Monday was a pretty relaxed day for Andrew and I. We decided to head to Dwejra to relax with a good view and book while we waited for my parents to arrive. The idea was sit in beautiful surroundings and relax.
Unfortunately we soon worked out that this was not going to be possible. We'd bought some drinks and were sitting at the cafe trying to relax, but the whinging tourists (take a guess which nationality) wouldn't shut up so it was far from peaceful.
Then the wasps arrived. They were apparently attracted to the residue on our empty drink cans and wouldn't leave us alone. So in the end we decided to leave them alone and go for a drive to Marsalforn.
So we started driving and I followed the signs to Marsalforn, however since we were at Dwejra, which is at the other end of the island, we weren't going the usual way. Instead the signs lead us through the town of Zebbug. Under normal circumstances this would not be a problem as there is a road through and it's a pretty drive past the natural salt pans. On this occasion however we discovered after driving all the way through Zebbug that the road was closed for maintenance and that we had to go back to Rabbat and go the way we normally go.
Heading back to Rabbat we gave up on Marsalforn and pulled into a shopping centre so Andrew could use the internet. Eventually my mother called and we collected them from the port, as well as saying hello to Steve and Ross who had also arrived.
The following day Andrew and I decided to stay away from the unpacking chaos at home and headed to Sliema on the main island. Sliema is known as the Toorak of Malta (to Melbournians at least) and is rather similar to the Gold Coast. Lots of high rise holiday apartments, shops, swimming areas. We spent a good part of the day wandering around and shopping. Then we grabbed an ice cream and headed home.
As mum and dad needed the car, Andrew and I had decided to catch the bus. The bus we caught was an original 1950's bus that had been personalised by the driver/owner and even included a niche above the drivers area with some religious statues.
That evening we met with my Steve, Ross, my aunt Maria, Alexandra and my great aunt Antoinette at Marsalforn where they'd had dinner, and then diverted to Ramla bay for icecream and drinks.
On Wednesday Andrew and I returned to Ramla for some fun in the sun. We swam, we relaxed on the beach, we ran into my second cousin and her kids. All in all a lovely morning. Then in the afternoon we went with Steve and Ross to the swimming area at Mgarr Ix Xini. Not impressed with the water, Andrew and I didn't swim, but Steve and Ross did. After that we went to Xlendi and swam there.
Whilst at Xlendi we were joined by my aunt Maria and Alexandra, followed shortly after by my second cousin Simon. Simon showed us an area at Xlendi where apparently the nuns used to go swimming. It was a rock cave with clear water and rock pools.
After that mum, dad and great aunt Angolina joined us and we all had dinner. It was a nice night.
The next day we were up early for our tour of Malta with Steve and Ross. We caught the ferry over to Malta and then proceeded to Mosta to see the church. This church is similar in style to the Pantheon in Rome (minus the hole in the roof) and is famous because during the war a bomb was dropped on the church while a service was taking place. Despite the fact that there were around 300 people in the church at the time, no one was injured as the bomb did not detonate, nor did it hit anyone on the way in through the roof.
From Mosta we proceeded to get lost on our way to Paola, home of the Hypogeum and Tarxien (tar-shee-en)temples. A few months ago we had booked in to see the Hypogeum. The Hypogeum is an underground burial ground and temple from the stone age (pre-Pyramids and Stonehenge). In order to preserve it they only let groups of 10 in at a time and only a set number of groups a day. Therefore booking was essential.
The place was pretty amazing. To think that they carved it all out using only horn and stone is pretty awesome. They had even sculpted the rocks to look like the above ground temples that these people also built in many places.
After the Hypogeum we went to see the Tarxien temples. These are temples that were created by the people living on the Maltese islands during the stone age. These people worshipped a Mother Goddess and often built stone temples in her honour. These temples contained stone altars and statues sculpted of the Mother Goddess which look like a rather large lady, sometimes naked, sometimes in a skirt.
Looking at the Tarxien Temples made me quite sad. Back in the 50's when these temples were excavated and "restored" the archaeologists didn't really have their techniques down pat. So back then they used to use concrete to fix broken sections or try to recreate certain areas. The result is disastrous. It looks terrible.
Next we attempted to head towards the coast to see some more temples but between Steve's driving and my attempting to give directions from a map that did not have all the roads, we ended up getting lost. At one stage we were being followed closely by another car and had no idea where we were going so we pulled over to let them pass. Instead the other guy pulled up beside us and asked where we were trying to go. We told him and he said "No worries, follow me. I'm heading that way". So off we went and sure enough he took us directly where we needed to go.
Our next stop for the day was Wied iz-Zurqieq (wee-ed i zoor-ieh), home of the Blue Grotto. Here we hopped on a boat and went for a tour of the caves and rock formations in the surrounding coastline. One of these is an archway over some crystal blue water that is called the "Blue Grotto". It's a lovely spot.
After our boat ride we trekked back up the hill to the car. By this stage it was extremely hot (estimated 38 degrees celcius) and we were all sweltering. So we were really grateful to see our next stop, just 5 minutes down the road, had air conditioning.
This next stop was to see the Hagar Qim (huh -jar Eem)and Mnajdra (Im-Nigh-dra)temples. The last time I had visited these temples, 14 years ago, it was pretty disgraceful. These ancient temples were just sitting in a field with a ticket booth at the front and a rocky dirt track between them. In fact, back then the Mnajdra temples had been vandalised and were so unstable that you couldn't even enter them. What a difference today!
Thanks to funding from the EU the entire complex has been redone. Firstly the area has been properly fenced off. Then at the start there is a building containing the ticketing area and an exhibition that walks you through the history of the temples and has on display some artifacts from them. Then you are taken into a small theatre to watch a short video about the temples. Next you get to go outside to see the temples themselves. All the paths have been properly paved and there are signs to keep you heading in the right direction. The temples themselves have had massive tent like structures placed over them to protect them (and the visitors) from the elements. The temples themselves had also been partially restored and had boardwalks created so that you can now access most areas of the temples and really see these amazing structures.
By this stage we were all very tired so we headed to St Julians where Steve and Ross would be staying for the next few days. After a few issues locating the hotel (namely not having the address) we arrived at the hotel and went for a dip in the pool. Then Andrew and I left Steve and Ross, went down the road for some dinner and caught the bus back to the Gozo Ferry.
After dinner and a shower, we caught up with my uncle Michael, aunt Rose, cousins Vanessa and Jessica, and Jessica's partner Daniel for some ice-cream at Marsalforn. All in all a full on, but lovely day.
Yesterday, Andrew and I took it fairly easy. In the afternoon we took my father to San Blas beach, his childhood hang out. My father grew up as part of a farming family in part of the town of Nadur known as San Blas. So he and his siblings would often spend time at the beach after a hot day in the fields.
San Blas is one of the few remaining undeveloped beaches on the island. This is mainly because of it's location. In order to access the beach one must walk down a very steep path that is sorely in need of repair (or some steps!). But once you reach the bay it is beautiful. Warm soft red sand. Clear blue water which was lovely and warm yesterday. Well worth the effort. We swam, relaxed on the beach and then returned home for dinner and a visit to my mum's cousin.
Friday, 16 July 2010
Monday, 12 July 2010
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and a few other stories
This country is fairly notorious for bad rental cars, and the one we've hired is no exception. From the start the car has had several issues such as a bad wheel alignment (steering wheel was turned 85 degrees from where it should be), power steering that doesn't work (I'm guessing there is no power steering fluid), unevenly worn brakes, etc.
All this we've managed to get by with fairly safely and still do what we wanted to do. This all went awry on Saturday.
Our day started off well. We went into Rabbat and did some shopping, then went back to the Citadel to visit the gun battery and silos which had been closed on our previous visit. This was actually quite interesting as we were taken through some tunnels into the Silos and told about their history. The people that do these tours are a volunteer group called Wirt Ghawdex. They are in charge of running the tours on behalf of the Ministry of Gozo but rely soley on donations to do any work to the place or staff it.
After that we had some lunch and went home for a rest. Later in the afternoon we decided to retry finding the Ta Cenc cliffs (our last visit had been unsuccessful and we ended up in Mgarr Ix-Xeni instead after taking a wrong turn). So we get most of the way there when I notice that braking is not as effective as it had been previously. At first I thought I was imagining it, but the further we got, the harder it was to brake. Not wanting to drive off the cliff, Andrew and I decided to abandon our attempt, head home and contact the hire company. Barely a couple of kilometers down the road the brakes gave up completely and we managed to pull over with the aid of the hand brake. Thankfully I was taking it very slowly!
I then chased down some locals to work out where exactly we were and called the hire company. Leli, the owner of the company, arrived after about 15mins to investigate the problem. His solution, let's all hop in the car and head back to the depot at full speed. Needless to say Andrew and I were holding on for dear life, expecting the brakes to fail at any moment. Naturally they didn't (GRRR), but he still kept the car and gave us the one he'd set aside for my brother's arrival.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The car he'd kept for my brother actually worked properly (mostly). The only issue it seems to have is that it's a little rough in the idling. So why couldn't we get a car like that? We've had the car for the rest of the weekend but have to swap back to the crap one today as my brother is arriving and my parents are returning from the cruise.
Yesterday was clean up day. We caught up on some washing and tidied the house a little. The in the afternoon we caught up with some of my cousins who we hadn't seen yet. We drove to my cousin Sammy's place (a very nice apartment in Rabbat) and met his wife and their little baby Glen. What a little cutie!
Then my cousin Phillip (Sammy's brother), his wife and their two kids arrived and we spent a few hours chatting, nibbling on the delicious spread of fingerfood and catching up. We then topped off the evening by having dinner with my Australian cousins and watching the World Cup final. (on that, what a crap game!)
All this we've managed to get by with fairly safely and still do what we wanted to do. This all went awry on Saturday.
Our day started off well. We went into Rabbat and did some shopping, then went back to the Citadel to visit the gun battery and silos which had been closed on our previous visit. This was actually quite interesting as we were taken through some tunnels into the Silos and told about their history. The people that do these tours are a volunteer group called Wirt Ghawdex. They are in charge of running the tours on behalf of the Ministry of Gozo but rely soley on donations to do any work to the place or staff it.
After that we had some lunch and went home for a rest. Later in the afternoon we decided to retry finding the Ta Cenc cliffs (our last visit had been unsuccessful and we ended up in Mgarr Ix-Xeni instead after taking a wrong turn). So we get most of the way there when I notice that braking is not as effective as it had been previously. At first I thought I was imagining it, but the further we got, the harder it was to brake. Not wanting to drive off the cliff, Andrew and I decided to abandon our attempt, head home and contact the hire company. Barely a couple of kilometers down the road the brakes gave up completely and we managed to pull over with the aid of the hand brake. Thankfully I was taking it very slowly!
I then chased down some locals to work out where exactly we were and called the hire company. Leli, the owner of the company, arrived after about 15mins to investigate the problem. His solution, let's all hop in the car and head back to the depot at full speed. Needless to say Andrew and I were holding on for dear life, expecting the brakes to fail at any moment. Naturally they didn't (GRRR), but he still kept the car and gave us the one he'd set aside for my brother's arrival.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The car he'd kept for my brother actually worked properly (mostly). The only issue it seems to have is that it's a little rough in the idling. So why couldn't we get a car like that? We've had the car for the rest of the weekend but have to swap back to the crap one today as my brother is arriving and my parents are returning from the cruise.
Yesterday was clean up day. We caught up on some washing and tidied the house a little. The in the afternoon we caught up with some of my cousins who we hadn't seen yet. We drove to my cousin Sammy's place (a very nice apartment in Rabbat) and met his wife and their little baby Glen. What a little cutie!
Then my cousin Phillip (Sammy's brother), his wife and their two kids arrived and we spent a few hours chatting, nibbling on the delicious spread of fingerfood and catching up. We then topped off the evening by having dinner with my Australian cousins and watching the World Cup final. (on that, what a crap game!)
Saturday, 10 July 2010
A day in the sun
Yesterday Andrew and I decided to have a relaxing day at the beach rather than running around sightseeing. So we put on our togs and headed for Ramla bay, the best beach on this island.
Ramla bay is a beach with fine red sand and clear blue shallow water. The bay sits between two hills. On one hill is the town of Nadur, on the other, the town of Xaghra. Therefore the locals refer to the sides of the beach as the Nadur side and the Xaghra side. The Nadur side provides a much better swimming experience as the Xaghra side has a lot of stones and seaweed. Naturally this is the side we selected for our beach day.
We hired an umbrella and selected a spot, then spread out our towels and lay on the sand relaxing, watching the world go by and listening to the sound of the waves hitting the shore.
After a while Andrew turned to me and said "Hey isn't that Jennifer and Darren". I looked up and sure enough there was my cousin and her husband walking accross the beach looking for a spot to set themselves up. We waved them over and spent the next hour or so chatting with them.
Jennifer, Darren and I went for a swim. The water was lovely, warm but still refreshing and so clear! Being in the mediterranean Malta's beaches don't get surf like the Australian ones so they are great for swimming or relaxing in.
All in all we had a lovely relaxing day, just what you want when on holiday!
Ramla bay is a beach with fine red sand and clear blue shallow water. The bay sits between two hills. On one hill is the town of Nadur, on the other, the town of Xaghra. Therefore the locals refer to the sides of the beach as the Nadur side and the Xaghra side. The Nadur side provides a much better swimming experience as the Xaghra side has a lot of stones and seaweed. Naturally this is the side we selected for our beach day.
We hired an umbrella and selected a spot, then spread out our towels and lay on the sand relaxing, watching the world go by and listening to the sound of the waves hitting the shore.
After a while Andrew turned to me and said "Hey isn't that Jennifer and Darren". I looked up and sure enough there was my cousin and her husband walking accross the beach looking for a spot to set themselves up. We waved them over and spent the next hour or so chatting with them.
Jennifer, Darren and I went for a swim. The water was lovely, warm but still refreshing and so clear! Being in the mediterranean Malta's beaches don't get surf like the Australian ones so they are great for swimming or relaxing in.
All in all we had a lovely relaxing day, just what you want when on holiday!
Friday, 9 July 2010
Malta
Well Andrew and I have now been in Malta for the last two weeks. I think this place has been quite an eye opening experience for Andrew and has taught him a lot about why my family is the way it is.
Our visit started of with L'Imnarja, which is a festival celebrated in the town where my parents come from called Nadur. During this festival the town celebrates the feast day of the patron saints of the town church, St Peter and St Paul. There are several brass band marches, often parading around a statue of the two saints, lots of fireworks, food, and most importantly, catching up with family. And boy is there a lot of it!
I have a few uncles who still live in Malta, so not only did Andrew get to meet them, but also my great aunts, second cousins, third cousins, and even fourth cousin. Heck I even met a relative I didn't know I had :-)
With the festa over we were finally able to start doing some sightseeing. I have now taken Andrew to see most of the main sights of Gozo (the Maltese island where we are staying), including Dwejra (Dway - ra) and the Azure Window, the inland sea, the General's rock, ramla bay, the Citadel with it's Cathedral and various museums, as well as a spectacular view of the island, Ggantija (Jigantiya) temples, Ta Kola windmill, Mgarr Ixeni (Im jar Isheen ie), Hondoq, top of the Nadur Church, San Blas, Marsalforn, Dahlet Qorrot, Xlendi Bay, etc.
Mary Ann, Romeo and their daughter Maria also took us on a tour of some of the sights on mainland Malta. The took us to Valetta (the Capital City of Malta), Mdina (the old Capital City of Malta), and the Mosta church. They did an excellent job of showing us around, explaining the significance of certain sights and pointing out things of note.
We also caught up with my cousins Lee Ann and Jolene the other day and went to the Blue Lagoon, which is a beautiful natural lagoon that exists between the islands of Camino and Caminotto and is an excellent swimming spot.
For the last week or so my parents have been away on a cruise so Andrew and I have had the house (and car) to ourselves. This has meant that we've been able to do lots of exploring and get ourselves lost on purpose for the fun of it. I'm looking forward to mum and dad coming back though, as some plans have had to be put on hold until their return.
Today we are going to spend another gorgeous afternoon at the beach. We are hoping to go to Ramla bay again as this is one of the best swimming spots on the island with gorgeous red sand and shallow water. However this beach can be prone to jellyfish due to it's warm water. The local Authorities have a flag system to let people know when jellyfish are around so it's easy to know if it is safe to swim.
All is not lost if there are jelly fish though. My cousin Michelline showed us, on a previous beach day we spent together, that if Ramla bay has jellyfish, generally Hondoq Ir-rumein will not as it is on the other side of the island and has colder (but still swimable) water. The only issue with Hondoq is that it is a stone beach rather than a sand beach so it is a little harder when just relaxing on the shore.
Anyway, off to the beach!
Our visit started of with L'Imnarja, which is a festival celebrated in the town where my parents come from called Nadur. During this festival the town celebrates the feast day of the patron saints of the town church, St Peter and St Paul. There are several brass band marches, often parading around a statue of the two saints, lots of fireworks, food, and most importantly, catching up with family. And boy is there a lot of it!
I have a few uncles who still live in Malta, so not only did Andrew get to meet them, but also my great aunts, second cousins, third cousins, and even fourth cousin. Heck I even met a relative I didn't know I had :-)
With the festa over we were finally able to start doing some sightseeing. I have now taken Andrew to see most of the main sights of Gozo (the Maltese island where we are staying), including Dwejra (Dway - ra) and the Azure Window, the inland sea, the General's rock, ramla bay, the Citadel with it's Cathedral and various museums, as well as a spectacular view of the island, Ggantija (Jigantiya) temples, Ta Kola windmill, Mgarr Ixeni (Im jar Isheen ie), Hondoq, top of the Nadur Church, San Blas, Marsalforn, Dahlet Qorrot, Xlendi Bay, etc.
Mary Ann, Romeo and their daughter Maria also took us on a tour of some of the sights on mainland Malta. The took us to Valetta (the Capital City of Malta), Mdina (the old Capital City of Malta), and the Mosta church. They did an excellent job of showing us around, explaining the significance of certain sights and pointing out things of note.
We also caught up with my cousins Lee Ann and Jolene the other day and went to the Blue Lagoon, which is a beautiful natural lagoon that exists between the islands of Camino and Caminotto and is an excellent swimming spot.
For the last week or so my parents have been away on a cruise so Andrew and I have had the house (and car) to ourselves. This has meant that we've been able to do lots of exploring and get ourselves lost on purpose for the fun of it. I'm looking forward to mum and dad coming back though, as some plans have had to be put on hold until their return.
Today we are going to spend another gorgeous afternoon at the beach. We are hoping to go to Ramla bay again as this is one of the best swimming spots on the island with gorgeous red sand and shallow water. However this beach can be prone to jellyfish due to it's warm water. The local Authorities have a flag system to let people know when jellyfish are around so it's easy to know if it is safe to swim.
All is not lost if there are jelly fish though. My cousin Michelline showed us, on a previous beach day we spent together, that if Ramla bay has jellyfish, generally Hondoq Ir-rumein will not as it is on the other side of the island and has colder (but still swimable) water. The only issue with Hondoq is that it is a stone beach rather than a sand beach so it is a little harder when just relaxing on the shore.
Anyway, off to the beach!
Yes Andrew VOLUNTARILY ate artichoke!
The last day of our tour was also one of our earliest starts with a 6:30am departure. From Ankara we drove the five and a half hours back to Istanbul for an afternoon of culinary delights.
The driver dropped us off in Taksim Square, and we said farewell to good old Willy as this is where he and the bus were leaving us for good. From Taksim Sq we walked down Istiklal St to our restaurant for lunch. Lunch itself was farely average.
After lunch we were met by a woman named Gamze Ineceli who is one of the owners of a restaurant in Istanbul called Leb-i derya. Gamze took us on a walk through the fresh food market in the area, selecting produce for our dinner that evening at her restaurant. She bought artichokes, a herb she called "sand fire", lamb backstrap from lambs that had only been fed mulberries, strawberries, and a type of black chillie that smelled like liquorice. She spent a bit of time showing us other items in the market stalls and explaining techniques that could be used to prepare the items for consumption.
We then went to her restaurant and sat down for a glass of apple tea and a chat about life in Istanbul in general. The restaurant itself was located on one of the upper floors of the Richmond hotel and had a fabulous view of the Bosphorus.
We were then given some free time to wander the area while our dinner was prepared. We walked down the road to see a clock tower we'd been told about and to do some last minute souvenier shopping.
Finally we returned to the restaurant and sat down for our gourmet dinner. The entree consisted of sliced artichoke topped with the sandfire herb and a type of bean I can't remember the name of. Beside this was also a puree made from the same type of bean topped with an orange chutney. The combination of the flavours was delicious, and yes Andrew ate the lot!!!
For main course we had the lamb backstrap which had been marinated in pomegranite juice. This was served with an eggplant, wallnut and mint pesto; and another type of puree whose ingredients currently elude me. This was all quite delicious, though I found the flavours in the pesto a little strong for me.
Last but most certainly not least came dessert. For this course we were served a sour cherry sorbet on a bed of sliced apricots, together with pannacotta covered in caremalised strawberries. It was divine!
After dinner we were driven back to our hotel, checked in and went to bed.
Our final full day in Istanbul arrived. We said farewell to our remaining tour group members at breakfast as they were all flying out that day. Then we headed back to the Grand Bazaar to stock up on some gifts for people back home. Once we had finished shopping we headed back for the hotel to dump our wares via a Doner Kebab place we found on the way for lunch.
After a short rest in the hotel we again headed out for a walk in the Gardens. These were immaculate, but there was a storm threatening to break so we didn't want to spend too long there.
We then headed to Mado, for some Turkish ice cream and sat there watching the world go by (and get drenched in the storm). Andrew had a pretty bad cold so we tried not to do too much.
That evening, after a quick dinner, Andrew and I headed out to get some night shots of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia. After struggling with his tripod, which was not locking in properly, Andrew handed the camera to me and I managed to get several nice shots. Later on, Andrew was so frustrated with the tripod that he took it apart to see if he could see what the problem was, but to no avail. So he put it back together, and of course the darn thing started working didn't it.
Next morning we were up bright and early for our 7am pick up. Our journey through Turkey was finally over and we were headed for the airport to catch our flight to Malta.
It was a little sad that we were leaving, but I believe we'd made the most of our trip, and will have many special memories from our visit.
The driver dropped us off in Taksim Square, and we said farewell to good old Willy as this is where he and the bus were leaving us for good. From Taksim Sq we walked down Istiklal St to our restaurant for lunch. Lunch itself was farely average.
After lunch we were met by a woman named Gamze Ineceli who is one of the owners of a restaurant in Istanbul called Leb-i derya. Gamze took us on a walk through the fresh food market in the area, selecting produce for our dinner that evening at her restaurant. She bought artichokes, a herb she called "sand fire", lamb backstrap from lambs that had only been fed mulberries, strawberries, and a type of black chillie that smelled like liquorice. She spent a bit of time showing us other items in the market stalls and explaining techniques that could be used to prepare the items for consumption.
We then went to her restaurant and sat down for a glass of apple tea and a chat about life in Istanbul in general. The restaurant itself was located on one of the upper floors of the Richmond hotel and had a fabulous view of the Bosphorus.
We were then given some free time to wander the area while our dinner was prepared. We walked down the road to see a clock tower we'd been told about and to do some last minute souvenier shopping.
Finally we returned to the restaurant and sat down for our gourmet dinner. The entree consisted of sliced artichoke topped with the sandfire herb and a type of bean I can't remember the name of. Beside this was also a puree made from the same type of bean topped with an orange chutney. The combination of the flavours was delicious, and yes Andrew ate the lot!!!
For main course we had the lamb backstrap which had been marinated in pomegranite juice. This was served with an eggplant, wallnut and mint pesto; and another type of puree whose ingredients currently elude me. This was all quite delicious, though I found the flavours in the pesto a little strong for me.
Last but most certainly not least came dessert. For this course we were served a sour cherry sorbet on a bed of sliced apricots, together with pannacotta covered in caremalised strawberries. It was divine!
After dinner we were driven back to our hotel, checked in and went to bed.
Our final full day in Istanbul arrived. We said farewell to our remaining tour group members at breakfast as they were all flying out that day. Then we headed back to the Grand Bazaar to stock up on some gifts for people back home. Once we had finished shopping we headed back for the hotel to dump our wares via a Doner Kebab place we found on the way for lunch.
After a short rest in the hotel we again headed out for a walk in the Gardens. These were immaculate, but there was a storm threatening to break so we didn't want to spend too long there.
We then headed to Mado, for some Turkish ice cream and sat there watching the world go by (and get drenched in the storm). Andrew had a pretty bad cold so we tried not to do too much.
That evening, after a quick dinner, Andrew and I headed out to get some night shots of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia. After struggling with his tripod, which was not locking in properly, Andrew handed the camera to me and I managed to get several nice shots. Later on, Andrew was so frustrated with the tripod that he took it apart to see if he could see what the problem was, but to no avail. So he put it back together, and of course the darn thing started working didn't it.
Next morning we were up bright and early for our 7am pick up. Our journey through Turkey was finally over and we were headed for the airport to catch our flight to Malta.
It was a little sad that we were leaving, but I believe we'd made the most of our trip, and will have many special memories from our visit.
Friday, 2 July 2010
Soaring to the heavens
Our next stop on the tour was the region of Cappadocia (pronounce Cap- ah- dock- ya). As this was 620km from Antalya we spent the majority of the next day driving on the bus.
We did stop at Konya on the way to Cappadocia to have a look at the Mevlana Museum. Konya is know as the home of the Whirling Dervishes (though we didn't see any :-() which are a particular type of conservative Islamic followers that perform a trance like dance to connect with Allah. The museum was in an intricately decorated mosque and contained sarcophagi of various important Islamic figures, as well as hand written and decorated copies of the Koran. They were quite beautiful to look at but don't really mean much to me as I am not Islamic, and nor can I read arabic.
Upon our arrival at our hotel in Nevşehir (pronounced Nev - sheh- ear) in Cappadocia we were shown to our rooms. Our room was quite similar to other rooms we'd stayed in around the country, except for one very important factor... it REEKED!!!!!
The room literally smelt like sewerage had spilled on the carpet. Thankfully our tour guide helped us to organise a new room that did not have that putrid smell. I don't know what was wrong with that room. There were no visible signs of where the smell could be coming from.
Our trip to date has contained many early starts, but none so early as our first morning in Cappadocia. Our wake up call came at 4:30am and we quickly dressed and went to the hotel foyer for our 5am pick up.
We were collected and driven to our take off point. Yes I did just say take off point. Our first activity for the day was to be a balloon ride.
Cappadocia is a region that is reknowned for it's unique landscape. Mainly consisting of Pumice rock that has been worn over the centuries into concical shapes. The people of the area carved out homes into these conical structures so the are all dotted with windows and door openings to these homes.
Our balloon flight took us over and around this landscape. It was quite an amazing sight. Our pilot even flew us between two of the conical mounds that were so close together the balloon only just fit through.
Ballooning appears to be quite popular in this area. There were approximately 50 other balloons in the sky with us. But each had their desginated area to fly in so there were no issues with crowding.
After breakfast we visited an underground city that had been carved in a similar manner to what I described above. There were many tunnels leading deeper underground, but there were so many people that we decided not to go all the way down. It is said that the city could house 3-10,000 people. As pumus stone is porous, there was no issue with air quality. You could always breathe quite easily.
Next we visited the churches and chapels at Goreme (pronounce Gore- reh- meh). These were again carved into the stone, but intricately painted with scenes from the bible. Some had survived better than others. Unfortunately a lot of the faces of the paintings had been damaged as treasure hunters had been led to believe that there were treasures stored behind the painted faces. In fact the faces themselves were the treasures and are now lost forever.
After lunch we went to a precious stone shop where some of the women in the group purchased some very nice jewellry. Then our final stop of the day was a pottery centre. Here we were given a demonstration of how they made their pottery and we saw their staff members hard at work painting intricate designs onto the pottery.
The next day we were lucky enough to get a sleep in (well 9am departure anyway). The morning was spent driving to Ankara. Upon arriving in Ankara we visited the archaelogical museum which contained various interesting artifacts. Unfortunately both Andrew and I are a bit museumed out, so we didn't really enjoy it that much. We were given free time in the afternoon, but were so tired from our adventures that we just rested. We joined the rest of the group for Happy Hour in the Tour Guide's room and then had dinner.
We did stop at Konya on the way to Cappadocia to have a look at the Mevlana Museum. Konya is know as the home of the Whirling Dervishes (though we didn't see any :-() which are a particular type of conservative Islamic followers that perform a trance like dance to connect with Allah. The museum was in an intricately decorated mosque and contained sarcophagi of various important Islamic figures, as well as hand written and decorated copies of the Koran. They were quite beautiful to look at but don't really mean much to me as I am not Islamic, and nor can I read arabic.
Upon our arrival at our hotel in Nevşehir (pronounced Nev - sheh- ear) in Cappadocia we were shown to our rooms. Our room was quite similar to other rooms we'd stayed in around the country, except for one very important factor... it REEKED!!!!!
The room literally smelt like sewerage had spilled on the carpet. Thankfully our tour guide helped us to organise a new room that did not have that putrid smell. I don't know what was wrong with that room. There were no visible signs of where the smell could be coming from.
Our trip to date has contained many early starts, but none so early as our first morning in Cappadocia. Our wake up call came at 4:30am and we quickly dressed and went to the hotel foyer for our 5am pick up.
We were collected and driven to our take off point. Yes I did just say take off point. Our first activity for the day was to be a balloon ride.
Cappadocia is a region that is reknowned for it's unique landscape. Mainly consisting of Pumice rock that has been worn over the centuries into concical shapes. The people of the area carved out homes into these conical structures so the are all dotted with windows and door openings to these homes.
Our balloon flight took us over and around this landscape. It was quite an amazing sight. Our pilot even flew us between two of the conical mounds that were so close together the balloon only just fit through.
Ballooning appears to be quite popular in this area. There were approximately 50 other balloons in the sky with us. But each had their desginated area to fly in so there were no issues with crowding.
After breakfast we visited an underground city that had been carved in a similar manner to what I described above. There were many tunnels leading deeper underground, but there were so many people that we decided not to go all the way down. It is said that the city could house 3-10,000 people. As pumus stone is porous, there was no issue with air quality. You could always breathe quite easily.
Next we visited the churches and chapels at Goreme (pronounce Gore- reh- meh). These were again carved into the stone, but intricately painted with scenes from the bible. Some had survived better than others. Unfortunately a lot of the faces of the paintings had been damaged as treasure hunters had been led to believe that there were treasures stored behind the painted faces. In fact the faces themselves were the treasures and are now lost forever.
After lunch we went to a precious stone shop where some of the women in the group purchased some very nice jewellry. Then our final stop of the day was a pottery centre. Here we were given a demonstration of how they made their pottery and we saw their staff members hard at work painting intricate designs onto the pottery.
The next day we were lucky enough to get a sleep in (well 9am departure anyway). The morning was spent driving to Ankara. Upon arriving in Ankara we visited the archaelogical museum which contained various interesting artifacts. Unfortunately both Andrew and I are a bit museumed out, so we didn't really enjoy it that much. We were given free time in the afternoon, but were so tired from our adventures that we just rested. We joined the rest of the group for Happy Hour in the Tour Guide's room and then had dinner.
Thursday, 24 June 2010
A day of leisure
My darling husband was not a very happy chappy this morning. At around 4:30am he discovered that our hotel room was right outside a mosque minaret and that the loudspeaker was pointed right at our hotel window. How did he discover this? 4:30am happened to be the first call to prayer of the day. Andrew described it as an alarm clock with no snooze button. Thankfully I must have been in a deeper sleep than him as I did not hear a sound :-)
Knowing that Antalya (pronounced Ahn-ta-lee-ya)was going to be very hot, our tour guide had suggested that we make our visit to Aspendos earlier than the scheduled time and that we forego our outdoor lunch. Already sweltering in the heat, we were all happy to agree.
So at 8am we all piled into the bus and drove to the ruins of another ancient city, Aspendos. What made the ruins of this city extra special was the fact that the amphitheatre is almost completely intact and is even still in use for plays and operas. This is one of the few remaining amphitheatres in the world that are still in such good condition.
Climbing the stairs to the top of the amphitheatre was vertigo inducing as the angles are steep and there are no hand rails. The theatre was designed in a specific way to ensure excellent acoustics.
Next we headed back to Antalya to visit the archaeological museum. This museum contained some excellent sculptures and sarcophagi retreived from the ruins of Aspendos and another nearby ancient city Perge (pronounced Purr-gay).
The rest of the day was left to us to do as we pleased. The first thing on the list for all the women of the tour was washing! As this was the first time in a while where we were staying at the same place for two nights, we had the ability to wash our clothes and ensure they dried.
After doing the washing, Andrew and I went for a stroll through the old section of Antalya. There are still a few items remaining from the old fortified city including a clock tower and some of the fortification walls. We also went for a stroll down to the seashore via the markets.
Market vendors hassled us all the way down and back up again such that even though I had wanted to buy something from the markets, I felt so annoyed that I refused to do so. Feeling hot and bothered we decided to take a dip in the pool at the hotel. Very refreshing!
Knowing that Antalya (pronounced Ahn-ta-lee-ya)was going to be very hot, our tour guide had suggested that we make our visit to Aspendos earlier than the scheduled time and that we forego our outdoor lunch. Already sweltering in the heat, we were all happy to agree.
So at 8am we all piled into the bus and drove to the ruins of another ancient city, Aspendos. What made the ruins of this city extra special was the fact that the amphitheatre is almost completely intact and is even still in use for plays and operas. This is one of the few remaining amphitheatres in the world that are still in such good condition.
Climbing the stairs to the top of the amphitheatre was vertigo inducing as the angles are steep and there are no hand rails. The theatre was designed in a specific way to ensure excellent acoustics.
Next we headed back to Antalya to visit the archaeological museum. This museum contained some excellent sculptures and sarcophagi retreived from the ruins of Aspendos and another nearby ancient city Perge (pronounced Purr-gay).
The rest of the day was left to us to do as we pleased. The first thing on the list for all the women of the tour was washing! As this was the first time in a while where we were staying at the same place for two nights, we had the ability to wash our clothes and ensure they dried.
After doing the washing, Andrew and I went for a stroll through the old section of Antalya. There are still a few items remaining from the old fortified city including a clock tower and some of the fortification walls. We also went for a stroll down to the seashore via the markets.
Market vendors hassled us all the way down and back up again such that even though I had wanted to buy something from the markets, I felt so annoyed that I refused to do so. Feeling hot and bothered we decided to take a dip in the pool at the hotel. Very refreshing!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
