can nurse our wounds from driving in the Turkish country.........
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)