While we were walking around Piran, a small seaside town in Slovenia, the idea of Venice, Italy got brought up. I mentioned that Venice is one place I have never been to in Italy but would love to go. Dad then shared with me that when he was a teenager his father took him to Europe and one of the places they visited was Venice. So that evening we looked into possible day boats we could take, but sadly none were going during the middle of the week. Since we still had the car we thought why not drive to Italy, which ended up working out great because it was only about a two hour drive. I was stoked to finally see the famous city of Venice, plus I would get to indulge in the most delicious gelato ever.
Venice is composed of 118 islands and is connected to the mainland by a bridge which cars, trains, buses, bikes and pedestrians cross daily. At the heart of Venice is the famous Piazza San Marco and it is here where my dad stayed several years ago. Before arriving to Piazza San Marco we took Venice’s water bus to the main square. The boat took us all along the Canal Grande and as we cruised along we watched the little islands go by us. It is so amazing to see how all of Venice’s islands are connected by pedestrian bridges. Once we arrived to the main square we took a walk around, peaked in some shops, sipped a delicious Italian espresso, ate a double cone of gelato (serving #1), and then took in the sites.
First on the list was the Basilica Di San Marco, which is really the heart of the square. The outside of the church is comprised of big symmetrical arches, tall statues of saints and vibrant yet detailed mosaics; it sort of reminded me of the Vatican. Inside the church are the remains of St. Mark, as well as beautiful gold mosaics from the 13th and 16th centuries. The décor and the amount of gold is just mind blowing, I have never seen so much gold mosaic work in my life. One might think it was all a bit excessive but in all honesty it’s absolutely beautiful. Adjoined to the Basilica is Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace). It was once the home of Venice’s mayor, but has been turned into a museum. The palace is huge and we spent a long time touring around. Some of our favorites are the columns they had on display as we first walked in. I realize this may sound strange, but each of the columns is uniquely sculpted with different themes. For example, on had different faces of women, another was of a variety of fruit baskets and so on. After we looked at all the unique columns we strolled around the square before we headed upstairs to tour the rooms. Wow, were there a lot of rooms to visit, it’s a good thing the path is set up in one direction otherwise I’m sure we would have missed several of the rooms. In almost every room there are big oil paintings, beautifully crafted wood pieces and decretive, if not painted ceilings. Two rooms we liked best are the map room and the room of four doors. The map room has two big vintage globes and then the walls were covered in old paintings and murals of a map. We took several minutes admiring the mapped walls and pointing out various countries and cities that currently exist or no longer exist; my favorite was seeing Constantinople. In the room of four doors there are paintings of biblical judgments all over the ceiling. Plus, each of the doorways is covered in beautiful green/cream marble. The smooth marble doorways clash with the dark oaky wood of the room, yet it gives the room a sense of strength and boldness. Just as you finish touring the rooms the path leads you to the Bridge of Sighs which is were all the prisoners lived. If I remember correctly, there are three maybe four levels of cells and it was fun to walk through all of them. All of the rooms have a very cold feel to them, some had graffiti left in them and the doors to enter the rooms are really small. I had to bend over to go inside; I bet it was a way to keep them from escaping really fast.
After we had finished touring the palace we rested our legs by having an early dinner at one of the restaurants off the main square. The food is nothing to rave about but the atmosphere was nice, the weather was perfect and it was a good end to the day. Just before heading back to the car, we wandered through more of the back streets of Venice walking over the bridges where we saw hand crafted gondolas go by and of course, popped into one of the many gelato shops for a double coned gelato (serving #2), yummy in my tummy!!!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Caves, Castles, and Cemeteries, Oh My
In every town, city, or National Park there is a cave or castle and often times both to visit here in Slovenia. Our first visit was to Postojna Caves and Predjama Castle. Postojna Cave is Slovenia’s largest cave and was discovered when a man fell into the cave. This man survived and ever since it has been a big tourist attraction. Before entering the cave we boarded a train that drove us in about 2 kilometers and then from there we walked around to various parts. The downfall about this cave is that it’s set up a bi like an amusement park; think Disneyland’s Matterhorn. The upside to this cave is the amount of stalactites and stalagmites it has inside, never have I seen so many. Immediately, as we entered the cave via train we started to see stalactites/mites everywhere, in all different shapes, colors and sizes. The colors we saw were either pink for calcium, white for iron or black for magnesium. My favorite rock formation was the translucent “curtain” formations or as I liked to call them “bacon strips” because they were the color pink and white and looked like bacon. Another favorite is the “spaghetti” room, all over the ceiling there are little thin white stalactites hanging down, imagine a chef throwing a big bowl of spaghetti to the ceiling to see if it would stick. After about an hour or so of walking through only 20% of the cave the guide lead us back to the train for our ride out. From here we drove just down the road to Predjama Castle which is burrowed into the side of a mountain. This castle, like the cave, has its up’s and down’s, the down part is the fake 16th century décor and folk manikins. Setting this aside, what I did love about this castle is the free range to roam around and while doing this you see the various stages of growth this castle under went. The castle was first constructed in the 12th century and was built inside of the mountain and then in the 16th century it expanded outside of the mountain and left it with a distinct Renaissance flair. Underneath the castle there is a cave but since we just came from Postojna we opted to skip it.
Since we still had the car and had driven it across the Croatia-Slovenia boarder we did the similar thing as we did in Croatia. We stayed at Hudicevec Farm which was our base and from there drove to the different towns/cities we wanted to visit. With the first cave visit being such a success we thought to visit Skocjan Cave. Skocjan Cave is nothing like Postojna cave; first it is a lot less touristy and has less stalactites/mites. Nevertheless our tour through Skocjan was very unique and different then most of the caves I have been in before. First we walked about 15 min. before arriving to the cave, then walked nearly 90 min. through both the dry and wet parts of the cave and finally took a funicular to the top. In the beginning we walked through the dry cave which consist of stalactites/mites and collapse ceilings (when rock falls during an earthquake). In the second half we saw the Reka-Velka River cut right through the cave and create a series of cascades, waterfalls and lakes. Walking through the wet part was fascinating, especially since for most of it we were walking above and along the river so we could really see all the sinkholes, lakes and falls. For the afternoon we headed to the town of Piran and as usual sat in the square, visited the cathedral and strolled along the harbor. Since it"s right on the Adriatic Sea, fish is very popular and we had lunch at this wonderful local run fish restaurant. Dad ordered the fried fish which came with fried calamari and shrimp and I had a local fish simmered in white wine. All the food was so fresh and absolutely delicious but dad’s calamari and shrimp was the best I have ever had in my life.
Of all the days spent in Slovenia our drive through the Julian Alps was my favorite. We started our driving tour along the stunningly turquoise Soca River till we arrived in Kobarid, the town where Hemmingway drove an ambulance truck during WWI and picked up dead and wounded bodies (Did you know this?). It is this town in which Hemmingway writes about in his novel “Farewell to Arms.” In Kobarid’s backyard sits the famous Soca Front, where a lot of WWI took place. Kobarid has dedicated a Museum explaining the history of the front and all the tragedy that occurred there. Since most of our planned route passed old WWI remnants we felt a tour around the museum would be a good way to start the day. The museum is divided into rooms; winter conditions, day to day activities, stories and pictures of tragedies, Kobarid’s history in the war and much, much more. Over all, the Museum is relatively small but there is so much to see plus a video to watch, we spent nearly two hours absorbing it all in. Continuing on our drive we drove past a WWI fort, a WWI cemetery and then stopped to take a peak in St. Joseph’s church. Much of it is covered in scaffolding but what is unique about this church is it is covered in patriotic symbolism that dates back to WWII. For example, it’s painted in red, white and blue (Yugoslavia’s colors); the ceiling has a painting of St Michael with Yugoslavia’s three WWII enemies at his feet: eagle, wolf and serpent; and on the walls are Slavic saints verses Catholic. Behind the church is a cemetery and one part of it is solely dedicated to the military. Just beyond the church is the start of Vrsic Pass which is in Triglav National Park and is the start of our 50 switchbacks, each one being numbered. Along the pass we drove through the “Valley of the Cemeteries,” (#49)crossed over Soca River, (#26-28) saw old abandon checkpoints as well as WWI debris,(#22) admired the mountain vista, (#15)took pictures of the nearly 10 foot snow still standing, (#8) hiked up to a cute Russian Orthodox Chapel and before getting back into the car I took a photo of the cobble stone road (the road we were driving on) which was built by the Russians in WWI. With the pass behind us and evening time quickly approaching we quickly headed to Lake Bled. Since it was getting dark we opted to drive around the lake, instead of walking, before we sat down for dinner. After our warm pizza and cold beer we headed for the highway which took us home.
Four days in and just a few to remain we felt it was time to visit Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana. The best thing about Ljubljana is that it’s dominantly a pedestrian city. It is so easy to walk around this capitol and there are so many pedestrian walkways, one would really not need a car, and this is werid to say for a capitol that doesn’t have a lot of public transportation. Anyway, once we arrived in Ljubljana we headed straight to Ljubljanica River to see and walk across the Triple Bridge, Ugly Duckling Bridge, Cobbler’s Bridge and finally the Dragon Bridge. Once we finished crossing all the bridges we made our way to Ljubljana’s castle (lame), but before we arrived we stopped and admired St. Nicholas’s Cathedrals and strolled through Riverside Market. St. Nicholas’s Cathedral has these two amazingly intricate bronze doors as well as some beautiful golden alters. Just behind the church is the market with tones of fresh produce and flowers, everything looked and smelled amazing. From here we took the funicular up to the castle where we were completely let down and unimpressed by what we saw. The only perk to visiting the castle was the panoramic view it has of the city. After our quick tour around the castle we sat and had lunch by the river and then headed to Slovenia’s famous architects house, Joze Plecnik. Plecnik was originally born in Ljubljana and although he moved away for his studies, he did eventually return to Ljubljana and lived till his death in 1957. Many of Ljubljana’s famous sights have Plecnik’s architectural touch to them, he left his mark everywhere. For example, the Triple Bridge was originally a single bridge but Plecnik added two pedestrian bridges, one on each side, and now it is the Triple Bridge. Plecnik also put his touch in the Universities Library, the Riverside Market, in Zale Cemetery, a few churches, and many other places, such as his own house. Plecnik designed one side of his house to be round so two of the rooms inside are in the shape of a circle. Although Plecnik is not well known, the pieces of work I did happen to see I liked and I found him a very clever man.
The day had come for us to head back to Zagreb, Croatia and return the car before we caught our evening train to Budapest, Hungary. Since we had the morning free we thought one more visit to yet again another castle would be a good end before we continued our travels north. We visited the 13th century Trakoscan castle that is surrounded by forest and at the bottom of the castle is a big lake. Trokoscan Castle has a fairy tale look to it, with its bright white walls that stand on top of this hill and green trees surrounding it. Much of what we saw in the rooms are the castles original décor and nearly all the rooms are open for touring. The kitchen is my favorite room, it’s separated from the rest of the rooms and in the center is a big old fashion fire oven and stove. Plus, hanging on the walls were old pots, pans and utensil that look much different then the ones we use today. Overall, Trokoscan Castle is one of my favorite castles I have visited. From here we drove to Zagreb, returned the car, and headed to the train station. With fifteen minutes till the train is expected to leave we make it to the platform and have a look around because no where could we see the train. Dad goes to check the platform number again and assures me we are in the right spot but of course, with it now being the time to depart, we ask a train worker and he says the train has already left. What? Excuse Me? How can this be? Well come to find out the platform we needed was about a mile down (a bit of an exaggeration) and since we didn’t know this we missed the train. To make us feel a bit better a local guy missed the train, making the same mistake we had. With little option, we had to stay the night and take the following train which left at 5 am, this one we did not miss.
Since we still had the car and had driven it across the Croatia-Slovenia boarder we did the similar thing as we did in Croatia. We stayed at Hudicevec Farm which was our base and from there drove to the different towns/cities we wanted to visit. With the first cave visit being such a success we thought to visit Skocjan Cave. Skocjan Cave is nothing like Postojna cave; first it is a lot less touristy and has less stalactites/mites. Nevertheless our tour through Skocjan was very unique and different then most of the caves I have been in before. First we walked about 15 min. before arriving to the cave, then walked nearly 90 min. through both the dry and wet parts of the cave and finally took a funicular to the top. In the beginning we walked through the dry cave which consist of stalactites/mites and collapse ceilings (when rock falls during an earthquake). In the second half we saw the Reka-Velka River cut right through the cave and create a series of cascades, waterfalls and lakes. Walking through the wet part was fascinating, especially since for most of it we were walking above and along the river so we could really see all the sinkholes, lakes and falls. For the afternoon we headed to the town of Piran and as usual sat in the square, visited the cathedral and strolled along the harbor. Since it"s right on the Adriatic Sea, fish is very popular and we had lunch at this wonderful local run fish restaurant. Dad ordered the fried fish which came with fried calamari and shrimp and I had a local fish simmered in white wine. All the food was so fresh and absolutely delicious but dad’s calamari and shrimp was the best I have ever had in my life.
Of all the days spent in Slovenia our drive through the Julian Alps was my favorite. We started our driving tour along the stunningly turquoise Soca River till we arrived in Kobarid, the town where Hemmingway drove an ambulance truck during WWI and picked up dead and wounded bodies (Did you know this?). It is this town in which Hemmingway writes about in his novel “Farewell to Arms.” In Kobarid’s backyard sits the famous Soca Front, where a lot of WWI took place. Kobarid has dedicated a Museum explaining the history of the front and all the tragedy that occurred there. Since most of our planned route passed old WWI remnants we felt a tour around the museum would be a good way to start the day. The museum is divided into rooms; winter conditions, day to day activities, stories and pictures of tragedies, Kobarid’s history in the war and much, much more. Over all, the Museum is relatively small but there is so much to see plus a video to watch, we spent nearly two hours absorbing it all in. Continuing on our drive we drove past a WWI fort, a WWI cemetery and then stopped to take a peak in St. Joseph’s church. Much of it is covered in scaffolding but what is unique about this church is it is covered in patriotic symbolism that dates back to WWII. For example, it’s painted in red, white and blue (Yugoslavia’s colors); the ceiling has a painting of St Michael with Yugoslavia’s three WWII enemies at his feet: eagle, wolf and serpent; and on the walls are Slavic saints verses Catholic. Behind the church is a cemetery and one part of it is solely dedicated to the military. Just beyond the church is the start of Vrsic Pass which is in Triglav National Park and is the start of our 50 switchbacks, each one being numbered. Along the pass we drove through the “Valley of the Cemeteries,” (#49)crossed over Soca River, (#26-28) saw old abandon checkpoints as well as WWI debris,(#22) admired the mountain vista, (#15)took pictures of the nearly 10 foot snow still standing, (#8) hiked up to a cute Russian Orthodox Chapel and before getting back into the car I took a photo of the cobble stone road (the road we were driving on) which was built by the Russians in WWI. With the pass behind us and evening time quickly approaching we quickly headed to Lake Bled. Since it was getting dark we opted to drive around the lake, instead of walking, before we sat down for dinner. After our warm pizza and cold beer we headed for the highway which took us home.
Four days in and just a few to remain we felt it was time to visit Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana. The best thing about Ljubljana is that it’s dominantly a pedestrian city. It is so easy to walk around this capitol and there are so many pedestrian walkways, one would really not need a car, and this is werid to say for a capitol that doesn’t have a lot of public transportation. Anyway, once we arrived in Ljubljana we headed straight to Ljubljanica River to see and walk across the Triple Bridge, Ugly Duckling Bridge, Cobbler’s Bridge and finally the Dragon Bridge. Once we finished crossing all the bridges we made our way to Ljubljana’s castle (lame), but before we arrived we stopped and admired St. Nicholas’s Cathedrals and strolled through Riverside Market. St. Nicholas’s Cathedral has these two amazingly intricate bronze doors as well as some beautiful golden alters. Just behind the church is the market with tones of fresh produce and flowers, everything looked and smelled amazing. From here we took the funicular up to the castle where we were completely let down and unimpressed by what we saw. The only perk to visiting the castle was the panoramic view it has of the city. After our quick tour around the castle we sat and had lunch by the river and then headed to Slovenia’s famous architects house, Joze Plecnik. Plecnik was originally born in Ljubljana and although he moved away for his studies, he did eventually return to Ljubljana and lived till his death in 1957. Many of Ljubljana’s famous sights have Plecnik’s architectural touch to them, he left his mark everywhere. For example, the Triple Bridge was originally a single bridge but Plecnik added two pedestrian bridges, one on each side, and now it is the Triple Bridge. Plecnik also put his touch in the Universities Library, the Riverside Market, in Zale Cemetery, a few churches, and many other places, such as his own house. Plecnik designed one side of his house to be round so two of the rooms inside are in the shape of a circle. Although Plecnik is not well known, the pieces of work I did happen to see I liked and I found him a very clever man.
The day had come for us to head back to Zagreb, Croatia and return the car before we caught our evening train to Budapest, Hungary. Since we had the morning free we thought one more visit to yet again another castle would be a good end before we continued our travels north. We visited the 13th century Trakoscan castle that is surrounded by forest and at the bottom of the castle is a big lake. Trokoscan Castle has a fairy tale look to it, with its bright white walls that stand on top of this hill and green trees surrounding it. Much of what we saw in the rooms are the castles original décor and nearly all the rooms are open for touring. The kitchen is my favorite room, it’s separated from the rest of the rooms and in the center is a big old fashion fire oven and stove. Plus, hanging on the walls were old pots, pans and utensil that look much different then the ones we use today. Overall, Trokoscan Castle is one of my favorite castles I have visited. From here we drove to Zagreb, returned the car, and headed to the train station. With fifteen minutes till the train is expected to leave we make it to the platform and have a look around because no where could we see the train. Dad goes to check the platform number again and assures me we are in the right spot but of course, with it now being the time to depart, we ask a train worker and he says the train has already left. What? Excuse Me? How can this be? Well come to find out the platform we needed was about a mile down (a bit of an exaggeration) and since we didn’t know this we missed the train. To make us feel a bit better a local guy missed the train, making the same mistake we had. With little option, we had to stay the night and take the following train which left at 5 am, this one we did not miss.
Croatia
With a few days of BH under our belt, a love for Eastern Europe has already started to bloom and our next stop was to Zagreb, Croatia. Our time in BH was short and our train ride to Zagreb, Croatia was long but it’s all good because Croatia is beautiful. For the first few days we walked around Zagreb, which is the capitol. One of our favorite sights is the Church of St. Mark for its colorful tile roof, it dates back to 1880 and depicts two coats of arms. As we walked up to St. Marks we walked under the Stone Gate which has been turned into a chapel. The focal point is a painting of Mary that happened to survive a fire and around it are lit candles plus benches for people to pray. Although it was strange to see and walk through, it felt like a real church it just happens to be in the middle of this main path. Another favorite spot or site was the Burglars’ Tower which was once a watchtower and at the top sits an old cannon; they fire the cannon everyday at noon. While all the sites were interesting to see my favorite was the red tents or should I say the market. Just off of the main square is the big open air market which is covered with red tents and people are selling all kinds of fresh fruits, vegetables, and fish. :) Plus, they had beautiful flowers for sell as well as flowers and herbs to plant in your garden. Underground is the poultry market, where they sell cheeses, meats, bread, wine, and sauerkraut, oh what a wonderful smell!!! The market was amazing and we went back a few times and picked up several items; strawberries, carrots, radishes, a tomato, bread, two kinds of cheese (goat and sheep), salami and of course a cheep 1L bottle of barreled white wine. We were set for a few picnic lunches or light dinners.
Croatia is primarily known for its Dalmatian Coast but sadly we didn’t spend any time there and instead toured the NW which is called Istria. Since we had a car, we stayed in a little beach town called Opatija and from there ventured out to different cities. Our first visit was to a town called Rovinj where we wondered the cobble stone streets. In the heart of town there are no cars since the streets are more like lanes and as we walked through them we walked under various arches which connect the houses. This town was once very crowded and since its right on the water, space became limited so the only way to grow was to build up. Rovinj is also a fisherman’s town, so for lunch we indulged in some local fish and it was delicious. Just as we finished eating it started to rain so we ended up having a coffee to kill time as the rain passed and then dashed to our car before the next rain clouds rolled in.
For our last day in Croatia before we headed into Slovenia we did an all day road trip through most of Istria. We first drove along the west coast and passed through Vrsar, Porec, Novigrad and then on to Brtonigla where we stopped for lunch. From there we started our drive inland and drove through Buje, Groznjan, Krasica, Motovun, Buzet, Roc, and Hum and then finally made our way back home, Opatija. Well, I realize I mentioned a lot of towns but most of them we really only drove through, but a few of them we did stop in for a quick tour around. One of our favorites was Motovun, mostly because of all the wine and truffle shops. Truffles are found all around this area and are popularly used in there traditional cooking. Since I am not familiar with truffles I went for the wine and liquors, Dad on the other hand picked up two bottles of brandy. One is flavored with mistletoe and honey (disgusting) the other was walnut flavored (better) but my favorite was the cherry brandy or liquor (yummy). I went for the cherry and a bottle of white wine since it’s what they mostly grow. Another favorite town was Hum, and to get to this town we drove along Glagolitic Lane, a suggestion by expert travel Rick Steves. Apparently, Glagolitic Lane commemorates a ninth century alphabet which was once used for written Croatian. Along the drive we saw monuments that had Glagolitic characters. At one time it looked as though we drove past Stonehenge in Enlgand, but really they were just stones with different characters on them. At the end of this lane we arrived in Hum where we walked around the whole town in about ten minutes. The population of Hum consists of 16 people, so says the guidebook and is probably the smallest town in the world. Even though it’s small it has great character because it sits on top of a hill over looking the valley, plus it has the Glagolitic Alphabet in writing all over the place. From Hum our drive home was supposed to be easy, or so I thought, but of course we got a bit off the beaten track and ended up driving through a few more small towns, if you could call them that, before we finally found the highway which took us home. Anxious to be out of the car, I was nevertheless thrilled over the success of our day, and really enjoyed seeing the countryside. There are definite perks to having a car!!!
Croatia is primarily known for its Dalmatian Coast but sadly we didn’t spend any time there and instead toured the NW which is called Istria. Since we had a car, we stayed in a little beach town called Opatija and from there ventured out to different cities. Our first visit was to a town called Rovinj where we wondered the cobble stone streets. In the heart of town there are no cars since the streets are more like lanes and as we walked through them we walked under various arches which connect the houses. This town was once very crowded and since its right on the water, space became limited so the only way to grow was to build up. Rovinj is also a fisherman’s town, so for lunch we indulged in some local fish and it was delicious. Just as we finished eating it started to rain so we ended up having a coffee to kill time as the rain passed and then dashed to our car before the next rain clouds rolled in.
For our last day in Croatia before we headed into Slovenia we did an all day road trip through most of Istria. We first drove along the west coast and passed through Vrsar, Porec, Novigrad and then on to Brtonigla where we stopped for lunch. From there we started our drive inland and drove through Buje, Groznjan, Krasica, Motovun, Buzet, Roc, and Hum and then finally made our way back home, Opatija. Well, I realize I mentioned a lot of towns but most of them we really only drove through, but a few of them we did stop in for a quick tour around. One of our favorites was Motovun, mostly because of all the wine and truffle shops. Truffles are found all around this area and are popularly used in there traditional cooking. Since I am not familiar with truffles I went for the wine and liquors, Dad on the other hand picked up two bottles of brandy. One is flavored with mistletoe and honey (disgusting) the other was walnut flavored (better) but my favorite was the cherry brandy or liquor (yummy). I went for the cherry and a bottle of white wine since it’s what they mostly grow. Another favorite town was Hum, and to get to this town we drove along Glagolitic Lane, a suggestion by expert travel Rick Steves. Apparently, Glagolitic Lane commemorates a ninth century alphabet which was once used for written Croatian. Along the drive we saw monuments that had Glagolitic characters. At one time it looked as though we drove past Stonehenge in Enlgand, but really they were just stones with different characters on them. At the end of this lane we arrived in Hum where we walked around the whole town in about ten minutes. The population of Hum consists of 16 people, so says the guidebook and is probably the smallest town in the world. Even though it’s small it has great character because it sits on top of a hill over looking the valley, plus it has the Glagolitic Alphabet in writing all over the place. From Hum our drive home was supposed to be easy, or so I thought, but of course we got a bit off the beaten track and ended up driving through a few more small towns, if you could call them that, before we finally found the highway which took us home. Anxious to be out of the car, I was nevertheless thrilled over the success of our day, and really enjoyed seeing the countryside. There are definite perks to having a car!!!
Time to Pray
Although it was nice to be in a Christian country for the Easter holiday, I do have to confess that I missed hearing the call to prayer five times a day, it became music to my ears. For the past three months I have been in countries that practice the Muslim faith. Part of being a Muslim is praying five times a day; twice in the morning, once in the afternoon and twice in the evening. The way they are reminded is by having the call to prayer sung from the minarets. Once I left Turkey I thought for sure I was never going to hear the call to prayer again…well I was wrong. I arrived into Sarajevo where my Dad greeted me at the airport and although it was dark during our drive to the hotel I could still see all the minarets standing tall above the buildings. Shocked and unsure if what I was seeing was real I quickly read up on the many articles my Dad had brought as well as the travel books and it turns out roughly half the population is Muslim. Since it was late in the evening I missed the call to prayer but no worries I heard it at least four of the five times almost every day thereafter.
Aside from Bosnia & Herzegovina (BH) being dominantly Muslim I was also shocked to read through all its history. BH has suffered a lot and before I get into where and what all we did, here is a bit of history so you can understand them better. The Ottomans ruled Bosnia for five centuries, but before that it was ruled by the Romans, the Goths, the Slavs and finally the Ottomans took over; so already Bosnia is very diverse. After five century’s, around the late 1800’s, the Austro-Hungarian empire took over and stayed till 1918 when it then became part of Yugoslavia under the ruling of Tito. Well, just before this WWI broke out which started in Sarajevo at Princip’s Bridge when Serbian Nationalist Princip assassinated Emperor Franz Ferdinand and his wife. Once WWI was over Bosnia became apart of Yugoslavia and stayed a part of it until Tito’s death in 1980. Once Tito died, Yugoslavia started to crumble and each of the countries we have today (Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia, etc...) all started to claim independence. BH was one of the last because they knew that if they were to break off from Yugoslavia internal ethnic conflicts would eventually arise, and they were correct. War started to break out in 1991 and continued till 1995. On December 14, 1995 the Dayton Peace Agreement was signed and the war was over. The war in BH resulted in many deaths, many buildings were destroyed and a dramatic shift in population occurred.
Even though it is only fourteen years ago since the war ended one would think that BH would still be mourning and very little progression would have been made. It turns out this is not the case. Walking through the streets of Sarajevo I was amazed by how peaceful and happy everyone is. Most of the buildings have been refurbished and very little war damage remains. Sarajevo sits in this valley and in between this valley is the Miljacka River which runs right through Sarajevo splitting it into two parts. The river has several bridges and it is at the corner of Prinicp’s bridge where Franz Ferdinand was shot. Currently the building where the shooting happened has been turned into a WWI museum which explains the history of WWI in Sarajevo; sadly it was closed so we could not go in. Walking along the river was nice because you could see the buildings that have been restored and in between those were ones that still had bomb shelling scars. We also liked to walk through the central market called, Barscarsija, it is filled with bakeries, mosques, copper shops, restaurants, cafes, arts, crafts shop and many more. Barscarsija is covered in cobble stone streets and it really takes you back to the old times. Since it was the weekend most tourist attractions were closed so we spent most of our time roaming the cobble stone streets, watching the old communist tram go by and taking in all of Sarajevo and its history.
The day before leaving BH we took a day trip over to Mostar which represents the best and worst of the Yugoslavian years. Before the fall of Yugoslavia, Mostar was a mingling of cultures, but once they broke off from Yugoslavia all this peace turned into ethnic pride and war broke out amongst these ethnicities. Today, like Sarajevo, Mostar has moved past the war and has rebuilt its city. One of the most popular sights in Mostar is the Old Bridge. The Old Bridge dates back to the former Yugoslavia era but sadly during the war it tumbled into pieces due to all the bombings and crossfire. Once the war was over the city put great efforts into rebuilding the Old Bridge and today it stands strong over the Neretva River. Mostar is divided as well into two parts and so this bridge is very important to the people because now they can freely walk over it without the fear of being shot. During our walk through Mostar we crossed this bridge a few times to see different sites, one of our favorite sites we visited was an old Turkish home. The Biscevic Turkish House dates back to 1635, and has a mix of oriental and Mediterranean features. Although it’s been refurbished a bit the interior and décor is purely authentic and original, it was really unique to see. Just down the road from the house is a mosque and across from the mosque is an old park, however, today this park has been turned into a war cemetery for those who died in the war. We took a stroll through the cemetery and all of the graves dates were either 1993, 1994, or, 1995, it was really sad to see how many people died during the war. Before heading back to Sarajevo we stopped to have lunch by the Crooked Bridge, which happens to date back a decade before the Old Bridge. This bridge however, managed to survive through the war but sadly was destroyed by flooding. Nevertheless, they have rebuilt it and the restaurant we ate at was just across from it. Our visit to Mostar was a real treat and just gave a better understanding to BH’s history and cultural diversity. When looking out over the skyline we saw minarets sharing the space with church steeples. Plus, we heard church bells going off and the call to prayer all at the same time, nowhere else can one find this kind of music!
Aside from Bosnia & Herzegovina (BH) being dominantly Muslim I was also shocked to read through all its history. BH has suffered a lot and before I get into where and what all we did, here is a bit of history so you can understand them better. The Ottomans ruled Bosnia for five centuries, but before that it was ruled by the Romans, the Goths, the Slavs and finally the Ottomans took over; so already Bosnia is very diverse. After five century’s, around the late 1800’s, the Austro-Hungarian empire took over and stayed till 1918 when it then became part of Yugoslavia under the ruling of Tito. Well, just before this WWI broke out which started in Sarajevo at Princip’s Bridge when Serbian Nationalist Princip assassinated Emperor Franz Ferdinand and his wife. Once WWI was over Bosnia became apart of Yugoslavia and stayed a part of it until Tito’s death in 1980. Once Tito died, Yugoslavia started to crumble and each of the countries we have today (Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia, etc...) all started to claim independence. BH was one of the last because they knew that if they were to break off from Yugoslavia internal ethnic conflicts would eventually arise, and they were correct. War started to break out in 1991 and continued till 1995. On December 14, 1995 the Dayton Peace Agreement was signed and the war was over. The war in BH resulted in many deaths, many buildings were destroyed and a dramatic shift in population occurred.
Even though it is only fourteen years ago since the war ended one would think that BH would still be mourning and very little progression would have been made. It turns out this is not the case. Walking through the streets of Sarajevo I was amazed by how peaceful and happy everyone is. Most of the buildings have been refurbished and very little war damage remains. Sarajevo sits in this valley and in between this valley is the Miljacka River which runs right through Sarajevo splitting it into two parts. The river has several bridges and it is at the corner of Prinicp’s bridge where Franz Ferdinand was shot. Currently the building where the shooting happened has been turned into a WWI museum which explains the history of WWI in Sarajevo; sadly it was closed so we could not go in. Walking along the river was nice because you could see the buildings that have been restored and in between those were ones that still had bomb shelling scars. We also liked to walk through the central market called, Barscarsija, it is filled with bakeries, mosques, copper shops, restaurants, cafes, arts, crafts shop and many more. Barscarsija is covered in cobble stone streets and it really takes you back to the old times. Since it was the weekend most tourist attractions were closed so we spent most of our time roaming the cobble stone streets, watching the old communist tram go by and taking in all of Sarajevo and its history.
The day before leaving BH we took a day trip over to Mostar which represents the best and worst of the Yugoslavian years. Before the fall of Yugoslavia, Mostar was a mingling of cultures, but once they broke off from Yugoslavia all this peace turned into ethnic pride and war broke out amongst these ethnicities. Today, like Sarajevo, Mostar has moved past the war and has rebuilt its city. One of the most popular sights in Mostar is the Old Bridge. The Old Bridge dates back to the former Yugoslavia era but sadly during the war it tumbled into pieces due to all the bombings and crossfire. Once the war was over the city put great efforts into rebuilding the Old Bridge and today it stands strong over the Neretva River. Mostar is divided as well into two parts and so this bridge is very important to the people because now they can freely walk over it without the fear of being shot. During our walk through Mostar we crossed this bridge a few times to see different sites, one of our favorite sites we visited was an old Turkish home. The Biscevic Turkish House dates back to 1635, and has a mix of oriental and Mediterranean features. Although it’s been refurbished a bit the interior and décor is purely authentic and original, it was really unique to see. Just down the road from the house is a mosque and across from the mosque is an old park, however, today this park has been turned into a war cemetery for those who died in the war. We took a stroll through the cemetery and all of the graves dates were either 1993, 1994, or, 1995, it was really sad to see how many people died during the war. Before heading back to Sarajevo we stopped to have lunch by the Crooked Bridge, which happens to date back a decade before the Old Bridge. This bridge however, managed to survive through the war but sadly was destroyed by flooding. Nevertheless, they have rebuilt it and the restaurant we ate at was just across from it. Our visit to Mostar was a real treat and just gave a better understanding to BH’s history and cultural diversity. When looking out over the skyline we saw minarets sharing the space with church steeples. Plus, we heard church bells going off and the call to prayer all at the same time, nowhere else can one find this kind of music!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Good Friends, Bad Wine
After spending a relaxing week on the Island of Crete, both Alison and I were excited to head to Athens, Greece. This was our third trip to Athens but this time we had plans to stay for a few days and explore the city. Most people we had spoken to about Athens had very little compliments about it but none of this mattered because we were overjoyed about picking up our dear friend Melissa from the airport. While we were still in Istanbul we called Melissa to say hello and chat, well during our conversation I got the idea to suggest she come out and visit for a week or so. I quickly looked up flights and the price was good so I told her it would be a blast if she wanted to join us for the last leg of our trip in Greece. Three days after we spoke she sent us an email saying she bought her ticket and was flying out to meet us. Well the time had come and Alison and I went to the Athens airport and waited for her arrival.
Melissa arrived on the Greek Orthodox Good Friday and for the following three days we toured around Athens and took part in the Easter festivities. For most of you, you celebrated Easter the weekend before but for the Greek Orthodox they celebrate lent for 55 days verses the standard 40 that we acknowledge, so Easter happened to follow exactly a week later this year. For the Greeks, Easter is the most important holiday because it means Christ has risen. On the evening of Melissa’s arrival the people of Athens gathered together in Syntagma square and held a moving candle light procession through the streets of Athens. This similar event happens at around 11pm the following night, the night before Easter Day. Everyone heads to the Resurrection Mass and at midnight all lights are turned off to symbolize Christ’s passing and then within a few short minutes the candles are lit and Christ is resurrected. People spiral out into the streets, candles in hand, fireworks are set off and everyone returns home and enjoys a feast of Easter cooking’s and Greek dancing.
Aside from taking part in the Greek Easter festivities we did a small bit of sightseeing. Most things were closed do to the holidays but we did happen to make it to the Acropolis and the National Archeological Museum. If there is one thing we noticed about Greece it is a walking archaeological country. Everywhere you go there are ruins to walk through and archaeological museums to visit. A bit of history about Athens, it received its name from the Greek goddess Athena, whom planted an olive tree which symbolizes peace and prosperity. The Acropolis was built as a thank you to Athena and was inhabited till the late 6th centaury BC. The Acropolis has suffered a great deal of destruction by human actions as well as natural causes. Never the less, the Acropolis is regarded as Greece’s masterwork of classical Greek architecture and I would agree. Walking through we were taken back by the views from which we could see. The Acropolis is located at the top of this hill which is roughly in the center of Athens and all around the grounds we could see the big city of Athens below. The Acropolis consists of two theaters, Propylaia, Temple of Athena, Parthenon, Erechtheion and a few statues. Our favorite, as well as most others is the Parthenon, probably do to its grandness. It is architecturally constructed of 8 columns at either end and 17 on each side. The detail, shape and height of this temple just takes your breath away and makes you blink twice, it is definitely a site to see.
With the holidays over and only a few days left we spent our last few days on Santorini Island. Santorini is known for two things, its beautiful sunsets and its whitewashed homes, both of which we were able to see. Instead of staying in the capital we opted to stay in a town called Perissa which was right by the beach. For our first day we spent the afternoon lying out on the black beach, relaxing and enjoying the sun. It ended up being a good thing because the remaining days were windy and cloudy. We had booked an all day tour to visit the volcanic island Nea Kameni, swim in the hot springs and have lunch on Therasia Island, but due to extreme wind the tour was cancelled, so instead we rented a car and drove around the very small island. When I say small I mean it, it takes less then one hour to get from one end of the island to the other. We took the car around stopping at several wineries, towns and beaches. Since the three of us are big wine drinkers, we wine tasted at a few wineries but in all honesty wine is not Greece’s specialty, the wine was average (this is me being nice). Although the wine was average we still enjoyed ourselves. In between the wineries we stopped in Fira the capital and strolled through the whitewash streets, enjoyed a frappe (iced coffee), satisfied our tummies with a Gyro and then continued on our way to Oia. Oia is another big city but most popularly known for its sunsets. We drove down to the port and sat on the ledge where we watched the sun go down. Sadly it was a bit cloudy so we did not get to see the beautiful rays of orange, red and yellow which most sunsets have on a clear day. Unsatisfied by the sunset we drove back the following evening hoping it would be better, which it was but still not postcard perfect, oh well maybe next time.
With the wind gone by the next day we were able to make the tour. Our fist stop was to Nea Kameni volcano where we were given an explanation as to how Santornini Island was formed. Like most islands Santorini was formed do to volcanic rock. Nea Kameni is currently dormant but scientist say that lava still sits inside the volcano and the way they know this is the various hot springs that spill out by the shore side. After our hike down the volcano, the boat took us to one of the hot springs where a handful of people jumped in and swam around for a bit in the warm water. Us being slightly unprepared, partially do to thinking we were going to a hot springs facility we did not have our swim suits on and therefore did not go in. Although we could have changed on the boat, we were to lazy and plus we would have been freezing once we got out of the water so all together it did not look so appealing. Hungry and ready for lunch, we arrived at our third and final stop which was Thirasia Island. Thirasia was once joined to Santorini but during a volcanic eruption in 236 BC it separated and is now a queit little island. It’s much smaller than Santorini and there are just a few people who live on this island. After climbing several steps we reached the top where we sat over the cliff and had ourselves a nice picnic lunch.
For our last and final day on Santorini we took the car and drove around the island stopping at red beach and Boutari Wineries. We had passed this winery on the first day but opted to skip it for one reason or another. Well we passed by it again and thought to stop in and do one more wine tasting before we leave. It ended up being the best decision ever because the wine was good and this unlike the others resembled a proper winery. They had a list of all their wines; we were able to choose from roughly six wine tasting packages and were served by a knowledgeable employee. We spent a little over an hour there and walked out with four wine bottles. If I were to ever return to Santorini I would definitely stop in again and skip the rest. With a little wine in our tummies and wine in our hands we were ready to board our eight hour ferry back to Athens.
Good bye Greece, good bye friends, hello Eastern Europe!!!
Melissa arrived on the Greek Orthodox Good Friday and for the following three days we toured around Athens and took part in the Easter festivities. For most of you, you celebrated Easter the weekend before but for the Greek Orthodox they celebrate lent for 55 days verses the standard 40 that we acknowledge, so Easter happened to follow exactly a week later this year. For the Greeks, Easter is the most important holiday because it means Christ has risen. On the evening of Melissa’s arrival the people of Athens gathered together in Syntagma square and held a moving candle light procession through the streets of Athens. This similar event happens at around 11pm the following night, the night before Easter Day. Everyone heads to the Resurrection Mass and at midnight all lights are turned off to symbolize Christ’s passing and then within a few short minutes the candles are lit and Christ is resurrected. People spiral out into the streets, candles in hand, fireworks are set off and everyone returns home and enjoys a feast of Easter cooking’s and Greek dancing.
Aside from taking part in the Greek Easter festivities we did a small bit of sightseeing. Most things were closed do to the holidays but we did happen to make it to the Acropolis and the National Archeological Museum. If there is one thing we noticed about Greece it is a walking archaeological country. Everywhere you go there are ruins to walk through and archaeological museums to visit. A bit of history about Athens, it received its name from the Greek goddess Athena, whom planted an olive tree which symbolizes peace and prosperity. The Acropolis was built as a thank you to Athena and was inhabited till the late 6th centaury BC. The Acropolis has suffered a great deal of destruction by human actions as well as natural causes. Never the less, the Acropolis is regarded as Greece’s masterwork of classical Greek architecture and I would agree. Walking through we were taken back by the views from which we could see. The Acropolis is located at the top of this hill which is roughly in the center of Athens and all around the grounds we could see the big city of Athens below. The Acropolis consists of two theaters, Propylaia, Temple of Athena, Parthenon, Erechtheion and a few statues. Our favorite, as well as most others is the Parthenon, probably do to its grandness. It is architecturally constructed of 8 columns at either end and 17 on each side. The detail, shape and height of this temple just takes your breath away and makes you blink twice, it is definitely a site to see.
With the holidays over and only a few days left we spent our last few days on Santorini Island. Santorini is known for two things, its beautiful sunsets and its whitewashed homes, both of which we were able to see. Instead of staying in the capital we opted to stay in a town called Perissa which was right by the beach. For our first day we spent the afternoon lying out on the black beach, relaxing and enjoying the sun. It ended up being a good thing because the remaining days were windy and cloudy. We had booked an all day tour to visit the volcanic island Nea Kameni, swim in the hot springs and have lunch on Therasia Island, but due to extreme wind the tour was cancelled, so instead we rented a car and drove around the very small island. When I say small I mean it, it takes less then one hour to get from one end of the island to the other. We took the car around stopping at several wineries, towns and beaches. Since the three of us are big wine drinkers, we wine tasted at a few wineries but in all honesty wine is not Greece’s specialty, the wine was average (this is me being nice). Although the wine was average we still enjoyed ourselves. In between the wineries we stopped in Fira the capital and strolled through the whitewash streets, enjoyed a frappe (iced coffee), satisfied our tummies with a Gyro and then continued on our way to Oia. Oia is another big city but most popularly known for its sunsets. We drove down to the port and sat on the ledge where we watched the sun go down. Sadly it was a bit cloudy so we did not get to see the beautiful rays of orange, red and yellow which most sunsets have on a clear day. Unsatisfied by the sunset we drove back the following evening hoping it would be better, which it was but still not postcard perfect, oh well maybe next time.
With the wind gone by the next day we were able to make the tour. Our fist stop was to Nea Kameni volcano where we were given an explanation as to how Santornini Island was formed. Like most islands Santorini was formed do to volcanic rock. Nea Kameni is currently dormant but scientist say that lava still sits inside the volcano and the way they know this is the various hot springs that spill out by the shore side. After our hike down the volcano, the boat took us to one of the hot springs where a handful of people jumped in and swam around for a bit in the warm water. Us being slightly unprepared, partially do to thinking we were going to a hot springs facility we did not have our swim suits on and therefore did not go in. Although we could have changed on the boat, we were to lazy and plus we would have been freezing once we got out of the water so all together it did not look so appealing. Hungry and ready for lunch, we arrived at our third and final stop which was Thirasia Island. Thirasia was once joined to Santorini but during a volcanic eruption in 236 BC it separated and is now a queit little island. It’s much smaller than Santorini and there are just a few people who live on this island. After climbing several steps we reached the top where we sat over the cliff and had ourselves a nice picnic lunch.
For our last and final day on Santorini we took the car and drove around the island stopping at red beach and Boutari Wineries. We had passed this winery on the first day but opted to skip it for one reason or another. Well we passed by it again and thought to stop in and do one more wine tasting before we leave. It ended up being the best decision ever because the wine was good and this unlike the others resembled a proper winery. They had a list of all their wines; we were able to choose from roughly six wine tasting packages and were served by a knowledgeable employee. We spent a little over an hour there and walked out with four wine bottles. If I were to ever return to Santorini I would definitely stop in again and skip the rest. With a little wine in our tummies and wine in our hands we were ready to board our eight hour ferry back to Athens.
Good bye Greece, good bye friends, hello Eastern Europe!!!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Crete (Never Neverland)
Our week in Crete was the prefect balance of sight seeing and beach relaxation. After confusion at a train station in the Peloponnese region of Greece, which resulted in a mix-up of our final destination, we ended up back in Athens. We decided not to waste money backtracking and instead to head to the port to check out the ferry times to different islands. The Crete ferry was leaving in an hour and half, so we chose that ferry. We had planned on going to Crete a little later in our travels, but it turned out to be a wonderful experience and we couldn't have planned it better if we had actually tried!
Crete is the largest island in Greece, as well as being the most southern point in all of Europe. Our overnight ferry took us to the port in the town of Iraklion, which is located in the central region of the island. The first thing you notice when you get off the ferry is the massive city walls which border the island. The walls are 15m thick and were used to protect the island from being attacked. The walls, along with the Venetian fortress, withstood a 22-year siege, before finally falling to the Ottomans. Toriann and I spent a good amount of time at the fortress exploring and taking in the beautiful scenery of the Mediterranean Sea. Part of Crete's history also includes being under Turkish rule for a period, and during this time they built a minaret, where the call of prayer was sent out from. Today, the minaret is the only standing evidence in the fortress or the town that it was ever had any Islamic influence. After our time in the fortress, we spent the remainder of the first day in Iraklion walking through the small streets lined with shops and cafes filled with people. We made an observation that no matter what time or day of the week there were always locals sitting in cafes drinking frappes. We are not sure where or when anyone works in the country of Greece! We made our way back to the center of the city where there Platia Venizelou (Lion Fountain) is located. This fountain became our favorite place to sit and enjoy food while people watching.
Our second day in Iraklion we went to the much talked about Knossos, the largest Minoan palace. Knossos is the second most visited place in Greece after the Acropolis. Knossos dates back to as early as 7th millennium BC and perhaps even earlier. Over a century ago Knossos only existed in mythology, being the legendary sight of King Minos. When the palace was discovered in the late 1800’s it was seen as one of the most amazing tales of modern archeology. Sir Arthur Evans completed the excavation of Knossos in the early 1900’s and even recreated part of Knossos himself. Evans self recreation of the Palace has been a debate by fellow archeologist to this day. The reconstructions are identified by being painted bold colors amongst the natural colors of the ruins. We felt these colored columns took away from authenticity of the rest of the ruins. Even the frescos were removed and replaced with replicas of the original. Despite Evans’s reconstruction of the Palace, it is still an impressive 1,500 room Minoan palace located on top of a hill.
After the palace we were trying to decide if we should go wine tasting or to the aquarium, so we let the bus make our choice, whichever bus came first we would go there. The aquarium bus came first and it turned out to be the highlight of Iraklion! The aquarium had a wide assortment of colorful fish and we spent hours learning all the names of the fish. Toriann’s knowledge of fish and sea creatures has grown from all her diving experiences on the trip and this gave her an excellent chance to show off her new knowledge. It also gave me a chance to hear more details of some of her and Heather’s diving experiences. The highlight of the aquarium was the seahorse exhibit, where they showed a video of male seahorses giving birth. The seahorse looks as though it is sneezing and then 1000’s of baby seahorses come out of him. This repeats several times and it is one of the funniest things we have ever seen, it made Toriann and I laugh for days afterwards.
While in Iraklion we met a girl who had just arrived from a little town in southern Crete called Plakias, who said we HAD to go there. We had read about in our book, but it seemed like it was going to cost too much to go there and back, so we decided against it. Well, after spending a few hours talking with our new friend, we decided to check out of our hostel a night earlier than expected and head down to the town of Plakias. The first person we encountered off the bus in Plakias assured us we would never want to leave this town and after a few hours there we started to understand what the man was talking about! The town is right on the water and the population includes locals and people from all over the world who have come to Plakias once and decided to move there forever. We nicknamed it Never Neverland, because it seemed like no one had any responsibilities and no one ever grew up. I can say without a doubt that it was the most idyllic, beautiful town I have ever spent time in. Toriann and I spent most of our days resting on the beach working on our tans and eating Greek food, our favorite being grilled feta. We met some great people at the hostel who we spent our evenings with at the local restaurants and of course Joe's Bar, where we learned traditional Greek dancing.
Toriann and I decided one of our days had to consist of something else rather than simply lying on the beach. A group of people from the hostel who had cars were going to a nearby village to do a little exploring and Toriann decided to join them. They walked around the village and saw the oldest tree in Crete. I thought it would be nice to experience one of the many hikes that Plakias had to offer and opted to decline the car trip to the village to go on a hike. I ended up getting in a little over my head with the hike. I was told it was a two hour hike each way to the top of this mountain, which seemed easy enough. Well the hike was definitely not like the hikes I take in Seattle where there are clear paths and other hikers. It turned out to be an 8 hour adventure and involved very minimal trails and no other hikers in sight. The majority of the hike involved climbing up rocks, which is something I often get scared at doing. I had a great hiking partner who reassured me I could climb the rocks all the way to the top. However, about halfway up I realized I was going to have to climb down these rocks and had a small moment of panic. Again, my hiking partner reassured me I would be fine and thus we continued on. We finally made it to the top and the view was amazing! The way back down proved not to be as fearful as I had anticipated and minus our detour of not finding the road right away, the journey down went great.
We only had half of the next day available before we had to head to the bus to catch our ferry so we of course spent our last hours lying on the beach in what we now referred to as "our spot." After saying goodbye to Plakias we were on our way to Athens to pick up our friend Melissa from the airport to spend our final week in Greece together.
Crete is the largest island in Greece, as well as being the most southern point in all of Europe. Our overnight ferry took us to the port in the town of Iraklion, which is located in the central region of the island. The first thing you notice when you get off the ferry is the massive city walls which border the island. The walls are 15m thick and were used to protect the island from being attacked. The walls, along with the Venetian fortress, withstood a 22-year siege, before finally falling to the Ottomans. Toriann and I spent a good amount of time at the fortress exploring and taking in the beautiful scenery of the Mediterranean Sea. Part of Crete's history also includes being under Turkish rule for a period, and during this time they built a minaret, where the call of prayer was sent out from. Today, the minaret is the only standing evidence in the fortress or the town that it was ever had any Islamic influence. After our time in the fortress, we spent the remainder of the first day in Iraklion walking through the small streets lined with shops and cafes filled with people. We made an observation that no matter what time or day of the week there were always locals sitting in cafes drinking frappes. We are not sure where or when anyone works in the country of Greece! We made our way back to the center of the city where there Platia Venizelou (Lion Fountain) is located. This fountain became our favorite place to sit and enjoy food while people watching.
Our second day in Iraklion we went to the much talked about Knossos, the largest Minoan palace. Knossos is the second most visited place in Greece after the Acropolis. Knossos dates back to as early as 7th millennium BC and perhaps even earlier. Over a century ago Knossos only existed in mythology, being the legendary sight of King Minos. When the palace was discovered in the late 1800’s it was seen as one of the most amazing tales of modern archeology. Sir Arthur Evans completed the excavation of Knossos in the early 1900’s and even recreated part of Knossos himself. Evans self recreation of the Palace has been a debate by fellow archeologist to this day. The reconstructions are identified by being painted bold colors amongst the natural colors of the ruins. We felt these colored columns took away from authenticity of the rest of the ruins. Even the frescos were removed and replaced with replicas of the original. Despite Evans’s reconstruction of the Palace, it is still an impressive 1,500 room Minoan palace located on top of a hill.
After the palace we were trying to decide if we should go wine tasting or to the aquarium, so we let the bus make our choice, whichever bus came first we would go there. The aquarium bus came first and it turned out to be the highlight of Iraklion! The aquarium had a wide assortment of colorful fish and we spent hours learning all the names of the fish. Toriann’s knowledge of fish and sea creatures has grown from all her diving experiences on the trip and this gave her an excellent chance to show off her new knowledge. It also gave me a chance to hear more details of some of her and Heather’s diving experiences. The highlight of the aquarium was the seahorse exhibit, where they showed a video of male seahorses giving birth. The seahorse looks as though it is sneezing and then 1000’s of baby seahorses come out of him. This repeats several times and it is one of the funniest things we have ever seen, it made Toriann and I laugh for days afterwards.
While in Iraklion we met a girl who had just arrived from a little town in southern Crete called Plakias, who said we HAD to go there. We had read about in our book, but it seemed like it was going to cost too much to go there and back, so we decided against it. Well, after spending a few hours talking with our new friend, we decided to check out of our hostel a night earlier than expected and head down to the town of Plakias. The first person we encountered off the bus in Plakias assured us we would never want to leave this town and after a few hours there we started to understand what the man was talking about! The town is right on the water and the population includes locals and people from all over the world who have come to Plakias once and decided to move there forever. We nicknamed it Never Neverland, because it seemed like no one had any responsibilities and no one ever grew up. I can say without a doubt that it was the most idyllic, beautiful town I have ever spent time in. Toriann and I spent most of our days resting on the beach working on our tans and eating Greek food, our favorite being grilled feta. We met some great people at the hostel who we spent our evenings with at the local restaurants and of course Joe's Bar, where we learned traditional Greek dancing.
Toriann and I decided one of our days had to consist of something else rather than simply lying on the beach. A group of people from the hostel who had cars were going to a nearby village to do a little exploring and Toriann decided to join them. They walked around the village and saw the oldest tree in Crete. I thought it would be nice to experience one of the many hikes that Plakias had to offer and opted to decline the car trip to the village to go on a hike. I ended up getting in a little over my head with the hike. I was told it was a two hour hike each way to the top of this mountain, which seemed easy enough. Well the hike was definitely not like the hikes I take in Seattle where there are clear paths and other hikers. It turned out to be an 8 hour adventure and involved very minimal trails and no other hikers in sight. The majority of the hike involved climbing up rocks, which is something I often get scared at doing. I had a great hiking partner who reassured me I could climb the rocks all the way to the top. However, about halfway up I realized I was going to have to climb down these rocks and had a small moment of panic. Again, my hiking partner reassured me I would be fine and thus we continued on. We finally made it to the top and the view was amazing! The way back down proved not to be as fearful as I had anticipated and minus our detour of not finding the road right away, the journey down went great.
We only had half of the next day available before we had to head to the bus to catch our ferry so we of course spent our last hours lying on the beach in what we now referred to as "our spot." After saying goodbye to Plakias we were on our way to Athens to pick up our friend Melissa from the airport to spend our final week in Greece together.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Thessaloniki, Meteora and More
Welcome to Greece, the birth place of Greek mythology, democracy, the Olympics and much much more. Alison and I safely arrived into Greece, via our overnight train from Istanbul to Thessaloniki. Knowing ahead of time that Thessaloniki is Greece's most expensive and metropolitan city we opted to stay for the day and then catch an evening train to Kalambanka. Thessaloniki is a big city but with a little pre-planning it can be seen in just a few short hours. First we needed to get our grounding and what better way to do that then following the LP's suggested walking tour. The walking tour had us start at the top of this hill where there is a castle and a viewing platform. As we gazed out over Thessaloniki we took in as much as possible knowing our time here was precious. Following the tour we stopped and admired the architecture of the churches, took pictures of old ruins, visited some national buildings and ended at Thessalonikis most beloved landmark, the White Tower. The irony of the White Tower is that it was actually covered in blood. In 1826 Ottoman Sultan Muhmad II ordered that all Islamicised Christian boys who were disloyal to Islam were to be massacred here. Once the Greeks regained power in 1913 they had the tower whitewashed as a way to cover up the dark memories of which occurred there. Taken back by this awful truth we sat by the water side and just took some time to reflect and relax our legs. After our rest we walked over to the port to have a look around and also visited the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography. The Museum was in between exhibitions so it wasn't completely filled of works but what we did see was great. The museum has decided to hold pieces for each of the four elements. The works will be up for a year and the one they were currently wraping up was on water. All of the pieces gave a unique perspective of water but one of our favorites was the over flowing kitchen sink. With a bit of time left we walked the streets a bit more and picked up some food and drinks to enjoy on our train ride.
Their is really only one reason for why people travel to Kalambanka and that is to visit Meteora. Meteora is this extraordinary place for its massive pinnacles of smooth rock and at the top sit these architecturally crafted monasteries. There are 24 monasteries which have been built at the top of these pinnacles but only 6 of them are currently active and can be visited. Of the six monasteries we saw five of them, walked past four and visited two. We would have liked to have seen all six but since we had only our two legs to get us around and visiting hours being limited we simply couldn't manage doing it all. The two monasteries we did visit are called Moni Megalou Meteorou and Moni Varlaam. The first one built on the highest rock, 613m above sea level, and was founded by St. Athanasios in the 14th century. The Moni has a 12 sided central dome and holds a series of frescoes depicting the persecutions of Christians by the Romans. The second one is near by and quite a bit smaller but had a small museum of late byzantine frescos. The views from these Monis is absolutely amazing and to think that they were built between the 11th and 14th century is just amazing. It is claimed that the monis were reached by climbing removable ladders, that's just crazy.
From Kalambaka we backtracked a bit to a town called Vergina so we could visit the Royal Tombs. Vergina is apparently the legendary burial site of the Macedonian kings and happens to be where Phillip II was assassinated during his daughter, Cleopatra's wedding. The Royal Tombs were not discovered until 1977, and inside lay four individual tombs. The two most famous tombs are the one of Phillip II and the second being of Alexander IV, son of Alexander the Great. It is believed that inside Phillip II's tomb also lay the skeleton of Cleopatra. Either way its grand to think that it could be possible. Aside from the possibility that maybe Cleopatra was buried here I was shocked at how preserved the tombs were. They still had such vibrant colors and the building structure is still in good form.
Content with our decision to backtrack, yet anxious to get to Peloponnese region we took a night train to Athens. Thinking we were going to have seats on the night train we thought traveling through the night would be a good way of not wasting time or money. Well the idea back fired once we boarded the fully packed train and then were told by the train conductor that we had no actual seat reservations. Exhausted and not mentally prepared to stand on a train for six hours, we coped quite well. Eager to find something to do to pass the time we thought why not engage in a broken English conversation with the Greek boys standing around us. The idea turned out to be entertaining and funny. There were five guys, four were on military holiday and the other one was originally from Albania but had moved to Greece for work. All of them were very nice and before we knew it we were in Athens. Well the time didn't quite pass that quickly but overall the train ride did go by and we survived the sleepless night of standing on a train. Once we arrived we decided it best to continue our travels and ride three more trains before we finally arrived in Olympia.
Exhausted from traveling, our first day or half of day in Olympia was spent sleeping and recovering. The town is very touristy yet ironically lacked tourist especially backpackers, we were the only backpackers in our hostel. For our one and only full day we spent our time exploring the Museum of the Olympic Games, the Archeological Museum, and toured through Ancient Olympia. It was suggested by the handy dandy LP to first visit the museums so we could get a better visual of what Ancient Olympia looked like. The historical museum is probably one of the best museums we visited, it gave short but detailed information on how the Olympics began, the events which took place, and people who attended. One observation we both noticed and thought interesting was how not only currently but as well as then the games bring this unspoken peace treaty among every human being. After our visit we walked over to Ancient Olympia and toured through the archeological museum. There is very little information but displays several statues, part of the Temple of Zeus, and holds several pediments. Now that we had a good imaginative visual of Ancient Olympia we went and explored the Olympic grounds. Wow, was it amazing, one of the best things we have seen so far. With the lack of tourist we simply walked around visiting the sites and enjoyed the peace and quite. The first thing we saw was the gymnasium which was built inn 2nd century BC. Pheidias' workshop is where the Statue of Zeus was sculpted and is whom the games were held for but sadly it was destroyed like most everything here. In AD 426 Theodosius II decided to have the temples be destroyed for the games and festivals held here were considered pagan. Prior to him ruled Theodosius I in AD 394 and during his rule he simply put an end to the games and it is from this date to the year 1896 no Olympic games were held. Both of us were shocked to read how current the Olympic games were reinstated. As we continued walking the grounds we saw the Temple of Zeus where one of the columns was restored and re-erected for the Athens 2004 Olympic games. We sat in the stadium and envisioned the runners sprinting the 120m track. And the coolest thing we saw was Hera's Altar which is where the lighting of the Olympic flame takes place. The lighting signifies the official beginning of the games. Being there and seeing where the Olympics began gave me a new found appreciation for the games. The Olympic games is really the only time where people from all parts of the world come together in peace.
Their is really only one reason for why people travel to Kalambanka and that is to visit Meteora. Meteora is this extraordinary place for its massive pinnacles of smooth rock and at the top sit these architecturally crafted monasteries. There are 24 monasteries which have been built at the top of these pinnacles but only 6 of them are currently active and can be visited. Of the six monasteries we saw five of them, walked past four and visited two. We would have liked to have seen all six but since we had only our two legs to get us around and visiting hours being limited we simply couldn't manage doing it all. The two monasteries we did visit are called Moni Megalou Meteorou and Moni Varlaam. The first one built on the highest rock, 613m above sea level, and was founded by St. Athanasios in the 14th century. The Moni has a 12 sided central dome and holds a series of frescoes depicting the persecutions of Christians by the Romans. The second one is near by and quite a bit smaller but had a small museum of late byzantine frescos. The views from these Monis is absolutely amazing and to think that they were built between the 11th and 14th century is just amazing. It is claimed that the monis were reached by climbing removable ladders, that's just crazy.
From Kalambaka we backtracked a bit to a town called Vergina so we could visit the Royal Tombs. Vergina is apparently the legendary burial site of the Macedonian kings and happens to be where Phillip II was assassinated during his daughter, Cleopatra's wedding. The Royal Tombs were not discovered until 1977, and inside lay four individual tombs. The two most famous tombs are the one of Phillip II and the second being of Alexander IV, son of Alexander the Great. It is believed that inside Phillip II's tomb also lay the skeleton of Cleopatra. Either way its grand to think that it could be possible. Aside from the possibility that maybe Cleopatra was buried here I was shocked at how preserved the tombs were. They still had such vibrant colors and the building structure is still in good form.
Content with our decision to backtrack, yet anxious to get to Peloponnese region we took a night train to Athens. Thinking we were going to have seats on the night train we thought traveling through the night would be a good way of not wasting time or money. Well the idea back fired once we boarded the fully packed train and then were told by the train conductor that we had no actual seat reservations. Exhausted and not mentally prepared to stand on a train for six hours, we coped quite well. Eager to find something to do to pass the time we thought why not engage in a broken English conversation with the Greek boys standing around us. The idea turned out to be entertaining and funny. There were five guys, four were on military holiday and the other one was originally from Albania but had moved to Greece for work. All of them were very nice and before we knew it we were in Athens. Well the time didn't quite pass that quickly but overall the train ride did go by and we survived the sleepless night of standing on a train. Once we arrived we decided it best to continue our travels and ride three more trains before we finally arrived in Olympia.
Exhausted from traveling, our first day or half of day in Olympia was spent sleeping and recovering. The town is very touristy yet ironically lacked tourist especially backpackers, we were the only backpackers in our hostel. For our one and only full day we spent our time exploring the Museum of the Olympic Games, the Archeological Museum, and toured through Ancient Olympia. It was suggested by the handy dandy LP to first visit the museums so we could get a better visual of what Ancient Olympia looked like. The historical museum is probably one of the best museums we visited, it gave short but detailed information on how the Olympics began, the events which took place, and people who attended. One observation we both noticed and thought interesting was how not only currently but as well as then the games bring this unspoken peace treaty among every human being. After our visit we walked over to Ancient Olympia and toured through the archeological museum. There is very little information but displays several statues, part of the Temple of Zeus, and holds several pediments. Now that we had a good imaginative visual of Ancient Olympia we went and explored the Olympic grounds. Wow, was it amazing, one of the best things we have seen so far. With the lack of tourist we simply walked around visiting the sites and enjoyed the peace and quite. The first thing we saw was the gymnasium which was built inn 2nd century BC. Pheidias' workshop is where the Statue of Zeus was sculpted and is whom the games were held for but sadly it was destroyed like most everything here. In AD 426 Theodosius II decided to have the temples be destroyed for the games and festivals held here were considered pagan. Prior to him ruled Theodosius I in AD 394 and during his rule he simply put an end to the games and it is from this date to the year 1896 no Olympic games were held. Both of us were shocked to read how current the Olympic games were reinstated. As we continued walking the grounds we saw the Temple of Zeus where one of the columns was restored and re-erected for the Athens 2004 Olympic games. We sat in the stadium and envisioned the runners sprinting the 120m track. And the coolest thing we saw was Hera's Altar which is where the lighting of the Olympic flame takes place. The lighting signifies the official beginning of the games. Being there and seeing where the Olympics began gave me a new found appreciation for the games. The Olympic games is really the only time where people from all parts of the world come together in peace.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)