Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Hungary and Turkey - May 2011

May 2011

Welcome to another of Laura and George's Excellent Adventures – Trip to Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Istanbul, Turkey

Thursday was the day that did not exist. We boarded an United Airlines flight to Dulles Airport, Washington DC. It was an uneventful flight, landing with a hour layover before we boarded an Austrian Airlines flight at 5:45pm. It was a comfortable flight only a little over 8 hours. The last 2 hours of the flight a couple one row ahead of us allowed their 2 year old to run up and down the aisle to entertain us. Truly a joy. We arrived in Vienna, Austria at about 8:30am, Friday morning. Our tour guide met us and took us to our hotel. The rooms were not ready so they stored our luggage and we took a commuter train towards the city center. Our hotel was located only 8 stops from the city center. We rode about 4 stops to an area of a large open air market which had many stalls selling fresh vegetables, dried fruits, spices, fish, etc. They also had many little cafes and coffee shops where you could stop for a bite to eat. It was an interesting place to visit.



Market near hotel in Vienna

 We returned to the hotel after making a small purchase of some dried fruits, checked in, unpacked and then walked about the area of the hotel. We stopped at a beer garden for a cold adult beverage. Then returned to the hotel for a 6pm meet and greet of the tour group. There are 27 people in the group - 3 couples from NZ, 2 from Australia, one couple from Singapore and one lady from South Africa. The remainder are Americans. After the meet and greet, we joined the South African and a couple from Australia to go to dinner, then it was back to the hotel for an early bedtime since out tour director is an early bird and we have a wake-up call for 6:30am with a 8am departure to start the tour.



Lippizaner Stallion

So Saturday morning was the start of the actual tour. At 8am we left for a 2 1/2 hour Vienna City Tour. On the right you have the Old Military Barracks; on the left you have etc, etc, etc. We then stopped the bus and like obedient little chicks followed the tour guide thru the streets of the city center where he pointed out other places of interest like the Opera House, the Winter Palace, and the stables of the Lipizzaner Stallions. We actually saw them moving one from the stables to the Spanish Riding School located across the street. After-wards they gave us an hour to wander on our own, to get lunch, something to drink, use the WC if needed. At the appointed time 26 of us were on the bus. The tour guide waited 10 minutes and then we started to leave without our missing member. We drove about half a block when we saw her running across the plaza as fast as she could waving her warms to get out attention. I must say that after that, no one has been late for the bus. 

Bratislava, Slovakia

We then continued on for a visit to the city of Bratislava, Slovakia. Again we trooped after the guide as they led us through the streets of the medieval city. I did find a plaque on the sidewalk that commemorated the burning of the first witch in Bratislava. Fun people. After the tour, we again had free time. Laura and I found one of the nearby sidewalk cafes and stopped to have a cold beer. It was very refreshing. We had packed clothing for the trip based on 60 degree weather and so far it has been in the 80's; so fluid replacement has been a priority. Or maybe it was just an excuse to drink a good local beer. They did give me a beer mug at no cost to add to my collection. So now I have a glass from Austria and a mug from Slovakia so far on this trip.

We then took the bus back to Vienna. Most of the people on the tour opted to attend a private Mozart concert. Laura and I got back on the train and rode back to the center of the city to walk about people watching and to have dinner. The last time we came to Vienna, we saw young people dressed in costumes that made them look like trees and bushes. This trip, we saw a group dressed as peacocks. Very strange.

Sunday morning wake up call at 6:30am, breakfast a 7 and back on the bus at 8. We were pleased to find that the Rapture had not occurred Saturday as predicted. (Remember the billboards that said the world was going to end on 21 May?) It would have been difficult for us to continue driving through the raging torrents of lava.

Kayers on the river - Graz

Sunday was a long driving day. We did stop in the hometown of our former Govenator - Arnold S.- Graz, Austria. Again it was off on foot for a walk down into the town center. Out guide took us up one street and then back down, turned right, up the street looking for a medieval tower. After several attempts he admitted that he could not remember where it was so he released us for lunch and a little personal time. Laura and I found a convenient sidewalk cafe for our lunch and then started walking looking at the buildings and the other tourists who were doing the same thing. Since today was Sunday all the stores were closed so there were no shopping opportunities. We did find a river that split the city and from the bridge watched a group of kayaks trying to go up a set of rapids. They would paddle like crazy and then flip forward end over end. It was a kick to watch them.

Then it was back on the bus and on to Lake Bled, Slovenia. We arrived at our hotel at 5pm; dinner was scheduled for 7:30, so we took a walk down along the lake front stopping for an ice cream cone to share. We did find a small weekend market that was selling arts and local craft items. It was interesting. As we looked, several of the locals commented on my mustache. It seems that Emperor Franz Joseph had one like mine. Small world. 



View from Mt. Vogel

Lake Bled, Slovenia

So now we are back in our rooms well fed and tired. So far our hotel accommodations have been excellent although here I am a little concerned about the toilets. Square toilets are one thing but square toilet seats are completely another. My American buttocks are completely confused with the alien geometry.  Monday morning we arose, ate breakfast and then boarded the bus for our trip to the top of the mountain. We drove about half an hour then stopped at the tram station to ride to the top of Vogel to the ski center which was located at 1535m or 4605 foot elevation. It was foggy at ground level but 1/2 way up the mountain we broke through the fog and had an amazing panoramic view of the Julian Alps and Lake Bohinj on the valley loor. We spent about 30 minutes exploring and sampling the blueberry brandy. By the time we departed the mountain top the fog had burnt off so we had plenty of time to see the sights as we came down the mountain. On our way back to the hotel at Bled, we briefly stopped in a small village at the end of Lake Bohinj. Of interest was an old church dedicated to John the Baptist. It was not open but we were able to see the pagan painting on the church. Old ways were slow to die here. We also stopped in a farming area to take pictures of the double hay racks which are the traditional was farmers dried their hay.

 

Lake Bled, Slovenia

When we returned to Bled, we had 2 hours free time. Laura took a walk along the shoreline of Lake Bled & then we had lunch. Chicken salad made with greens and large pieces of grilled chicken. We split a Bled Cream cake which the area is noted for.

After lunch about half of the group including Laura and I went on an optimal tour to the Postojna Caves. Laura had some misgivings about the tour because she also wanted to take a boat ride on Bled Lake to the island in the center which had a chapel.

Postojnska Caves, Slovenia

The cave was fantastic. We rode in a little electric train 2 km underground to a depth of about 130 meters. Then we walked a looping path of about 2 km to return to the train. Now first, the train ride was like something from Disneyland - a cross between Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and Indiana Jones. We thought at any moment we might lose our head or at least an arm. The trail was well done, a fairly smooth surface but we did have to go up and down some areas. The caves were dramatically lighted. They worked very hard because unlike some of the other caves we have visited here you saw no evidence of electrical cables. The formations were massive through out our visit. The caves consist of 20 Km of rooms and passageways. The caves were discovered in 1818 and are now an UNESCO Heritage site. It has had almost 34 million visitors so it really is a tourist spot. And like all tourist spots they exit you through the gift store.



Ljublijana, Capital of Slovenia

The temperature in the cave was 46 degrees which was a little cool. Because it is a limestone cave, water was dripping down from the surface so we occasionally got dripped upon. After the tour was complete, we were very happy that we had made that choice.

Tuesday morning we decamped from Bled for the trip to Plitvicka Lake. It was to be another long bus day. We did stop in Ljublijana for a 1 1/2 hour walking tour. We got to see the church of St. Nicolas. Saw other very pretty examples of Baroque architecture. It was also pleasant that the locals were hosting a Children's Festival. The main square was filled with booths for children to participate in crafts; there was entertainment and ice cream. Very good ice cream.

Today we crossed over from Slovenia to Croatia where we will spend the majority of the tour.

Falls, Plitvicka Lakes National Park

We arrived at Plitvicka Lakes at about 4pm. First, we walked down the lake and caught the first of 2 boats which carried us down the lake for about twenty minutes. We then disembarked and started another 2 km trek. We descended down thru 6 levels of waterfalls some only 5 or 6 ft high others were maybe were 30 feet high. When we reached the end of the trail there were cliffs with waterfalls of several hundred feet joining the waterway that we had walked down. The experience was quite breathtaking not only because of the beauty of the aquamarine water but the climb back up out of the gorge literally took your breath away. We certainly worked up not only an appetite but also a sweat.

Dinners in the hotels are a bit of a cattle call. This hotel had 5 different tour buses visiting. Previously we have had buffet dinners but this time is was a planned dinner - either trout or beef in a mushroom sauce. Laura chose trout and received about a 9 inch trout complete with head accompanied with potatoes and spinach. I had the beef. It was interesting that we had different soups before the meal and after wards the fish people were given a chocolate and vanilla cream cake while the beef people received bowls of fruit cocktail.

Wednesday morning we are off for Split. The landscape has changed moving from Alpine meadows with many trees to a landscape like that of southern Arizona covered with scrub.

Our first stop of the day was at a rest stop at the Krka River. Off the bus, get a soda, take a picture or two and then pile back on the bus again.

Split, Croatia

We arrived in Split at about noon and had two hours free time to get lunch and look around the area. Split is an interesting town. It was founded by the Romans. The current roman emperor built a palace there for his retirement. After his death the palace was vacant for several hundred years but when the Ottoman Turks came, the residents from the sacked city moved into the palace until they outgrew it and then started to built outside its walls. Laura and I wandered thru a warren of lanes, stairways and halls in the old palace. Later on the walking tour we were taken on many of those same byways but this time we had a guide to tell us what we were seeing. We stopped in a domed atrium and were serenaded by a 4 man acapella group with 2 local folk songs. They were very good would have been a hit on "You've got talent". About 100 meters from the palace are some sulfur hot springs. The emperor liked them because of back pains but did not want to live next to them because of the smell. The locals later established the fish market next to them because the sulfur smell kept the flies from coming around the seafood.



Split, Croatia

We then walked to our hotel and crashed for about an hour. Since we are going to be here 3 nights we hand washed some clothing hoping that it will dry before we have to pack up.

Dinner was nothing too exciting; although we all did get the same desserts unlike last night. They did bring a wine list for us to choose from but when we chose they would explain that they only had 2 or 3 different wines available instead of the 15-20 offered on the list. Funny people.

Thursday morning we were up & joined in battle with tour groups from France & Japan for available tables and food. Laura was less than impressed with the orange water that the hotel offered as orange juice. After breakfast, we were on the bus for a drive down the Dalmatian coast. As I wrote earlier the area is like that of Crete. Quite rocky soil, lots of dry stone walls where the landowners had piled the stones so they could use the land. We see many olive groves originally brought here by the Greeks during their period of rule & wine vineyards from the Roman period. Lots of rosemary, lavender, oleander and scotch broom growing on the countryside. Most of the homes have small orchards or a least a garden plot.

Trogir, Croatia

We drove to Trogir which is a small island city on the Adriatic Sea. It was a quaint town, 16 churches all with bells which rang but were not coordinated which was a good thing. Narrow winding streets, a relative medieval maze filled with lots of small shops selling the same tourist trash. As we wandered on our free time, we found the local guide and our tour director, Bill at a small restaurant. We thought if it was good enough for them that it should be good for us also.

For dinner we were taken out of town up into the hills to a family run restaurant. It was a good meal - traditional Croatian fare - flat bread with chard, a bowl of beef broth with noodles, baked veal and potatoes, and for dessert a baked dough ball dusted with powdered sugar. We were given 2 glasses of wine with dinner and a sip of grappa as a welcoming drink accompanied by dried figs and nuts. There were 2 men one with a guitar and the other with an accordion who played and sang for us. Not only did they sing but a group of local men who were also there eating and drinking would periodically break into song followed by the Croatian version of a Rebel yell – YAHOO. Several of the single or unattached women in the group much to their dismay were asked to dance with the father of the restaurant owner. They were good sports about it.

Friday 27 May. We departed the hotel at 7:45 to meet the ferry taking us to the resort island city of Hvar where we will spend the day. It is a two hour ferry ride that was made even more tedious by several dozen preteens running about, talking loudly and generally acting their age. It does appear that no matter the nationality, the young have no volume control.

Hvar, Croatia

Hvar was a pretty town but I think that we are getting to the point where the towns are starting to run together. I mean it is another day, another big church and a walkabout through winding pathways between old buildings.

The big difference in Hvar was that there was a small beach where Laura was able to roll up her pant legs and go wading. Some of the group brought their swimsuits and were able to go swimming. One of the men had gone swimming and after he thought his swimsuit was dry pulled on his walking shorts. His suit was not dry and soaked through so it appeared that he had wet himself. So between the damp groin and wearing some shoes that look like feet, he provided amusement not only for our group but the kids in the area.


Car in doorway in Hvar, Croatia

The ferry ride back to the mainland was the same as the one coming over with the exception that the children got on late so they had to find seats on the upper deck but that did not stop them from running up and down through the downstairs lounge. After returning to the hotel, Laura and I walked towards the city center to find a restaurant that Bill had recommended. We walked about 10 minutes and found it located on a plaza just off the main pedestrian walk. It was a pleasant place and the food was very good. Laura had the squid which was served in it's own ink and I had a pasta dish. Both were delicious.

Saturday morning we got to sleep in an additional hour. The group was overjoyed. Today we are en route to Dubrovnik. It was mostly a rural road running through the countryside. Many Kodak moments. Geography being what it is had us briefly driving through a stretch of Bosnia. We arrived at the hotel at about 3PM. We had until 4:30 when they were going to take us on a walking tour of part of the town and then on to a planned dinner. Our hotel room is very nice; maybe the best one so far on the trip. We have a balcony which overlooks the Adriatic Sea.

We had a brief period to wander around the city on our own before meeting for dinner. The guided tour will be tomorrow morning. We enjoyed our time alone. It was a bit warm particularly since the sidewalk and street is white marble. The buildings for the most part are white so there is a lot of reflected sunlight. During summer, they can fry eggs on the sidewalk.

The Walled city of Dubrovnik, Croatia

The restaurant we went to for dinner was nice. Dinner was preordered; Laura and I had the Roasted Chicken Drumstick. We had expressed concern that one drumstick was not much of a meal unless Croatian chickens were jumbo sized. What we ended up having was a grilled chicken breast fillet. I guess some things lose out in translation.

Sunday we started our guided tour of Dubrovnik. It was quite a change from Saturday afternoon. The place was teeming with tourists from the cruise ships. There were too many too tie up at the cruise ship landing so one of them anchored outside the old harbor and ferried their people into town on the ships tenders. We walked about learning about the various buildings such as the Rectors Palace, Onfroi's fountain and the Franciscan & Dominican monasteries. We also climbed up on the city walls. That was quite a view of the inside of the walled city. The guide talked about how in the 1990s Balkan War, Dubrovnik was shelled 70 times. She said there was no strategic reason, they just did it to be mean. In the past 10 years, they have repaired most of the damage but you can still see the results because the roof tiles are not the same shade of red.

Inside the walls of Dubrovnik

After the walking tour we again had free time for shopping and to have lunch. Then we took a boat ride to see the city from the waterside & to visit Cautat, another small seacoast town. It was a warm day & we were both tired from walking around so we found a bench upon which to sit and observe the sailboats coming and going from the city dock.

Monday morning we loaded up and drove to Montenegro. I had thought that it was the name of a town but it is one of the 6 parts of the former Yugoslavia. We passed the hotel where part of the James Bond film "Casino Royale" was filmed. We visited the cities of Kotor and Budva. We did the tour of Kotor with the group but when we got off the bus in Budva, Laura and I struck off on our own. Laura felt the need to soak up some sun and sea water. We went to the beach, found a cafe on the shoreline; I ordered beer and sandwiches while Laura went to the changing room to get into her swimsuit. She enjoyed her swim although the wave action on a steep limestone pebble beach made it difficult to get into and out of the water. If I had a movie camera we could have shared Laura's impression of primeval life crawling from the sea and taking its first steps on dry land.

Sveti Stefan, Montenegro

We then returned to the hotel. While the rooms were nice, the dinner left something to be desired. Buffet style, cold to lukewarm food - not the best. Breakfasts there have been acceptable - they had OJ which met with Laura's approval.

Tuesday 31 May. Packed our bags and spent the day on the bus driving towards Zagreb. 3 stops and 7 1/2 hours of driving. As we came north and inland, the topography has changed. More rolling meadows, evergreen trees and such rather than the coastal scrub. Even the houses are different. Down south it was almost all stone block homes and outbuildings, here we see more wooden structures. Mostly farm outbuildings, the homes are still stone or cement block with tile roofs.

Arrived in Zagreb which is the capital of Croatia. Bon Jovi is supposed to give a concert next week and the Pope is also coming to visit the city.

Our hotel is "The Westin". It is very pretty, free Internet with no time limits which is a plus for it & even the buffet dinner was excellent.

Market area in downtown Zagreb

Our walking tour of Zagreb was not as tiring as the others have been. Zagreb is an old city with some buildings going back to 600 AD. It had a problem with a massive earthquake in the 1800s & several fires that burnt much of the city. We did see the preparations for the Popes visit, went inside St. Mark’s church, wandered up through the old south gate on Stone street and walked through an open air market.

We then took an hour bus ride to Kumrovec, the birthplace of the late President of Yugoslavia, Marshall Tito. The village including the home in which Tito was born is a living museum. There were displays of how bread was made, barrel making, a wedding feast, Tito’s father’s blacksmith shop. After our mandatory visit to the souvenir shop they drove us an additional 30 minutes out into the countryside where we had an included lunch. The starters were numerous and some of them we could not identify but did include bread, cottage cheese, pickles, pickled green peppers, cabbage and peppers. The main course was roast duck, mashed potatoes, a baked bean dish and a green salad. Beer and wine to drink and strudel for dessert. The bus was very quiet on the way back to the hotel.

lunch in Kumrovec

Laura is out attempting to spend her last 40 Kuna, the equivalent of $5-6 US, the Kuna has no value outside of Croatia.

Tonight we pack up for the last two days of the tour to Budapest and then Laura and I will be on our own for 3 days in Istanbul.

Thursday morning we hit the road again for a day of driving which had us ending in Budapest at about 3:30pm. We checked into the Ramada Plaza and as soon as our luggage arrived to our rooms, we were down and back on the bus for the city tour. We had been to Budapest when we took the Xmas market cruise on the Danube so we had previously seen much of what the local guide showed us today but she did have a few surprises for us. It is a beautiful, historical city which is regaining its beauty after many years of neglect under communist rule.



Budapest, Hungary

Tomorrow, we are not going to accompany the tour group but instead are going to the Szechenyi Spa which is an old Turkish bath and afterward if we have the strength we will attempt to exploit some shopping opportunities.

Before I forget I do want to make come comments or observations on the trip. I have to get it off my chest; I know I already wrote about square toilets and how wrong that seemed. We did progress to "U" shaped seats until tonight when we finally found oval seats much to my buttocks relief. Also last night and tonight were the first hotel in which my mountaineering skills were not tasked to get into the bathtub to take a shower. I did not notice that the Croatian's were an especially long legged people except for a couple of young ladies we saw that had legs that went all the way to the ground. But I really didn't notice. Really!!!

Driving down the roadways, I was amazed by the lack of trash along the road; every thing was neat and clean. Even the city streets were much better than the US when it came to cleanliness. Graffiti is a big problem. It is everywhere it seems. Some of it is very artistic but much is just mindless scribbles. Yesterday was the first time in 2 weeks that I saw evidence of an attempt to cover it up.

Most of the homes we saw as we drove by were well cared for with neatly mowed yards, painted fences & flower boxes - lots of flower boxes. In the hilly areas, narrow strips of land maybe some only 5-10 feet wide terraced off the hills so they could grow their crops. In the river valleys with the flat lands you would see strips of crops - maybe 25 feet wide - corn in one, maybe hay in the next, lavender in the next, onions or leeks and then maybe 2 or 3 rows of olive, cherry, or some other fruit trees. No chemical fertilizers - just good crop rotation. We did see the big plastic wrapped hay bales in some fields but I also saw a man with a pitchfork loading loose hay into a wagon.

Roads are fairly good. A bit narrow compared to ours. Our bus on the country roads often straddled the white line. The motorways are well marked 4 lane roads - lots of tunnels, rather than going over hills, they like to go through them. They are also toll roads. Rather than having a gas tax to pay for the roads which would mean that people from other countries might not pay a fair share for the use of the road, everyone who uses it pays.

shopping arcade in Budapest

Little known fact -Neckties or cravats were first used in Croatia.

Friday did not occur as planned. We took the hotel shuttle to Roosevelt Square, then strolled down to a shopping arcade that we had visited on our last trip. It is a huge two storied affair somewhat like Piccadilly Circus in London in style. The first level is meat, fish, wines and other food stuffs. The 2nd floor circles the outer walls and is full of little shops selling everything under the sun. After our visit, we caught a cab to Hero's Square. That was a mistake, taxis are very expensive. Fortunately we had enough to cover the fare but just barely.

Chocolate crepe at Gundel's Restarurant

We walked around the park built in 1896 for an expo and had lunch in Gundel's Restaurant. It is famous restaurant that specializes in a crepe dessert covered with a chocolate sauce. Lunch was good - dessert was better. Laura wanted to buy a jar of the chocolate sauce. She asked the waiter if they had some for sale. The next thing we knew the waiter came with a small Evian water bottle filled with the sauce & he didn't even charge for it. After lunch we walked over to the baths. We took some pictures of it and then returned to the hotel to use the baths there rather than paying to use a crowded facility. The baths at the hotel were nice, very soothing but the water was not very warm. At least not what I expected. The sauna was much nicer. Laura had a Thai massage which she said was very relaxing.

For the farewell dinner, they took us across the Danube and up into the hills where we could look out over Budapest. The duck dinner was pretty good. The group enjoyed their last night together. It was an interesting experiment in group dynamics - take 27 individuals - 5 individuals who were traveling alone, one couple that was a mother/son pairing, another an older woman and her "adopted" daughter and 9 couples. 2 women were always late, one man talked about everything and forgot things at each stop, 2 couples were friendly but did not really participate with the group. We spent much of our time with a couple from Florida, a couple from North Carolina and another from Vancouver, B.C.

Saturday morning we broke off into our separate groups depending upon our destinations. Laura and I along with 2 others were dropped off at the airport to catch our flight to Istanbul.

Our flight from Budapest got us to Istanbul in about 3 hours. I was surprised that the flight included a full meal on such a short flight. Even more surprised when the flight attendant presented us with a menu from which to choose our meal. The following was on the bottom of the menu. “We hope that tastes in your mouth will last beyond your journey”. The meal was decent for airlines food but Laura did say that it did leave a taste in her mouth for a number of hours.


Sultanahmet (old town), Istanbul

We were scooped up in the airport by a shill for the taxi company. He got us into a cab and told us it would cost us 40 Turkish Lira to get to the hotel. The cab driver took off like the hounds of hell were on his tail. It was rush hour and he threaded the needle to get ahead of other cars and trucks. Often he had choice words to say to other drivers; fortunately we did not speak Turkish so we can only guess what he was calling them. As we got closer to the center of the old town, we found that the route was more challenging. It was Saturday afternoon and much of the citizenry had left their homes and headed to the parks to enjoy their afternoon. Parking their cars on the sidewalks and finally just leaving them in the right lane of the road. Our driver continued to swear and swerve. As we got closer to the area of our hotel, he zipped up some one way alleys which made us a little nervous. I swore than as he turned one corner, I saw Ali Baba and 40 or 50 of the thieves. Finally he stopped and explained that we would have to walk to our hotel around the corner because the street was closed off for motor vehicles. So we paid him, got our bags and rolled down the cobblestone street and around the corner to our hotel.

The Evsen Hotel was located about ½ ways down the block. The street was filled with tables from the restaurants which lined the street. We checked in and the front desk man commented that the hotel rooms were not very large. That was an understatement. To start with the elevator would only carry a maximum of 3 people. It was just a little larger than a phone booth. Our room was possibly 8X8 ft with just a double bed, a little table with a mini refrigerator under it and a small nightstand. The bathroom was also small. The bathroom sink was in a cubbyhole between the shower and the bedroom wall that my shoulders would not fit into. But we did not plan on spending much time there except to sleep so size did not matter.

After we got unpacked and headed out for some exploring. We walked up and down the surrounding streets looking in all the shops. Laura made the acquaintance of a young man who wanted to sell her a carpet in the worst way. It took awhile to escape his clutches but we continued our excursion. We stopped for dinner at the restaurant on the corner of the street by the hotel. We had a very nice kabob dinner and a beer. Laura amused herself by playing with kittens that were running around the area. After dinner, we walked down towards the water and walked up to the ferry landings near the New Mosque. The area was filled with people buying items from the various street vendors. Also there were carts from which they were selling roasted chestnuts, roasted corn on the cob, pastries and ice cream. Very busy place, made me think of Madrid so I kept my hand on my wallet.

Sunday morning we awoke and went to the breakfast that was included with the room. It was almost like the Greek breakfasts. There were 2 selections of yogurt, some olives, cucumber, tomatoes, feta cheese, several types of bread, eggs and bologna. You had a choice of strong black tea or a cherry flavored drink. Laura went into Orange Juice withdrawal so she ordered a glass of fresh squeezed OJ. Breakfast was not bad but we still are unable to figure out how the cook managed to cook the eggs so that the yolk was hard and the whites were runny.

Cruise up the Bosporus

Inside Topkapi Palace - Harem

After breakfast, we headed up hill to a public park and then on to the Topkapi Palace. We visited many of the rooms of the palace and the harem. We then headed back to the hotel to meet the tour guide that was taking us on a private boat cruise up on the Bosporus to the entrance of the Black Sea . It was another interesting ride this time going into the more modern part of Istanbul for a time and finally crossing over from Europe into Asia as Istanbul straddles the connection of the continents. The cruise was relaxing. We were fed a fish dinner for lunch which was nice. We had the opportunity to stop in two little towns for a few minutes of sightseeing/shopping. In the town of Kanalica we had a cup of yogurt topped with powdered sugar. It was very good. Before returning to the ferry landing closer to our hotel we stopped in the middle of the Bosporus to briefly visit the Maiden’s Tower. Because of the late lunch and the yogurt, we did not feel like dinner so we returned to the hotel to try to catch up on some rest.

Blue Mosque, Istanbul

Monday morning had us up and out of the hotel early. Breakfast was the same but Laura had picked up a quart of OJ at a shop near the hotel so she brought her own for breakfast. Since most of the things we wanted to visit had been closed yesterday we headed off for the Hagia Sofia, but found out it was closed on Mondays. We then went to the Cistern which was a large underground water storage space. It was quite interesting, eerie and cool which was an improvement over the outside area which had been quite warm. We then walked across the plaza to the Blue Mosque. As we approached it we were met by a young man who struck up a conversation with us and accompanied us into the mosque. He said he was not a tour guide but wanted to practice his English. He explained about the mosque and pointed out various points of interest to us. When we were finished he asked if we would come with him to his uncle’s carpet shop. So we sat through a 45 minute sales pitch complete with glasses of hot tea. After we successfully escaped from there, we journeyed to the Grand Bazaar a huge building  crammed with stalls selling everything from alabaster to zebra skin wallets. Some of the halls were so narrow that only two people could walk side by side through them but of course that was impossible to do because of the shoppers. You had to snake your way through the crowd. Other hallways were the size of a street. The bazaar is built on a hill so the hallways go up and down depending on the hillside. There were lots of people, lots of noise, and lots of color. We stopped in a sidewalk café and had our lunch. Kabob wraps made with lamb meat, some greens, and cucumber and was wrapped in pita bread that was flat like a tortilla. It came with an optional yogurt sauce and a mild hot sauce that was not too spicy. As the pelican said, “It fit the bill."

Spice Market, Istanbul

After visiting the bazaar, we caught a trolley back to the area of our hotel so we could drop off the loot that Laura had purchased from some of the 40 thieves. We then walked back down to the waterfront and found our way to the Spice Market. Another huge building filled with shops many of which were selling bulk spices and dried fruits. Very exotic smells filled the air. We wandered through the building sampling the wares and making the mandatory purchases. It was great. We then returned to the hotel area for dinner and returned to the room to pack for the return flight and to try to get a little sleep prior to our 2:30am wakeup call. The shuttle picked us up at 3:15am and dropped us off at the airport. Flight left at 5:50am to Frankfurt. I was a little nervous about returning there after the security guard incident the last time we went through there. But I made it through with no problem which was not the case for one individual on our flight. When we landed the flight attendants told us to have our passports available as there was going to be a passport check. As we got off the plane there were several officials checking passports of the passengers paying particular attention to any male passengers. As we loaded on the bus to go to the terminal we saw them checking out one man’s passport with a magnifying glass before they escorted him away. Don’t know what was going on but it was a little spooky. The flight from Frankfurt to Dulles airport, Washington, DC left at about 10 am. The flight was almost 9 hours long.  From there we cleared customs and immigration control and caught our flight to San Diego. Kim and James met us at the airport at about 5:30pm. After we got home, Laura calculated that we had been in transit for 24 hours from the time the shuttle picked us up until we got home.

But home again we are. The schnauzers were overjoyed to see us and have been keeping a close watch to make sure we don’t disappear again. The aftermath of the trip was 6 loads of laundry but now every thing is back to what some people might call normal. We hope you enjoyed the babblings of a demented tourist. So until next time, safe traveling, George and Laura