Blogs from Edirne, Marmara, Turkey, Middle East

As we've come to lean, a rest day is not necessarily a day when we rest. We enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast at The Plaza where we tried a number of different breakfast options. The number and variety of cheeses was amazing as were the types of bread. There were many spreads (olives, walnuts, peppers and other ingredients) as well as the more typical western options. One of my favourite items though was halva - for breakfast!!! Tom and I journeyed out today to explore Edirne. We only had 4 sites on our list and 3 of those were mosques, with the forth being the Grand Bazaar (Altinay Kuyumculuk). I have never been in a mosque before and so I was quite interested to see what they looked like. The largest of the mosques was Selimiye Cami ... read more

Istanbul, Edirne approximately 2.5 hours with a pleasant bus ride there were very nice. City of Edirne, a city of culture and history. Appearing from every point of the city of Edirne Edirne Selimiye mosque in the city are located on the highest hill. The benign Sector, the son of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. Selimiye mosque sultan selim made ​​on behalf of Turkey's most beautiful and largest mosque. made of a large marble courtyard and a wide variety flowers and trees are adorned with gardens. 7 years was built by Mimar Sinan, Sinan the Architect's Master piece works well and protected by UNESCO. very nice in blue, green and red calligraphy and are decorated with tile mosaics and ceramics. Selimiye mosque dome and four very large pieces are very thin, tall minarets. turkey tours - private ... read more

Geo: 40.9211, 26.3827 GUN 1 CUMARTESİ Saat 10:10 da gümrüğe vardık. Bu turu "Sıfır fena puan" ile aştık. Yunan, sıkıntı yaratmadı arabaya dahi bakmadılar . Bu kaçıncı geçişimiz hatırlamıyorum .. Fakat şimdiye dek Yunan'da hiç sorun yaşamadığımızı iyi hatırlıyorum... Yaşşa Komşu ....))) Bu seyahati Ayşecikle çok istedik. Geçen yıl yaptığımız Italya seyahatinden çok memnun kaldık. Öyle, ayağı yanmış itler gibi koşturmamayı öğrendik... Arabayı değil kendimizi gezdirmek istiyoruz... Bu yıl da Fransız Rivierasının içlerini,daha doğrusu Provence'ı görelim diye yola çıktık... Bakalım nasıl geçecek ?... read more

I left the hotel in Thessaloniki in the dark. It was warm already. I caught the 7.18am train to Alexandroupolis, which cost less than half the previous day's bus fare. My aim for the day was to get to the Gallipoli peninsula. I had a rough idea about buses and taxis across the Greece-Turkey border, and then south to Çanakkale, but I knew that there would have to be some improvisation. A glorious sunrise streaked across the stark hills (my, how hilly this part of Europe is) and massive, almost imperceptively moving modern windmills. While there were some train stations in the small villages that we passed through, there were no platforms; the passangers walked across the rails and climbed up the side of the carriage to get on board. Alex was a lovely old city, ... read more

May 15, 2008 Edirne to Luleburgez This morning we had breakfast with our Edirne families and then boarded a bus to Luleburgez. It was only about a 45 minute ride. We were greeted by the GSE coordinator and the men of our new host families at a hotel located in the middle of the city. My host family is WONDERFUL and their house is AMAZING! Huso and Gulten are the parents of three beautiful girls: Selin, Birsu, and Seren. The high school that we visited today was for students that scored high on their exam in the 8th grade. 94% of the students that attend this school will attend and graduate from a university. Rotary sponsored an E grant which provided the school with 25 LCD projectors, computers and screens. A few facts about Luleburgez: • ... read more