Normal
0
false
false
false
MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
DAY 33
Ended up
having the best pancakes that a small touristy town in Turkey could possibly scrape
together for dinner last night and more of that fantastic apple tea.
The weather
is still beautiful, sunny and with just a hint of a cool breeze. What more
could you want?
Our final
group meal together was lunch at a 475 year old restaurant which has been in
the one family for 5 generations. It was a typical, very traditional Turkish
restaurant and we had this really unusual ravioli dish with a yoghurt and
tomato sauce.
I am
however saving the best news til last! We had wine at lunch. It was home made wine by the family who owned
the restaurant. Wonderful red wine!! Wine that has not passed my lips for 4
weeks but who’s counting????
After our
lovely lunch, it was on to the bus for 4 hours of road travel 4-8pm, 2 hours of
waiting at the train station til 10pm, 9 hours of sleepless overnight train
travel, 30 min of ferry travel and 20 min walking to the hotel before
breakfast. Who ever said that holidays are not always fun!!
DAY 34
Oh yes, this is also when we found out that the
travel agent had out the wrong end date of our tour on the paperwork. This
meant that our Istanbul accom was booked and
paid for the night before we arrived We thought that we had 2 nights and
2 days in Istanbul
but as it turns out we have 1 day and 1 night. We even missed breakfast this
morning that we had paid for and as we are leaving at 5.45 am tomorrow, we will
miss paid for breakfast then as well
I guess
things could be worse!
We have had
a great days walking and exploring Istanbul.
The Blue Mosque is not to be missed, the tulips which apparently were big in Turkey way before Holland are spectacular. The grand bazaar is
also fantastic (check out the photos)
Istanbul is a great city and has everything
you could possibly want. It is busy in a good way and it has more of a European
feel to it than middle eastern or asian countries we had previously visited.
The waterfront is very unusual (see photos) with huge rocks bundled together
instead of sand where people perch with their picnic watching the ships go by.
There are
people selling jewellery and sunglasses as well as people charging people to
use air rifles and pistols to shoot cans and balloons off the rocks for fun!
(see photos) I personally thought that this was a very bizarre situation.
This next
comment is for my Aunty Margot. ‘You would go absolutely crazy!’ There are
entire streets of market areas totally dedicated to CRAFT STUFF. Ribbons, trim,
elastic, cottons, buttons, sequins,etc.. You don’t know where to start ! It’s
like the home sewer’s heaven on earth. You could lose yourself for a couple of
days and not even realise until you were hungry.
Got to go
to bed now, it’s a 5am start in the morning and I am already behind in sleep
from last night’s train episode.
DAY 35
Well, after
catching the 6am shuttle from the hotel to the airport, we are on the plane off
to Athens and then the Greek Islands!
The plane
flight was only an hour or so and went very quickly especially because they
served breakfast to amuse us.
The local
bus from the airport at 3 euro was very tedious due to extremely heavy traffic.
The bus actually terminated prior to our destination and we were directed to
the train station to continue our journey. This confused the hell out of most
of the passengers because we were mostly tourists and unfamiliar with the
language and the surroundings.
We
eventually made our way to the Hotel Zeuss, which is a dodgy hostel in
Monastriki.
When I
booked this hostel, it never occurred to me to check regarding stairs etc. I
will next time!
We carried
our luggage up 4 flights of stairs!!! Don’t even ask why we have lots of
luggage?? We just do!
Athens was terrific. There is the old, the
new, and the very traditional all so close to each other.
The Athens flea market is
close to the square where there was a band playing for donations (see photos)
One street
off the square leads to all the expensive, high class shopping and eateries;
another leads to the local crafts; another local touristy cafes; add the odd
historical monument or church etc. and you have a place with something for
everyone.
After much
searching we found a travel agent and organised things for our island travels.
After a
picnic of sorts in our room of bread, ham, strawberries, plus a couple of gin
& tonics each, we prepared for another 5am start.
