I finally found some blog time in between the hustle and bustle of tourism around here in Athens...I guess one gets lazy with the availability of internet at home in the US cos taking time to go to a cafe is becoming increasingly hard...

Again I am back with some pictures of the Colossal Parthenon and all the structures of the Acropolis...but I am not in awe of it at all as much as I thought I would be...cos 1st of all its hard for me to believe that it was really built in the 400s BC...and second of all the fact that it has been reconstructed several times due to the weather corrosion of the marble and the artificial fillings to go with it...just dont sell it to me enough! Ofcourse there were information boards outside of it only for the reason to talk about how many times its been reconstructed??? What is that, dont you want to share your history??? Instead you write about some civil engineering information? How dumb!! Ultimately the fact that rude people are made to stand right outside the entrance to tear off tickets just doesnt add to the charm of it at all :)

So just because we were there and you should see all the pictures with scaffoldings around it... here you go~

Above are pics of the Parthenon and a view from on top of the Acropolis at Athens city.

The Greeks are pretty okay people, I thought every 1 in 2 would be rude but they were not, they were actually nice and helpful...we also realised that we as travellers should take the trouble to learn a few words of the country we are visiting and not sound completely indifferent towards their language and continue to talk in English...so we get more cooperation from them...they are really nicer when you make that attempt apparently...instead of scoffing at you for pronouncing something incorrectly for example.

Other than that, the food is good, it gets to be a little repetitive if you are just a vegetarian...we went looking around for Falafels but it wasnt available anywhere but this one single small Gyros place...he probably just added that to the menu only as an after thought...but we got lucky, it was not even as good as the one in Seattle...?

Today we are supposed to head out to Nafplio, but before that, we did get a chance to visit heaven...yeah you heard that right, heaven- Santorini...WOW!!! WOW WOW WOW, what a place!!, Gorgeous and simply unmatched.

See for yourself ~

Can you tell from just the pictures? Isnt it Gorgeous...? I have more pictures to share, but the bandwidth here sucks so sorry, only when I get back to Seattle can I share i with ya'll...

Alright take care all of you there, have a great long weekend!!!

-HD

To report the 3rd day, I've logged in through apparently the wireless internet that was available from the room which the front desk told us was not available on the 1st day...so basically we chorufied the IN :)

So our walk down Taksim Square ctd...yesterday afternoon along with the 5 hour tour of Bosphorus. We took a tram from Sultanahmet to Eminonou and then took the ferry to Anadolu Kavagi and this was the 1st time we set foot on the Asian side! It was not much different from Istanbul Europe except it seemed a little less affluent, less fancy and commercialised with the main focus on food, especially fish...

Below you see the pretty homes lining the coast of the passage of waters between the seas...this is full of palace like looking homes with beautiful patios and gorgeous pavements...

That is Bosphorus right behind me there on the left. Our 5 hour journey was very entertaining with live animated conversations with a couple from Uzbekistan who were on a (textile) business trip to Istanbul...

We got off the ferry and tried to walk up to a fort in the Kavagi area, but it was a steep and long walk and we were not sure if we would make it back to the ferry to return in time... but we did take some really pretty shots from above... the entire walkways in that area were cobblestoned.. which was quit picturesque...

Later that day we walked down Taksim again and it was plenty of young couples either married or just dating...but were not uncomfortable about public display of affection...

I quickly should put up pictures of some of the good food we ate...This is the chai we drank and it is usually served like that in a transparent glass...really strong~ The food is from this place called Otantik and it is probably the cheapest and best vegetarian food we ate in Istanbul...

Then ofcourse we ate some real nice authentic Turkish vegetarian food...We ate at the Bodrum and Lale Restaurant in the Sultanahmet area...there are quite a few good restaurants but one must be prepared to pay atleast 12-13 Turkish Lira for a meal per person... It is not cheap, but you could get away by eating light food for other meals...

Alright, it is almost midnight here in Istanbul and I probably should go to bed now but if I had more time I would have written in detail about a few more experiences but I will save that for the end of the trip or for blogging from Seattle.

Good Night~

HD

Back again - 3rd day in Istanbul and it is hot today!!!

I am at a one day delay on reporting events...We went to Haghia Sophia, Blue Mosque and the Topkapi Palace in the Sultanahmet area yesterday...

Blue Mosque- Haghia Sophia

Topkapi Palace

So these are some of the main sites in and around Sultanahmet area...I think this city pretty much survives from the money that it gets from tourism for these 3 places...Other places that may add to the tourism are the Basilic Cistern, Spice Market etc...

Then we took the T4 bus to the Taksim Square area, where went shopping down this street called Istaiklal Cadesi...its almost like the SOHO of NYC or Robson St. of Vancouver..full of branded shops and a huge crowd of people walking up and down the street... Photo of which is down below~

Alright got to wrap it up now and more later about other parts of Istanbul...

Merheba!!! From Uyan, Cankurtaran - Sultanahmet


First of all I have to tell you all that I am still in jet lag from the 10+ hour time difference between Seattle and Istanbul...and I am still reeling in the effect from the long flight, food changes and some serious language barriers!

Lets take a look at some of the pictures taken at Seattle airport and from the Boeing 757 {Delta Airlines} as we flew... over many a mountain ranges and some great European Lands. Above is Mt. Rainier...

Below, I think is Austria...

So anyway, this was all taken before arriving at Istanbul and then once we reached Istanbul it was a little bit of a daze...Even though it was easy getting through Immigration and Custom's checks, it was not easy getting anymore information than their city map...We needed to know how and where to exchange our currencies to Liras and how to get to Sultanahmet...and that was really hard cos the localites just can't speak any English to save their life! But they are delightfully forthcoming and friendly just like in India where common people are curious about tourists and may seem friendly even though they are of no use...:)


After my in depth analysis and some sort of understanding of the general population around here and establishing that there is a serious language barrier, I have come to the conclusion that only 1 in ever 7-8 people can speak some sort of English and 1 in every 10 people can speak decent English...

By that I mean that 1 in 7 people can give you some basic directions such as right, left, straight...etc... they can understand and relate to some basic words such as Metro, Taxi, Hotel, Water etc... which the others, the common people don't even know...and as for the 1 in 10 really decent English speaking people...what can I say, so far we have only met one - Payam and he gave us a few tips on what to see and what to do and what not to do...which was serendipitous!

Alright now that I have managed to report on the 2nd day pretty much everything I could think of that happened in the 1st part of yesterday...I will leave you all with some more pictures of our really tiny hotel room and some city sites of Istanbul as some of the buildings that I saw from the tain reminded me of Kurla, Kalina in Bombay! and some other rountanas that reminded me of Lucknow and Delhi...

So I am trying to pour over page after page of these lonely planet guides and a ton of other websites to get a good grip on exploring both places...Gosh...it is turning out to be an endless read!!! Well anyway, thanks to my excitement...I am able to handle this information overload!

Alright....One more day and One more night in Seattle and I will be in Istanbul tomorrow....Gosh!!! <<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>

If I had started this countdown 10 days ago it would have made some sense...but considering its only 3 nights more to my big trip, it really should not matter...but I just can't help feeling this crazy excitement in my stomach...I will be landing in at the Ataturk Airport, Istanbul...and I promise to report live from there (almost live on my blog)...

Anyway, sorry for not writing for so long...I have been really busy...doing God knows what!!! But, no time had I to write...I guess I was saving all my words for the upcoming big trip....which is in just a couple of days!

Alright people! Talk to ya'll soon from Istanbul...

`HD