Turkish Travels

We flew into Bodrum last Saturday night and spent a few days at Danielle' Dad's apartment in the nearby town of Güllük. The apartment was high up on a hill with fantastic views of the town and the sea. Sunday we walked into the main part of the town which was a few bays over, had a nice lunch of Turkish cheese pancakes by the sea and stocked up on supplies, including Turkey and weird Turkish Raviolo. We made it back to the apartment just in time for a tropical storm, complete with thunder, lightening and hail! Fortunately we had plenty of rum and a pack of cards to see us through the afternoon.

Monday we lay by the pool and worked on our tans. The sun was wonderful and the pool "refreshing". Tuesday we spent half the day at the beach and the other half back by the pool. 

Wednesday we had an early morning flight to Istanbul then found our way to our hostel (cheers hostel) right in the middle of the old town. After checking in we wandered down to the water for the first of many kebabs for lunch. Then, after a bit of a nap in the rooftop bar we wandered round to see the Aya Sophia and the Blue Mosque (both of which were very close to our hostel) and the nearby park. Dinner consisted of more street food: round bready things and sweet corn.

Thursday we navigated our way through the Grand Bazaar (the markets) and explored inside the Blue Mosque then had a lovely cheap restaurant dinner of Turkish pizzas and chicken shish. Yum.

Friday we took a cruise up the Bosphoros, seeing many impressive buildings, bridges, a fortress and a couple of impressive bridges linking Europe with Asia. We then enjoyed some weird but nice Turkish ice cream before exploring inside the Aya Sophia church/mosque museum. It was huge inside and a very interesting mix of Christian and Islamic designs. Afternoon tea wad Turkish delight and Baclava and more street food for dinner.

Our last day was spent pottering around, buying souvenirs and such things. Of course, more street food was eaten, including one fish kebab. 

Back to London tomorrow morning. 

We flew into Bodrum last Saturday night and spent a few days at Danielle' Dad's apartment in the nearby town of Güllük. The apartment was high up on a hill with fantastic views of the town and the sea. Sunday we walked into the main part of the town which was a few bays over, had a nice lunch of Turkish cheese pancakes by the sea and stocked up on supplies. We made it back to the apartment just in time for a tropical storm, complete with thunder, lightening and hail! Fortunately we had plenty of rum and a pack of cards to see us through the afternoon.

Monday we lay by the pool and worked on our tans. The sun was wonderful and the pool "refreshing". Tuesday we spent half the day at the beach and the other half back by the pool. 

Wednesday we had an early morning flight to Istanbul then found our way to our hostel (cheers hostel) right in the middle of the old town. After checking in we wandered down to the water for the first of many kebabs for lunch. Then, after a bit of a nap in the rooftop bar we wandered round to see the Aya Sophia and the Blue Mosque (both of which were very�close to our hostel) and the nearby park. Dinner consisted of more street food: round bready things and sweet corn.

Thursday we navigated our way through the Grand Bazaar (the markets) and explored inside the Blue Mosque then had a lovely cheap restaurant dinner of Turkish pizzas and chicken shish. Yum.

Friday we took a cruise up the Bosphoros, seeing many impressive buildings, bridges, a fortress and a couple of impressive bridges linking Europe with Asia. We then enjoyed some weird but nice Turkish ice cream before exploring inside the Aya Sophia church/mosque museum. It was huge inside and a very interesting mix of Christian and Islamic designs. Afternoon tea wad Turkish delight and Baclava and more street food for dinner.

Our last day was spent pottering around, buying souvenirs and such things. Of course, more street food was eaten, including one fish kebab. 

Back to London tomorrow morning. 

Krakow

We have spent the past five days exploring Krakow and have really enjoyed ourselves.  Friday we caught an early morning flight from Gatwick, then managed to navigate our way into town and found our awesome and cheap apartment, just minutes from the centre of the old town. As per usual we spent our first afternoon orienting ourselves, stocking up on food at the supermarket and exploring the Christmas markets. We visited the main square that night and were impressed by the beautiful and colourful lights.

Krakow Main square

 Saturday we went straight back to the main square (Rynek Glowy) and into the big church, St Mary's. The inside of the church was impressive, with lots of colours, a bright blue roof and huge opening altar. The church is known for it's trumpet call every hour (for the past 600 years) which stops suddenly to reflect the legend of the trumpeter who was killed by an arrow while trumpeting to alert the city of the approaching enemy's army.

Inside St Marys church

 We also visited the Wawel Cathedral and the state rooms of the Royal castle, all of which were impressive.   Another highlight of Krakow is the planty gardens which is the city park which circles the old town and provides a nice green space (when it's not covered in snow) and a great walking path. While wandering through the gardens we admired St Florian's gate and the small section that remains of the 14th century city wall.  

Approaching the Castle

Castle Cathedral from inside castle grounds

Monday we took a tour out to Auschwitz. The tour was in two parts, with the first at Auschwitz-I, a well restored museum. Most striking were rooms filled with items from victims, such as shoes, brushes and one filled with human hair. Auschwitz-II was the more famous camp where 100,000 individuals were held at a time. An unimaginably large place.

Auschwitz-II, looking back upon main gate

Our last day was a fairly quiet one, generally wandering round, eating and drinking. Overall Krakow has been well and truly worth the visit!!