Advertisement
Published: March 14th 2008
Well...Sorry to leave you all hanging...
We made it out of Athens! We went to the Embassy and right when we were there, our credit cards arrived - amazing! So, we hopped on the metro, transferred to the ferry, and traveled out to beautiful Ermoupolis on Syros Island. We spent the next few days exploring the island's beaches and feasting on delicious Greek seafood.
Traveling back to Athens, we caught a train to Thessaloniki, Greece (where we would transfer to a night train to Istanbul). If Tirana to Athens was a nightmare bus ride, this was a train trip from Hades. (Get it...we're in Greece! mwhaha!) The train was so packed out, it was standing room only. No joke. We stood up (or sat on the floor) for the entire 7 hours to Thessaloniki. Awful!
But, if that was a terrible train, we had the polar opposite on the train to Istanbul. This was the closest you could get to still traveling on the Orient Express. Our private compartment included just 2 bunks, a sink, and even a refridgerator! Luxury!
Istanbul was excellent! We saw the Blue Mosque, Ayasofya, explored the Spice Bazaar and Grand Bazaar (numerous times), bought Daron some new clothes, and took a trip down the Bosphorus to a small village on the Asian side. (Kirstin's now been to Asia! Yep, she's definitely counting it.)
The final day was the highlight: Daron took a cooking class at a hotel near our hostel, where he learned to cook fine Turkish cuisine (and Kirstin got to eat it!). That evening, we had a traditional Turkish bath. This is an experience we would highly recommend! We were separated into a female bath and a male bath. While Daron spent most of his time in the sauna, Kirstin was told to rinse herself (again and again and again!). The best part was when we were washed and massaged by an older, intimidating Turkish man (for Daron) and Turkish woman (for Kirstin). We ended the experience with a cup of Turkish tea...and a splash of "Turkish cologne" = lemon juice.
We took another night train to Sofia, Bulgaria where we spent a couple days exploring the town and traveling to nearby Plovdiv. Sofia was an interesting look at a communist city, but Plovdiv was the real beauty.
Again, we took a night train, this time to Bucharest, Romania. Again, for being another town with a bad reputation, Bucharest was a very interesting and worthwhile city. The architecture could rival both Prague and Paris!
Currently, we're exploring Transylvania, a beautiful area of Romania, famous for it's cute Germanic villages and Dracula. (Not really...but it's still fun!)
Tonight we leave for Budapest, where we will enjoy the remaining highlights we missed the first time through. We leave Wednesday morning to fly back to Detroit. It's unbelievable!
Stay tuned for our final blog entry (probably when we return home) for thoughts, observations, and advice on travel in Eastern/Central Europe.
See you soon!
Kirstin and Daron
Advertisement
Tot: 0.076s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 16; qc: 46; dbt: 0.0482s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Dan Shetler
non-member comment
Clothes
So you're telling me they sell wife-beaters and pajama pants in Istanbul? I'm surprised you find Darin something is comfortable in... or is he a bit more "ethnic" now? I am so jealous you got to see the Blue Mosque! And I liked the shout-out to the Ethiopia Bob Marley concert. If it was truly similar you would have gotten your credit cards stolen there. Have fun and enjoy. Swing over to India if you have some time.