Castello di Vezio

This is the castle on the hill I referenced in the last post.  It was well worth the hike.  The specific origin is unknown, but they believe is was built in the 400's.  It has over the years become a bird sanctuary, but I did not see any while there.  As far up the hill as it was, the views were wonderful.

 

The castle itself was very well maintained.  Nice gardens and I was able to walk all the way to the top of the tower.

 

 

Nice view down from the top:

 



 

The Castle on the hill

We all have weaknesses, some are good, some are bad.  One weakness I have, that I would characterize as a good one is the need to climb up to any castle on the hill I see or know about, no matter where I am.  Some times churches qualify also.  I can't tell you why, but I love to hike "to" something.  Anne has spent many times trekking up with me and occasionally wishing me well, saying she will see me when I get back.  I didn't expect to do much hiking today, but was I walked around, I saw every road was up hill.

I had not walked much for the day, so I figured, I'll head up the stairs and see what's up there.  Then, I ran into this:

 

 

And what does this show, a castle on the hill.  What it does not show is how steep things are.  I decide, I am going to do a quick hike up to the castle to earn my Ravioli dinner and didn't realize it was straight up the entire way.  I looked like someone poured a bucket over my head by the top, and considered turning around a couple times, but do you really want to get 3/4 up a hill and turn around?  I say no. It was a good decision and well worth it.  I'll cover the castle in another post.  I am hoping to do the entire loop tomorrow, we will see how it goes.

 

Caio



I arrived in Milan

Avis had my Ford Focus TDI diesel ready for me and I was off to the races.  It took me about an hour and a half to drive to Varenna, a small city on lake Como.  To say it is spectacular is an understatement.  Very steep and rugged mountains coming down to a picturesque lake.  Massive and I am sure expensive mansions line the lake, but not too many, it still looks fairly undeveloped.   Anne did her usual incredible job of finding me a great hotel.  Much nicer than I would have selected, but not all that pricey either.  It has a great location right on the water, it is the tall yellow hotel on the left.

 

 

I truly enjoyed Istanbul, but I LOVE Italy.  It was a pleasure driving here, walking around and having a great meal.  There are a few things in the hotel that let you know you are in Italy.  This is what's outside the door to my room (the farthest piece of furniture), I'll let the Catholics (and former Catholics) see if they can figure out what it is.

 

 

 

And after being very good on eating in Istanbul, mainly because I didn't trust the food, I was looking forward to the food in Italy.  It was Ravioli and Salad for dinner, and Gelato for dessert.  There's not much better than Gelato in Italy.

 





Two thumbs up for Turkish Air

When I decided not to take the train across eastern Europe and save time by flying, it was based on a very reasonable one way flight from Istanbul to Milan on Turkish Air.  I was not sure when I booked them how good the airline was, but I figured I would give it a shot.  I was very impressed.  One thing about some of the State run airlines, they take pride in their appearance and how people see them.   The planes were new, the service good and it was a good of a coach class meal as I have had in a very long time.  Not to mention bringing back memories on how long it has been since I have had a Tuborg beer.

Ready to leave for Italy

It’s Sunday morning and I leave for the airport to fly to Milan in a few hours. Hard to believe is was 3 full days already. Trip was great, saw all the stuff I wanted to see and had the opportunity to immerse myself in the city, really a pleasure.  A few items I haven’t noted as I am ready to depart.  I had done a lot of research and was very comfortable the city was safe and it is.  I saw no indications of crime or scary areas.  That said, you can tell people are on edge.  Turkey does border Iran, Iraq and Syria (not the best neighborhood).  Some comfort comes from the fact Istanbul is on the opposite side of the country as those borders, but they are still impacted.  My guide told me they have received nearly 3 million refugees from the fighting in Syria.  This, in a country of 80 million people. The Turks are a very warm and accepting culture by nature, it is in their history to welcome those in need.  However, it sounds like the sheer volume is causing social and economic concerns. The biggest concern is that they will see an increase in crime if these immigrants are not able to find jobs.

One indication they are on alert was something I saw while on my walking tour yesterday.  While I have seen very little obvious police or military presence, I did notice a fully prepared counter assault team staged on one of the side streets, just in case.  I am sure with everything going on in Syria and the rise of ISIS, they are prepared just in case.  Not to worry, I am headed to Italy.

Street Food

As I made it out into the neighborhoods, I noticed all kinds of interesting street food.

One of the most common street foods, cooked corn on

the cob and cooked nuts.  They look similar to walnuts,

the dark part is the shell, the white center the nut

 

Some type of pastry with powdered sugar

 

A potato bar.  They make you a baked potato

with a huge range of toppings

 

Street pizza

 

Galata Tower

During my walk, I went up the Galata Tower and walked around the neighborhood.  The tower was built in 1348 by the Genoese (early Italians) and the whole area had much more of a European feel than the rest of the city.  It was the best vantage point of the city, lots of great shots from the tower and neighborhood.

Galata Tower

 

View of the Bosphorus, Asia in the distance

 

Streets around Galata Tower

 

Notice the woman on the deck minding everyone's business

 

View of neighborhoods from above

 

 

Neighborhood Walk

I did two of the neighborhood walks that Rick Steves recommends in his book.  First one was along the old wall of the city, through much smaller and residential neighborhoods than I had been in.  Great walk and logged another 11 miles today.  That's about 36 miles in the last 3 days.  I fly to Italy tomorrow and I think my feet will appreciate the day off. 

Shot of the wall from that circled the city

 

Local equivalent of Home Depot.  They do not have large stores,

but there are many hardware stores with different focus areas

(plumbing, electrical, etc.) all in the same block.

 

 



The rest of the stuff we saw on the tour

The tour was great and included many sites beyond the mosques, some highlights were:

Another trip to the spice market

 

Large amounts of the official

treat, Turkish Delight

 

Tour of the underground cistern

 

The Galata tour - prominent tower built by the Italians

 

Great tour of the very active waterfront

 

 

 

 

Eating in Istanbul

Usually one of my favorite parts of traveling is to be adventurous trying all the local foods, but I have held back so far in Istanbul.  Many of the books I read noted that drinking the water will make many sick (which surprised me).  In counties with water like this, that often means that fresh fruit and vegetables that are washed in the water will make many sick.  Thus, I have had mainly cooked meals at the hotel.  During the tour, the guide and I had a traditional lunch of a cabob and rice.  I had to skip the veggies as a precaution.  I will catch up on my veggies when I hit Milan.

Center of the Roman Empire?

One thing I was not aware of was that Istanbul was the capital of the Roman empire.  Most of us attribute Rome as the birthplace of the Roman Empire, but I was not aware as the empire expanded, it moved it's capital to what at the time was called Constantinople (now Istanbul).  This was for two main reasons.  First, apparently the Roman's saw the value of the Bosphorus straight and how critical it was to trade and thus felt they could generate revenue from it.  Second, most of the expansion of the empire was towards Asia and Istanbul straddles into both Europe and Asia.

The monument below was the official center of the Roman Empire in Istanbul. Every Roman city was measured from this point.

Mosques and background on Islam

My guide Pelin was very easy to talk to and openly discussed perspectives and concerns with how outsiders view Turkey.  They believe the west unfairly characterizes them as fundamentalists, which is very far from the truth.  She went to great extent to differentiate Turkey and mainstream Islam with what is seen in very fundamentalist countries (Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia).  Like most in Turkey, she is a practicing muslim, but appears similar to someone you would see in the US.  She dresses like a 30-something professional woman in the US - does not wear a veil, burka or other garments attributed to being mulsim.  Turkey's official religion is muslim, but there is no pressure to participate or retribution for non-participation.  When we visited a mosque, women do participate in the prayer with men. 

Friday is the holiest day and it is traditional that men will participate in afternoon prayers at the mosque, but women are also welcome.  We toured the Suleyman mosque just following afternoon prayers.  It was packed and the mood in the city changed dramatically afterwards.  Friday after prayers is their start to the weekend and the streets were packed.

One item I found interesting is the towers (called Minuet's) that are at every mosque.  They have traditionally served the purpose of assisting in telling time (like a sun dial) and also allows the Imam to call for prayers from the elevated tower.  In the old days by yelling, in modern times by loud speaker.  The number of towers is an indication of the prominence of the mosque.  Note in the photo's below some have more than others.

Suleyman Mosque, note 4 minuet's, very prominent mosque

 

Close-up of Minuet

 

New Mosque, built about 100 years ago. 

Very large (note only 2 minuet's)

Great tour and day

When I planned the trip, I expected the full day guided tour of the Istanbul would be a highlight of the overall trip and it was.  I arranged a private guide and it was a great decision.  It give so much more flexibility and we could get into areas large groups can't and much faster.  My guide was a 30-something woman named Pelin.  She was born and raised in Istanbul.  We talked history, politics and she did her best to show me all of Istanbul and try to provide a perspective on muslim cultures.  Far to much to put in one post, so I will post a series of the key experiences.

On a side note, I expected it would be a long day, but according to my fitbit, I logged 29,500 steps and 14.7 miles!  No wonder I am exhausted, I was on the move from 8 am to 5 pm.  Great day, individual items to come.

The call to Prayer, day 2

As I noted yesterday, I woke very groggy to the call to prayer very early in the morning (about 4:30 am).  Today, as I have not kicked over on time yet, I was awake when it happened.  Lasted for about a minute at 4:30 am and was a person chanting/singing over very loud speakers.  Reminds me of when parts of the Catholic mass were in Latin (as I had no idea what they were saying).  My hotel is at least a mile from the closest mosque and it was loud enough to wake me from a deep sleep.

Listening to some narrative on my cruise yesterday, they said the morning prayer is as the sun is ready to rise (defined historically as when you can see enough to differentiate gray hair from non-gray hair) and the evening dusk prayer is when your shadow is twice the length of your height.  Fascinating to see how things were defined centuries ago.  I have a full day tour with a guide today and hope to see all the key sites

Great first day

I have always wanted to come to Istanbul, as it is such a center of things.  Where Europe meets Asia, passed back and forth from Christianity and Islam multiple times, yet it is one of the most progressive cities in an Islamic country.  One fact I heard today stunned me.  Istanbul was only 500,000 people 30 years ago and now is over 13 million.  A 25 times growth in 30 years.  Much has to do with immigration patterns I hope to learn more about tomorrow.

My goal today was to walk around to see the city and I sure did.  According to my fitbit, I walked 10 miles and hit 20,000 steps.  Lots of sights, sounds and fragrances.  I walked to the Grand Bazaar, Spice Market and took a Bosphorus cruise.  It was a great day.

Grand Bazaar

 

Spice Market

 

Boats where they catch fish and serve on sandwiches

 

The busy Bosphorus, there were boats, cruise ships,

oil tankers and container ships everywhere.  Very busy waterway.

 

 

View of the Bosphorus shoreline

 

 

Castle along the water, I am sure to guard the

Bosphorus at some point

 

Suleyman Mosque, on tomorrow's agenda



I made it to Istanbul

Well, I made it to Istanbul.  Long day (about 30 hours), but it went as planned.  Arrived at the hotel about midnight.  Flight was interesting, it was British Airways from London and as it was not very full, I was bumped to business class.  Interesting part, unlike most of the world where seats are larger and further apart, it is just the same seats, with the center seat having something blocking someone from sitting there.  Oh well, at least they had champagne.  Other interesting thing was the call to prayer that come on a loudspeaker over the city at 5 am.  I hope to learn more about that tomorrow.  I am off to the Grand Bazaar, spice market and Bosphorous Cruise.

I am packed and waiting for the car to pick me up to go to the airport.  I have everything I need (I hope) for 5 weeks in a standard black roll-on and a backpack. 

Just one day left until I head out on the walkabout.  Spent the weekend with Anne in Saint Louis and am on a flight back home tonight.  Get in about midnight and fly back out in the morning.  Of course Anne had to make fun of me for going to Saint Louis all packed to go on the walkabout in case we didn't make the connection home tonight and I could just depart from SeaTac tomorrow.  Looks like we will make it OK and I can leave as planned tomorrow.

I am looking very forward to this trip.  I have been thinking of doing a European trip like this since high school and have never found a break to do it.  I am fortunate to have a wonderful and understanding wife who supports the trip and will meet up with me for the last week and a half.   Stay tuned.  I will be in transit until Thursday and will start posting photos then.

Getting ready for the walkabout.  Here's the schedule:

Date	Location
Tuesday, May 26, 2015	Leave Sacramento
Wednesday, May 27, 2015	Arrive Istanbul
Thursday, May 28, 2015	Istanbul
Friday, May 29, 2015	Istanbul, Turkey
Saturday, May 30, 2015	Istanbul, Turkey
Sunday, May 31, 2015	Leave for Milan
Monday, June 1, 2015	Lake Como, Italy
Tuesday, June 2, 2015	Staufen, Germany
Wednesday, June 3, 2015	Staufen, Germany
Thursday, June 4, 2015	Baden Baden, Germany
Friday, June 5, 2015	Rothenburg, Germany
Saturday, June 6, 2015	Rothenburg, Germany
Sunday, June 7, 2015	Fussen, Germany
Monday, June 8, 2015	Fussen, Germany
Tuesday, June 9, 2015	Munich, Germany
Wednesday, June 10, 2015	Munich, Germany
Thursday, June 11, 2015	Salzburg, Austria
Friday, June 12, 2015	Cesky Krumlov, Chech Republic
Saturday, June 13, 2015	Cesky Krumlov, Chech Republic
Sunday, June 14, 2015	Hallstatt, Austria
Monday, June 15, 2015	Lake Bled, Slovenia
Tuesday, June 16, 2015	Lake Bled, Slovenia
Wednesday, June 17, 2015	Ljubljana, Slovenia
Thursday, June 18, 2015	Malpensia, IT
Friday, June 19, 2015	Milan, Italy
Saturday, June 20, 2015	Nice, FR
Sunday, June 21, 2015	Nice, FR
Monday, June 22, 2015	Nice, FR
Tuesday, June 23, 2015	Avignon, FR
Wednesday, June 24, 2015	Arles, FR
Thursday, June 25, 2015	Arles, FR
Friday, June 26, 2015	CDG Airport
Saturday, June 27, 2015	Return Sacramento