Istanbul

We spent a full week in Istanbul and we really enjoyed every minute of it (even though it rained for about 85% of those minutes)! Other than the weather, everything was great about our visit - our hostel, the food, the people and of course, the sights. After a stretch of subpar hostels (mainly in Greece), we were very happy with our Istanbul hostel (Agora Guesthouse), which was a very good thing because we ended up spending a little more time than usual there as we waited out the frequent rain showers. Every morning, the hostel offered a free, all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet with traditional Turkish breakfast foods like meat, cheese, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, dried apricots and figs, yogurt, fresh bread, and Turkish tea and coffee. We ate so much every morning that we usually didn't need to get anything for lunch!

The area of town where our hostel was located was the old city, or Sultanahmet. The highlights of the area include the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and the Grand Bazaar, among many other things. Since Istanbul is 99% Muslim, mosques are a very familiar sight throughout the city. We were very excited to see something other than a Catholic cathedral. As with other types of churches, visitors are welcome, but we did have to remove our shoes and women have to cover their hair before entering. The Blue Mosque (actually called Sultan Ahmed) was located very close to our hostel and therefore we clearly heard the call to prayer as it was broadcast through the mosque's loudspeakers five times a day.

Something that is unavoidable in Istanbul is shopping! There are several different bazaars located throughout the city, most notably the Grand Bazaar, which is one of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world. It was overwhelming! In addition to the bazaars, most of the streets are lined with shops and the sidewalks are covered with people selling various goods laid out on the ground. They were very persistent in their attempts to sell us everything from packets of tissues to scarves to rugs.

Istanbul is the only city in the world that spans two continents. Although the old city and most of the sights are on the European side, we crossed the Bosphorus Strait one day to visit the Asia side of the city. There is a bridge that stretches between the two continents, but we took the ferry across, which took about 20 minutes. The Asian side was much less touristy - we walked through some neighborhoods (including one where the local kids gathered around and mistook Jesse for Michael Jackson - hmm...) and the smaller local markets before heading back over to the European side.

Our sleeper room on the train from Thessaloniki to Istanbul, where we spent 15 hours (no, Jesse has not grown that much - the room really was that tiny!):


A small portion of the Grand Bazaar (it has over 4,000 shops in total):


At the Egyptian Bazaar (also known as the Spice Bazaar):


Outside the Blue Mosque:


Inside the Blue Mosque:


Hagia Sofia, which was the largest cathedral in the world for almost a thousand years and then was turned into a mosque:


The Galata bridge, which connects the two European parts of the city and is lined with fisherman:


Jesse with the bridge from Europe to Asia in the background:


View of the Asian side of the city from our ferry:


What time is it? Time to enjoy a favorite local snack, called a simit, which is similar to a toasted sesame bagel:


A whirling dervish performing at a restaurant:


View from the terrace of our hostel - I wish we'd had more sunny days to enjoy it:


Puffy bread served before our meal at one restaurant - the expression on Jesse's face is: will we be able to eat the whole thing!? answer: yes.


Waiting for our chicken doner (sandwich), one of our favorite things to eat in Istanbul:


One of the many stray dogs in the city - this one adopted us and spent part of a day following us across town:

Thessaloniki

After leaving Naxos, we were faced with the prospect of a 20-hour train ride from Athens to our next destination. Since that didn't sound like much fun, we decided to split it up and spend one night in Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece. While we were there, we took in the city's main landmark, The White Tower, and enjoyed walking along the coastline and through the busy streets. The town seemed particularly busy when we were there because the next day was Ochi Day, a national holiday that commemorates Greece's decision to refuse to let Axis forces occupy the country during World War II. We saw lots of military personnel who were in town to participate in a big parade to mark the holiday.

The White Tower (a prison where mass executions took place during the period of Ottoman rule):

Naxos

Since a visit to Greece didn't seem complete without seeing at least one of the islands, we decided to take a 5 1/2 hour ferry trip to Naxos. Naxos is a major tourist destination during the high season, but since we visited just after that, we got the best of both worlds: the weather was still good (mid-70s and sunny for 2 of our 3 days there) and the prices were fairly low. St. George beach was exactly 56 seconds (walking at a leisurely pace) from our the front door of our hotel and we took full advantage of it! The water was a little chilly, but that didn't stop Jesse from getting some swimming in.

Views of Naxos:








The only "ancient" thing we saw in Naxos, a temple entrance called Portara:


Lauren and the sea:


Jesse and the sea:


Jesse's whole fish mixed platter (and Lauren's Greek salad):

Athens

We found Athens to be a study in contrasts. On the one hand, the city is (obviously) full of history and ancient landmarks that are fascinating to see and to learn about. On the other hand, we found the "non-ancient" parts of the city to be a little rougher (i.e. more litter, smog, stray dogs & cats, etc.) than some of the other cities that we have seen. Despite the downsides, we really liked the feeling of the city - the people were friendly, the transportation systems were good and the weather and the food were great!

Athens:


Temple of Olympian Zeus. Construction began in the 6th century B.C. but wasn't completed until the 2nd century A.D. Of the original 104 columns, 16 remain (15 standing, 1 tumbled):


View of temple from the Acropolis:


Above the Theatre of Dionysus, which was built in 325 B.C.:


Waiting for the show to start:


The Parthenon, which is undergoing renovations:


At the 1896 Olympic stadium:


Our favorite thing to eat while we were in Athens - pitas from a place right by our hostel:

Rome

After the calm and quiet of Lucerne, we were well rested and ready for some activity and Rome didn't let us down! There are so many things to see and do in the city and we kept very busy during our five days there. We saw all the must-see tourist sites, including the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, St. Peters Basilica and the Sistine Chapel at Vatican City, Piazza Navona, and the Trevi Fountain. Whew! In between all the major historical sights, we wandered the streets of the city, which are full of expensive shops, street vendors, cafes, and of course, beautiful Italian people. We also had some great food while we were in Rome. When we cooked in at our hostel, we had fresh pasta from the local market with pesto and shavings of real Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. There was also a small pizza place right across from our hostel where we had margherita pizza that was made with a thin and crispy crust and came right out of the wood-fired oven. Yum!

The Colosseum:




The Pantheon:


St. Peters Basilica:


A group of monks outside St. Peters:


Trevi fountain, where we both tossed coins in over our shoulders to ensure that we would return to Rome one day:


On our last day, we came across a huge anti-racism protest. It's a good cause, so we joined in the march!

Lucerne

Lucerne is a small city about an hour away from Zurich by train. Both the town and the surrounding scenery are very beautiful, but we discovered that October may not be the ideal month in terms of temperature! The weather for most of our stay was chilly (40s and 50s) and overcast, raining off and on for 2 of our 3 days there. When it wasn't raining, we saw the sights of the town, including the two main attractions, the Lion of Lucerne and The Chapel Bridge. The lion commemorates the Swiss Guard massacred during the French Revolution and was described by Mark Twain as "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world." I couldn't have said it better myself! The Chapel Bridge was constructed in 1333 and is said to be the oldest wooden bridge in Europe. While the bridge and the lion were neat to see, my favorite part of Switzerland just might have been the chocolate! Although one of the most famous (and expensive) brands of Swiss chocolate is Lindt, we quickly discovered that even the store-brand chocolate bars at the local supermarkets are very high quality and delicious!

Lion of Lucerne:


The Chapel Bridge:




Pretty pictures of the town:

Zurich

After Munich, we had a short stay in Zurich before heading to our ultimate destination in Switzerland (Lucerne). Our hostel was located right in the middle of the old part of the city, where there were several nice shops and resturants nearby.

Steeple of St. Peter, which has the largest church clock face in Europe:


Jesse in a very nice grocery store, trying to convince me to buy this $100 Toblerone bar:

Fussen

Since we wanted to squeeze every last bit of value out of our 1-day train pass, we continued our busy day by training for 2 hours over to Fussen to see Neuschwanstein Castle. As previously noted, this castle was the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disneyworld. Neat! The actual transport was a bit of a rush. We had to get off the train, figure out the bus to the castle (which turned out to be the last one of the day), jump out of the bus, run up a hill for about 25 minutes, snap a bunch of photos before the sunlight went away, and finally run back down the hill to catch the last return bus. Whew. It was tiring, but we were glad to have seen it all!

Neuschwanstein Castle:






Views of the countryside surrounding Neuschwanstein Castle: