In the morning Chris took us to St Elloro train station where we boarded a train for Florence. We went to Platform 10 at Florence station and were pretty happy that we were quite early ... but ... the train went from Platform 9 and we did not hear the change being announced ... so unknowingly we watched our train head out from the Platform beside us! Suddenly we were the only ones left at the platform and there were no more trains! The next train to Verona was in 2 hours time, so we settled back for a bit of a wait. Finally 2 hours later we were on our way and heading to Verona.
When we were on a ferry from the Greek Island of Samos to Kusadasi in Turkey we met a very nice Italian couple, Valero and Ernesta who gave us some good tips on places to visit when we head into Italy, especially Siena and Verona. They said if we do manage to visit Verona to give them a call and they will take us on a tour of their city.
Valero & Ernesta were there at the station to meet us, so we headed out to see the sights of the beautiful City of Verona. It was great to have our own private guide, Valero gave us a great commentary as we walked around the city streets to see the sights. Among the places we visited was the balcony where Shakespere's Juliet was wooed by Romeo - what a popular site that was - scores of people were in the courtyard. Valero then took us to Romeo's house but there were only about 4 visitors there - somehow it just doesn't draw the crowds, like Juliet's house does. We went to the 1st Century Roman Amphitheatre which is known as the Arena, where open air Operas and Rock Concerts are held - this arena can hold 20,000 people. The medieval Town Hall is the former residence of the Della Scala family - they even had their own Church and graveyard. There are so many sights in Verona that it really needs a few days to do it justice - so we'll put a visit to Verona on our To Do List when we next visit Italy.
We made arrangements to meet later for dinner. Valero & Ernesta took us to their local Pizzeria which was just great. This little restaurant has been in the same family for 4 generations and it is run by the family themselves. We ordered pizzas - but it's not so many slices - it's one full pizza each! They were fantastic - really delicious. After our dinner the owner of the restaurant shouted us all coffees and some special liquers - one in particular was from the island of Sardinia, his family home. After dinner, we headed up to the top of the hill and had great views of the city by night.
The following morning it was pouring rain - not the best sightseeing weather so we set off for the station and booked our tickets to Venice for a brief visit. Venice is famous for masquerades - so here it is possible to buy all types, sizes and colours of masks. Our plan was to take the route of the old Orient Express train from Venice to Istanbul. We travelled via Trieze and Koper to Ljubljana the Capital of Slovenia. Slovenia is a beautiful country and reminded us of Bavaria in Germany and Tirol in Austria as we travelled through the mountains.
In Ljubljana we checked into the Cecilia Hostel which is actually an old prison which has been renovated and converted into a Hostel. We managed to get the last "cell" in the place which is famously known as "The Eye". Our room #116 was blue in colour and had a circular bed with 2 ladders attached to the sides. The cell comes complete with the original steel grill windows and door! A bit weird but quite interesting! There was a 5 Euro all you can eat barbeque on the night we arrived, so Pat was pretty happy with that. We met Matt from Sydney, currently based in London, and enjoyed his company for a few after dinner drinks.
The following day was dull and wet as we headed to Belgrade in Serbia. We had a lovely young lady in our carriage - Claudia is from Venezuela but her family now live in Chile. She is studying Environmental Economics and is attending University in Belfast. She was surprised to know I was born in Belfast, so we then had some great chats about Ireland.
A Serbian lady and her Croatian husband came into our carriage later in the day - they were about 5 years older than us. We had no common language but we managed to find out quite a bit about each other and each other's family. They produced a bag of plums and apples from their farm which they insisted we keep. The man stood up and took a bottle of alcohol from his bag - he makes it himself from apples - he took Pat's water bottle from his backpack and proceeded to fill the bottle with the alcohol! There was no chance to decline their hospitality - they just would not take "no" for an answer. We had hand shakes, kisses and cuddles when they left the train.
We took an apartment in the centre of Belgrade and walked into the City Centre in the evening. What a place - hundreds of people out enjoying the nightlife . The City Centre is very attractive - it has obviously come a long way since the days of communism. We bought our train tickets for the following day - a long haul ahead - 24 hours by train from Belgrade to Istanbul in Turkey.
Of course things have to go wrong sometimes.....firstly we were told we were in the wrong carriage as the section of the train we were in would be separated from the rest of the train in a few hours time and would then be heading to Thessaloniki in Greece. We walked back a couple of carriages and chose the best of the worst carriages with the least amount of graffiti on the windows so we could at least see out! Next we were told the carriage we had chosen was 1st class (uuuugggghhhh) and that we should go back to 2nd class - but the conductor must have felt sorry for us and told us we could stay put. The next conductor told us, because of flood damage in Turkey there was no train from Sophia, Bulgaria to Istanbul & that we would have to go by bus (even though we had paid the full train fare).
The next drama was the train broke down just after we had left Serbia and entered Bulgaria so after 1.5 hours wait, a second engine turned up and we were pushed back into Serbia. Of course, this meant customs and immigration all over again! Eventually all was clear and we headed for Sophia. Finally we boarded a bus in Sophia for Istanbul - the bus was brilliant - comfortable and clean - the best part was that we managed to sleep for most of the trip. This was probably the most disruptive day we have had in 4.5 months! However, there is always a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow and we are now in Istanbul. Brilliant! What a magnificent place.
A very friendly young Turk showed us how to get out of the biggest bus station I have ever seen in my life and into the Metro, where we headed for the Sultanamet district. Our tram stopped near the magnificent Blue Mosque from where we checked out some Hotels and found a great little place for the next couple of days. It was great to check into our accommodation, wash our clothes and get into a shower to wash off all the grit!
The Blue Mosque is the World's largest mosque and truly a sight to behold. It was built by Sultan Ahmet 1 between 1603 and 1617 - it was built to surpass the nearby Aya Sofya in grandeur and beauty. We removed our shoes and walked inside the mosque - or should I say - sunk into the thick carpet which covers the floor. It is certainly an amazing Istanbul landmark. After leaving the mosque we headed for the magnificent Grand Bazaar to do a bit of retail therapy - this Bazaar has 4,500 shops in all - something to suit everyone.
In the evening we went out for dinner to a restaurant with a group playing traditional music and a display by a Dervish Dancer. When we returned to our Hotel we headed for the rooftop terrace where we had the most magnificent views of Istanbul by night and the Blue Mosque which is beautifully lit up.
This morning we decided to take an open-top doubledecker bus city tour to have a good look around the city of Istanbul. In the afternoon we visited Topkapi Palace and its 400 room Harem - we also visited the Basilica Cistern which is an underground water reservoir for the Palace and surrounds originally built in the 7th century. We called PJ this afternoon and he advised that Pat should not leave Istanbul without experiencing a Turkish Bath and Massage. He took PJ's advice and visited the Old Istanbul Turkish Bath, which he would now thoroughly recommend.
This morning we must pack our bags and begin to head home. We fly out of Istanbul at 1:35pm and will visit Dubai for one night then Singapore for 2 nights before heading into Brisbane on 23rd September.
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