Rounding 3rd and heading for home...

Hi all,
I still need to fill you all in on Vienna and Budapest but I wanted to let everyone know what's my plans are for the last leg of my trip.  I am currently in Budapest but (hopefully) Monday morning I will be able to pickup my Tourist Visa to visit China!  I procrastinated turning in my paperwork at the Chinese Embassy and so I can't pick it up until tomorrow.  I fly out Monday night for Copenhagen, Denmark where I board the Norwegian Sun for a 9 day cruise of the Baltic Sea.  Hmmm...I cut that a little close.

 I tried (unsuccessfully) to get a tourist Visa for Russia so the only other way to visit  Saint Petersburg, Russia is via cruise ship.  I picked a cruise that had two full days in St. Petersburg and single day ports of call in Germany, Estonia, Finland and Sweden.   In order to see St. Petersburg, I must take  tours offered by the cruise line but they offer about 20 different tours that cover all the highlights.  I'm excited.  I really didn't know if I would get to see Russia or not.

I arrive back in Copenhagen and will get my Visa for India there.  Again, hopefully!  After I have my India Visa in hand I leave for Beijing China where my plan is to take the Qingzang (high elevation) train from Beijing to Lhasa, Tibet and then do a tour of Tibet.  Tickets for the train go on sale around 10 days early so I won't know until after the cruise if I got train tickets.  Cross your fingers!

After China I fly to Delhi, India and tour northern India sights (Golden Triangle) and then I plan on flying to Southern India - Mumbai, Goa, Cochin depending on time.  I've booked my return flight from Delhi to LAX via Chicago.   I arrive at LAX and later that day fly to Reno, Nevada to see my Mom for a few days.  Then back to Ventura  - Home, Sweet, Home!

Shari

Where the heck have you been? Prague!

Hi all,
Sorry I haven't posted since Santorini.  Unfortunately, I installed Microsoft updates to my Netbook and now I can't preview pictures. I haven't figured out what's going on yet.  And what is a travel blog without pictures?  Boring!

Anyway, here's a recap of Greece:.

All together I went island hopping to 4 different Greek Island  - Rhodes, Santorini, Crete and Mykinos.  Rhodes was definitely my favorite, probably a tie between Santorini and Mykinos but Crete was my least favorite.  That surprised me because Crete is a big island and has so much to do.  Unfortunately, the time of year I was there, the stuff I wanted to do was closed.  The Samaria Gorge is a 10 mile long gorge, the longest in Europe and it was closed to hikers because of the bad weather conditions.  It pretty much rained every day I was in Crete which puts a damper on things. 

I flew to from Athens to Rhodes but I took various ferry boats between the other islands and then back again to Athens.  I rode on big slow ferry boats the size of cruise ships and much smaller high speed Catamarans.  The most unforgettable boat ride was from Crete to Mykinos on the Flying Cat IV.   It was a 5 hour roller coaster ride that would raise you out of your seat and drop you every couple of minutes.  I knew we where in trouble when the cabin attendant came around and passed out barf bags.  Even worse,  people sitting all around me took them and used them!   Now I LOVE roller coasters but after 5 hours even I was feeling queasy.  Plus listening to people throw up all around you is enough to make you sick!

After island hopping I ended up back in Athens where I spent a few more days hanging out at the Acropolis, Parthenon, Agora and enjoying the festivities leading up to Easter.  Athens is a wonderful place with good food, lots to see and do and really friendly, nice people.   If you ever get the chance to go to Greece - GO!!!

I flew out of Greece to Prague, Czech Republic.  I arrived on the Saturday before Easter and the main Old Town Square looked like a giant Temporary Food Festival.  There must have been 30 food booths with every kind of ham, pork, sausage you can imagine being cooked out in the Old Town square.  I swear in Prague you are served meat for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.   The only vegatables I saw were cooked cabbage and boiled potatoes. 

The Danube River runs through the middle of Prague.  Prague  has  enough sights to keep you busy for weeks.  Old Town Quarter has the Charles Bridge, Astronomical Clock, Old Town Square and Tyn Church.    I loved the Astronomical Clock - it is 600 years old, is the 3rd oldest Astronomical clock in the world and is the only one still working.  Large crowds gather in the Old Town square to watch it ring the hour. 
The New Town has Wenceslas Square (Yes, that Good King Wenceslas) and  the best ice cream I have ever eaten (and that's saying a lot b/c I try out ice cream everywhere I go!)  I laughed that the New Town is called that because it was founded in 1348. 
On the opposite side of the Danube is the (possibly) the biggest Castle  in the world.  Czech rulers have lived there for over 1000 years.  The Castle is surrounded by a bunch of Palaces and St. Vitus Cathedral and the Lennon Wall named after John Lennon because his (and the Beatles) lyrics are written as grafitti on this wall as a protest during the years of Communist rule. 

I'm now in the Czech Republic but originally it was called Czechoslovakia and had been  under Communist rule since WWII,  until the Velvet Revolution in 1989.  On November 17, 1989 riot police beat marchers at a peaceful student protest.  This event sparked more (peaceful) demonstrations in the following days with 20,000 people the next day and 250,000 gathered in Wenceslas square on Nov. 20th.  General public strikes ensued.  By December the Communist Government had resigned and on Dec. 29, 1989 Vaclav Havel  was elected President of Czechoslovakia.  This non-violent overthrow of the Communist government is called the Velvet Revolution.  In 1993 Czechoslovakia split into Slovakia and the Czech Republic, again without violence. 

I did a couple of really interesting day trips to places in the Czech Republic (Chesky Krumlov - a fairy tale castle town, Terezin Concentration Camp and Kutna Hora  - a cool old silver mining town with a really creepy church decorated with over 40,000 human skeletons.  I'll try to do blog updates on these individually.  In my spare time.

Shari


Shari

Santorini, Greece



Santorini is stunning! Yes, I know I say that about just about everyplace I have been but Santorini really is a beautiful place.



Santorini Sunset



Fira, Santorini

  Santorini was originally a large round island but around 1613 BC earthquakes and volcanic eruptions resulted in a one of the largest explosions ever on Earth.  18 cubic miles of hot molten magma blew out the center of Santorini causing a column of ash that rose 22 miles into the atmosphere. The central part of the island collapsed and sea water rushed in filled the void.  You can still see the crater of the volcano in the picture below - that center island called Nea Kameni.  The exterior parts of the island that remained have sheer walls now called the Caldera.  Due to the structure of the island there not a lot of beaches on Santorini.  The ones that are there are small, but beautiful and are either red sand, black sand or white sand beaches.   I was in Santorini well before the start of tourist season. The weather was fairly warm but the winds blew hard for several days, enough that you would not want to sit on a beach and sunbathe. 

Standing on the island of Santorini, looking at the Nea Kameni, the center of the original volcano.

Believe it or not, Santorini is know for its donkeys.  Cars are allowed on the island, but there are many places that they can't go.  For instance, if you want to take a boat ride out to the volcano's center you have to get down to the port and your choices are to walk down, ride a donkey or take the cable car.  I was lazy - I walked down (so I could get some cute "Donkeys of Santorini" pictures),  and took the cable car back up after my boat trip.  

Donkey ride - 5 Euros

Cable Car ride - 4 Euros

Boat Ride back towards Santorini and Nea Kameni to the right

There are Greek Orthodox Churches everywhere you look in Santorini.  You can tell them by the blue dome and bright white exteriors and the crosses on top.  The domed churches are what many people think of when they think of the Greek islands.  

 

 There are also a lot of old-fashion windmills all over the island.  Some have been converted into hotels or houses, only a few are still in use.  Santorini is definitely a wind-swept island.  While wandering around I notice that the grape vines used to make Santorini wine are not staked up like at home, they are grown on the ground.  The vines are trained to grow in a coil, like a garden hose because that helps keeps the moisture in and protects the grapes from the winds. 

 The previous 3 pictures are of the town of Oia on Santorini.  In 1956, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake leveled the entire town of Oia (and most of Fira) and killed scores of people.  This town has been completely rebuilt since the quake.  It was a beautiful town and the main footpaths are paved with marble.   

Rhodes, Greece

All right everyone, I give up. I've been trying to get caught up on pictures since Istanbul and I just keep getting farther behind. Greece has so many diversions, so many things to see and do that I can't seem to accomplish anything. So I'll start back to blogging real time with Rhodes.

Rhodes is the biggest of the Dodecanese Islands and is (justifiable so), called the Pearl of the Mediterranean. Rhodes is very far from Athens but quite close to Turkey -- the ferry boat ride from Rhodes to Athens takes about 13 hours, but only 50 minutes from Rhodes to Marmaris,Turkey. 

Rhodes is a mish mash of influences.  It was always an island outpost but around 1100 BC, it began to exert power and influence on the surrounding areas.  Since then, Rhodes has been ruled by Dorians, Romans, Persians,  Spartans, Turkish, Egyptians, Italians, Germans and finally, Greeks. 

I thought the history of Rhodes was very interesting -- especially from the Middle Ages to present day.   In early 1300's (AD) a pirate sold the island of Rhodes to the “Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem” who took full control in 1309.   The Knights remained in charge of Rhodes until 1522 AD. Though Rhode always had a walled fortress, the Knights drastically fortified it increasing the walls from 2 meters to almost 12 meters thick (in places) to make it impenetrable to cannon balls. Some of the cannon balls fired back then measured 7 feet in diameter. The Knights also added the moat, counterwalls opposite the moat, high towers and bastions. 

  The Knights maintained control of Rhodes even through 3 sieges by the Turks and and an (estimated) 7.1 magnitude earthquake in 1481.  In the final siege of 1522 ,  “Suleiman the Magnificant” (the Turkish Sultan) attacked with over 200,000 men and 400 ships, compared to the Knights, whose complete forces were only 5,500 men.  The battle raged for 6 months until the Knights, on the brink of defeat, ageed to formally cede the City to Suleiman. 

The Turkish occupations of Rhodes is considered its darkest times. The Turks ruled almost 400 years until 1912 when the Italians (with the assistance of the Greek inhabitants) captured Rhodes. At first this was a good thing and Rhodes thought it would soon be united with Greece. Unfortunately, Mussolini and Fascism was on the rise. It was not until 1943 that Mussolini's government failed, then Germany moved in to take control and finally in 1945 the islands were liberated by British forces.   In 1948 the Islands were reunited with Greece. 

That somewhat explains why everywhere you look you see a mix of building styles, architecture and uses. In 1988, the Medieval town of Rhodes (aka Old Rhodes) was designated a World Heritage City by UNESCO. Old Rhodes is amazing. It is inhabited by 6000 people, it is a working city set in a medievel castle setting, a maze of stone paths and walkways so convoluted that you can't even begin to figure out where you are going or where you've been. The best way to explore is to just wander around lost until you see something that interests you. Then, eat some ice cream!

Shari



One of  seven gates into Old Town



Marine Gate.  You can see the fortresses in the harbour

Palace of the Grand Masters - Courtyard

From the Palace, looking at the Clock Tower

View from the harbour, looking back towards Old Rhodes

Avenue of the Knights



Typical cobblestone road that leads to who knows where!



The Moat (no longer filled with water) and some Cannon Balls

Turkey Road Trip - The Ruins

Lone Pine at Gallipoli.  This place is revered  to Australia/New Zealand  who celebrate ANZAC (Australian/New Zealand Army Corps) day on April 25th.  During WWI,  Allied forces attacked at Gallipoli  Penninsula and were met with huge resistance by the Turks.  For 8 months the battle raged on, almost at a standstill but causalties were heavy on both sides.  Allied deaths were over 44,000 and wounded over 86,000. Turkish forces killed are estimated at 87,000 dead/ 167,000 wounded.  By the time the Allies evacuated (8 months after landing) a total of over 400,000 dead or wounded.  Most of the dead were buried at sea or have no known grave.  Their names are engraved on the markers and memorials in the area. It was a very moving and very sobering afternoon spent in Gallipoli.

TROY - The first picture is the replica of the Trojan Horse located at the ancient city of Troia (Troy)  That's me looking out the window on the right!   Troy was amazing.  It used to be a sea port but now is 5 km inland.  There are actually 9 different Troys - built on top/around each other over the years.   Troy I was built around 3000 BC, Troy VI about 1800 BC and last was Troy IX around 50 BC. As the sea retreated, Troy became less important and was finally abandoned and the Mother Nature reclaimed it.  Troy was lost for almost 1800 years.  People knew it existed but no one was sure where it had been located.

 Others excavated before him but the treasures of Troy were "discovered" by a German named Schliemann in 1870.  As a kid, Schliemann read the stories by Homer and dreamed that he would someday find Troy -- which he did.  Unfortunately, Schliemann was greedy and he dug a huge trench through the middle of the site, destroying buildings, statues, artifacts as he was only interested in Troy VI and the gold and treasures alluded to by Homer in the Illiad.  He found these treasures and smuggled them out of Turkey.  He was later forgiven by the Turkish government and returned to excavate Troy and Mycenae in Greece.  He died in 1890.  The treasures he stole from Troy were still considered missing until 1995 when the Pushkin Museum in Moscow displayed the Trojan Treasures.  They had been hiding them for all these years!

Who really owns them is still under debate.  Germany says that Schliemann was German so they belong to Germany.  Turkey wants them back because they were stolen from Troy located in Turkey.  Even Greece wants them back because obviously when they sacked Troy (using the Trojan horse....)  they must have missed them but they surely would have taken them at that time, if they'd found them.

This Trojan horse is located in the coastal town and way left there after the filming of the Brad Pitt movie - Troy. 

Pergamon - We had the worst tourguide ever but the site was very beautiful and it has a really cool cable car to get you to the top of the site.    An ancient Greek city located in Turkey.  It was one of the largest cities in the world with a population of 200,000.  It had the second best library in all the world containing over 200,000 volumes (Alexandria in Egypt was considered first.)  So how did they amass 200,000 volumes of writing?  The King (& later  his son) wanted to best Alexandria's Library and sent their soldiers out to steal every writing they could find in the land.    Egypt caught on and originally papyrus from Egypt was used to write on but then Egypt stopped exporting of papyrus.  So in Pergamon they started using parchment made from animal skins.  Since papyrus rolled up easily but parchment was not, someone had the great idea to cut it into manageable sized pages and bind them together into.... Books!  Books were actually invented in Pergamon.

So what happened to all those books in Pergamon?   In 40 BC Romans took control of Egypt and accidentally burned part of Alexandria's library.  To make up for the loss, Marc Anthony gave all 200,000 volumes to Cleopatra as a wedding present. 

We next visited Ephesus, a beautifully restored archeological site.  Nearby, it the house that St. John brought Mary, Mother of Jesus here to live after in Jesus was resurrected.    We visited the site which is a small monestary currently.  There is much debate whether this is the actual site but if you Google "House of Virgin Mary" you can read the story for yourself.  The House of Virgin Mary is a pilgrimage site visited by Christians and Muslims and tourists like me. 


Ephesus was amazing!  I keep saying that but it was built around 2000 BCand was home to 1/4 million residents.  It had fountains to provide running water for drinking and plumbing to take the wastes away.  The main road was paved with marble.  It had public toilets, a brothel, various churches and a library.  So once again, why did this city die?  Answer:  Malaria.  Ephesus was originally a harbor town and earthquakes caused the harbor to silt up, swamps were formed.  Mosquitoes and Malaria finished the city off between 600 - 1000 AD.

The main road through the city of Ephesus.  The  Library of Celsus in the picture below is in the 2 story building towards the upper left of the picture.  Below is a close up of the Library.  I didn't get a very good picture but it is an optical illusion and the second floor is built smaller than the first floor.

The Library of Celsus

From the top of The Grand Theatre (above) and from the stage of the Grand Theatre (below).  It had a 25,000 spectator capacity.

Turkey - Part 2

When I originally planned my trip, I only intended to visit Istanbul but because I enjoyed Istanbul so much, I decided to tour the rest of Turkey.  I first  tried to make a reservation with a couple of US/UK tour companies but most had either cancelled or completely filled their tours of Turkey.  I finally went online and found an address for Turkish Tour Group that had good reviews onTripAdvisor.com.

The TTG (Turkey Tour Group) was a tour consolidator which means that they don't actually run tours, they put you on other companies tours.  The problem is you can have an excellent tour (ex:  Troy/Gallipoli) followed by a real bad tour (ex: Pergamon).  The other problem is that  since each tour is by a different company, the transitions between the tours can be a problem.  Company A does a tour and drops you at a bus station with the directions that the next tour Company B will be by to pick you up in 3 hours.  Now remember, I don't speak the language and didn't really know where I was nor where I was supposed to go next.  It was fortunate that I had such good travel mates (Pauline, Don and Christopher - Thank you!) on the tour, otherwise it would have been a bit scary for a solo traveler.  Instead it turned out to be an excellent adventure with newfound friends.  The time I spent on tour with the Beaton family is one of my most favorite parts of my trip!
Pictures:

Topkapi Palace - Built in 1470's, overlooking Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and Golden Horn.  Residence of the reigning  Sultans for over 400 years until the "New" Dolmabache Palace was built in the 1800's.  It's a mishmash of styles because every Sultan who lived there added on his own buildings.

No this picture is not upside down! 



Nor is this picture sideways, either!

 The above pictures were taken in the Underground Cistern.  The cistern was built around 600 A.D. to provide water for the city.  It has 27 million gallon capacity and is bigger that 2 football fields in size.  What an amazing feat of engineering!    These heads are statues of Medusa (Recall - Snakes for hair, one look turned you to stone...) and they hold up 2 of the 336 columns in the cistern.   No one knows for sure why they were used, but speculation is that they were recycled from earlier Roman buildings and just happened to be the necessary height to level the columns they support.  

The Blue Mosque - built in 1617.  It's has 6 minarets which was exceptional because when it was built, only the Mosque at Mecca had 6 minarets.  Five times per day faithful Muslims are called to prayer here.  Tourist are allowed to visit inside but must take their shoes off and women must cover their heads.  I did it but I admit I felt uncomfortable, like an intruder.  It's calld the Blue Mosque b/c there are over 20,000 blue/white Iznak tiles in the interior domes.

Blue Mosque beautifully lit at night.

The next 3 pictures are interior shots of Aya Sophia and unfortunately, they don't do it justice.  Aya Sophia was built by Byzantine Emperor Justinian between 532 - 537 A.D.   Everything Justinian did was big  - (Remember the Cistern).  This church - the Great Church of Constantinople was basically the Eastern Vatican.  It is considered to be the single greatest architectural achievement of the Byzantine Empire. It continued to be a church for the next 900 years until the Ottomans  aptured Constantinople and converted it into a Mosque in 1453.  It remained a mosque until 1930's when it was converted into a museum. 

I can't even begin to describe how amazing Aya Sophia is.  The first picture is the entrance with marble on every surface and very elaborate mosaics on the ceilings and pillars.

In the second picture, you are in the main part of the church and looking up at the main dome which is 185 ft high, and 105 ft. wide.  
   

 

Galanta Tower - is 205 ft. tall and was built in the mid 1400's.  It has been used as a fire tower, a prison and currently is a restaurant!  It's the most prominent feature on the New District side which is across the Golden Horn from the old part of Istanbul.  There are stunning views from the top!

 In this picture you can see Old Istanbul, the new District both of which are on the European side of Istanbul and in the distance you can see the Asian side of Istanbul. 

That's only Istanbul.  I haven't even begun to cover the rest of Turkey!
Shari



Turkey - The Condensed Version!

I'm back!  As you know, while I was in Turkey, I was unable to access my travel blog on Google Blogger because the Turkish Courts had blocked it at the request of a Turkish Cable TV Company.  Some young turks were posting soccer footage on Blogger and the cable company went to court to stop them.  The Court solution:  Block Blogger for everyone in Turkey.  That's absurd.  No wonder Turkey has not been admitted to the European Union.

I confess, initially I did not like Istanbul.  Why?  Well, first I had a hard time getting there.  If you recall, EgyptAir had mistaken me for a terrorist because only me (and terrorists) buy one way plane tickets to Istanbul!  Secondly, I arrived at the Attaturk Airport in Istanbul, go to use an ATM to get Turkish Lira and my ATM card was swallowed.  I ultimately got the ATM card back but it was a heck of a lot of work – Strike Two!   Lastly, I arrived in Istanbul and a blizzard hit the next day.  It snowed for 3 or 4 days with icy winds and temperatures down to -5 deg.Celsius.  Brrr...  I'm a cold weather wimp who had just spent the past month in South Africa in shorts and t-shirts.  I thought I was going to freeze to death.

However, upon further consideration, Istanbul was an amazing experience.  It's a city of 11 million people.  Istanbul straddled two contients, Europe and Asia.  It is (technically) a democracy with separation of church and state but has a 98% Muslim population.  There are over 3000 Mosques in Istanbul and everyone of them calls the faithful to prayer 5 times per day – At dawn, shorty after noon, late afternoon/early evening, when nightfall begins and before you go to bed.   The calls go out from loud speakers on the minarets or towers on the mosques.  Muslims pray facing east towards Mecca.  You don't have to actually go to a mosque every time you are supposed to pray, but every Friday afternoon is mandatory and the Iman will deliver a sermon in additional to the usual prayers.

In Istanbul, I visit an amazing number of museums, palaces, mosques, cisterns and had some incredible experiences.  I had the best rice pudding I have ever had in my life.  I watched (from a distance) riot police lined up against a protest by Turkish journalists, (No worries - everything was completely peaceful).    I ate like a local and had a street vendor make me a lollipop from hot molten sugar.  Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside most mosques but some of my favorites places were the Blue Mosque, Aya Sophia, Topeki Palace, Galanta Tower, Taksim Square and the Basilica cistern.  I bargained with Turks in the Spice Market and Grand Bazaar - ( I hate bargaining but it is expected in Istanbul).

I enjoyed Istanbul so much I decided to tour the rest of Turkey.  I went on a bus tour of Gallipoli and Troy where we had an  excellent tour guide.  He was a young man of 26 but he really loved his job and he loved the stories of the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corp.) at Gallipoli.  Winston Churchill had sent Anzac forces to take Gallipoli penninsula -- the path to Istanbul because the Turks were an ally of Germany.  A horrific battle that went on for 8 months with massive causualties on all sides.  April 25th is Anzac Day which is a public holiday in New Zealand and Australia, with celebrations similar to Veteran's Day in the USA.

I'm tired.  More to come later, (with pictures hopefully), on Troy - (Yes, remember your Greek mythology - Helen of Troy, big wooden Trojan horse..), the Cotton Castles and healing waters of Pamukkale, Pergamon - an ancient Greek city in modern day Turkey), the ancient city of Ephesus (which was the 2nd largest city in the world behind Rome in 100 BC), Cappadocia with it's eerie rock formations with churchs built into rock caves. 
Shari