Oia (eeya) Village, Santorini, Greece
I don't expect people to read all of this! I wrote in detail so it would help me remember the trip. Just look at the pretty pictures if you want...
This is a trip that everyone needs to take in their life. I had no idea what to expect in Turkey and was totally surprised. It has become one of my favorite destinations and we will absolutely be going back! When we arrived the heat index was 50C which is 122F. Everyone said they never have heat like this (yeah, right). Although the heat was utterly unbearable, we managed to see most of the sights in Istanbul including: Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar, Spice Market, and the New Mosque. We also had the best kabobs and got "scrubbed down" at a Turkish bath.
Outside the Turkish bath. After that sort of heat, the outside temperature felt cool. I could write a blog about the Turkish bath experience...
Stall in the Spice MarketWe hopped aboard a small 100 passenger cruise ship. Chris's parents also enjoyed the trip with us. It was fun having them there.
Our first stop was in Kusadasi, Turkey. We toured the ancient city of Ephesus which included the supposed house of the Virgin Mary after Jesus's death, the Terrace Houses, Celsus Library, Hadrian's Temple, the Grand Theater where the apostle Paul preached, and St. John's Basilica. We also had a silk carpet demonstration and apple tea at a local jewelry and carpet retailer.
Celsus Library
Nike Athena... Do you see the "swoosh"?
Next stop was Rhodes, Greece. Chris and I took a cab to Faliraki Beach and enjoyed the warm water and burning hot sand. The sand is black and very rocky. After we got our fill of burning feet and topless fat women, we headed to Old Rhodes Town. Some of the sights we saw were the Mosque of Suleiman, the Palace of the Grand Masters and walking down the Street of the Knights.
Looking down the Street of the Knights
Our third destination on the cruise was Bodrum, Turkey. Here Chris and I split up and he went to scuba on a reef and a sunken plane with his dad. I think they had fun...
I toured the Castle of Bodrum and what is left of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. They used material from the mausoleum to build the castle. The castle houses artifacts from ancient shipwrecks including one from 13th century BC.
The next day we were back in Greece on the island of Santorini. This was one of the most picturesque places I have ever been, but we were slightly disappointed. Oia village (most well known for white wash, cave houses, and cliffs) was so crowded and it was rebuilt in the 70's. So I would consider it more of an Epcot Center than a great piece of history. Still, it was beautiful and we had a great lunch looking out over the cliffs. The city of Fira was really beautiful too and you could take a mule down or up the cliff face to the village. We opted for the funicular since we heard that on lady was pooed one and one lady got dragged by her leg going down the mountain by a mule.
Weird camera setting. Whoops!
Our last day on the cruise we were on the island of Mykonos. Chris and I went to Elia Beach and rented a wave runner. This ended up being quite amusing. The wind really picked up while we were out and we had rather large waves to navigate. We had to stop often because the salt water stung our eyes so bad. Also, you couldn't stand in place for long in the shallow areas because there were these fish that would come and nip at your feet. Kind of creepy. We headed back to the village and wandered around the tiny streets and walked to the old windmills with Chris's dad.
Mykonos harbor
The cruise ended in Athens and we had two full days to see the sights. We headed straight to the Acropolis and saw everything there (Parthenon, Propylaea, Erechtheum temple, Theater of Dionysis, amphitheater) before it got "too" hot. We toured the New Acropolis Museum. Which is built upon the excavation sight of the old city. The museum has clear Plexiglas floors (I was not a fan) to see the ruins below. Chris and I took off and headed to the Roman and Greek Agoras and the Museum of Pottery (sounds boring but they had a spartan shield that was pretty cool). We also saw Aphrodite's Temple and Hadrian's Library.
Muses in front of "the Muses" atop the Acropolis
Our last day we went to the Temple of Apollo and Hadrian's Gate, saw the Panathinaikon Track where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896 and where the 2004 opening ceremonies were. We also saw a lot of training areas and other stadiums where events were held. We then followed a procession of Grecian soldiers to the parliament to watch the changing of the guard. Who ever thought it was a good idea to put pompoms on soldier's shoes? We ended our trip at the Greek Orthodox Basilica which was completely under renovation. There wasn't any place that didn't have scaffolding.
See what I mean about the pompoms?
Panathinaikon Stadium
I think we enjoyed this trip so much because there was a lot of historical education mixed with a good amount of relaxing on the beach. I don't know many places that can offer that!
