Istanbul!

admin March 29, 2023 0 Comments

After spending the day traveling from Switzerland to Turkey, we got a good night sleep and had our first full day in Istanbul.  We covered a lot of ground in one day including seeing the Sultan’s Palace, a massive unergtound cistern, several mosques, and just getting lost wandering around the city streets.

And the stray dogs and cats. But what is so unusual here is that they are so well cared for. The shop owners provide food and water, and are happy to have them. We even passed one that had its own Instagram account.  We definitely got the feeling the animals are a higher priority than people are, for example a cat that was sprawled out blocking the entrance to a coffee shop and had no intention of moving. Nor did the owner have any intention of moving it. Really nice to see see them so well taken care of.

It’s really interesting being in such a dramatically different culture. It’s predominantly muslim here, and hearing the call to prayer over the loud speakers across the city regularly is unique.  I also managed a rare sighting of Jodi in her hajab (required for women to enter some religious sites here).

We finished the day with great Turkish food and Turkish delight (candy).

Day 11 – Monkeys!!!

admin September 3, 2022 0 Comments

Day 11 we took the train about an hour east of Amsterdam to see more of the Netherlands. Our goal…”Apenheul”! Apenheul is a primate park but there are no fences in the park so all of the monkeys are free to roam around you. When you enter, you have to put all of your bags into a “Monkey Proof” bag so they don’t get your stuff. From there you enter and they are all around you. Kenzie and I love monkeys and had a blast. Jodi has to deal with Kenzie and I all day, so she’s already used to being around monkeys…

Day 10 – Headed to Amsterdam

admin August 31, 2022 0 Comments

Day 10 we left Brugge and got back on the train and started to make our way to Amsterdam. We decided to use it as our home base as we explored some of the Netherlands. Nothing too exciting today, just a relaxing ride on the train for a few hours followed by getting settled into a hotel and wandering the canals of Amsterdam. The train station had a pretty neat exercise bike though. If you wanted to charge your phone, you plugged it in and then had to pedal to make the power to charge it up!

Day 9 – Brugge

admin August 18, 2022 0 Comments

So it turns out that Brugge is AWESOME! We liked it so much that we changed our plans and decided to stay another day. We started the day with a boat tour through the canals (they want to be known as the Venice of the North) and a little walk around town. Since we were in Belgium, we tried the Belgian waffles covered in Belgian chocolate (yum!), and later, the Flemish fries – so good!

As we were wandering the little back streets of the town, we stumbled upon some construction that looked out of place so we stopped to look. It was across from the old hospital (1000 years old), and it turned out to be an archeological dig in progress. We watched as they unearthed 2 skulls and their bones. We were guessing that being across from the hospital, maybe it was the old graveyard. Europe has such amazing history, and it was so cool to see this happen right in front of our eyes. Definitely a highlight of the trip. We’ve had great luck on trips just wandering without a plan, and this reinforced why we like doing that so much. Amazing!!

We finished the day with some museums, shopping, and a carriage ride around the old parts of the town.

Day 8 – Travel Day

admin August 17, 2022 0 Comments

Starting on day 8, we had no reservations and no set plans. From here on it’s just looking at the map and wandering wherever looks exciting. We settled on Brugge, Belgium. We packed up our room in Paris and headed to the train station with our Eurorail passes in hand. It was a loooong, difficult travel day (turns out that getting a seat on the train in the height of summer tourist season is more difficult than we’ve experienced in the off-season, should have seen that coming…), but we made it to our hotel in Bruge around 8:30pm and had one of our best meals at a local restaurant!

Day 7 – last day in Paris

admin August 16, 2022 0 Comments

Brad started the day with a tour of the catacombs while Kenzie, Grace, and I had breakfast at a local cafe bistro. More walking and a boat tour down the Seine river, then past Notre Dame before it started to pour again! We’re ready to head to the train station in the morning and get to our next destination!

Day 6 – Paris

admin August 15, 2022 0 Comments

After a long day of travel, we slept in and took our time getting out to see the city. Brad booked us an Air BnB in the city so it was pretty convenient to walk… we started at the Louvre, had some crepes, learned about the locks on bridges, then ended the day at the Eiffel Tower.

Day 5 – All Aboard!

admin August 14, 2022 0 Comments

Day 5 was an 11 hour train ride from Rome to Paris…. Long day!

Day 4 – Rome

admin August 13, 2022 0 Comments

Day 4 in Rome started out WET! Brad had arranged for a small tour of the Colosseum with two other families… both happened to be from the states and one family was from southern Oregon!

After the Colosseum, we rented bikes and rode outside of town down the Appian Way. It’s one of the original Roman roads originally built in 312 BC. And of course, more Italian food and gelato…

Day 3…. And 3rd gelato!

admin August 12, 2022 0 Comments

We took the train to Naples and then on to Rome. Trying to get on track with our sleep schedule, we dropped our luggage at the hotel and went for a walk. We passed the Colosseum, stopped for gelato (again), and wandered the city.