Friday, June 29, 2012

Herkese Merhaba! or Hello Everyone! ın Turkish, at least İ hope that is right.  So far I have been to Athens, Istanbul and today we spent the day ın Izmır.  To the rıght you can see Carla and I ın front of the Grand Bazar ın Istanbul! It was so hot that day and was a welcome sıght when we saw shade and aır condıtıonıng. 
 Insıde the Bazar.  There are around 4000 vendors ın there and ıt was quıte overwhelmıng.  So many people ımplorıng you to step ınto theır shops.  I ended up gettıng a sılk scarf and a charm wıth the Turkısh flag symbol. 
 After the Bazar we went to the spıce market whhıch was full of yummy smells and food.  There we trıed some Turkısh Delıght and apple tea.  People drınk a lot of apple tea ın Turkey and ıt ıs very very yummy!  I wıll be brıngıng some home ıf you would lıke to try ıt :) 
Turkısh delıght

 There were a lot of nuts...lıterally.  Some very good pıstachıos. 
I was asked to take a pıcture wıth these guys, they were happy I suppose haha



Outside of the spice market there were also a lot of tasty cheeses!  Here Lucy is holding some real string cheese, it was very yummy!
 The next day we did a full day tour of Istanbul and we crossed a bridge that looked a lot like the Golden Gate bridge in style but not as pretty.  I am on the Asian continent side of Istanbul in this picture and my head is sideways because I had ear drops in for an ear infection! :( sad day

Blue Mosque






Inside the blue mosque.




 To the right is inside the Hagia Sofia which used to be a Christian Church built in the 6th (or 7th?) century.  It was absolutely beautiful. 




I started taking the mosque apart but I didn't get very far...
Behind the paintings in the mosque were beautiful mosaics created for the Christian Church



We went to see some Turkish rugs which were absolutely beautiful and change colors when you turn them different ways.  They did a little "flying carpet" demonstration for us.
Inside of the palace that I don't remember the name of




In Izmir we visited the Agora which was the center of the city in Ancient Roman times.  It was very cool wandering around the ruins.
I tried the Turkish coffee and it was very good!They keep the grounds in the coffee.

 
This is more inside the agora.  You can see a stray puppy to middle right.  There were many stray dogs and cats around the area. Also inside the agora was a little water way about 6 inches across and it has been flowing there since the agora was built and they still do not know where its source is.  needless to say I dipped my feet in :)
Next on our tour was Patmos and Mykonos, the water was so blue and clear as you can see in many of the following photos. 





View of Mykonos going in to the city from the harbor





Just one of the few streets in Mykonos.  It was very easy to get lost in the town because the inner city was originally created as a maze to protect the inhabitants from attack.  The streets were so beautiful and what you think of when you think of Greece.
Carla and I overlooking the Mykonos Harbor



The sunset at Mykonos was so beautiful and we were very sad to leave the island.  We spent most of the day wandering the island and hanging out at Paradise Beach which was loads of fun.




Mykonos at night.
Next on out cruise was Rhodes.  We spent most of the day on the beach.  The water was so beautiful and a perfect temperature.  As you can see, it was a bit pebbly. 



The old town of Rhodes was so beautiful with fortifications and ramparts from Medieval Times from when the Knights of St. John had been there protecting the city.  It was amazing that they were in such good condition. 
 There were many children around the city playing music asking for money with small puppies at their feet. 


Next on our list and sadly our last stop was Santorini.  The island was lovely to say the least.  Santorini used to be a circular island, but over a thousand years ago the volcano it sits upon erupted leaving a caldera in the middle of the island where the ocean now fills it in.  The buildings sit atop the cliffs and look a bit like bird poop on top of the island but upon closer inspection you can see that they are very beautiful buildings. 



It was magnificent to say the least...


One of the many doors I took a picture with.  





We were able to see the sunset as we left Santorini and it was marvelous.  


Today we saw the Acropolis and wandered around Athens and luckily it wasn't too hot! It was wonderful to finally see some of the sights in Athens.  Tomorrow we are going to see the Archaeological Museum and some more temples and such. 
Until I next post, arrivederci!

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