Prior Trip (Travel Blog 2016 to 2018) – Page 5

Transatlantic Cruise, Peru, Cusco and Lima November 2016

Transatlantic Cruise

We decided to mix up the travel a bit and travel from Europe to the Florida by cruise. The cruise left from Barcelona, had two stops one in Tenerife and the other in Puerto Rico and arrived 13 night later into Cape Canaveral Florida we hired a car to dive to Fort Lauderdale were we boarded a flight to Lima in South America.

There is not much to say about the cruise only that is was very relaxing, we eat and drank to much and enjoyed the entertainment in the evening. The crossing was very smooth. We did manage to go to the gym every day for an hour at least so that we could build up our fitness level for the Inca trail were going to do in a few weeks.

The cruise liner was Norwegian Epic and holds 4,100 passages and 1,700 crew. I cannot say I love cruising its a real 50/50 for me. Martin loves to cruise, I think it depends on the type of Holiday you are looking for. If it is relaxing, having everything organised for you, entertainment in the evening all the food and drink at your finger tips this is the holiday for you, that is of course if you like being out at sea. As for the stop overs you can book onto some of the day tours but for me seeing the sites with bus loads of people is not my idea of fun, you also see very little of a country in one day. I suppose It is a good way to get a taste for a country and if you like what you see you go back another time and see the country properly.

Norwegian Epic

Our balcony

Great sushi on the ship

South America – Peru

At the heart of the South American is Peru. Its strategic location in South America has been exploited in the past by both the Incas and the Spaniards. The Capital of Peru is Lima, the population is around 29,500,000.00 language spoken is Spanish and 81% of the country is Roman Catholic.

Peru Flag

Our flight from Fort Lauderdale to Lima was fine we stayed in Lima overnight and caught a flight to Cusco early the next morning.

Cusco is situated 3,400 meters above sea level, surrounded by mountains and valleys. It has a population of 350,000 inhabitants – most of them indigenous and descendants of the Incas. The Cusco region has lots to offer, with the panorama of the Andes, many famous Inca ruins and the magical town of Machu Picchu. Cusco is an eclectic city, full of culture and history. Cusco is also an indigenous center, with many traditional people coming into the city each day to sell their products and services.

We were apprehensive about going to Cusco because we were not sure how we would cope with the Altitude. The host of our Airbnb had left us some Coca Tea. We made a large pot as soon as we got to the Apartment. We did not feel sick just a slight headache and out of breath every time we walked fast or went up stairs. On the third day we felt a lot better. The Apartment was in a great location, just a 5 min walk to the main square (plaza de armes). The square is very nice with a lot of good restaurants, bars, and also two cathedrals.

The view from our washing line

The street where we stayed

The square (plaza de armes)

On our third day when we started to feel better we did our first strenuous walk in practice for the Inca Trail. We walked 550 steps from the square (plaza de armes) to Christo Blanco and then continued onto Sacsayhuaman Fortress. The steps nearly killed us, this altitude can really effect you. You really have to slow your whole pace down.

Perched high above the centre of Cusco, Cristo Blanco is a large statue of Jesus Christ that can be seen across the city. Towering some 8 meters (26 feet) high the white structure was a gift from Arabic Palestinians who sought refuge in Cusco after World War II.

Cristo Blanco

The view from Cristo Blanco

Located on the outskirts of the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco. It rests on an artificially levelled mountaintop, and consists of three outer lines of gargantuan walls, 1,500 ft long and 54 ft wide, surrounding a paved area containing a circular stone structure believed to be a solar calendar. The ruins also include a 500,000 gallon water reservoir, storage cisterns, ramps, citadels and underground chambers. We were both exhausted when we got home that evening but it was a great day.

Our next trip was to rainbow mountain, most trips that allow you to see Rainbow Mountains require a trek of at least 6 days. this has changed in the last few months. There is a new trek that was designed to be done in one day.
The trek starts at 4,326 m and at the highest point of Rainbow mountain you are at 5,020 m it is a long day, we were picked up at 3am from our apartment and got home at 7.30pm

On the trek we saw quaint villages, beautiful adobe style houses, herds of llamas and alpacas and a magnificent views of the Ausangate Glacier (6,385 m / 20,945 ft), the highest mountain in the Cusco region. The scenery was out of this world. After a total hike of approximately 3 hours, we finally reach our destination, what we came to see….the Rainbow Mountains (5,020 m / 16,466 ft). After getting over the shock of their beauty, we had time to take pictures and soak in the beauty. They really are amazing and worth the trek. I found the last hour of the trek exhausting it was like all my energy was depleted . Note there was a choice of taking a horse part of the way but as we were practising for the Inca trail we did not. What a great day.

The start of the trek

Ausangate Glacier

Halfway

Nearly there !!!

Yahoo the top of rainbow mountain

We slept in until 11.30am the next day, and just relaxed at home for the day. We caught up with some good friend Deon and Claudia from Australia in an Irish Bar in Cusco, they had just finished the Inca Trail so were able to fill us in on all the details. They had an amazing time, so we are very excited about doing it. They did say it was tough !!!!

There was another day trip we wanted to do before the Inca Trail. It covered the following.

Písac is a Peruvian village in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. It is situated on the Willkanuta River. It is most known for its Incan ruins and large market every Sunday. We saw the temple of the Sun, baths, altars, water fountains, a ceremonial platform, a volcanic outcrop carved into a “hitching post for the Sun. The Inca’s constructed agricultural terraces on the steep hillside, which are still in use today. The terraces enabled the production of different types of food. With military, religious, and agricultural structures, the site served at least a triple purpose.

Ollantaytambo: Is a town and an Inca archaeological site in southern Peru It is located at an altitude of 2,792 metres above sea level located in what is called the Sacred Valley.
The Incas built several storehouses or qullqas out of fieldstones on the hills surrounding Ollantaytambo. Their location at high altitudes, where there is more wind and lower temperatures, defended their contents against decay.
The Wall of the Six Monoliths is an incredible piece of Incan ingenuity created out of pink granite. These stones are so massive that they weigh up to 50 tons and are each carved and fitted together with such precision that even a pin will not fit between them. The town also had Terraces and Baths like we saw in Pisac. It is also amazing how safe and secure these towns were, a lot of thought must have gone into the positioning of the town so the town could be easily defended.

Chinchero: is a small Andean Indian village located high up on the windswept plains of Anta at 3765m about 30km from Cusco. There are beautiful views overlooking the Sacred Valley of the Incas, with the Cordillera Vilcabamba and the snow-capped peak of Salkantay dominating the western horizon. In the main plaza a colonial church, dating from the early seventeenth century, has been built upon the foundations of an Inca temple or palace. The ceiling and walls are covered in beautiful floral and religious designs

Our final stop was a Dyeing & weaving wool demonstration in Chinchero. It is amazing how they use all natural plants to dye the wool, they maintain the techniques passed down from their ancestors, as well as the designs.

Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

It was time for our Inca Trail to Machu Picchu we were very excited but also a bit hesitant. The trail was for 4 days and 3 nights.

It was an early start of 4.30 am we drove for 3 hours until we reached Ollantaytambo, were we had breakfast and picked up the last of the crew. We got to our first checkpoint into the Inca trail. Our first day we walked 6-7 hours and most of it was uphill, it was tough because it was very hot and also the altitude was 3300 meters. The views, flora and fauna and bird life was wonderful. the first days hike was worth it as the camp site at Ayapata was amazing. Our dinner was a wonderful 3 course meal. The tour group we went with was Alpaca Expeditions, the porters, chef and tour guides were excellent. We fell into bed at 9pm as we had another early start.

The second day was the toughest, we walked for a total of 8 hours up and down hills, at least it was not as hot as it had been on the previous day, we also had some rain. We walked from Ayapata to Dead Woman’s Pass ( 4,215 meters) the highest point of our trip, then to Runcuraccay Pass, we stopped at the small Inca site of Runcu Raccay and we also saw two huge waterfalls cascading down the opposite side of the valley. Finally to our second camp site Chaquiccocha, altitude 3,600 meters. Again we had a great Lunch and Dinner, and fell into bed. At least the toughest day was over. The group of people on the tour were all very nice, it was a good mixture of people from different countries and backgrounds. We all got on well and had a lot of laughs.

Dead Woman’s Pass

Amazing Camp sites

By day 3 we had started to get use to the trekking up and down hills, it is amazing how quickly your body gets use to doing something that it is not use to doing. They say day 3 is the most beautiful day of the whole Inca Trail. We hike along the Inca flat and begin to peak the jungle, which is known as the cloud forest. As we continue on we see the fantastic panoramic view of the Vilcabamba mountain range. The last peak is at Phuyupatamarka 3,600 meters, from here it is a 3 hour walk down steps to our final campsite close to Winay Wayna (forever young) it is the most spectacular Inca site on the trail after Machu Picchu. We also visited another 2 Inca ruins Phuyupatamarka (the town in the clouds) and Intipata (Terraces of the sun) both were amazing. The Inca’s really were ahead of their time with their understanding of agriculture and astronomy. Life for them was all about living in harmony with the land and not destroying or deplete it of any natural resource. We could all learn a lot from the Inca’s. We had a wonderful last dinner with the group and staff.

Last meal with the team. Great cake

Our last day Yahoo, as the group wanted to be the first to arrive at the Sun Gate we started our trek at 3.30am. At the Sun Gate (Inti Punku) we had a spectacular views of the mountains and Machu Picchu and didn’t it look fantastic. So very happy to have made it here in one piece. We had a two hour guided tour around Machu Picchu, and then had free time to look around ourselves. It was everything and more than we had expected.

Machu Picchu is believed to have been a royal estate or sacred religious site for Inca leaders, whose civilization was virtually wiped out by Spanish invaders in the 16th century. For hundreds of years, until the American archaeologist Hiram Bingham stumbled upon it in 1911, the abandoned citadel’s existence was a secret known only to peasants living in the region. The site stretches over an impressive 5-mile distance. It has 600 terraces, 170 building, thousand of steps, several Temples and 16 fountains, In 1983 it was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site and designated one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. It really is an amazing place to see.

We made it.

A very happy team

Just amazing and worth every step. The picture we came for.

Back in Cusco

We had another few days in Cusco before we headed back to Lima. It was Martin birthday so I decided to surprise him with a traditional Cusco cooking class. It was lots of fun, we made a three course meal plus a pisco sour to have while cooking.

Gotha love those pisco sours.

Martin cooking me supervising (I like this !!!)

Our completed meal

We spent the last few days relaxing and visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Historical Museum of Cusco. Both worth a visit. Our stay in Cusco was great, we loved the people and the place. Some favourite shots below.

Our favourite restaurant in Cusco, Carpe diem. Great pizza

Beautiful happy children

These four were characters, and so happy.

This is how they carry their children

The shoe shine man who did a great job of cleaning my boots before the Inca Trail, so very sweet.

Martin being Lord Muck

We said our goodbyes to Cusco and flew to Lima for four days of relaxation. We stayed in Miraflores which is one of the better suburbs in Lima. It was all very nice but the people seem very security conscious, with barbwire, electric fences, camera’s, guard dogs and security guards on most corners. It seemed over kill to us.

Next stop Rio

Madrid (October 2016)

Overview of Madrid

Madrid is energetic, cosmopolitan and creative, it is the capital and largest city of Spain. There’s the enormous cathedral, the Royal Palace, and countless historic buildings Apart from being Spain’s financial and political hub, Madrid is an art haven, especially within the city’s Golden Triangle of Art. The Prado features Spanish greats; modern art can be found in Reina Sofía; and the Thyssen-Bornemisza shows world-class exhibitions. 7 million people live in Madrid. It is the third largest city in the European Union. It has two footballs teams, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid

Madrid Flag

We were meeting my sister and her husband in Madrid for the October long weekend. Madrid is a beautiful city. As it was a short stay we decided to do the red bus tour. We visited the following

The Royal Place of Madrid

Interesting Architecture

City Hall

In the middle of the busy Plaza de la Independencia stands one of Madrid’s best known landmarks: the Puerta de Alcalá or Alcala Gate

In the Parque de la Montaña, not far from the Royal Palace, there is the Templo de Debod, an authentic Egyptian temple which was reconstructed here between 1970 and 1972.

The Parque de le Montana was beautiful we did a Cable car ride over the park, it was great to be able to see the palace in all its glory. There are some wonderful status and the plant life is plentiful. It was lovely to catch up with Sinead and Sean for the weekend but all too soon it was time to fly to Barcelona. We will be back to Madrid next year when we will have more time to visit the art galleries and surrounding sites.

Turkey (October 2016)

Overview of Turkey

Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Greece to the west; Bulgaria to the northwest; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the south. Population estimate is 81,619,392. Capital is Ankara and the largest city is Istanbul. They use Turkish Lira. When they have worked 25 years and paid into a pension they can retire, on a full pension minimum age was 45 but in the last year this has been increase to 50.

Turkish Flag

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Gallipoli

In early 1915, British and French warships attempted to force their way through the Dardanelles straits to attack Constantinople (now Istanbul) the capital of the Ottoman Empire. After the naval attack failed, troops were landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula. (British, Irish, Australians, New Zealanders and other Commonwealth servicemen) For eight months fighting raged across the fields around Cape Helles, along the ridge above Anzac Cove, and in the hills around Suvla Bay. Unable to break the deadlock, allied soldiers withdrew from the peninsula, leaving their fallen comrades behind. Almost 36,000 Commonwealth servicemen died were buried or commemorated on Gallipoli.

We set off for Gallipoli early the next morning. It was a beautiful day the drive took about four and half hours. As we got there in the afternoon we seem to have missed all the tour buses we had the place to ourselves, which was nice as it was very peaceful, we were both surprised with the emotions that the place brought out in us. Martin and I have always wanted to visit Gallipoli as it was here that the Irish fought alongside of the Australian and New Zealanders. It was interesting to see all the graves side by side, very sad all the same as most of the men were only in their early twenties. To see the barren and roughness of the land and the hills that the men coming off the boats had to climb up, carrying all their guns and ammunition gives you an idea of the struggle and hardship they went through. The whole area is much bigger than we expected, there are several different Cemetery and all of them are kept in very good conditions plus different Memorials. The death toll for Australians was 8,790.00, New Zealanders 2,700.00 and Irish 4,000.00. There were big loses on both sides. One would hope we have learned much from this war but from what I see things have not changed. Will we ever learn ???

A moving statue of a Turkish soldier carrying a wounded Australia soldier.

Anzac Cove

Lone Pine Cemetery

Beach Cemetery

Some of the hills the soldiers had to tackle when they got off the boats

A grave stone of a young man 23 that came from Co Dublin were I was born.

Gallipoli truly a moving place.

Eccabet

We continued our trip to Eccabet where we will spend the night. Eccabet is a small town very close to Gallipoli it has a very good model in the main street of a battle seen out of Gallipoli and some great memorial status. A lot of Australian stay here when they visit Gallipoli, the Turkish people were very hospitable to us when we were there.

Eccabet

For dinner that evening we took a 10-min ferry across to Cannakale. We had a great feed in Cannakale the food was so fresh and the lamb chops were to die for.
We drove back to Istanbul the next day, and flew to Antalya where we meet with our friends Ann-Maree and Hussey. We will be back in Istanbul later in the month and will do our site seeing then.

Olympos

Olympos is a great place, we love were our friends live, they run a pension resort, it has great accommodation and it is so relaxing, quiet and the views are amazing. Olympos town itself is very bohemian, it reminds me of the way Byron Bay (Australia) was 20 years ago. A place you could lose yourself in. Olympos was under the Roman rule from 77 B.C there are a lot of very interesting ruins in the Olympos area, it is said that Olympos was one of the sixth most important cities in the Lycian league.

View from our friends place

Their beautiful pool

Historical tomb found in Olympos

We had many great meals at our friend’s home, they introduce us to the Turkish breakfast (mezze plate) which we fell in love with, in particular the cay tea. We had a great meal on the first night at Ulueina, everything was so fresh and the fish was great. Our friends also brought us to a Hamam (Turkish bath house) which was a great experience. The Hamam was in Kumluca, which is their local shopping town. We also had a wonderful day at the Friday markets, the markets have great fresh produce, vegetables, fruit, fish, bread, cheese and all at a great price.

Martin and Hussy in the Hamam

The beach at Olympos is very nice, the water is crystal clear and very refreshing. You can walk to Cirali another small town from Olympos beach. We drove to Finike for a day trip and went out on our friend’s boat, we had a wonderful day. Finike has a very picturesque harbour.

Olympos Beach

Restaurant on Olympos Beach

View from the beach

Finike Port

Great Day out on Captains Boat

We decided to do more travelling around Turkey with our friend Ann-Maree, she was a great host and knew all the great places to visit, all the great places to eat and sleep. It makes such a difference being with someone that has all the local knowledge of the country and the language.
On our first trip, we went to from Olympos to Antalya, Konya and then to Cappadocia.

Antalya has some lovely beaches, just passed Antalya we stopped at Aspendos Orenyeri the archaeological site. It has one of the best-preserved amphitheatre in the world. It is amazing. It is still use today for different theatre events and opera’s I bet the acoustics would be amazing. The theatre was built in (161-180 A.D.) by two brothers Curtius and Chrispinus Auspicactus as a gift to the city.

Aspendos Orenyeri

Amphitheatre

From here we drive to Konya where we will spend the night. Konya is a very busy vibrant place. There seems to be so much going all the time, we went to see their Grand Mosque which is an amazing structure, we also went to the Mevlane Museum the mausoleum of Jalal as-din Muhammad Rumi, a Persian sufi mystic also known as Mevlana or Rumi. It was also the dervish lodge of the Mevlevi order better known as the whirling dervishes. This is where the dervishes spin around and around and get into a mediative state. Rumi and his father are both buried in the rose garden.

Martin was about to have a heart attack when he found out that we may not be able to find a bar to have a drink in, but TG we did find a place that sold us alcoholic drinks. So, hysteria was avoided. Even though a lot of Turkish people do not drink they are still very sociable, they will sit around for hours drinking Chai (a Turkish tea). They love a good old chat.

IHLARA Valley is one of the treasuries of Turkey.
The Valley is beautiful the melendvis stream dives the valley and makes it very picturesque, it holds about 60 Byzantine churches, chapels, monasteries and hermits’ caves dating from the 11th to 13th centuries.. In some of the churches there are still some remains of paintings on the walls, the paintings are of the old catholic bible stories. It is a very interesting place soaked in history.

There are a large number of steps to climb down to the canyon so if you are not in good shape !!!

We drove on to Cappadocia – Goreme National Park, this place blew my mind, it is hard to find the words to describe it. The natural rock formations are nothing like I have seen before. Our accommodation was very different the owner had built all the rooms in to the side of the a mountain so it felt like we were staying in a hobbits underground home, not unlike the underground hotels in Coper Pedy in Australia.
The town itself is very quaint with lots of Turkish souvenir’s, and the food was great I would recommend a restaurant called Dibek in the centre of town, the specialty of the restaurant is a dish called “testi kebabi” it is cooked in a clay pot, it needs to cook for a number of hours so you have to book ahead for it, you have a choice of chicken or Beef both are delicious served with rice and bread. And of course a good bottle of red. The Amphora Cab Sav 2011 was very good.

Cappadocia

Pension we stayed in

After a great night’s sleep and a wonderful Turkish breakfast, we set off our first stop was the Goreme open air museum. The area covered by this Open-Air Museum forms a coherent geographical entity and represents historical unity. There are eleven refectories within the Museum, with rock-cut churches tables and benches. Each is associated with a church. Most of the churches in Goreme Open Air Museum belong to the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries. The Goreme Open Air Museum has been a member of UNESCO World Heritage List since 1984, and was one of the first two UNESCO sites in Turkey. The whole area is made up of a number of Valleys, The Red Valley, Rose Valley, The White and Pigeon Valley, Gomeda Valley, Ihlara Vadisi, we visited each valley. They are all amazing.

We had an amazing day, and were tired by the time we got back to the hotel, we had an early dinner and went to bed as we were up at 4.30am to go hot air ballooning. This is one of the best places in the world to do a hot air balloon ride so we were very keen to do it. As this area is ideal for hot air ballooning it is possible to run this business all year round. The weather was perfect on the morning we did it there was about 100 other balls up in the sky, it looked amazing and is definitely one of the highlights of this trip. The video and pictures below say it all. The views as you can see are great, weather perfect and having all the other balloons either above, below or alongside was magic a site for sore eyes. We flew over all the different valleys, and we went as high as 5,000 feet or 1,524 meters. The drivers of the balloons are very qualified, the taking off and landing was so smooth, can you believe the driver was to land the balloon straight onto the back of a trailer Wow was I impressed. What a great way to spend a Sunday morning.

On our journey, back to Olympus we stopped at Sultanhani Kervansaray. Sultan Amit caravan surai. This was one of the original secure place that travellers on the silk road would stop overnight or for a few days of rest, before continuing their journey. Their journey would normally take them from the Orient to Constantinople (now Turkey).

We rested up for a few days back in Olympus. Our next trip covered, Pamukkale, Partar Beach, and KAS.
The drive to Pamukkale was though a beautiful mountain range. Pamukkale Archaeological site is in a town in western turkey it is known for the mineral rich thermal waters. It is quite surreal to see this snow like mountain in the middle of the town, I had seen pictures of Pamukkale years ago and although it is still very impressive, but because of too many visitors walking all over it (including us) it is not looking as good as it once was. There is also a Thermal pool that you can bath in, this pool is believed to have several health benefits.
Pamukkale also has some wonderful roman ruins. The Hierapolis of Phrygia is going through restoration and looks great so far, most of the stones that are being used are the original ones from the third century A D when the theatre was first erected.

From Pamukkale we drove to Partar Beach which was just beautiful, it reminded me of some of the beaches in Australia, it was a sandy beach with lots of waves, it was also very clean and fresh to swim in. A lot of the other beaches in Turkey although still nice are stony beach, with calm water and no waves and quite warm. I personally enjoy cold water it is more invigorating.

The coast road drive from Partar Beach to KAS and onto Demre reminded me of the Amalfi coast drive, the road is much wider and looks new with not half the amount of cars, motor bikes, tour buses on it, but the views are just as breath taking as the Amalfi coast. KAS is a beautiful town with a small harbour, great restaurants, bars, with great accommodation right on the water’s edge. It is a popular holiday spot for the Turkish people and can get very busy in July, August and September, but in October the weather was still in the mid-twenties with only a few tourists. I could easily come back and spend a month here next October.

All too soon our time in Turkey was coming to an end, we had a wonder last few days, going to Addrasan beach, Olympus beach, having BBQ and wonderful Turkish breakfasts. On our last night we went to a restaurant on a lake in Addrasan. The food was great, the restaurant was nothing like I had been to before, we had ducks on the lake with turtles in the water, again the pictures below can tell a thousand words. We said our sad good byes to our very welcoming friends and amazing hosts, Ann-Maree and Hussey.

Our flight back to Istanbul was from Antalya. We spent a few nights in Antalya, the accommodation was in the old town, a great location but the pension was very old and dated it did have a wonderful roof top terrace with amazing views. We loved the old town with cobble streets, restaurants, and plenty of bars. We had one of the best meals on our trip so far and it was very reasonable priced it was just on $100.00 and that included a great bottle of wine. The name of the restaurant is the Olive if you ever visit the old town in Antalya this is a must.

Antalya

Olive restaurant example of food

So, it is back to Istanbul, this time we are staying in the Sultanahmet-Old City area as most of the tourist things we want to see is in the area.
First on the list is the grand bazaar, you need to go to these markets with an open mind and with the intention of having fun, otherwise you may run from the place. There are over 4,000 stalls, with many wonderful items for sale, pottery, bags, scarfs, leather jackets, luggage, T-shirts, jewellery and of course carpets, they are very good at spotting tourists, Martin was fine when he was on his own (while in Turkey he was told several times that he looked Turkish) so because of that they never tried to sell him stuff, except when he was with me. Overall, we found the sellers fine if you told them you were not interested they would leave you alone, eventually. Oh, and the Turkish delight is so good.

Next on the list was the Blue Mosque, this is another great piece of architecture, the tiles and marble in these mosques are just outstanding, obviously marble is a lot cheaper in Turkey than it is in Australia. I would have loved to have bought some of the tiles to bring back to Australia but as Martin keeps telling me, you buy it you carry it. Next time !!

The Topkapi Palace is the biggest in Istanbul. It was built in between 1466 and 1478 by the sultan Mehmet II on top of a hill in a small peninsula, dominating the Golden Horn to the north, the Sea of Marmara to the south, and the Bosphorus strait to the north east, with great views of the Asian side as well. The palace was the political center of the Ottoman Empire between the 15th and 19th centuries. There were originally around 700-800 residents of the Palace at the beginning, but during the centuries it dramatically raised to 5,000 during normal days and 10,000 during festivals, approximately. Amongst these, the Janissaries were the biggest part of the population who were based within the first courtyard of the palace. The palace became the largest palace in the world, a city within a city.

A miniature of the whole palace area

Hagia Sophia is an architectural wonder of the times which actually traces its origins to the Byzantine Empire between 532 AD and 537 AD. the distinction of remaining the largest cathedral in the world until 1520. The magnificent part in the architecture of the Hagia Sophia was its impressive central dome, which had a diameter of 31.24 meters and a height of 55.6 meters. They converted the age old church of Hagia Sophia to a mosque and in the process, removed the various decorations like the bells, alter, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels, typical of Christian churches. The Hagia Sophia underwent several alterations and additions and remained an Islamic mosque till 1935, after which it was transformed into a museum by the secular Republic of Turkey.

Well our time in Turkey was amazing it really is a great country to visit it surprised us in so many ways. The people are se friendly, the food is great and the architecture is amazing. We hope to go back one day.

Croatia – Dubrovnik – Bosnia Herzegovina , Italy – Sicily (September 2016)

Short overview of Croatia

Croatia, has a spectacular 6,278 km coastline on the Adriatic Sea with more than 1,100 islands, of which only 66 are inhabited. This coast is considered to be the most beautiful in Europe with innumerable bays, inlets, coves and beaches, there is a population of 4.25 million. Croatia declared independence in 1991, and in 1992 became a full member of the United Nations. On July 1, 2013 Croatia became a 28th full member of the European Union, but it has not converted to the EURO yet, this is to happen in 2018

Croatia Flag

We left Ireland on the 7th of September and flew to Dubrovnik, Croatia

The plan is to stay in Dubrovnik for two weeks, we booked Airbnb the address was Rjecka Ulica 1A Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik-Neretva Country, 20000 Dubrovnik it was a great spot, right on the harbour. Each day you could see new Cruise Ships arrive. The weather was great it was about 25 degrees during the day and down to 18 degrees at night. Everything was close by, the Old City which was amazing was a short bus ride, number 6 bus that came every 15min.

There were 3 fabulous beaches in walking distance, Copa Cabana, Coral Beach Club and Dubrovnik Beach. There are plenty of good restaurants close by, although we had been told the seafood was great and very fresh we felt it was overcooked in all the restaurants we had it in, in particular the Tuna. Shame really.

Dubrovnik Beach

Coral Beach Club

Copa Cabana

We spent a few days going into the Old city as there was so much to see, you can walk around the top of the city walls which is great. The City has been standing since the 12th century with plenty of updates over the years. We went to a number of museums and art galleries here are a few, House of Marin Drzic, Dubrovnik Natural History Museum, Cultural History Museum, Archaeological Exhibition and Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, all were very interesting although the Art work did not excite me very much, it was not really my taste.

Old City

We took a day trip out to one of the islands Locrum island. The views and water was just amazing, and the history of the monastery on the island was also very interesting.

Another day we hired a car and drove to Cavtat this is a beautiful place with a lovely harbour which houses some great boats. There are also some great swimming spots. We also drove to Solna, which had another harbour, and a very nice old church.

We wanted to visit the Peace Bridge but that is in Mostar, Bosnia Herzegovina so we decided to take a bus trip as there are four borders check points that you have to go through and we thought it would be best if we did not have to do this on our own. It was a great trip the Peace Bridge was lovely to see, Mostar is a nice city, and the very beautiful Kravica water falls are a definite must to visit.

Peace Bridge and Mostar

Kravica Waterfalls

Me in having a swim

Summary of Croatia

Croatia is a beautiful place, I am sure I could live here, but it can have a lot of tourist, even though we where there in September. I was expecting less tourists in Croatia this time of year, and although I was told this was the case I still felt at times it was very crowed so I would have to think about going in June, July or August.

13th of September 2018

We missed visiting Plitvice national Park when we went to Croatia earlier on this trip so while we were in Slovenia, which is only a three hour drive from Plitvice we decided to pop down for 3 days. It is beautiful Park with lots of lakes,waterfalls, flora and fauna we spent a whole day here hiking through the Park, there are several hikes you can do, and they are very well sign posted. It is worth a visit just go early in the morning as it can get busy.

Short overview of Italy

Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino and Vatican City. Italy covers an area of 301,338 km² (116,347 sq mi). With 61 million inhabitants, it is the third most populous EU member state.

Flag of Italy

We decided that in this part of our trip to Italy we would just visit the bottom half of the Boot. We will return to Italy next year to complete.

We got an overnight ferry from Dubrovnik to Bari in Italy. It was a smooth sailing. From Bari we drove to Lecce where we stayed for a few days. The drive was interesting, lots of agriculture, olives, corn, tomatoes etc. we did not see much live stock.

Lecce is a very nice place and the old town is great to visit, the buildings date back as far as the 13th and 14th century, it is lovely to walk though the old town with all the cobble streets and old buildings, the government encourage the people that live in the old town to renovate there shops and houses. There are a lot of Art and Designer Shops one that where particular good was www.tondadesign.it. It has amazing lights, clocks and furniture. We took a trip to Gallipoli, which has a very nice port and beach but it was a shame that there was so much rubbish being washed up on the beach. Especially plastic bottles, I believe one day these bottles are going to be a big issue across the world, every beach we seem to go to these plastic bottles are being washed up..

Façade of the Basilica di San Giovanni Battista in Lecce

The Roman amphitheatre in the centre of Lecce plus Sant’Oronzo, the town’s patron

Secret gardens in Lecce square

Porta Napoli, built by King Charles V

Bell tower of Piazza Duomo

Gallipoli Beach

We stayed in a great Airbnb just 10min walk to the old town. The address is Via Guglielmotto D’Otranto, 8 Lecce, Puglia it had amazing 12 foot ceilings, and large rooms, Francesco was a great host. Our 3 nights went in all to fast.

We drove from Lecce to Villa San Giovanni to board a 20min ferry trip to Messina in Sicily.

Short over view of Sicily

Sicily is an autonomous region of Italy. It is the largest Island in the Mediterranean Sea, with a population of 5,077,487 (8.4% of Italy) and a size of 25,711 km² (9,927 sq mi). Capital City is Palermo. Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the art, music, literature, cuisine and architecture.

Sicily Flag Flag of Sicily

Drove from Messina to Catania, the accommodation was great we stayed across the road from the old Castle Ursino. It was Airbnb the address is Piazza Federico di Svevia 62, 95121 Catania, Province of Catania Italy. The apartment had amazing high ceilings and huge rooms.

Castle Ursion

Street where we stayed

Apartment where we stayed

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The famers markets where on the Saturday morning, they sold everything you could imagine fruit, vegetables, every type of meat (including horse meat which I was very surprised to see) horses are my favourite animal, so I could not bring myself to eat horse meat. Mind you I am sure some people feel the same about cows and chickens. Nuts, herbs, and every type of cheese and bread was also sold. The atmosphere was amazing with all the vendors calling out their prices, it was very busy but it just added to the atmosphere.

We did a bus tour around the City of Catania. It is a very interesting city. We organized a trip to Etna, Etna is the highest volcano in Europe and one of the most active volcano in the world. From a height of 3,350 it can dominate the Island of Sicily.

Town Square Catholic Church

Traditional wedding

Town Square

Etna as you can see not a good day.

From Catania we drove to Syracuse which has a beautiful harbour, Martin saw the boat that he would like for Christmas. Not only was it a beautiful boat it also had a helicopter pad on it, Martin reckoned he was so good this year he also deserved the helicopter. We had a quick look around the town.

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Syracuse harbour

We drove on, our destination that day was Sciacca it is on the south coast of Sicily, the drive was very interesting. The tunnels can range from I kms to 8 kms long, there are very few tolls in Sicily yet the roads are amazing. Maybe Australia could learn a thing or two from Sicily.

We stayed at a very nice AIRBNB it is right on the harbour. Via Gaie di Garaffe 2092919 Sciacca which is a province of Agrigento. Sciacca is a charming town with a picturesque position and stunning landscape that boast artistic and cultural heritage, the town was founded in the 7^th Century BC. Today only the gate and arch remain of the old town but the gateway entrance is wonderful to see. There are amazing views of the ocean from the highest point of the old town.

Sciacca Harbour

Old town enterence

The host was a great guy he was an architect who had refurbished and rebuilt the apartment we were staying in, he was also building the tree bedroom townhouse next door, he was good enough to show us, it has plenty of room and the view from the main bedroom balcony was to die for. If we ever go back to Sciacca this is a place, we will stay. This was our first time to try Granita it is a very refreshing Lemon Drink (Although I think they add a lot of sugar). We had a very nice evening on Sunset Beach. But again, there were heaps of plastic water bottles washed up on the sand.

Apartment we stayed in

View from the lounge

Sunset on Sciacca harbour

Accomadation

Our three days in Sciacca went in all too fast and it was time to hit the road again, we stopped at Valle dei temple di Agrigento on the way back to Messina without doubt this is the most famous site of Sicily the vision of the ruins and the magnificent Greek temples from the 5^th century BC is enhanced by the natural setting. The concord temple is one of the best preserved and the Temple of Jupiter which was very important in ancient times was wonderful to see. There are lots to see here, you should put aside a whole day so you can see everything.

Concord Temple

The views from here are amazing

We spent the night in Messina, early next morning we had breakfast said our goodbyes to Scilly and headed to the ferry, we wanted to drive as far as Sorrento today.

Messina

We did not realise it was a holy day in Italy the day we arrived in Piano Sorrento, it was very hard to find parking but eventually we found a spot. Our accommodation was in a great spot in Piano Sorrento but it was just a bit old and damp. The weather was beautiful; we have been so lucky with the weather.

Views from across the road of our accommodation in Piano Sorrento

We took a short train trip into Sorrento which is a beautiful city along the coast. There was a lot of tourists and some beautiful hotels.

Martin loving the beer in Sorennto

On day 3 in Sorrento Martin decided that he wanted to drive the Amalfi coast, he has more courage than I have, not only are the drivers crazy, the road is very narrow and has to accommodate large tour buses, lots of motor bikes plus cycles and runner, not sure why people would want to run on this road as it is so busy with traffic and the fumes from the traffic cannot be good for anyone. Martin did a great job although we had to reverse up the road to let buses pass by, he managed very well, nervous of steel I say. The views were amazing along the coast but I would be lying if I did not say I was glad it was done. It took 90min to drive 25 kms. We drove on up through Raveilo a short cut back to the freeway we stopped here for lunch. Another interesting drive.

Amalfi Coast

We drove to Rome that night and stayed near Leonardo De Vinci airport we fly to Turkey tomorrow.

Italy and Sicily are wonderful places to visit the food, people, architecture and way of life is something I could warm to.

Ireland (June, July and August 2016)

Ireland

We plan on staying in Ireland from the 17 of May to the 7th of September. Both of our families are in Ireland so we wanted to take time out to catch-up with family and friends, and as the children had school holidays from June to Sept this was the perfect time. We also wanted to visit parts of Ireland we had not seen in some time.

It was lovely to spend time with everyone and to get back into day to day life in Ireland, in some ways Ireland has changed a lot and in other ways not at all.

We had numerous visits to my favourite beach “Bray” which is in county Wicklow, although the water was cold I can never resist getting in for a swim, no matter which beach I am on. Picture below to prove I got into the water in Ireland.

Having a great day in Bray with the family

We had a fun evening with Martins family at the Grey hound races at Harold’s Cross, although the wining were not great we had a great time. Paddy did have some good racing tips.

As it is summer in Ireland there is day light until 10pm so plenty of time to play golf, we played at Grange Castle a number of times as it is a great public course, we had a lovely game with my sister and her husband, my sisters putting is amazing, we also had a lovely game with some friend at Tara Golf club this is a wonderful course, my friend Nicki has just taken up golf and has taken too it like a duck to water, she is definitely one to watch.

Dublin Women Mini Marathon is a 10k run or walk. It is one of the largest Women event in the world, women come from all over the world to compete. Last year 6 million was raised for 870 charities. This year close to 40,000 competed, it takes place each year on the June long weekend. I entered with my mum and sisters, we had a great day, my mum has been doing it for the last year, she is fantastic. It was lovely to be able to do it with family.

The UEFA Euro 2016 was on when we were in Ireland the games were played in France from the 10 June to the 10 July. For the first time, the European Championship final tournament was contested by 24 teams. Portugal won the tournament for the first time, even so there was great excitement in Ireland, Germany and Poland qualified for the finals as the group winners and runners-up respectively. As third-placed Republic of Ireland weren’t the highest – ranked but they advanced to the play-offs, where they won against Bosnia and Herzegovina. There was lots of drinking and celebrations, as always any excuse for a Party.

Friends from Australia, Ross and Helen where in Ireland in June so it was lovely to catch-up with them in Dublin, UEFA Euro 2016 was on so they where able to help us celebrate. We also had a lovely evening with them in Roundstone.

The village of Roundstone lies on the western arm of Bertraghboy bay in Connemara, Co. Galway, 48 miles (77km) north-west of Galway city. This Connemara village is beautifully set on one of the most spectacular coastal drives in Ireland overlooking the Atlantic at the foot of Errisbeg Mountain. We stayed at the Eldon’s hotel on the main street it was very comfortable, the food was also good we had a great meal there that evening.

26th Wedding Anniversary

We celebrated our 26th Wedding Anniversary on the 30th of June and Martin booked us into the same hotel and room that we had spent out wedding night, I was surprised it was still standing but like our marriage it has stood the test of time. Martin’s joke was it takes him all night to do what he use to do all night. Shame Really !!!!

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Donegal: In July Martin and I decided to visit Donegal as it had been over 25years since the last time we had been there. Donegal is a lovely town, it is about a 3 and half hour drive from Dublin. We had to stop at Donegal Castle I mean anything that has been standing since the 15th Century and built by the O’Donnell chieftain deserves a visit. They do not make house like this anymore,

Pictures of Donegal Town, we stayed at the Atlantic Guest House in town which was very comfortable.

We continued on to the Wild Atlantic Way to visit the Slieve League (Grey Mountain) cliffs, situated on the West coast of Donegal, are said to be the highest and one of the finest marine cliffs in Europe with a three hundred metre drop straight down into the wild, Atlantic waves below. Now I remember why they call it the Wild Atlantic way, because it is wild, hold onto your hats.

Even the sheep look wild, they do not look like this in Australia.

We had been told about a beach called the silver strand so that was our next stop. It is a beautiful beach but it has 170 steps to get down to it, I was fine but Martin was whinging like an old fart. Of course I could not resist getting in for a swim, invigorating so it was.

Antique Road Show: I know some of you may cringe when you hear that one of my favourite TV shows is the Antique Road Show. I thought if ever I got a chance I would go along to one of the shows. My sister is also a lover of the show so while in Ireland I checked were and when the next shows would be on. The one we decided to go to was on in Caversham House, Redding in England. So we took off for a long weekend. We brought a few items to get appraised but we had nothing of any real worth. It was great fun, and lovely to share with my sister. The grounds were beautiful it is an old stately home. See if you can recognise any of the appraisers in the photo’s below. Fiona Bruce, Steven Moore, Eric Knowles my two favourite Art experts Philip Mould and Rupert Maas were not there which was a shame, both of these guys are so passionate about what they do I just love to watch them. Next time for sure!!!

Of course this is the Antique my husband wanted to bring home.

We spend the next day at Windsor, what a beautiful village, Windsor Castle is in the middle of the village.

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Very Cute Guard in training Yeoman Guard or popularly known as the Beefeaters

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It was a great weekend spent with my sister and her Husband.

Belfast: Is a place I have always wanted to visit but back in the late Eighties before I left for Australia it was not safe to do so. Now that all the troubles are over (which is great). I decided to visit with my Mum and Dad. We decided to get the train from Dublin to Belfast rather than drive, it is a lovely way to travel in Ireland. We booked a lovely two bedroom Apt at 25 Ashleigh Manor, Windsor Avenue, Belfast it was very close to all public transport and only 10min from the City Centre.

As it was 25 degrees we decided a swim was in order so we went to Helens Beach which is close to the city centre. Next we did a City Bus Tour, I find these buses tours (hop on and hop off) tours very good, you get a great overview of a city. Some of the interesting places we stopped at were Custom House, Belfast Castle, Crumlin road that had the Jail, Court House, Distillery. Belfast Peace Wall, Loyalist Wall Murals and Republican Wall Murals. Falls Road which has Bobby Sands Mural, Sinn Fein Headquarters and the home of the Peace Talks. Botanical Gardens. If you do not know much about the issues in Belfast this tour will give you an insight into the troubles. There are still reminders of the troubles in Belfast but not as much as I would have thought.

Helens Beach

Customs House

Parliament Buildings

We spent half of the next day at the Titanic Museum, it is very interesting, this year it is said that the Titanic Museum in Belfast had more visitor’s than the Eiffel tower in Paris this summer. Definitely worth a visit. That evening we went to a cabaret show it was called the Swing Pack these two performers brought to life the music, class and humour of the original ‘Rat Pack’ they sang Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin,Sammy Davis Jr, along with other classic swing and jazz artists, like Bobby Darin, Tony Bennett and Nat King Cole. We had a great night.

We had a tour lined up for the next day it included, Giant Causeway, Carrick-a- Rede Rope Bridge, Bushmills Distillery, Dunluce Castle, and the Antrim Coast Road. It was a great day, my parents are amazing they had no trouble at all keeping up with the tour, if anything they passed out a lot of the younger ones. The Antrim Coast Road is a great drive.

Giant Causeway

Carrick-a- Rede Rope Bridge

My parents crossing the Bridge, very brave.

Relief after we finished the bridge.

Antrim Coast Road

Overall I was very impressed with Belfast, it is a City that has really pulled itself back together, lots of tourism, the film industry is now big there, and there is no shortage of employment, its lovely and clean and in general the place has a real vibe about it. It was great to be able to experience Belfast with Mum and Dad.

Trabolgan County Cork: I wanted to take six of my nieces and nephews away for a few days while in Ireland. They are between 7 and 13. We agreed that Trabolgan would be the place to go as it has lots of activities for the children. For the adventurist ones it has, Go-carting, Rock climbing, Quad biking, Laser Tag, Zip lining, bungy trampolining. For the not so adventurist ones it has mini golf, pottery making and painting, Archery, Tennis and a large wave pool with water slides. Everyone found something that they liked. We went for 5 days and had a blast. The children really enjoyed it and so did we. It was great to spend time with them and they were all extremely good.

My youngest niece was too young to come with us but I did have some great days out with her.

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Waterford: My sister Pamela was home from the States she lives in Nashville Tennessee. We decided to take a trip to Waterford which is in the south of Ireland. We stayed at Diamond Hill House a very comfortable B&B. We stopped at Tramore Beach which is a beautiful. And it would not be a trip to Waterford if we did not visit the Waterford Crystal Studios. The Crystal is just amazing.

It was also recommended that we visit Dunmore east a very quant town that has a number of Thatched Cottages, it is very picturesque. We had a beautiful dinner at Zak restaurant in a local Hotel, the food was great, definitely worth a visit.

Tralee, Kerry, Killarney are west – south west of Ireland: We could not leave Ireland without a trip to Tralee and the ring of Kerry. Friends of ours were going down to Tralee for a few days so we decided to join them. We stayed in Tralee Holiday Lodge in the centre of town it is a comfortable but basic B&B. We had a great afternoon with friends catching up for Lunch and dinner, we had dinner in La Scala an Italian restaurant, the food was great and it was a good family restaurant.

We went to the Kerry Country Museum which was very interesting. The museum covers the history of the first settlers from 8,000 BC to modern day. There was also a special exhibition gallery of Kerry Lives 1950 to 73 which covers the life of Roger Casement he was honoured in 1905 for the Casement Report on the Congo and knighted in 1911 for his important investigations of human rights abuses in Peru. He then made efforts during World War One to gain German military aid for the 1916 Easter Rising that sought to gain Irish independence.

We went to Killarney and from there did the ring of Kerry. We stopped at the following places of interest. Muckross House, Torc Waterfalls. Lady View, Kenmare Neidin, Castle Cove, White Strand a lovely beach off the ring of Kerry (warmest water in Ireland so far) Overall the scenery was stunning

Horse Racing in Leopardstown Dublin plus the Boomtown Rats

I was keen to go to the horse racing while in Ireland so there was horse racing on one afternoon at Leopardstown in Dublin plus as a bonus the Boomtown Rats were putting on a show after the horse racing was over. The whole family went along it was a great night, none of us won big but it was a lot of fun. Bob Geldof put on a great show, seemly he had always wanted to play in Leopardstown but was not allowed in his younger days as he band was not the type of band that Leopardstown wanted.

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Summary of our time in Ireland: we had a wonderful time in Ireland catching up with family and friends, visiting places we had not seen in years and getting to do the normal day to day things that all families in Ireland do. Ireland has changed in lots of ways and in other ways not at all.

Dubai (May 2016)

Dubai

Our flight to Dubai was none eventful, we have been to Dubai twice before so the main aim of this trip is just to relax and to get some heat into our bones before we get to Ireland.

On a previous trip to Dubai we had visited the Burj Khalifa’s, did a desert safari, went to the Aqua Venture Waterpark at Atlantis the Palm in Dubai.

We booked a day trip to Abu Dhabi as a friend Rob from the office, told us the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque was the most stunning Mosque he had ever seen, he also mentioned Emirates Palace Hotel. We have to agree with Rob it is the most stunning Mosque we had ever seen. No photos can do it justice.

Ferrari world is in Abu Dubai, Formula Rossa the world’s fastest Roller Coaster is there and as Martin loves roller coasters we had to pay a visit. Sad to say Martin was disappointed as it was closed for maintance the day we visited. Otherwise we had a great time, he did get to ride another roller coaster called Flying Aces which he says was great.

Like Dubai, Abu Dubai has some amazing buildings

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Well all to fast our relaxing week in Dubai was over and it was now time to fly to Ireland