From Trier to the Moselle Valley

More highlights of Trier
* Karl Marx House
* Dreikonigenhaus
* Rheinisches Landesmuseum
* Judengaase (Old Jewish quarter now featuring an Irish pub)
* Cathedral
We grabbed a bratwurst for “pre-lunch” then drove to Bernkastel…stopped for goulash souppe
We toured/walked all over Bernkastel. More farting….

Then, we drove through the Moselle Valley to Cochem and to Broden Bach.
Cross-country to Oberweisel.
We got the most beautiful room in Schonburg Castle hotel on the Rhine. Our room was in the castle tower overlooking the Rhine valley.

We ordered kase platte and wine on the terrace.

From Boston to Trier

We slept in until the flight; a 6:05 p.m. full flight to Frankfurt
We landed at 7:00 am and immediately got our rental car and started racing….
We drove to Trier via Mannheim and Kaiserslautern on the Autobahn
We got into Trier at 10:30 am with no sleep. We got a greasy schnitzel and beer for lunch and embarked on our City walking tour for 2 hours.

We saw the entire city; Porto Nigro (a.k.a.: pinot negro), the Hauptmarkt, Basilka, Kaisertrermen (Royal Baths)

After the tour, we drank wine and people watched at a small café.
Still no sleep
We ate dinner at the hotel---- pepper steak and Farted and waddled to bed and passed out…

Club trip to Cancun

A mid-winter break for my Club trip gave us the chance to see Cancun and experience not only the strange experience of an all-inclusive resort- but also see the ancient Mayan cities of Tulum and Chichen Itza.

We checked into the Club Med and found a sparsely furnished room (no TV’s – the point of the resort is to “mix and mingle”, not sit in your room and watch TV).

With the full list of all of the inclusive activities, we ran to our rental car to escape the ClubMed experience.

We took a day trip to visit Tulum, the walled city. The walls surrounding the city made the fort a perfect place to defend against any invading forces.

On one side, the city was protected by steep sea walls and on the other by a huge wall. Tulum also became a important trading port.

We escaped for another day trip to Chichen Itza, about 117 miles west of Cancun. It was a center of pilgrimage for the Maya for over 1,000 years . The Temple of Kukulcan (Quetzacoatl) is the largest structure-a huge stepped pyramid with a staircase on each side.

El Caracol served as the astronomical observatory.

Herculaneum

Morning at the hospital… we found that prescriptions are transferable and used another rep's prescription to get better drugs…
Herculaneum….with a great guide…

We realized that we’ve seen the Greeks, the Ottomans, the Byzantines, the Hittites, the Crusaders and the early Christians in 14 days:
* 10 Greek cities (Ephesus, Priene, Miletus, Didyma, Bodrum (Haliecarnassus), Euromos, Cumae, Herculaneum, Pompei, Paestum)
* Ottomans: Istanbul (Dolmabache Palace, Topkapi)
* Hittites: Museum in Ankara
* Early Christians: Cappadochia, Virgin Mary House
* Crusaders: Bodrum
* Byzantines: Hajia Sophia

Pompei!

We drove with Doug and Faye to Cumae, probably the oldest Greek mainland colony in western Italy and home of a sibyl (Greek prophetess) whose cavern still exists.

….then it was onto Pompei.

We had a $60 pizza lunch (but it came with free parking at Pompei)
We left Doug and Faye at Pompei and found a seaside restaurant
We asked for diet coke… (coca light)… we’re told, “No one diets in Italy…notice the abundance of this woman”

The Almalfi Peninsula, to Paestum

A free day…we slept in till 11:00…

Drove the Almalfi peninsula to Salerno and onto Paestum ,with some of the finest Greek architecture remaining in Italy.

From Sorrento to Positano

We had a group cruise from Sorrento to Positano.
We hid at a local restaurant then did the obligatory 42 course group lunch… we ate for 3 hours….

John rented a motorboat and the two of us and John H cruised the Tyrananian Sea to "Bob’s cave". John got out to answer the call of nature.
The long bus ride back….
We had to make a visit to the local hospital…. I had a sore throat…
Another long bus trip to dinner…table for 4 with Rich and Lani

From Istanbul to Sorrento

Time for the corporate part of our trip. We flew to Naples, got a rental car and headed to Sorrento.
We drove the coastal road from Ercolano to Sorrento, Stopped at a hillside restaurant and had sopa.
We got the room “without a view”…
Cocktail Party at the Bellevue Syrene.

Our last day in Istanbul

We had the tour from hell….why pay less for a 20-something guide who knows nothing….

Topkapi Palace primary residence in the city of the Ottoman sultans, from 1465 to 1853












We walked our butts off…and headed for wine at the Yesel Ev (great place—hotel and restaurant)

Istanbul and Ortokoy

Back at the Princess Zoe hotel… breakfast on the roofdeck

We visited the Dolmabahce Palace, the last home of the Ottoman empire sultans

and the Grand Bazaar

We grabbed a taxi and headed to Ortakoy…the Quincy Market for the local Turks.

We had dinner at the Dunya Restaurant. Rather than taxi back, we negotiated da “Bosphorus” cruise back to Istanbul with some local teenagers.

Bodrum, Didyma, Miletus and back to Istanbul

In Bodrum, we visited the Castle of St Peter
From there, we visited the ancient cities of Didyma and Miletus.

Didyma was an important sacred site in the ancient Greek world. Its famous oracle and Temple of Apollo attracted crowds of pilgrims and was second in importance only to Delphi.

Miletus was one of the most important cities in the ancient Greek world, but eventually declined due when the harbor silted up. St. Paul stopped at Miletus on his Third Missionary Journey, on his way back to Jerusalem.
To the airport…back to Istanbul on a plane with the heater on full blast.

Ephesus to Bodrum

Drove to Ephesus…. great guide, spectacular site. Ephesus and Antioch (now Antakya) were the most important cities in the Roman Empire after Rome itself. Ephesus was the capital of the Roman province of Asia Minor, and had up to 500,000 residents at its peak. It was a major religious center, from long before the first Greeks arrived through the first few centuries of the Christian church. It was a major seaport under Roman rule and on into the early part of the Byzantine Empire, when the harbor silted up and halted trade.

John broke down and bought a carpet…The Turkish carpet sales skills have him sweating bullets
Home of the Virgin Mary….Located on the top of the "Bulbul" mountain just outside of Ephesus, the shrine of Virgin Mary is touted as the place where Mary spent her last days. It's believed that Mary came to the area with Saint John, who spent several years in the area to spread

Priene. - we walked alone in the ruins. Priene was an ancient Greek holy city and the home of an important temple of Athena. The ruins include columns of the Temple of Athena, much of the city wall, a well-preserved theater and a council chamber.

Drove to Bodrum…. drove through the streets and found a hotel with a view of the harbor.

Back to Ankara and on to Kusadasi

We drove back to Ankara with time to see the Ataturk Mausoleum and the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.

We had a flight to the Aegean Coast, got our rental car…no gas…a French “piece of shit”
We drove to Kusadasi…and found a beautiful hotel on the Agean…great views..

The day in Cappadochia

The Goreme Valley

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The bus driver was christened, “The Stinkster”..for obvious reasons.
Another shopping visit—this time to the Carpet factory… we resisted the intense sales pressure –and didn't buy a carpet..but the young Aussies (on their honeymoon) caved and walked away with their huge carpet.
We walked in the fairy chimneys….and stopped a the house of a local Turk.

Our last stop- a visit to an Armenian Mosque
Yet another shopping visit…the onxy factory.

Off to Cappadochia

A 5:30 wake-up and we headed to the airport
We got on the wrong flight…Flight 506…instead of 508..but finally got on the right flight…and it was on to Ankara
We met up with our “group” (Les and Gail and the “Aussies”)and drove to Cappadochia

Our first stop was to Zelve, the open air museum.

Then it was on to Kaymakli, an underground city.

Under protest, we headed to a pottery shop…where John was recruited as a potter

John created his own special “clay thing". It was quite amusing!

We were dropped off at our hotel- a true ”troglodite" experience….the others in the group were green with envy as they headed to their "normal" hotel.
We got wine in our “cave” and enjoyed dinner in the hotel.
Our hotel!

Jet lagged in Istanbul

We slept in...in single beds. A serious case of jet lag.

Eventually we rousted and hit the streets of Istanbul—we visited the Cistern, the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia

Turkey Map and Route

From Boston to Istanbul

Since John was already in Ireland, I was meeting him in Istanbul. The lovely man at Alitalia check-in put me in first class from Boston...lovely.

We met at Baggage Claim in Istanbul -John’s bag was lost…My lock was broken, but we were together...and very tired.
We grabbed a taxi to our hotel, the Empress Zoe, very funky.

The Empress Zoe Lobby

We found a great place for dinner --and had many bottles of wine and a beautiful view of the Blue Mosque. Welcome to Turkey!