After the islands, it was on to the mainland. We had only a couple of days to spare, so we decided to spend them in Athens. There was enough time to go to the Acropolis and to one of the smaller--but still very well done--museums. The big ones were closed for Orthodox Easter. But there was one benefit to the holiday: entrance to all the major sites in Athens was free.
This is the Parthenon, by far the most important site on the Acropolis. It was too bad there was so much scaffolding, but seeing it in person was still quite a thrill, and everyone knows preservation work is important. Here's a view from the Acropolis looking down on the Temple of Olympian Zeus. I really liked the open green space with just a few erect columns and one that they left fallen down. Aside from the the temple, hopefully you can get a feeling for what Athens looks like when viewed from the Acropolis.
From a town near Ephesus, it's a simple ferry ride to the easternmost Greek Islands. In a week and a half we made it to four islands, Samos, Patmos, Mykonos (no pictures of this one, it was an intermediate stop), and Santorini. We were looking for beaches and hiking, and the islands were accommodating for both.
This is a picture of the beach we frequented on Samos, as taken from the ferry. The water was clear and cold, and the beach a bit rocky, but it was still enjoyable. And since we were there before peak tourist season, it was practically empty. Patmos is a small island: you can day-hike to practically any destination. Aside from its beaches, it's home to the monastery of Saint John the Theologian, who wrote the Book of Revelation there, while secluded in a cave. We visited the cave and the monastery. Both were quite nice. This is a chapel at the monastery. It's got the classic Greek Orthodox look, except usually the churches are whitewashed with a blue roof. This is Gabe swimming at one of the beaches on Patmos. Gabe really likes swimming and would often try to get me to venture into the frigid water. This time he didn't succeed, which is why there is a picture. This is one of the places where we lunched on the way to the beach. A rather idyllic setting, to say the least. Our last stop was Santorini. It was a worthwhile stop in spite of its touristiness because of the splendid scenery. The group of islands are a caldera, formed by a volcanic eruption. Here's a satellite image of Santorini that I ganked from Wikipedia. The caldera has very dramatic cliffs on the inside. People construct buildings (mostly hotels) right up to the very edge. Hopefully the picture below provides a little perspective on just how tall the cliffs are. The highlight of Santorini was a hike along the inside of the caldera. The path featured beautiful views and flowers. Thankfully, it wasn't hot yet. This picture was taken looking westward along the northern rim. This picture is from virtually the same spot as the above picture, only looking south. You can pretty well make out the circle of the caldera. This picture highlights the pretty daisies along the path. You can also see a Greek Orthodox church peeping out over the trees on the left. We're looking to the outside of the caldera this time. And finally we have a picture of all the buildings that allegedly have the best sunset spot in Europe. We witnessed the sunset, and while it was quite nice, I think it goes too far to say it's the best spot in Europe. The cheese farm in Normandy gives it a serious run for its money.
From Istanbul we took a night bus (ahh the joys of traveling overnight) to Selçuk, the town nearest to Ephesus. I recognized the name of the city because Paul wrote a letter to its residents in the Bible, but had little idea of how impressive its ancient ruins were.
Ancient ruins require a good imagination, and for those of us who need lots of help, there are auidoguides and guidebooks. I decided to employ both means for my visit to Ephesus. Here I am in front of the Celsus Library in my full tourist uniform. This is one of the main drags. At the very end you can just make out the Celsus Library. This is the Roman Amphitheater, which could hold about 50,000 people. I overheard a tourist guide say that they multiplied the capacity of the amphitheater by 10 to arrive at an estimated population 500,000 people for the city. Aside from being really big, this is where, according to Acts 19, a great crowd gathered to protest the teachings of Paul.
Technically, we visited Istanbul before going to Azerbaijan, but the visit was little more than a layover during which I spent the majority of my time updating this blog. So the real exploring of Istanbul began when we the return flight from Azerbaijan landed us in Istanbul once again. It's a huge city, with a very important place and history, and a number of important sites to prove it. You get to see pictures of the two main ones, the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. Both are breathtaking.
We also took some time to visit the modern Istanbul, which was across a bay and to the North. It was lively and fun yet unfortunately, the camera didn't make the trip. So you'll just have to be satisfied with pictures of the old stuff and a bridge.
Have a look at this lovely suspension bridge, which spans the Bosphorus Strait. I very well may have been straddling Asia and Europe when I took the picture. Istanbul is the only city to have residents on two continents. And what a proverbial bridge between the East and West Istanbul truly is. The culture certainly felt that way to me, and the beautiful buildings fell into line as well. Here we have the Hagia Sophia, one of the most beautiful structures I've ever visited. It was originally a basilica, then a mosque, now it's a museum. It's gone under a number of changes over the years, so you have to use your imagination to picture it in its various incarnations of splendor, but its still mouth-gaping to be inside. And here is the best I could do to capture the interior. Sadly (or from the perspective of preservation, gladly), the big, central dome was having work done on it at the time. My camera could not taken in its full height, but you can make out a couple windows at the bottom of its perimeter at the top center of the picture, to the left of the scaffolding. Obviously, it's a really big place. Built, many would interpret, as a response to the size and beauty of Hagia Sophia, we have below the elegant Blue Mosque. It sits at the other end of a beautifully landscaped square facing the Hagia Sophia. I also couldn't find a way to capture the vastness of the Blue Mosque, so I focused on the wonderful colors and designs instead.
It's been nearly 4 years since I went to Azerbaijan the first time for a college internship. I spent 6 months there working for a Microfinance Organization called Azercredit. I made some good Azeri friends and I'd always promised I'd return again to visit. It was great to reconnect with the people and the place. I'm hoping the relationships I've maintained will last for the rest of my life. While I'll only ever get to see my Azeri friends on rare occasions, I feel the relationships have already made a significant impact on my perspective.
Our visit was a little short, but enough time to feel reconnected. We had a weekend in Mingechevir (the city where my friends Azer and Alizamin live) and a couple days of sightseeing in the capital, Baku.
Both of the nights we were in Mingechevir, Azer's wife Aygun cooked us some traditional Azeri cuisine. It was very delicious. This is a group photo after dinner on the first night. Azer is leaning on the couch, Djavidan is sitting on Aygun's lap, then there's Cara, and me (Gabe was the photographer). On Sunday, my other good friend, Alizamin took us to a mountainous region for a hike and lunch. He brought his son Ferid (who was just a baby when I was there last). The picture does a poor job of capturing the beauty, but it's at least a cute shot of Alizamin and Ferid ambling up the hill. Azeris love cars and there are three common makes: Mercedes, BMW, and Lada. This is Ferid in front of his dad's 4x4. After visiting my friends, it was time for a little sightseeing in Baku. This is in the Palace of the Shirvanshahs in the old part of Baku. I really liked the entrance to their reception place for guests. Unfortunately, the living quarters had been turned into office space, so we weren't able to explore as much as we wanted. Baku is flanked by steep hills on both sides of its bay, offering lovely views. As you can see, the day we went up to the top was a little hazy. Nevertheless, it was a rewarding climb. Drinking tea is the national pastime in Azerbaijan, and Baku has a number of quality tea-drinking establishments. My favorite is right next to the spot from which I took the above photo. You can clearly see a very satisfied look on both Gabe's and my face. To accompany our tea, we treated ourselves to a special rose petal jam, which you eat straight, using a teaspoon. Gabe and I both love bumper cars, and Baku has them set up permanently at a spot along the boulevard next to the bay. No one else was using them at the time, but that didn't stop Gabe and me. Yes, the video is boring (and long) due mostly to our being a little rusty. Maybe that's why, if you know us, you could also construe it as being entertaining.
From Jordan we took a ferry across the Red Sea to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. We arrived at about 7pm and decided to take a night service taxi (an old van in which you squeeze 14 people) across Sinai to Cairo. Like Jordan, Egypt was kind of tacked on to the Israel portion of the journey, so we set aside only a couple days. This was enough to see the Nile, the Pyramids, and get a taste of contemporary Cairo. Sadly, I didn't take my camera when we visited one of Cairo's crowded markets, so you only get to see the Nile and the Pyramids.
Perfect for tourists like ourselves, there are a number of sailboats that will take you out on the Nile for a very reasonable rate. Our tour book recommended going at sunset, which turned out to be a very good idea. I have lots of pictures of the Pyramids because they're so impressive. Here's a photo where I try to get as many of them in one picture as I can. The aim of this picture is to impress you with the pyramid's size. Here's an attempt at perspective. I'm at the base of the of one of the Pyramids with the other big one in the background. I'm not sure if the picture works. Anyway, the two big Pyramids are about 450 feet or 34 stories tall (i.e. very tall). This is the Sphinx. It's also very impressive to see, especially when you have the Pyramids in the background. Visiting the Pyramids seemed like an appropriate time for a group photo. So here it is. In case you forgot, that's me with Gabe and Cara. Lots of tourists visit Cairo and the locals know it. People are always inviting you to buy some of their wares. The folks offering camel rides eventually got to us, so we took a nice 30 minute ride across a bit of desert nearby the Pyramids arriving at a lovely perspective point. I have to say, camels are pretty fun to ride. I was a little too entranced by the scene of this salesman approaching me, so I decided to ask him how much for a Coke. At the slightest indication of intention to purchase (before I was sure of the price), I was holding an open Coke bottle in my hand. Feeling obliged to pay, I figured I would add in a tip in order to get a picture with him. I'm sure he's taken in many silly tourists like myself before.
