Turkey 2010

August 30, Bodrum, Turkey

Lazed most of day at beach but that was after buying a new backpack from the shop that I originally stopped at.  When will I learn to just buy if price is right!  Great part was he honoured his last price!

August 29, Bodrum, Turkey

Got breakfast this morning, with 'real' filtered coffee!  Not to complain as it did taste good, just could have been a bit stronger!

And only a 8.30 start.  Short drive and were at Pamukkule, the calcium created pools that have formed terraces down a cliff!  What a site!

The old city of Hierapolis is on top of the cliff.  This was a city of about 180,000, created around the 'healing' powers of the waters that flow into the terraces.

Wandered around the terraces with a couple of Devon England, and then headed up to the theatre.  This is in the best shape of any I have seen.  Seats about 18,000.

Then went for a swim in the ancient pool, again, I should be cured!  This is probably the most expensive swim I will ever take, 25 lira ($12) for half an hour, but had to do it as the bottom of the pool is full of relics!  Columns and capitals.  

Then for the 4 hour drive back to Bodrum.  But a couple of stops (shopping) actually, Onyx and carpet.  It was interesting on how they make the carpets!  A silk one about 6 foot by 9, was priced at about $50,000 - but as the guy said you have to consider it as an investment!

Talked to a couple of guys from a city south of Moscow in Bodrum on holidays!  I meet the educated ones it seems.  One a Phd in Law and the other finishing his Phd in Economics!  Interesting to talk to them.  One of them was fluent in German and English.  He also asked me about Canada and IFRS (sorry accounting and I am on holidays!)  Russia adopted in 2005 and he is learning about it now!

Arrived back at the Bodrum Park Hotel to a big welcome back by the staff.  Hilarious!

August 28, Bodrum, Turkey

An early start, on the bus at 6.30, which means no coffee!  Nescafe even would be good!  2 hours later, finally get breakfast and coffee!

But that was after a minor breakdown on the bus!  Leak in radiator!  Stopped in a small town, in the 'garage district'!  Interesting as seems they are all in the same location.

Then to a jewelery factory, why do they do this!  Shopping!

Then to Ephesus an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city. This site dates back to 1000 to 1500 BC and they have excavated about 20%.  For many years it was the second largest city with a population of more than 250,000 in the 1st century BC.  One of the seven ancient wonders of the world.

The place is huge, but the center piece is the Library.  The story goes that the men would give their wives all the money they wanted to go shopping and they would go the the library.  Turns out there was a tunnel from the library to the brothel across the street!

Many mosaics here as well.

Then a 3 hour drive to the hotel!  Amazing that average speed is 50 kph.  So slow going!

The hotel is near Pamukkle, the hot spring area.

The scenery is beautiful and interestingly it is much greener here than on the coast.  Many pine tress.

The hotel has a hot pool so I spent some time in there, and again, I have been cured of all ailments!

Talked to a Romanian couple in the pool, as we were the only ones there!

After dinner went for a walk in the local village market street.  The usual shops with very few souvenir places, but was amazing to see was that when the shops closed up, they would just covered up their merchandise with a sheet and tie it down!  No locks or bars!

Had dinner with them, very nice couple.

August 27, Bodrum, Turkey

Did not do much today, had not planned staying this long, but tour only leaves on Saturdays.  Interesting as this guy is the one that serves my beer, and now have him putting it in the deep freeze.  He is 16 years old.  And the reception man that has a degree in Business Administration and working very hard at learning English.

August 26, Bodrum, Turkey

Caught the bus to the old ancient theatre.  Not much information provided so just wandered around a bit and then walked into the main area of Bodrum.

Went through a small market along the way.  Mostly fruit and vegetables but also a few spice places.  Smelled amazing.  Talked to one of the spice guys.  His English was very good.

Then continued on to the market area of Bodrum.  Interesting but all the shops are really the same.  Very quiet.  Stopped to have lunch at small place with tables right on the beach.  Very nice, but also very hot, even in the shade!

Bodrum, Turkey 2010

August 25, Bodrum, Turkey

Another slow start to day, did not sleep that well, so did not do much.  But got them to move me to different room so at least the a/c works!  Hopefully better.

Just headed off to buy ticket for tour on the weekend.  Means I have to stay a bit longer here but that is ok, place is fairly cheap and easy going.

Had a nap and then headed out to the restaurants for something to eat.  Late so wandered around the various bars.  Amazing.  All these bars with the music going, and again compeition as  to which bar can attract the most people with the loud music!  And they are right next door!  Also the city is very liberal considering Turkey is a Muslim country.  Most of the bars have guys entertaining the guests, making sure they have a great time.  Dancing, break dancing, leading dancing and getting the women up to dance.  Just crazy but then, not really that much different than Mykonos or Santorini, except this is a Muslim country!  Will be interesting to see if same elsewhere.

August 24, Bodrum, Turkey

Slow start to the day!  Leisurely breakfast.  Then sat having coffee with laptop and using Google translate to talk to the guys working in the hotel.  Very entertaining and learned a lot about where they are from.  None are from Bodrum, some up to 18 hours away by bus, Eastern Turkey.  Also learned that one of them is Kurdish.

Caught the mini bus.  Great as you do not have to go to bus stop, just wave them down as they drive by!

Went to the Castle of the Knights.  This is the castle that is right at the harbour that I arrived.  Interesting as very much a maze of paths through out the castle.  The castle was built in the mid 1400s by the crusaders.  They had a glass display that was really something.  Some of the pieces were from 3 and 4 th centuries BC.  Surprising that they could make glass bottles with such thin walls, and that they looked like they were mostly in tact!

Walked back toward the little town that I am staying, Gumbet, heading towards an ancient wall on one of the peninsulas in the area.  Turns out that it is inside the military zone and not accessible.  So just kept walking and went for a swim.  Water felt so good after the walk.  It is very hot here as well.

Dinner was simple gyro.  Turns out the guy working there lives 24 hours away.  From a farm and is very bored here as the restaurant is not that busy.  He will leave in 2 weeks, which seems when many places is close up for the season.

August 23, Bodrum, Turkey

Checked out of hotel.  Interesting as they had already charged by credit card for the room, but the machine would not work for the extra night, so had to pay cash.  The Manager showed me the reservation email and I pointed out that it says the room was to be air conditioned!  Instead of 38 euros for the last night he discounted it to 10, no hesitation.

Got to port ok, but 30 minutes before the boat was to leave I find out that the boat was not going today.  Found out from another couple that the agency would refund my money.  I made a dash to get my money back and then buy another ticket.  Made it by 10 minutes before 9.  But turns out the boat did not really leave until about 9.45.  They did not start passport control until 9 am and there were about 4 other boats going to Turkey!

Arrived no problem but had to pay 45 euro for a visa!  Cleaned me out of money!

Stopped at a restaurant close by for something to eat.  And then off to bus station to find bus to hotel.  The buses here are mid sized vans.  He was going to drop me off at the hotel but missed the stop by a bit.  The driver was very apologetic! 

Went for a swim.  It seems that there are not many people in this hotel.  Older and showing age but seems nice enough.  The guys working here are working very hard at making sure I have everything.  Had a beer by the bar and the guy serving me did not know much English.  He ended up bring out a Turkish/English book and had a lesson!  He learned some English and I learned some Turkish!  Hilarious as got to use on one of the guys, and he had a look of shock on his face.  Fun!  

And then off to see the beach.  Another very busy beach with umbrellas and lounge chairs.  Took a walk along the beach and ended up walking up the hill to the windmills along the ridge.  Tough going up hill in the heat but made it no trouble.

Walked into the main area of restaurants and bars in Gumbet, the area where hotel is.  The hustlers for restaurants here are much more aggressive in getting you into the restaurant.  Aggressive but in a friendly way!  Ended up in a place that had a very nice view of the bay, but also was able to watch the guy in action!  That was the entertainment, just watching him get people into the restaurant!  Told him after that was great to watch him work and he just laughed!  Said he teases the guy next door that is doing the same thing, but no where near as successful!

Kos, Greece

August 21, Kos, Greece

Took a day excursion to Symi Island on a hydro plane boat!  Traveled at 33 knots.  Could really feel the bow come out of water but the stern was much more subtle.

Nice little town.  Amazing how they build the houses up the side of a cliff.  Walked along the harbour front, which seems to be the main road in and out of the town.

August 21, Kos, Greece

Went back to western archelogical site and found some more mosaics!  These are made out of small coloured stones less than half an inch square!  And they are huge!  Lots of work in the detail!

Then to beach but wind so strong, felt like getting sand blasted so did not last long.  Went next door for dinner and got a free ouzo and water!  I could learn to like that!

August 20, Kos, Greece

Off this morning to see the ancient theatre, the Odeum.  Seats about 750 on marble!  Amazing!  Also a great mosaic nearby.  Met a woman on the bus from the Netherlands.  She said she came here 25 years ago and never left.  She married a Greek guy that was working in a bar.  She said it was one of those, 'I am going to marry that guy' type first meetings.  He felt the same.  Interesting.  She showed me the church she was married in, and also the little farm they have.  The rent out 4 rooms.  

Then off to beach, Tigaki.  Very nice sandy beach and even the water was sandy!  Started talking to the guy next to me, turns out he is a Brazilian working in Germany.  Had a great visit.  He ended up giving me a ride back to Kos town, and we went out for dinner!

I told him I was wanted to go to childrens choir concert in the Odeum so he joined me!  On the way there we walked through the western archeological site as I had not seen it yet!  Many mosaics.

The choir was a childrens concert but was great just to be attending in such a venue!  I think it was built about 1500 years ago!

Santorini and Kos

August 19, Kos, Greece

Turns out my room is not air conditioned! And they are having a hot spell!  And the humidity is very high.  T shirt and swim suit (quick dry one) are not even drying over night!

Good thing there is a fan, but last night the power went out so did not even have that!  The fan is good, but sure do not spend a lot of time in room.  The lobby has the internet and is much cooler!

Caught one of those goofy little tourist trains to Asklipieion, the only transport to the site unless you bike or walk and much too hot for that!

This is a site that was set up as a healing centre in 554 AD by Hipprocrates.  By the looks of drawings it must have been an impressive place, even before 2 other levels were added in the 4 and 5 centuries.  It also includes a temple to Apollo, another very popular guy!

I then headed off to another hot springs.  Caught the bus for about 30 minutes and then had a 15 minute walk down the hill to sea!  This pool claims to cure most everything according to the sign posted.  Maybe it will grow hair!  On my head!  Even though that is not one of the claims, but it does say it will cure 'development problems from childhood'!!!!!!

They had build a rock walled pool around the hot water flowing out of the side of the cliff!  Nice as this allowed fresh sea water into pool and helped cool it down!  The water was still very hot, and did not have the reddish colour like the previous hot spring.  The sea water felt great after sitting a short while in the pool.  Spent the afternoon in and out of the hot pool and the sea.  Very nice.

The hot water exhausted me so had to have a nap!  I am sure that it is very Greek as many places close down in afternoon!

Went into the old town for dinner.  Very nice, lots of people and again, a shoppers paradise!

Interesting as the hustlers here are for the restaurants!  That is a job and that is all they do is encourage people to eat at their restaurant!  Tough competition as there is usually several next to each other.  Had a very Greek dish, pork schnitzel! ahhahah  Did have some Greek sides to the plate.  Was quite good!

August 18, Kos, Greece

Arrived at hotel at about 5 am!  Exhausted as did not get much sleep on ferry!  At the hotel the receptionist just wanted to talk.  A Polish woman that would finish an all night shift at 7.

I could not get into room, so after about 1 hour people were coming down for breakfast so she got busy and I headed off to the bar area, just off the lobby to have a nap

Able to get into hotel room at 9.  Quick nap and then off.

Went to the Castle of the Knights, which was build around 1500 AD, and has survived a few earthquakes!  One in 1933 they say flattened the city.  Interesting as no signage anywhere!  And there are artifacts just laying all over the place.  But still interesting as there are 2 walls.

Then off to the agora, the city area which dates as far back as the 3rd century BC.  This is very similar to the one in Barcelona.  Signs better here and they indicate temples to Aphrodite and Hercules.  These 2 are very popular!

Near by is the Plane tree (a type?) of Hippocrates!  This is the tree under which he was supposed to have taught his medical students.

Took a walk along the beach.  Guessing it is probably 3 or 4 km long!  Very nice except totally covered with thatched umbrellas, lounge chairs and people.  I would estimate that only half the chairs were being used.

This took me close to the hotel, so went back for another nap!  Ended up being 3 hours!  But did sleep well at night too!

August 17, Santorini, Greece

Off on scooter again.  More comfortable today, but traffic, or more the driving is crazy!  Passing everywhere, curves, corners it does not matter.  Arrived at the busy corner, and I have become more aggressive!  Passed all the cars turning left, and ended up in the front row to turn left.  Me, 2 other scooters and a car all making the turn at the same time!  Crazy!  But would have taken for ever to get around the corner.

Made a quick stop for a beautiful view of the Caldera, the water between the islands.  Would be a great place to watch the sunset.  So went to see the red beach.  Amazing as it is at the bottom of a huge red cliff.  The only one I have seen.  There are red parts to cliffs but none like this.  Went for a quick swim and Went to go to the Ancient Aktroki site, but it was closed for 'technical problems'!  Not hitting the 'cultural' spots well.  There is supposed to be a white beach near by but could not find it.

Got back to hotel and was about to jump on scooter with my backpack and 2 girls came walking down the hill.  Not in great shape.  One of them had a huge black eye, bandage on nose and road rash everywhere!  The 2nd girl had some bruises and was walking very slowly.  Guessing they crashed their scooter!  Scary.  But made it up the hill and to the scooter place no problems.  Then a short walk to bus station.  The scooter ride saved me walking up the hill!  Bus to new port, to catch a ferry at 12.20 am!  Yes just past midnight, and to arrive in Kos 4 1/2 hours later.

Had dinner at on of the places in the port.  The waiter is actually a transplated Californian that has been here for 3 years.  Had a travel agency in Athens that organized 3/4 tours a month in the past but with the reports of riots and unrest in Greece, no bookings this year!

August 16, Santorini, Greece

Headed off to Ancient Thira, but turns out it is closed on Monday!  Rode around the airport and stopped to have a look.  Scary with the jets flying over a beach so low it seems you could touch them!

Headed for Oia (pronounced 'ee a')  This is the site where everyone goes to watch the sun set into the Aegean Sea.  Drove around a bit and walked along the top of the old city.  Beautiful as well, and very similar to Fira (the main city on Santorini).  Then went to Koloumbo beach to relax for the afternoon.  Was great as there were some good size waves that you could body surf, but they were only breaking very close to shore so had to be careful not to crash into the beach!

On way back to hotel stopped at a small road side restaurant.  Had some great tasting souvlaki and more Greek salad.  Just about full of salad but it is so good and all the feta cheese you get is something!

Mykonos and on to Santorini

August, 15 Santorini, Greece

Today I rented scooter and went to a beach that has huge cliffs.  You can see the layers of different 'stuff'.  Not sure what to call it!  Not lava as not hard.  Most is like ash with rocks mixed in.  But there are different colours.  White, sandy and some black as well.  Surprised not more black as the beach is mostly black.  There are a lot of pumice stones around.  I should have collected and set up a stall.  I see they go for 1 euro each!

The scooter was a bit shaky at first, as it has been a while since I have ridden a motorbike!  But did come back.  These things do not handle quite like a motor bike but close.  You do not have to change gears at all.  Cruised along at about 50 kph when no other traffic.  The only bad traffic was right after getting the bike and getting out of town.  The rest was pretty quiet!

Stopped at small restaurant on way into Fira.  Had another great Greek Salad, with loads of feta cheese and then chicken souvlaki!  Very good!

August, 14 Santorini, Greece

Spent the day wandering around the old city!  Tried to find some of the nice place I saw at night!  Found most!

Went to an exhibition (that means not a museum) of wall paintings that were found in the old city.  Buried under lava and ash.  Amazing at the great shape they are in!

Stopped and had a drink at one of the restaurants high up on the hill!  Beautiful view. 

Then headed towards the old port.  I walked down the donkey path!  Bit worried about walking behind them, for a couple of reasons, one of them being that if they kicked....

They did not move.  It was a longer walk than I expected, especially when so hot.  Expected to go for swim, but no swimming there!

I had booked a ticket on a sunset cruise, which included a walk on the volcano Island of Nea Kameni.  Many craters with that latest in the 1950s.  There is still some gas coming out of one!

Then for a swim in the hot springs on Palea Kameni.  Turned out we had to jump of boat and swim to a little inlet where the hot water seeped up into the sea!  Was warm but not hot, but the water was very red!  The iron I am guessing.  The 'guided' tour was not really guided, more of go here!  This red stuff stained all the swim suits!  Still nice

Then had dinner on board.  Was pretty good meal and included free wine!  That was pretty good as well.

Then off to the Oia point to watch the sun set.  

They actually put up the sails.  All on furlers, and set close hauled no matter which direction they went.  It was really for show, as motors kept running!  Did look good if you were not a sailor! 

Sunset was amazing! The pictures just do not do it justice!

Rode the cable car back up, I was not game to ride a donkey up the steps!

August, 13 Santorini, Greece

Today headed off to a black sand beach!  Beautiful place.  Told it was about 40 degree today!  Catch is the sand got so hot you could not walk on it without your shoes!  And the tempurature on beach, even with a breeze was baking!  I did not last too long!

Have decided that I am old!  I am the one heading back to hotel at 11 pm and the young ones are just heading out.  Then I am up in morning, and they are just getting home!  Serious, this has happened a few times!

August, 12 Santorini, Greece

Checked out of hotel and then spent the morning napping by the pool!  Oh it is a tough life!

Then off to catch a fast ferry to Santorini!  Huge, my guess had about 350 passengers on board!  Total chaos in boarding, no wonder late!  Could use a lot of easy fixes!

But 2 1/2 hours later in Santorini.  Caught the bus to Fira, the main town and called the hotel.  He picked me up within 5 minutes!  Great stuff.

I ended up in a private place as the hotel was full, but that is ok.

Headed into the old part of town and spent time just wandering around.  Another amazing place.  The town is high up on a cliff with all the houses, restaurants, and hotels built along the side of the hill leading to the cliff!  Needless to say got my exercise walking stairs for a couple of hours, and then headed back to hotel!  At least that is down hill!

And it has been awhile but found another 'pink' one!

August, 11 Mykonos, Greece

Did nothing!

Went out for dinner and for the 2nd night in a row a Pelican was leading a persession of people down the sideway along the water front!  Hilarious!

August, 10 Mykonos, Greece

Went to beach today.

Nice and relaxing.

This is an interesting island.  All the white houses with the colourful doors and window against the very dry desert like countryside.  Not much for vegetation but there is a lot of rock!  They build the fences and houses out of the rock, and of course pave the streets with it as well!

Saw some critters today.  Pelican in a square on way to bus, domestic duck swam by while I was having coffee at a sea side cafe, donkeys, goats and a couple of cows on way to beach.  And at the beach saw a lizard of some sort.  The person next to me said it was a gecko.  That is the most crittersI have seen anywhere.

Athens and Mykonos

August, 9 Mykonos, Greece

Went to beach today.  This time to different beach.  I had to first catch a bus to a small village and then catch a boat.  There are roads but the buses do not go there.  Nice beach, but more small pebbles than sand and very busy.  Lots of nice hotels and house up the hill.  

And then usual food hunt!  Been having some great Greek Salads!  Lots of feta and olives!

Very hot so after the walk up the hill to hotel, went for a swim.  Ended up talking to the only other person there.  He is from Portugal, in the army with special forces as a paratrooper.

Interesting.  His English is very good and he has lots of relatives living in Canada.  He said is leaving the army after 10 years in October, but not really sure what he is going to do.

He seemed to be working on finishing the bottle of rum he had!

August 8, Mykonos, Greece

Went to beach today.

Later into town to find some food.

Walked by a couple of the clubs later in the night!  They are side by side, and seemed to be a competition which could have the loudest music!  Hilarious as you could not really hear either one!

Turns out there are other places just like that.   But then it is the party island!!!!!!!

August 7,  Mykonos, Greece

Went to beach today, so nice to be on a sand beach.  The water is amazing!

Did more wandering around the town.  Figured out that all you need to do is really just have a general direction that you want to head and you will get there!

An area called Little Venice is really quite nice.  A line of restaurants with tables right along the water!  Looks nice, but not sure if I would eat there as there is a steady stream of people walking by as it is part of the sidewalk, and it is really not that wide!

August 6, To Mykonos, Greece

Up very early to catch the 7.45 am ferry to Mykonos, and it took almost 1.5 hours to get there as part of the metro line to port is shut down!  But arrived in time to have the first coffee!

The trip took about 4 hours and very nice, passing through many of the islands and stopping at Syros, Tinos and then Mykonos.

Shared a taxi with a woman from Argentina that is only here for 1 day, never did figure out where she was going!

So tired that I just spent the afternoon by the pool!  Was great, and then had a nap.

Headed out to wander around the town in evening!  It is beautiful!  Everything is whitewashed and some of the street are so narrow tough walking and meeting another person.  Other streets are a hazard to your life and 2 cars can barely meet, and yet there are scooters and quads parked on both sides of street and then you have the pedestrians!  Just another challenge, not to get hit by a mirror.

The streets in the town are are stone with the grouting painted white.  Very nice.  Lots of very expensive shops and souvenir places.  Oh yes and I forgot about the streets of restaurants!

I have a map of the town but it is useless as none of the streets seem to be named, on the streets anyway, on the map they are.

But just wandered around, not that big as saw the same place about 3 times!

August 5,  Athens, Greece

Met up with the UAE guy today and we went to 3 museums.  Talk about over dose on that!  Funny as I was his personal photographer.  He is in about 80% of pictures he took and he took a lot!

He followed me around like a puppy!  So much so that if I stopped to quickly, he would bump into me.  Nice guy though, I think he was just lonely.

Went to the National Archeological museum, the Acropolis Museum and the Benaki Museum.  The Acropolis museum opened in 2009 and very impressive with the glass entry way and the glass walkway up to the first floor.  Also on the top floor they have reproduced the various sculptures that are around the outside of the Pathenon.

The Benaki Museum was actually a private collection donated to  Greece for public display.  Amazing the amount of stuff he had collected.  4 floors of a large house.

Beat, so had ice cream and headed back to hotel.

Talked to the guy that has been at front desk every time I have left or returned.  Turns out he owns the hotel with his brother.  Very interesting as they bought the hotel in May 2010.  He said they need 12 of the 18 rooms full on average.  They rent the building.  In Greece the price of hotels is similar to that of 10 years ago!  Price of food has dropped a little, but wages have not.  The waitress did say that the price of a beer has dropped to half of what it used to be.  Taxes, 11% on hotel rooms, 23% on food, plus another 5% municipal tax.  

Good thing I told him that all the staff had been great!  He owns, and wife has been serving breakfast each morning!

August 4,  Athens, Greece

Today a slow start.  Did a lot yesterday. 

Headed towards the Temple of Olympian Zeus.  This place is another amazing place.  I saw it from the top yesterday.  Wandered around here for a bit.  A guy asked if I would take his picture in front of the temple.  Ended up taking several and then he stuck with me for the rest of the day.  Nice young guy, 25, from UAE.  So we went to the Panathenaic STadium.  Originally built in 120 AD and completely restored in 1895, this was the site of the first modern Olympics and also the site for the 2004 track events.  Amazing.  All marble and seats 70,000.

Wandered through the parks close by and then had lunch.  Was a restaurant, but really turned out to be fast food, Greek style!  Not 2 minutes after ordering we had our food.

He had heard that there were some nice restaurants along the beaches area south of the city so we caught the tram and headed off.

Beach was quite nice.  Sand on the beach part but the water part was rocks, many very slippery.

Went for a swim and then went to restaurant for a beer to watch sun set.  The place was much to expensive to eat.  Left and caught tram back.  Was close to 10 by the time got back to hotel.  Starving so had a very good dinner of cookies bought at an all night stand just outside the Metro station.  Walking back to hotel was interesting as all the seemed to be out were the hookers!

August 3, Athens, Greece

Up fairly early and up to roof top terrace for breakfast.  Very nice place but is fairly noisy with the traffic down below.

On to the Metro and to the Acropolis area.  This place is huge, and built on top of a huge rock!  Did not realize but it is actually a group of temples.  

The first place was the Theatre of Dionysos, small but very neat.  Then came to the restored Odeon of Herodes Atticus.  This place actually has live performances, but they are done, so missed out.  Would have been something to see here.

Continued up the hill.  Yes had to walk up the mountain.  The Temple of Athena Nike was something else.  This is really the entrance to the top of the Acropolis.  What amazes me is all the marble!  Everywhere!  Beautiful.  On the very top you have the Parthenon, which is the structure you usually see in pictures.  Very impressive.  Then there is the Erechtheion.  This is very impressive as well and the sculptures along the top are so detailed.

Made my way down towards the Ancient Agora, which is the old town centre.  Shops and administration.  Huge actually.  The Temple of Hephaestus was really something.  I am running out of words to describe.  Considering most of these were build in the 4 and 5 century BC, quite the wonder.

Off wandering around and ended up in the Keramokos.  Which is another town, but this is more of a cemetery.  Here the dead were buried, some which huge monuments.

Also a museum here and I read one comment that said most of the dead were buried with their heads facing north.  I asked why, and ended up with about 6 different people trying to figure it out.  In the end, no one knew.  They did suggest that I come back the next day as they will ask the archeologist.  

Wandering again, and this time ended up in the Athens flea market.  Well this is the most up market place I have seen.  Permanent shops with flashy lights and music.  More like a shopping mall!  Still very interesting as you can buy anything you could want here.  Not sure what impression I am giving but go hit up a couple of times that I should have a closer look at the shisha pipes!  

Walked by Hadrian's Library but did not go in.  Need to save ticket for Temple of Olympian Zeus and the Museum.  Here you buy 1 ticket, 12 euros and is admission to 6 different sites.  The best deal I have run into.

Went into the Temple of the winds.  Part of the Roman Agora, built in 1 and 2 century BC.  This was interesting as the Temple of Winds is actually an octagon!  The construction of these sites just amazes me given the times!  And they were built to last.........

The weather is very hot and a waiter was telling me that so few around as too hot!  36 or 37 but humidity is fairly high.

Headed back to hotel without incident on way either.  Went up to terrace and had a beer.  The Russian girl that is a waitress told me that I looked like and tourist and that I should be taking a taxi everywhere!  But have heard they are the ones to watch out for as they will rip you off in an second!  Just like everywhere!

Croatia 2010

I guess it has been a while, but only had internet in cafes

August 2, To Athens, Greece

Not much sleep last night as the guy next door watched tv on full volume, I swear, most of the night!  It actually woke me up, so must have been loud.

Another great breakfast and off to the airport.

Again what a great city!  At the entrance to the airport is another huge park!  So nice to see rather than, cars, buses, traffic and noise!

August 1, Zagreb, Croatia

Hotel had a great breakfast, and got more Turkish coffee, good but not as good as in Dubrovnik!  Head out to see the city.  Very impressed with this place.  The city is spotless, with many parks.  After all, it has to be nice when you walk out of the train station and in front is a huge bronze statue and a big park!

Caught the tram to the old part of the city.  Saw the Cathedral and then headed off to ride the funicular tram.  A very short ride but took to Upper Zagreb and the Stone gate.  Here there was the changing of the guards.  The traditional dress is quite nice.  In one of the squares there were also some people in traditional dress singing.

The city is very quiet today.  Was told that most are at home having their 'beauty' rest or at the coast.  

The city itself is very nice.  Many museums, but did not go in any.  Was going to catch the Coffee exhibition in one but the museum was closed.  Funny as I noticed that there was the "Bodies Revealed" exhibit, the one with the cut up bodies.  I debated where I could cope or not, but turns out I missed it!

July 31, Zagreb, Croatia

Caught the train to Zagreb, a 6 hour journey.  The ride was very nice.  Passed through some great country side.  Interesting as the train took a very high route, and ended up in the clouds.  The forest here was almost rain forest.  The valleys were very green!

No one to meet at train station with accommodation, so the information desk gave me a hotel.  Very nice but 49 euros.  The best part is that it is right on the tram lines and turns out the tram lines are free!  Was a bit worried as information told me where to get off, but everyone I asked had no idea where this hotel was.  I even asked a couple of old guys sitting in a bar, but they did not know.  Well the hotel was right across the street!  Too funny!  Maybe something in their beers!

July 30, Split, Croatia

Up early and made coffee!  Very nice and relaxing.  I have to admit the view is very nice, overlooking the bay and the city behind the large hill!

4 Belgian kids were staying as well and they headed off right away.  But I caught up with them at the bus stop.  All very well educated.  2 masters in engineering with one going on to Phd, one medical doctor doing her internship and the other a teacher.  The bus wait turned out to be an hour for me, and the ride into the city almost 30 minutes!  The traffic is very slow going.

Wandered around the old city.  Very nice, but not as well kept as Dubrovnik or Korcula.  Still many shops, but at least they have hot spots for free internet!

Took a long walk along the shoreline!  Beaches similar except here they have more smaller rock type beaches.

I got back to the house just in time.  There was a very loud thunder and huge lightning storm!  Then poured rain.  The storm passed right over head!  The best I have seen in ages!

July 29, Split, Croatia

I had planned to try and get in on a dune buggy tour of the olive groves and vineyards, with some snorkeling included, but had to meet early, but I slept in.

So instead I had breakfast and bought a ferry ticket to Split.  Ferry left at 1.30 and arrived at 6.30 pm.   A very nice trip along the coast line.  The coast is all rock and very rugged.  Most of the hill tops do not have much for trees or bushes.

Arrived in Split and was met by guy with accommodation.  Turns out he lied, and not just me, everyone that was at the house.  He said it was a 8 to 10 minute bus ride, and forgot to mention that was by plane!  Turns out it is about 9 km out of the city, and up a very steep hill to the top!  There is a TV but he does not know how to turn on.

  Very interesting is all I can say.

Got settled and headed off to a 'near by' restaurant'.  "Near by" is about a 20 minute walk!  But the food was excellent.  Problem was I miss read the prices and did not have enough money to pay!  Embarrassing, but the waiter was great, and told me where the nearest bank machine was!

July 28, Korcula Island, Croatia

Caught the bus to Korcula, and arrived about 12.00 after 3 hours, including a short ferry ride.

Found the house that the hosts in Dubrovnik had made reservations for me.  Turns out only have 1 night, not 2.  But the room has the best view.  Right on the water with a view of the dock and the old city.  Quite the change after 3 nights in the kitchen!  Then headed off to eat!  Found a bakery.  Got burek again.  This is the name of the layers of dough with fillings of either meat or cheese.  They are very good.

Then off to wander around the city.  This city is similar to Dubrovnik, but not as commercial.  Not as big, but still all narrow pedestrian streets.  There are many shops and restaurants but not as many souvenir shops.  Many handcrafted items, paintings, and jewelery.  

Interesting in that they believe that Marco Polo was born here and that he spent some time in jail here as well.  Did a tour of his house.  Also this is the town for the merishka, the sword dancing, but the next one is on Monday, so will have to miss that.

Ran into the Australians and we made plans to meet for dinner.  Caught up with them and went first for a drink and then to dinner.  Lots of wine before and with dinner.  Then on way back a bar had taken over the street.  Tough getting through the crowd so just ended up have a few drinks!  Drank way to much but was great fun.  Late by time I got home.

July 27, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Did not do much other than buy my bus ticket for tomorrow, and then headed off to Lokrum Island.  Spent the afternoon on the beach.  No sand, as seems to be the standard, just try to find a flat rock.  Went out for dinner at a restaurant down the street a bit.  Was very good, pork on skewers with grilled vegetables.  Plenty of garlic and olive oil on the vegetables, but were very good.

July 26, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Up and off to get coffee at the local internet cafe.

I went to go up the gondola.  Turns out it is only 14 days old.  The old one had been destroyed in the war as the top of the mountain was one of the first places to be bombed and occupied.  

The views from the top are great, of the city, the old city, and nice to be able to see the mountain range in the other direction.

Then went to the war museum.  They had many pictures of the destruction and the people involved with the resistance.  They were also showing a video that I found quite disturbing.  Showing the bombing and the cheering that was going on when a bomb hit a building.  Probably disturbing as I had talked to the host in the morning about how it had impacted them.  

The woman had taken their kids and left the city, but the husband had stayed behind.  Their house only suffered some damage, broken window and chips in the walls, but there were houses around them that were hit and burned as a result.  The woman's sister's flat, not too far away was also hit.  A bomb actually went through the window and destroyed the flat.  The sister was not there.  I can not wrap my head around the hatred or being that close to a war.  So lucky to not have been close to anything similar.

I then headed off to Lokrum Island.  Caught the ferry and spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the monastery, botanical gardens and the various paths on the island.  The island is all a park.  Half the park is shut due to a high fire hazard.  The beaches are actually flat rocks along the water.  There are ladders off the rocks into the water.  Actually very nice, even if the rocks are very hard!

Went out for dinner and the local cheap place recommended by the host.  I had the best lasagna I have ever had.  Was made with a cream sauce but had chicken, ham and mushrooms.

Relaxed for what little was left of the evening.  Went to bed but got woke up by the others at about 1 am to join them for a glass of wine, or 2!  Was about 2.30 by the time we went to bed again.  Fun to sit and laugh and tease, country against country!

July 25, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Had a great sleep, on a real bed!  Turns out I slept great but the NZer did not, I snored, very loud.  Not sure if I should believe her as I never heard a sound!

Had to head out in the search for coffee, but it is Sunday and the only place I could find opened at 8!  So had to wait a bit!

Got my coffee, and was very good, and then back to get cleaned up.  Lounged around for a bit and then headed off to make travel arrangements to get to Greece!  Ended up with a flight from Zegreb to Athens, nothing else out of Croatia unless I went back to Rome first.

Then headed off to walk the wall around the old city!  The views were beautiful, and the colour of the water is almost blue.  I am sure the pictures will just not do it justice.  Great to have a view of the city from above, looking at the houses, the streets and all the red tiled roofs.

After that wandered around a bit waiting to do the kayak trip.

The kayak trip was a paddle along the old city wall, past the neat bar, and across the old harbour.  Stopped in an inlet only accessible by boat, and went for a swim and snorkel.  Water felt great, but not much for fish.  Just a few small ones but not really that colourful, but then I did not have my glasses on.  They feed us a sandwich that seemed like 3/4 of a loaf of bread, with some ham and cheese.  Good, but huge!  The paddling was good but we seemed to be heading left all the time, so I think we paddled twice as far as anyone else.

Then headed off across the harbour again to Lokrum Island.  Paddled around it, into a cave area.  I should also mention that the island is a rock, not sand, so is a rocky beach, but also many were  nude!  A bit of a surprise.  The water is very clear!  Then headed back the the starting point.  Lots of gusty wind and some very tired arms, it seemed like we would never get back.  But made it.  

Went for a glass of wine, just so we could use the toilet.  Then off the catch a walking tour of 'Dubrovnik at war'  Very interesting.  The guide had a sarcastic point of view.  He went back about a 1000 years, before he got to the war in 1991 when the Serbians, Yugoslavians and Montenegrians attacked Croatia.  Apparently they want their country to have access to the sea.  The Croatians and the Serbs had been living together for many many years without any trouble.  I will have to do some more research.  The war lasted about 8 months.  The tour showed where there was some damage from the bombing, some that remains and some that has been repaired.  The remaning evidence is different cobble stones on the streets, pits in some of the walls, and some door frames that are very white (limestone goes white when exposed to extreme heat)  The residents felt that they would be safe in the old city as a World Heritage site, but the city was bombed heavily.  

Got back to house and 3 Australians had moved in next door.  Chatted for a bit and went to bed.  I ended up on a cot in the kitchen, but was my choice as then I could have coffee in morning.

July 24, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Had a good night, and talked to a few people.  An Australian  that is going to university in Sevilla, and met a Vancouver woman, traveling with her 7 year old son  .  Interesting as ran into them again on the search for food and ended up having lunch and gelato with them.  Very nice to met other Canadians, and great to talk to them.  And we did do a lot of talking!  Dubrovnik is a fairly small city so I am sure we will meet again.

Ended up in a private house, which is the most common here.  The couple were not sure if another couple were going to leave so I may not have a room.  Turned out the other couple did leave.  So private room for 30 euros!  They had also convinced a New Zealand woman ( to stay as well.  After much room swapping then room sharing and then not, ended up sharing a room with the New Zealander, and 4 Brazilians moved into the other room.  Very confusing, but the couple are very nice and accommodating.   Such a great change!  The house is about a 40 minute walk to the old city, or a 10 minute bus ride.

The city is beautiful.  So nice to walk down the street and not have horns blaring and constant traffic.  The old city is completely walled, so spent the afternoon having lunch with the Vancouverites and then walked around the city.  The main streets are really just a bunch of tourist shops, but the many small side streets and the buildings are great.  Found a neat little bar, that is between the wall and the Adriatic Sea.  They have poured concrete to flatten out spots for tables amongst the rocks!  The tables are the the edge of the rocks, without rails.  I can not imagine having the combination of booze, rock band and cliffs anywhere else!  But the crowd was just getting into the 'rock band on the rock'.

Went for a swim and cleaned up and the New Zealander and I went back to the old city for dinner.  I had a great sea food platter!  The competition is very stiff with so many restaurants, that we were enticed with a free glass of wine!  Work for both of us, not just me!  We then went for a stroll around the city.  Ended up back at the same rock place, and they had a live band and lighting on the stairs.  Beautiful view of the sea with the boats lit up and the lights on the rocks.  Had a drink and then to bed.  Very tired.