Okay, I know this is late, but I have to post about it...
Our train ride from Istanbul to Bucharest was supposed to be 19 hours long, but that turned into about 22 hours after delays at the borders...immigration always causes delays, but no one seems to have decided to account for those delays in the arrival times. Anyway, upon arrival in Bucharest, we booked our train out for early the following morning and walked to our hostel. By the time we got to sleep that night we had only a few hours before we had to get up again and head out. The lady at reception was really nice and got breakfast ready for us early! Our train ride to Kiev (capital of Ukraine) was supposed to be 27 hours, and guess what? It was 27 hours!!! They left on time and arrived on time, accounting for the time at the border. The border took about 2 hours because (and we didn’t find this out until later) the rails are different in Ukraine than in the rest of Europe. So, they have to change the trains over.
We arrived in Kiev at about 9:15 in the morning and proceeded to take care of three errands...1) We needed to get money out of an ATM, 2) We needed to buy our tickets to Kharkov and make reservations for our train back to Bucharest, and 3) We needed to get a phone card and call John Lynch to let him know what time we would be arriving in Kharkov. We began with #2. I attempted to ask at the information counter, but unfortunately was unable to get any help. Almost no one speaks English there and the lady refused to even point to where I could buy a ticket (I showed her our passes and the name of the city we needed to get to). Joannie later said that I was just lucky she didn’t scowl at me. After standing in one line, I got a lady to write down the number of the ticket window I needed to go to. When we found that window, there was a woman buying a ticket there who spoke English and she was kind enough to help us communicate!!! Rebecca hurried to withdraw money as they don’t really accept credit cards. Once the tickets were purchased, we had one more hurdle. I asked about a phone card at a magazine stand and they directed me to the post office where it was easily purchased and I called John with our arrival details. –sigh of relief-
In Kharkov, we didn’t see John right away and eventually started wandering around the outside of the station before Joannie came up and asked if we were Elizabeth and Rebecca. Apparently, Tanya (John’s wife) had gone into labor earlier in the evening and things were a bit crazy. Yay, us...we just have the best timing! At the house, Joannie showed us our room, which was the attic. We climbed the stairs to the second floor, then ascended the ladder, and lifted the hatch. It was great! We didn’t get to sleep until late that first night so we slept in a bit the next morning. The kids were wonderful. Ariel is John and Tanya’s first...she’s 4, soon to be 5 in January. Arlen just turned 3 a few days before we arrived, and no one knew what the third was going to be except for John and Tanya, who had chosen to keep the gender of their new baby a secret until his/her birth. When John arrived home that morning we found out that Tanya had given birth to another son...Aaron.
We headed out into town with Joannie that day to buy a turkey at the open market. I don’t think I can really describe it, but that was an interesting experience! We were fortunate to be able to spend Thanksgiving with the Lynch’s. I didn’t think I would care much if I missed Thanksgiving, but I must admit, it was really nice to celebrate it.
There’s so much I could say about Ukraine, and I could probably go on and on with a detailed description of each day, but I think I’ll just share some of the things we saw and did, and the amazing people we met! John arranged for a girl from the church to help us navigate the city. Her name was Olya and she just couldn’t have been more wonderful! She was very friendly and talkative and we really enjoyed hanging out with her.
Olya is a member of a Jewish dance team, so the evening we first met her, she picked us up at the house and took us to watch their practice. About a week later we also had the opportunity to watch the drama team practice (Faceless People). They have some incredible choreography as well incorporated into their dramas. John took us with him to the youth group he leads and we enjoyed meeting the other youth leaders and some of the kids. They had a lot of questions about us so we chatted for awhile, with John interpreting. One night we went to an orphanage where a couple of ladies go every week and teach various grades. The week we went the topic was on love. These were 7th grade, 9th grade, and 10th grade students. We were unable to participate in a lot of the activities we attended for obvious reasons, but it was really interesting to see what was going on and talk with the leaders of these groups to hear about what God is doing.
One of the ministries that impacted me (and that we were able to participate in) was a hospital ministry. When expecting mothers go to the hospital to give birth, sometimes they choose not to keep their babies. There is a process that includes signing papers giving the child up for adoption. The problem is, sometimes these women (or girls) just leave without signing the necessary papers. The baby is then left in the hospital with no home to go to, but also unable to be adopted (and therefore cannot be taken to an orphanage). If the women disappear and the lawyer is not able to find them, these babies can end up stuck in the hospital for up to a year, and sometimes longer. In these situations, the babies are rarely held, spoken to, or played with. The nurses feed them, but it’s a hospital with sick patients. It isn’t set up as a nursery. So these babies are confined to a crib for most of the day. A group of ladies from the church (6) go to four of these hospitals on a regular basis to hold and talk to the babies. In summer, they can sometimes take the babies outside as well. There are probably nineteen hospitals like this, but they are only able to go to four of them. The woman we spoke to would like someday to have a home where these babies can go until they can be put up for adoption. I’m not certain what she needs in order for that to happen, but it’s definitely a huge need!
In addition to the ministries we participated in, we also did some walking around the city and shopping while we were in Kharkov (including some trousers for Rebecca from the second hand store- all of her other trousers are falling to pieces). In between the activities going on during the week we tried to be as much help at the house as we could...from cleaning and doing dishes to playing with the kids or picking up something from the store.
We really enjoyed our time in Kharkov with the Lynch’s and were sad to leave. After leaving Ukraine we had only 5 ½ weeks left of the trip. I can’t believe it’s December!
Pics...
1. Thanksgiving with the Lynch's (from far left and going clockwise)...John, Sarah, Elizabeth, Joannie, Ariel
2. This is a picture of the university square in Kharkov. It is supposedly the largest or second largest square in Europe...we got different stories.
3. This is a picture of me and Olya, who helped us navigate the city. On this day, Rebecca stayed back so it was just the two of us.
4. This is me with Dima, who is one of the abandoned babies I held.
5. Elizabeth, Soombir (spelling?), and Ariel
6. Elizabeth, Soombir, and Arlen
7. Group shot of all of us...John, Tanya, Ariel, Elizabeth, Igor, Arlen, Rebecca, and Soombir
8. On the train from Kiev to Bucharest, we met a couple of girls (who shared our compartment). They were on their way to Bulgaria for a boxing competition!!! Rebecca, Elizabeth, Svetlana, and Julia
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Turkey!!!
I really liked Turkey, so a big thanks to Brook for recommending it. I don't think we would have gone there otherwise. When we arrived in Tsesme it felt and looked like the other coastal towns we had seen in Greece. In fact, the ferry from Chios to Tsesme is only about 30-45 minutes. We bought our visas, went through customs, and then walked about a kilometer to the bus station where we purchased tickets to Izmir. After almost two and a half hours we arrived at the Izmir bus station where we were met with the hustle and bustle of a big city. We desperately needed a toilet when we got there, so we hurried down only to find that, of course, you have to pay. They accepted euros in Tsesme, so we hadn't needed to withdraw any money and as I'm sure you can imagine, toilet attendants aren't exactly the friendliest people around. At the last minute Rebecca remembered that although we had paid our bus fare in euros, the change was in lira, so we had enough to satisfy the toilet guard. Scooping up our large bags afterwards, we wandered into the large hall full of various kiosks with people shouting at us, "Where are you going? Where do you want to go?" At first I thought they were telling us to get out, but they eventually beckoned us over. We were passed down the line to the kiosk selling tickets to Kusadasi. The bus was about to leave so they herded us out, telling us to buy the ticket on the bus. About to board, I turned to Rebecca who reminded me that we still didn't have any lira. We informed one of the attendants who ushered us back in the building where they exchanged some of our euros before hurrying us back out to the waiting bus. Finally in our seats, we sat back in relief and prepared for another two and a half hours. Upon arrival in Kusadasi we called our hotel and Ali, who runs the hotel, came to pick us up. From that moment on, everything was taken care of. They drove us where we wanted to go, arranged buses or other transport, even ordered in food. At first it was nice, but eventually we felt ready to explore on our own and had to kind-of sneak out the door. Okay, not really. They were great! And they really went out of their way to ensure that our stay was enjoyable, which it was!
Our second day in Kusadasi we went scuba diving. The idea had been to do that in Greece, but unfortunately, things tend to shut down in Greece in the winter so diving wasn't available. We decided that if we couldn't dive from the Greek side, maybe we could from the Turkish side. This worked out rather well and due to the time of year, we were the only divers. Our guide was great and Rebecca had her first actual dive (apart from her lessons). Back at the hotel we took a quick nap, then headed to the ruins in Ephesus. Again, so much more fun without all of the crowds. Traveling in winter definitely has its drawbacks, but the benefits make up for it in my opinion. Anyway, afterwards Ali took us to a shop owned by a friend of his where we had tea, chatted, and shopped a bit.
The following day we took a day trip to Pamukkale. Most of the day was spent on a bus, but after all of our moving around we decided we'd rather spend more time on a bus than pack up and move to yet another location. Pamukkale is fascinating and really unique. We've visited so many places that sometimes things start to look the same everywhere we go. Pamukkale was definitely different. When we got there, we walked up this path full of mineral springs. The white rock looks like snow and the water drizzles over all of it. They don't allow shoes, so we went barefoot up the path, stopping to play in the water. It felt like walking up a wall of water and since others were climbing as well, we kept going until an employee came up the path blowing his whistle. Apparently, it's permissible to climb a certain distance, but not too high (no signs to indicate where this imaginary line is, though). Actually, we weren't entirely sure if the whistle was being blown at us or the guys who had climbed even higher...oh, well. Anyway, once at the top there were more ruins to explore, including an amazing theater that is pretty impressive. Brook could probably say a lot more about this. In fact, since we weren't on a tour, I'd love to hear more about what I was seeing! On our way back down to catch the bus, we were beckoned over by a woman who anticipated our hunger and we ate in her tiny little restaurant.
Our last day in Kusadasi was spent doing a little more shopping, a little more bargaining, and going to the Turkish baths. That was nice...very nice. It's like getting a message only there's water and soap involved. That night, we took an overnight bus to Istanbul. We arrived early in the morning, transferred to a small bus that took us to the city center, and then began the hunt for the hostel. It didn't take too long, and they let us check in really early (and gave us breakfast). We slept for about an hour (because sleeping on buses is not easy) and then began our exploration of Istanbul. Between our guide books and Brook, we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to do and see. Unfortunately, within about 20 minutes we discovered that they have doubled the prices in the last three months. I guess they figured that if tourists paid that much in western Europe, they'd pay it in Turkey, too. Anyway, that changed our plans a bit. We went inside the Blue Mosque, which is beautiful (and free) and then walked quickly through the Grand Bazaar (just wanted to get a taste of it...didn't really care to stop and get hassled). We bought some spices at the Spice Market, and then headed across the canal after buying fish and bread from a street vendor. The bridge was full of fishermen, a line of polls on top and a line of restaurants on the bottom. We actually found that walking on top was better (even though it was cold and windy) because at least the fishermen didn't hassle you along the way! : - ) We tried Turkish coffee, which is slightly better than Greek coffee, although very similar. I have to admit, I don't really like the grainy texture, but whatever!
The next day we opted to be satisfied with seeing Topkapi Palace from the outside and took Brook's recommendation to go inside the Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia used to be a cathedral, but when Istanbul was conquered, it was turned into a mosque. Anyway, there are remnants from both eras inside, making it a really interesting bit of history!!! We also bought some baklava and turkish delight later in the day before heading back to the hostel where we ate dinner (Rebecca went out and picked something up). By the way, I really like Turkish food...very yummy!
That night we were planning to take the train from Istanbul to Bucharest. At about 7:00 pm (or 19:00), the electricity went out all over the city due to poor weather conditions. Poor weather conditions consisted of wind and buckets of rain being dumped on the city. I was a little concerned when the guy at reception said he wasn't sure if the trains would still be running, but figured the worst that would happen would be that we would have to arrive in Ukraine a day late. We poor unfortunate souls were forced to trudge through the aforementioned weather in order to get to the station where we sat on a cold, dark bench until the electricity came back on. Applause filled the air as we all breathed a sigh of relief and then business carried on as usual. Our 19 hour train ride turned into 22 hours (because no seems to plan in enough time for all of the border stops), but we eventually arrived in Bucharest, where we stayed a short night close to the station before departing on a 27 hour train ride to Ukraine. But that's another story...
Picture Explanations:
1. Ephesus
2-4 The mineral springs at Pamukkale
5. Rebecca at the theater in Pamukkale
6. The outside of Topkapi Palace in Istanbul
7-8 The Blue Mosque (outside and inside)
9. The Hagia Sophia
10. This is one of the mosaics from inside the Hagia Sophia
11. Yum! Baklava on the top and Turkish Delight on the bottom! Also, they really like pistachios in Turkey so pistachio flavoring is very common and very good!
Our second day in Kusadasi we went scuba diving. The idea had been to do that in Greece, but unfortunately, things tend to shut down in Greece in the winter so diving wasn't available. We decided that if we couldn't dive from the Greek side, maybe we could from the Turkish side. This worked out rather well and due to the time of year, we were the only divers. Our guide was great and Rebecca had her first actual dive (apart from her lessons). Back at the hotel we took a quick nap, then headed to the ruins in Ephesus. Again, so much more fun without all of the crowds. Traveling in winter definitely has its drawbacks, but the benefits make up for it in my opinion. Anyway, afterwards Ali took us to a shop owned by a friend of his where we had tea, chatted, and shopped a bit.
The following day we took a day trip to Pamukkale. Most of the day was spent on a bus, but after all of our moving around we decided we'd rather spend more time on a bus than pack up and move to yet another location. Pamukkale is fascinating and really unique. We've visited so many places that sometimes things start to look the same everywhere we go. Pamukkale was definitely different. When we got there, we walked up this path full of mineral springs. The white rock looks like snow and the water drizzles over all of it. They don't allow shoes, so we went barefoot up the path, stopping to play in the water. It felt like walking up a wall of water and since others were climbing as well, we kept going until an employee came up the path blowing his whistle. Apparently, it's permissible to climb a certain distance, but not too high (no signs to indicate where this imaginary line is, though). Actually, we weren't entirely sure if the whistle was being blown at us or the guys who had climbed even higher...oh, well. Anyway, once at the top there were more ruins to explore, including an amazing theater that is pretty impressive. Brook could probably say a lot more about this. In fact, since we weren't on a tour, I'd love to hear more about what I was seeing! On our way back down to catch the bus, we were beckoned over by a woman who anticipated our hunger and we ate in her tiny little restaurant.
Our last day in Kusadasi was spent doing a little more shopping, a little more bargaining, and going to the Turkish baths. That was nice...very nice. It's like getting a message only there's water and soap involved. That night, we took an overnight bus to Istanbul. We arrived early in the morning, transferred to a small bus that took us to the city center, and then began the hunt for the hostel. It didn't take too long, and they let us check in really early (and gave us breakfast). We slept for about an hour (because sleeping on buses is not easy) and then began our exploration of Istanbul. Between our guide books and Brook, we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to do and see. Unfortunately, within about 20 minutes we discovered that they have doubled the prices in the last three months. I guess they figured that if tourists paid that much in western Europe, they'd pay it in Turkey, too. Anyway, that changed our plans a bit. We went inside the Blue Mosque, which is beautiful (and free) and then walked quickly through the Grand Bazaar (just wanted to get a taste of it...didn't really care to stop and get hassled). We bought some spices at the Spice Market, and then headed across the canal after buying fish and bread from a street vendor. The bridge was full of fishermen, a line of polls on top and a line of restaurants on the bottom. We actually found that walking on top was better (even though it was cold and windy) because at least the fishermen didn't hassle you along the way! : - ) We tried Turkish coffee, which is slightly better than Greek coffee, although very similar. I have to admit, I don't really like the grainy texture, but whatever!
The next day we opted to be satisfied with seeing Topkapi Palace from the outside and took Brook's recommendation to go inside the Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia used to be a cathedral, but when Istanbul was conquered, it was turned into a mosque. Anyway, there are remnants from both eras inside, making it a really interesting bit of history!!! We also bought some baklava and turkish delight later in the day before heading back to the hostel where we ate dinner (Rebecca went out and picked something up). By the way, I really like Turkish food...very yummy!
That night we were planning to take the train from Istanbul to Bucharest. At about 7:00 pm (or 19:00), the electricity went out all over the city due to poor weather conditions. Poor weather conditions consisted of wind and buckets of rain being dumped on the city. I was a little concerned when the guy at reception said he wasn't sure if the trains would still be running, but figured the worst that would happen would be that we would have to arrive in Ukraine a day late. We poor unfortunate souls were forced to trudge through the aforementioned weather in order to get to the station where we sat on a cold, dark bench until the electricity came back on. Applause filled the air as we all breathed a sigh of relief and then business carried on as usual. Our 19 hour train ride turned into 22 hours (because no seems to plan in enough time for all of the border stops), but we eventually arrived in Bucharest, where we stayed a short night close to the station before departing on a 27 hour train ride to Ukraine. But that's another story...
Picture Explanations:
1. Ephesus
2-4 The mineral springs at Pamukkale
5. Rebecca at the theater in Pamukkale
6. The outside of Topkapi Palace in Istanbul
7-8 The Blue Mosque (outside and inside)
9. The Hagia Sophia
10. This is one of the mosaics from inside the Hagia Sophia
11. Yum! Baklava on the top and Turkish Delight on the bottom! Also, they really like pistachios in Turkey so pistachio flavoring is very common and very good!
Greek Islands
The islands in Greece were much more enjoyable than the big cities, although Crete has more than it's share of big, dirty cities with too much construction. We stayed in Heraklion because of it's proximity to the port, but took a couple of day trips. The first day trip was to Knossos where we enjoyed exploring more ruins. The Knossos Palace was once the center of Minoan civilization. Parts of it have been restored (I don't know how accurately), but it's pretty fun to explore! Rebecca was very enthusiastic because Knossos was very important in Indiana Jones' search for Atlantis!!! Brook, I hope my extremely brief description gets a better grade than Rebecca's. Another fun day trip was to a couple of coastal towns. We just really enjoyed getting out of the cities, walking along the coast, and and enjoying some fresh air!
We took an overnight ferry from Crete back to Athens, then transferred to a ferry going to Syros, one of the smaller islands. Again, the highlight was being out of the city. The people were nicer, more helpful, and the atmosphere was, in general, much more pleasant. We found a hotel that let us store our luggage while we took a bus to see more of the island. Late that night we caught another ferry that took us to Chios where we were greeted by a very kind man who runs a hotel about 7 kilometers outside of town. I had called to book with him because his prices were so good and he offered to come pick us up at 2:30 in the morning so we wouldn't have to look for a taxi. Not only that, but the hotel actually turned out to be apartments, so we had a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and living room. It was great!!! The town was pretty small and out of the way (better in my opinion) so we walked around a bit, enjoying the scenery, the quiet, and the small market a short walk from our apartment. After two nights there, we caught a ferry from Chios to Tcesme, which is in Turkey. I have lots to say about Turkey, but that will have to wait for next time...
Pictures:
1. This is Knossos. Obviously, much of it has been reconstructed, so this isn't what it actually looked like...just what Arthur Evans thought it probably looked like...
2. This is me during our day trip away from Heraklion. I am sitting on rock on the coast in a town called Elounda.
3. This is an old Venetian Port in Heraklion that we walked by every day.
4-5 These pictures are from Syros. We only had an afternoon and evening in this lovely town, but we enjoyed every minute!
6. Here I am on the island of Chios where we spent a day prior to heading to Turkey!
We took an overnight ferry from Crete back to Athens, then transferred to a ferry going to Syros, one of the smaller islands. Again, the highlight was being out of the city. The people were nicer, more helpful, and the atmosphere was, in general, much more pleasant. We found a hotel that let us store our luggage while we took a bus to see more of the island. Late that night we caught another ferry that took us to Chios where we were greeted by a very kind man who runs a hotel about 7 kilometers outside of town. I had called to book with him because his prices were so good and he offered to come pick us up at 2:30 in the morning so we wouldn't have to look for a taxi. Not only that, but the hotel actually turned out to be apartments, so we had a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and living room. It was great!!! The town was pretty small and out of the way (better in my opinion) so we walked around a bit, enjoying the scenery, the quiet, and the small market a short walk from our apartment. After two nights there, we caught a ferry from Chios to Tcesme, which is in Turkey. I have lots to say about Turkey, but that will have to wait for next time...
Pictures:
1. This is Knossos. Obviously, much of it has been reconstructed, so this isn't what it actually looked like...just what Arthur Evans thought it probably looked like...
2. This is me during our day trip away from Heraklion. I am sitting on rock on the coast in a town called Elounda.
3. This is an old Venetian Port in Heraklion that we walked by every day.
4-5 These pictures are from Syros. We only had an afternoon and evening in this lovely town, but we enjoyed every minute!
6. Here I am on the island of Chios where we spent a day prior to heading to Turkey!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Interlude...
Well, there's much to say about my travels, but I'm not going to say them now. This is a short interlude as suggested by the title! We've arrived in Ukraine where we were surprised and blessed to spend Thanksgiving with the Lynches. We're having a great time here and are enjoying the many people we meet! Our trip is winding down now...one more week here, then two weeks in eastern Europe. After that, we will spend a week with our family in Germany for Christmas, then two more weeks in England before flying home. In many ways the time has gone by so quickly, and in other ways I feel that I've been gone for years. I'm excited to see my family and all of my friends, but it will be strange to be home. Only about six weeks left...we'll be home on January 15th. And by the way, Aubrey, if you're reading this, I'm in desperate need of a shopping trip! I'm so sick of my clothes now and they're sick of me! Well, that's all for now, folks. I have news of our travels and pictures to share, but those will have to wait as I'm very tired and am about to go to bed!!!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Slovenia to Greece
Well, the last week or so has been an adventure. We stayed a couple of nights in Lake Bled, Slovenia, where we enjoyed the view of yet another castle, walked around the lake, rented a row boat and headed out to an island, and enjoyed the hospitality of the hostel owners. Damien drove us into town and back, and they had an amazing 6 euro dinner which turned out to be a four course meal! After leaving Lake Bled, we spent one night in the capital, Ljubljana (pronounced Lubliana, although I called it Libblejibble before I knew that...)
After reviewing several options on getting to Greece, we finally decided on taking the train from Slovenia back into Croatia, then on through Serbia, Macedonia, and then into Greece. That meant we had to go through immigration eight times...each time we left a country and each time we entered another one. That gets really annoying! We had about four hours in Serbia during which time we visited a local fast food restaurant and got some delicious burgers. After that we met a guy named Marco who we chatted with for a while before finding our beds. (It was an overnight train, so we got beds...fortunately for us, we had the little room to ourselves.) Marco was an interesting character. Our train car didn't open up until right before we left, so we sat in another part of the train talking about things like jobs and politics. Ugh...I'm sick of people asking me about U.S. politics! Anyway, he was pretty nice, but in Serbia there aren't really any non-smoking areas so after a while we had to politely excuse ourselves from the small cabin with limited air flow where he was continually blowing smoke in our faces. I tried to put up with it as long as I could, but I already had a headache and I do have my limits...
After the very long train ride to Thessaloniki, we arrived at our hotel and went out around the city for a few hours before bed. The next day we took a bus to Mount Olympus where we hiked for a while. It was a beautiful area and again, nice to be out of the city...oh, and lots of cats for Rebecca to play with!
From Thessaloniki we took an overnight train to Athens...and for anyone who might consider doing such a thing in the future, don't! Or at least, take the later train and make sure to get a bed or couchette! It would have been worth paying a little extra. That was the most miserable train ride ever! But that's enough of that...we don't wish to discuss miserable things!
Athens...Athens...well, our hostel was really nice. After the miserable train ride, they kindly let us check in really early (7 am) and we slept until noon before heading out into the city. As for the city...it's a city! The ruins are amazing and the area is great for its historical importance, but overall, I didn't love Athens. It's huge, dirty, and a typical big city I guess. Anyway, we spent three full days in the area, but the second day we took a day trip to Delphi where we saw more ancient ruins. This time, though, they were away from the city. It was really nice. Most of our last day in Athens was spent making arrangements for our ferry travel and ultimate arrival in Turkey. We will be visiting a few islands before taking a ferry to Turkey.
Picture Explanations...
1. Temple of Athena in Delphi.
2. The stadium in Delphi.
3. Parthenon
4. This is a panoramic view of the sprawling city of Athens. We were at the Acropolis when I took this photo.
5. Mount Olympus (or around there)
6. The White Tower in Thessaloniki.
7. This is the island in the middle of Lake Bled.
8. And this is the Bled castle, up on the hill, overlooking the lake.
After reviewing several options on getting to Greece, we finally decided on taking the train from Slovenia back into Croatia, then on through Serbia, Macedonia, and then into Greece. That meant we had to go through immigration eight times...each time we left a country and each time we entered another one. That gets really annoying! We had about four hours in Serbia during which time we visited a local fast food restaurant and got some delicious burgers. After that we met a guy named Marco who we chatted with for a while before finding our beds. (It was an overnight train, so we got beds...fortunately for us, we had the little room to ourselves.) Marco was an interesting character. Our train car didn't open up until right before we left, so we sat in another part of the train talking about things like jobs and politics. Ugh...I'm sick of people asking me about U.S. politics! Anyway, he was pretty nice, but in Serbia there aren't really any non-smoking areas so after a while we had to politely excuse ourselves from the small cabin with limited air flow where he was continually blowing smoke in our faces. I tried to put up with it as long as I could, but I already had a headache and I do have my limits...
After the very long train ride to Thessaloniki, we arrived at our hotel and went out around the city for a few hours before bed. The next day we took a bus to Mount Olympus where we hiked for a while. It was a beautiful area and again, nice to be out of the city...oh, and lots of cats for Rebecca to play with!
From Thessaloniki we took an overnight train to Athens...and for anyone who might consider doing such a thing in the future, don't! Or at least, take the later train and make sure to get a bed or couchette! It would have been worth paying a little extra. That was the most miserable train ride ever! But that's enough of that...we don't wish to discuss miserable things!
Athens...Athens...well, our hostel was really nice. After the miserable train ride, they kindly let us check in really early (7 am) and we slept until noon before heading out into the city. As for the city...it's a city! The ruins are amazing and the area is great for its historical importance, but overall, I didn't love Athens. It's huge, dirty, and a typical big city I guess. Anyway, we spent three full days in the area, but the second day we took a day trip to Delphi where we saw more ancient ruins. This time, though, they were away from the city. It was really nice. Most of our last day in Athens was spent making arrangements for our ferry travel and ultimate arrival in Turkey. We will be visiting a few islands before taking a ferry to Turkey.
Picture Explanations...
1. Temple of Athena in Delphi.
2. The stadium in Delphi.
3. Parthenon
4. This is a panoramic view of the sprawling city of Athens. We were at the Acropolis when I took this photo.
5. Mount Olympus (or around there)
6. The White Tower in Thessaloniki.
7. This is the island in the middle of Lake Bled.
8. And this is the Bled castle, up on the hill, overlooking the lake.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Questions
So I've had a couple of questions that I haven't answered. My dad asked if we had gone up in the Tower of Pisa, and the answer to that is no. While viewing it is free, they like to charge a lot of money to go inside, which makes everyone feel like they have to go inside. This is a very common trap which we have sadly fallen for a few times. Rebecca likes to call it the GUS Syndrome (Go Upstairs). I find that the outside of any given structure is most often more interesting than the inside, so unless we really want to go in somewhere, we tend to avoid the ridiculously priced fees. Maybe it would be cool, maybe not. I just get annoyed with how over priced things like that are, so we tend to avoid them.
Okay, next question about the Anne Frank tree. As far as I understand, it is still standing. There was a plan to take it down, but of course that was met with resistance and I think the protesters have won for the time being. The tree itself is enclosed in a courtyard that is not accessible to the public, so no, we didn't get to see it.
I think that's it for now...
Okay, next question about the Anne Frank tree. As far as I understand, it is still standing. There was a plan to take it down, but of course that was met with resistance and I think the protesters have won for the time being. The tree itself is enclosed in a courtyard that is not accessible to the public, so no, we didn't get to see it.
I think that's it for now...
Heidelberg and Plitvice
Yep, back to boring titles for now...sorry to disappoint!
With a couple of extra days we decided to spend some time in western Germany, in Heidelberg. We stayed in a hostel in the old city, which was beautiful. We actually took a day trip our first day there to Freiberg where we took a cable car through parts of the Black Forest. In reality, it’s just a forest, but it was pretty neat. We had the cable car to ourselves, and the change in the view as we rose in elevation was great. We began the trip with green trees at the bottom, fall colors soon dominating, until finally little patches of snow became a blanket of white everywhere. We enjoyed a brief walk at the top before sipping hot chocolate with rum at the restaurant.
Our second day in Heidelberg was spent at the Heidelberg castle. The castle itself was okay...the best part is the lovely location. On the castle grounds they had a museum about the history of pharmacy. If anyone can shed some light on that, I’d be interested.
An afternoon train took us to Munich where we boarded an overnight train to Zagreb, Croatia. We stored our luggage at the train station in Zagreb, picked up some maps at tourist information, and then did a short-ish walking tour through the city. Croatia is not yet a part of the EU, so they use a different currency, which is always inconvenient. It can be expensive to exchange money, so when we’re not using the euro, we have to try and calculate exactly how much we’ll need so that we come out as close to exact as possible.
Anyway, Zagreb was a nice city, but we were really anxious to get to Plitvice, where we planned to spend 3 nights near the National Park, spending one day in the park and the other doing as little as possible. We are so busy every day, we both felt like this would be a good time to relax and stay in, taking a break from being tourists.
The Plitvice Lakes were beautiful. There are 16 lakes in the park, and dozens and dozens of waterfalls. It’s amazing! We explored the park for the day, loving the lack of tourists at this time of year. There were only a few other people, which made for a quiet day! Marija, who runs the guesthouse we’re staying in, drove us to the park and picked us up again...she’s incredible!
We’re currently enjoying our day off, being as lazy as possible! Not much more to say at the moment. We head to Slovenia next...
Pics:
1-6. These are pictures of Plitvice Lakes. Number 6 is Cassie's fault...she started the whole hanging over rails thing and now Rebecca does it too and makes me nervous!
7-8. These are a couple of pictures of Zagreb.
9. This is a view of Heidelberg Castle. It's under renovation, which is the reason for the ugly scaffolding on the right. Other than that, it's beautiful!
10. This view is looking down on the city of Heidelberg, from the castle!
11-13. These photos are of the Black Forest. They show the various climate changes we experienced on our way up!!!
By the way, these pictures loaded backwards this time. It's different every time, which is why I gave up trying to make any sense out of it and just put the pictures up in one post and their explanation up in another post. Hopefully it's not too confusing for everyone!
With a couple of extra days we decided to spend some time in western Germany, in Heidelberg. We stayed in a hostel in the old city, which was beautiful. We actually took a day trip our first day there to Freiberg where we took a cable car through parts of the Black Forest. In reality, it’s just a forest, but it was pretty neat. We had the cable car to ourselves, and the change in the view as we rose in elevation was great. We began the trip with green trees at the bottom, fall colors soon dominating, until finally little patches of snow became a blanket of white everywhere. We enjoyed a brief walk at the top before sipping hot chocolate with rum at the restaurant.
Our second day in Heidelberg was spent at the Heidelberg castle. The castle itself was okay...the best part is the lovely location. On the castle grounds they had a museum about the history of pharmacy. If anyone can shed some light on that, I’d be interested.
An afternoon train took us to Munich where we boarded an overnight train to Zagreb, Croatia. We stored our luggage at the train station in Zagreb, picked up some maps at tourist information, and then did a short-ish walking tour through the city. Croatia is not yet a part of the EU, so they use a different currency, which is always inconvenient. It can be expensive to exchange money, so when we’re not using the euro, we have to try and calculate exactly how much we’ll need so that we come out as close to exact as possible.
Anyway, Zagreb was a nice city, but we were really anxious to get to Plitvice, where we planned to spend 3 nights near the National Park, spending one day in the park and the other doing as little as possible. We are so busy every day, we both felt like this would be a good time to relax and stay in, taking a break from being tourists.
The Plitvice Lakes were beautiful. There are 16 lakes in the park, and dozens and dozens of waterfalls. It’s amazing! We explored the park for the day, loving the lack of tourists at this time of year. There were only a few other people, which made for a quiet day! Marija, who runs the guesthouse we’re staying in, drove us to the park and picked us up again...she’s incredible!
We’re currently enjoying our day off, being as lazy as possible! Not much more to say at the moment. We head to Slovenia next...
Pics:
1-6. These are pictures of Plitvice Lakes. Number 6 is Cassie's fault...she started the whole hanging over rails thing and now Rebecca does it too and makes me nervous!
7-8. These are a couple of pictures of Zagreb.
9. This is a view of Heidelberg Castle. It's under renovation, which is the reason for the ugly scaffolding on the right. Other than that, it's beautiful!
10. This view is looking down on the city of Heidelberg, from the castle!
11-13. These photos are of the Black Forest. They show the various climate changes we experienced on our way up!!!
By the way, these pictures loaded backwards this time. It's different every time, which is why I gave up trying to make any sense out of it and just put the pictures up in one post and their explanation up in another post. Hopefully it's not too confusing for everyone!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Corrections
I made a bad typo and spelled medieval terribly wrong...which has now been fixed...I hate it when I do that! Anyway, go back and read the whole blog now, because I’m sure that typo ruined the whole experience last time you read it...
Also, I forgot to mention two veryveryvery important events that took place while we were with the Garbers. The first occurred on October 18th. This marked the halfway point of our trip, and by halfway I mean, of course, that we had completed half of the trip and had half of it yet to go... We celebrated with Wolfgang and Julie in our hotel room with a glass of wine and later in the evening, a genuine German puppet show! And by genuine I mean nothing of the sort. This particular puppet show was...interesting...we’ll leave it at that. I will say that I will be laughing for years to come every time I think of it!
The second event took place on October 19th when we celebrated the birthday of my sister, Rebecca. She is now 22. And we are most happy. A couple of the neighbors came over and we had cake...Mmmm! Rebecca was also presented with a delightful birthday present (no, not the ring). It was an adorable mini Christmas carousel and I, because my birthday is in 7 months, got one as well! Even better!
Okay, moving on...you get a new post...lucky you!
Also, I forgot to mention two veryveryvery important events that took place while we were with the Garbers. The first occurred on October 18th. This marked the halfway point of our trip, and by halfway I mean, of course, that we had completed half of the trip and had half of it yet to go... We celebrated with Wolfgang and Julie in our hotel room with a glass of wine and later in the evening, a genuine German puppet show! And by genuine I mean nothing of the sort. This particular puppet show was...interesting...we’ll leave it at that. I will say that I will be laughing for years to come every time I think of it!
The second event took place on October 19th when we celebrated the birthday of my sister, Rebecca. She is now 22. And we are most happy. A couple of the neighbors came over and we had cake...Mmmm! Rebecca was also presented with a delightful birthday present (no, not the ring). It was an adorable mini Christmas carousel and I, because my birthday is in 7 months, got one as well! Even better!
Okay, moving on...you get a new post...lucky you!
Berlin
We began our time in Berlin with a free walking tour. Those are really neat, by the way. It’s this company that offers free walking tours in various cities in Europe, their employees working on a tip basis, so everyone just pays what they can at the end of the tour. We did the tour in Madrid and now Berlin, and loved both of them! Our guide’s name was Colin and he is from Scotland, which made Rebecca very happy! He was great and even dramatized his stories for us!
We began our tour at the Brandenburg Gate, which has now become an emblem of a reunified Germany and several embassies have been built in the square there. Apparently, the U.S. wanted 80 meters of security clearance when building their embassy, and the German government wanted to know what the U.S. would like them to do with the large gate there...move it or blow it up? The U.S. was fine with either...or at least, that’s the story Colin gave us.
: - )
Much of the history in Berlin is so recent and during the Cold War, even in some of my early memories. There are numerous memorials, which are very sobering to visit. The Holocaust memorial is incredible. It’s in a grid patterns, consisting of 2,711 concrete blocks rising from the ground at various heights, which can be walked through from all sides. It looks like a graveyard as you walk through the narrow paths, never knowing who might be coming around the next corner. Another interpretation that our guide shared with us was that the levels of the blocks represented the various levels of anti-Semitism, the blocks at ground level representing anti-Semitic attitudes, and the tallest blocks representing the systematic extermination of their race. We also went into the museum they have underneath, which was, as all Holocaust museums are, difficult to work your way through.
We also saw the remnants of the Berlin Wall. It’s actually been fenced off to protect what’s left from the tourists, who used to come and chisel off pieces of it as souvenirs. The Book Burning Memorial was also really interesting. There’s a huge room underground with rows upon rows of empty shelves. The room has been sealed off to represent our inability to change the past. The only way of seeing the room is a square glass panel in the middle of the plaza. The glass is slightly reflective, the designer trying to remind us through our reflections that we have a responsibility to avoid this in the future. The students from the university also have a used book sale outside the school every day, which I thought was pretty neat!
Our second day in Berlin, we actually left the city and visited Leipzig, which is about an hour away. There are several important monuments to music there, including a concert hall where Mendelssohn performed and a church (Thomaskirsche) where Bach led a choir and Mozart played the organ. Ooh, and we also bought socks there...because we needed some.
Umm, that night we went to see a movie...I won’t tell you which because I hate you*...I mean, because Rebecca already has. It starts with an H and ends with a 3, and there is “igh School Musical” in the middle.** Anyway, while we were at the plaza, grabbing a bite to eat prior to the movie, there was a red carpet premier going on. It was for a German movie that I’ve never heard of, but the atmosphere was kind-of fun!
We left this morning for Bruges, so see you again in Belgium!
*A quote from Steven Fry from “A Bit of Fry and Laurie.”
**A reference from Dreamfall, which is a computer game that Rebecca loves!
Explanation of Pictures...
1. This is the Red Carpet Premier...
2. Ummm...okay, this was the "ceiling" of the shopping area where we saw the movie I won't tell you the name of. We came up with all kinds of interesting things that it might be. What do you think?
3. Okay, I don't know if this is true, but our guide told us that this was the first free public toilet. Interesting, no?
4. This gate has come to represent the reunification of Germany.
5-6. The Holocause Memorial
7. The Book Burning Memorial
8. The Berlin Wall
9-10. Thomaskirsche
11. Bach
We began our tour at the Brandenburg Gate, which has now become an emblem of a reunified Germany and several embassies have been built in the square there. Apparently, the U.S. wanted 80 meters of security clearance when building their embassy, and the German government wanted to know what the U.S. would like them to do with the large gate there...move it or blow it up? The U.S. was fine with either...or at least, that’s the story Colin gave us.
: - )
Much of the history in Berlin is so recent and during the Cold War, even in some of my early memories. There are numerous memorials, which are very sobering to visit. The Holocaust memorial is incredible. It’s in a grid patterns, consisting of 2,711 concrete blocks rising from the ground at various heights, which can be walked through from all sides. It looks like a graveyard as you walk through the narrow paths, never knowing who might be coming around the next corner. Another interpretation that our guide shared with us was that the levels of the blocks represented the various levels of anti-Semitism, the blocks at ground level representing anti-Semitic attitudes, and the tallest blocks representing the systematic extermination of their race. We also went into the museum they have underneath, which was, as all Holocaust museums are, difficult to work your way through.
We also saw the remnants of the Berlin Wall. It’s actually been fenced off to protect what’s left from the tourists, who used to come and chisel off pieces of it as souvenirs. The Book Burning Memorial was also really interesting. There’s a huge room underground with rows upon rows of empty shelves. The room has been sealed off to represent our inability to change the past. The only way of seeing the room is a square glass panel in the middle of the plaza. The glass is slightly reflective, the designer trying to remind us through our reflections that we have a responsibility to avoid this in the future. The students from the university also have a used book sale outside the school every day, which I thought was pretty neat!
Our second day in Berlin, we actually left the city and visited Leipzig, which is about an hour away. There are several important monuments to music there, including a concert hall where Mendelssohn performed and a church (Thomaskirsche) where Bach led a choir and Mozart played the organ. Ooh, and we also bought socks there...because we needed some.
Umm, that night we went to see a movie...I won’t tell you which because I hate you*...I mean, because Rebecca already has. It starts with an H and ends with a 3, and there is “igh School Musical” in the middle.** Anyway, while we were at the plaza, grabbing a bite to eat prior to the movie, there was a red carpet premier going on. It was for a German movie that I’ve never heard of, but the atmosphere was kind-of fun!
We left this morning for Bruges, so see you again in Belgium!
*A quote from Steven Fry from “A Bit of Fry and Laurie.”
**A reference from Dreamfall, which is a computer game that Rebecca loves!
Explanation of Pictures...
1. This is the Red Carpet Premier...
2. Ummm...okay, this was the "ceiling" of the shopping area where we saw the movie I won't tell you the name of. We came up with all kinds of interesting things that it might be. What do you think?
3. Okay, I don't know if this is true, but our guide told us that this was the first free public toilet. Interesting, no?
4. This gate has come to represent the reunification of Germany.
5-6. The Holocause Memorial
7. The Book Burning Memorial
8. The Berlin Wall
9-10. Thomaskirsche
11. Bach
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