Tall Ships

Monday 24 May 2010

We arrived in Varna today, on the Black Sea, just in time to see an armada of old tall ships take one more lap around the harbor before heading off to sea.

Prayer fruit

Sunday 23 May 2010

Got out of the city today, and went up to a popular working monastery. (We saw a miraculous icon! We don't know what it did, but it was miraculous!) After visiting the church and whatnot, we went for a walk on the nature trail through the neighboring hills and woods. It was gorgeous.

We saw a lot of these red and white bracelets tied to the trees and bushes. I think they must be for prayers, but I'll ask around and keep you updated!

Chuch tower

Saturday 22 May 2010

A lovely church tower in the old town of Plovdiv, with a wedding party gathering for a photo. I don't think you can see her here, but the bride was wearing a tight white miniskirt dress with only one sleeve. Oh yeah.

Plovdiv houses

Friday 21 May 2010

Back in Bulgaria, in an historical city called Plovdiv. There are lots of very nicely restored Ottoman houses here, but unlike the ones in Turkey, these are all different bright colors, and are often decorated with intricate designs above the doors and windows.

Death Notices

Thursday 20 May 2010

Our Serbian friends told us these little fliers are only seen in Serbia, although we have seen them in Bulgaria as well. A Balkan tradition, perhaps.

When someone dies, their family puts up these notices of their death on their door, near the church, and around town. They aren't taken down until maybe when they're faded and dirty. So poles and doors and bulletin boards here are full of little memorials, like an extension of the graveyard.

Red Cross Camp

Wednesday 19 May 2010

We popped over to the town of Nis (pron. "niche") in Serbia, for a few days.

Visited a WWII Nazi concentration camp while here. These were the solitary confinement cells, where prisoners were forced to sleep on floors covered with barbed wire.

I don't really know what else to say - it was upsetting as you would imagine a trip to a concentration camp would be.

Kiosks in Sofia

Tuesday 18 May 2010

I guess that here in Sofia it's cheaper to renovate a basement apartment than it is to buy a kiosk or storefront, so lots of people just open up little stores like this. All over the city you can see locals bending over to buy cigarettes, beer, phone cards, pastries, who knows what else.

Yellow brick road

Monday 17 May 2010

That's right, Sofia really does have a yellow brick road. (Several, actually!)

St. Geoge's Mary

Sunday 16 May 2010

Well, we're taking a little break from Turkey, and spending some time in eastern Europe.

This was taken in St. George's, the oldest church in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Scorpion

Saturday 15 May 2010

Look what we found in the bathroom!

Lokum factory

Friday 14 May 2010

Coolest thing ever. Ryan and I visited a lokum (Turkish delight) factory today! The guys were really friendly, and showed us all around. They demonstrated all of the steps of making Turkish delight, and gave us a ton of samples (too many, if truth be told. I like Turkish delight, but one bite a day will do me.)

Here he's cutting some saffron flavored delight with pistachios.

Safranboul

Thursday 13 May 2010

Ryan and I are spending a couple of days in Safranbolu, which is an absolutely gorgeous little town a few hours from Istanbul (making us very glad it's not summer just yet . . .). The whole town has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it is so well preserved. There are hundreds of original Ottoman houses here, as well as some nice mosques, a caravansarai, and a hamam.

At the concert

Wednesday 12 May 2010

We've been doing a lot of couchsurfing, which means staying with local people who have an extra room or space on their couch. We set it up through a website called couchsurfing.com.

Our host here in Ankara took us to a concert tonight, of one of the biggest rock bands in Turkey. It was a surprisingly fun night (I normally hate loud concerts) - here's me having fun not being able to take a picture of the band.

Tile

Tuesday 11 May 2010

Visited a huge mosque with amazing tiling today. I've shown a few big photos of soaring domes, so I thought I'd get a little closer today.

Cenotaph

Monday 10 May 2010

At Ataturk's mausoleum. He is not inside there, he is in a secret chamber beneath which we could not enter.

Stuff in my backpack

Sunday 9 May 2010

This is what I have on my trip. Some clothes, books, a medicine kit, electronics bag, some gifts and souvenirs, a few miscellaneous items. It all goes on my back - the big bag weighs about 15 kilos. (I wish I could pack a bit lighter, but ah well!)

Little Dervish

Saturday 8 May 2010

Ryan and I went to Konya today, which was the birthplace of the whirling dervishes. This is the third show we've seen, and it was different yet again.

Ceiling

Friday 7 May 2010

Divrigi door

Thursday 6 May 2010

Cool carving, huh? Check off another World Heritage Sight for Ryan and I!

Sivas mosque

Wednesday 5 May 2010