Bulgaria

Andrej and I took an overnight train west out of Istanbul into Bulgaria. We decided to make our first stop Plovdiv. Plovdiv seemed like a nice place to start because it was said to have a very nice Old Town area and it is not nearly as big as the capital city, Sofia.

In Bulgaria, the cheapest sleeping option tends to be renting a room in someone's home. The guidebook said it was very common and safe, so we decided to give it a try. Right after we got off the train, we were met by an old lady named Dora who was very convincing- emphasizing how expensive the hotels in town were, etc. We were tired due to lack of sleep on the train with the middle of the night border crossings, and we decided to just take her up on her offer!

Her apartment was in a large communist style concrete complex. Her children were grown and out of the house and her husband had passed away a number of years ago, so it really did feel quite big and empty and we were happy to be her guests! She had a few cots set up in one of the rooms for her guests. She shared some fruit with us, told us how to get around town, and was in general quite welcoming. Her English was limited though, so we couldn't talk to her all that easily. But, it was a neat experience getting to stay in a local person's home, even if they are a complete stranger.

In Plovdiv, we visited the cute old town with narrow, winding cobblestone streets up on a hill. The old buildings and homes there were well preserved, often with colorfully decorated facades. There were many art galleries in the area as well. We also spent some time in the pedestrian area of the new part of town, and enjoyed people watching, window shopping at all the modern shops, and eating lots of ice cream being sold in stands all along the street!

The pedestrian street in the new town area of Plovdiv.

Andrej and me in Plovdiv.

Andrej in Plovdiv.

The next day we took a train to the capital, Sofia. While we were staying at Dora's apartment in Plovdiv, we came across a Greece guidebook that a fellow traveler had left behind. We looked through it a bit, and on a whim, we decided to go straight to Greece from Sofia! So, after booking our tickets to Athens, we only had a few hours in the capital to wander around, ride the trams, check out some cool old churches, and of course have some more ice cream. Then, it was off to Greece, which I will tell you all about in my next post!

Turkey

Jill and I spent a large chunk of our time in Turkey in the Capadokia region. This region has truly amazing geological formations that we explored by scooter, foot and sometimes on all fours. Here are photos of some of the outdoor areas that we explored.

Early inhabitants of the region carved homes for themselves into the rock and this particular one also features homes for a few dozen pigeons outside.

In addition to the common family sized cave there were several places in the region where entire cities had been carved into the rock. Here is Jill several levels underground looking at one of the larger openings in an underground city that we visited.

After leaving the thoroughly exploring the Capadokia region Jill and I headed down to the Mediterranean Sea for a quick splash before making our way to the North of the country. Here are some of our photos in and around the town of Antalya.

Here is a completely outdoor escalator we found for crossing a busy road outside Antalya’s largest mall.

After several days on the ocean we took a bus to Istanbul which would be our last stop in Turkey. After several days on the ocean we took a bus to Istanbul which would be our last stop in Turkey. we settled down in Istanbul for a few days to see the myriad interesting around town. First of all is this obelisk in the central square which came from, of course, Egypt.

We spent the better part of two days just admiring the fantastic architecture around town. Here are several shots of the buildings that we visited.

One of our afternoons we took a train down to the river and watched fireman douse the roof of what looked like a large restaurant/hotel building.

Being a house repair person myself, I found this plumbing job quite interesting. Notice someone had to break the window to complete the installation.

These next two photos are from a mosque that we visited on our third day in the city.

On our last day in town we took a several hour ferry through the waterway that separates the middle east from Europe. Along the way we say several castles and at the end stop Jill and I got off the ferry to climb all up to and go inside on of the Castles.


After exploring the castle, Jill and I took the ferry back into Istanbul and then boarded an overnight train to Sofia, Bulgaria. Overall, the time that we spent in Turkey was very relaxing, enjoyable. In Capadokia it was mystical and in Istanbul is was awe inspiring. Jill and I were sad to leave but knew that the world beyond was beckoning us.

Georgia

When we were leaving Israel, there were very few options. Many Middle Eastern countries will not let you in with an Israeli stamp in your passport, not to mention some closed borders. So, we could either go back to Jordan, which would have been pointless, or we could fly out. So, I contacted my good friend Laura who I knew was in Georgia for part of the summer studying for her PhD. The timing all seemed to work out, so Andrej and I flew to Tbilisi, Georgia and finally got to see the country I have heard so much about!

On a side note, on our way to Georgia, we had a long layover in Kiev, Ukraine. We managed to leave the airport and check out the city for a couple hours. We mostly just enjoyed taking the bus into town, marveling at the Soviet style buildings, taking the old subway around, and walking around town. It seemed like a neat city, and it would be fun to see more of it someday.

Laura was a former Peace Corps volunteer in Georgia and she had also done an internship in college. With all this Georgian experience, she was the perfect tour guide! When we made it to Tbilisi, she arranged for us all to stay with her friends in Tbilisi- Austin and Hannah. Austin and Hannah were also former Peace Corps folks and staying with them in their home was a lot of fun. They also have a third person living there- Marita. Marita is a Georgian law student and former host sister of Hannah. It was absolutely wonderful to be in a home and around fluent English speakers again.

In Tbilisi, Laura took us out to some pretty cool sights. There is an old castle up on a hill that looks over the town and is very scenic. We hiked around up there and had a great view of the city.

Looking at the castle from below.

The view of Tbilisi from the castle.

Andrej, me, and Laura at the castle.

We also got to see a new, very large, very beautiful church- the Sameba Cathedral. To go inside the orthodox churches, women are supposed to cover their hair and wear skirts. This church was fairly touristy, and we made it in with just hair coverings. The church displayed many beautiful religious icons, which the religious will often come up and light a candle in front of or even kiss. The main church was also surrounded by a number of smaller churches. There are no pews in the churches- apparently everybody stands during services.

Laura and me at Sameba Cathedral.

A view of one of the smaller churches surrounding the cathedral.

Also while in Tbilisi, Hannah had organized a girls night out. I hadn't done something like that in a LONG time, and it was really awesome. We all went to the Turkish baths downtown. We rented a private bath. It consisted of a lounge/changing room with bathroom, and a separate room with the actual bath. The bath was filled with natural super hot sulfur water. You would sit in there as long as you could tolerate. You could also go in a sauna. The bath is supposed to be therapeutic. It feels fantastic. Also, a lady comes in and scrubs you down with an exfoliating sponge and soaps you and gives you a little massage. You leave feeling so relaxed and clean, its amazing! Afterwards, we went out for dessert at a nearby restaurant with a nice live band and a great outdoor setting.

Another fun social outing we had was with Laura's friend Giorgi. Giorgi is about our age, yet he is a member of Parliament in the new Georgian government. He is quite smart and worldly and seemed to enjoy telling us about Georgia and Tbilisi. He took us all out to a nice restaurant in the old part of town where we also enjoyed some great live music and fun people watching. Giorgi seemed to know a lot of people. He was also paranoid that half of them were spies...

Giorgi and Andrej at dinner.

After a really great few days spent in the capital, it was time to see some of the countryside. We took a bus out west to Ozurgeti, the small town where Laura lived as a Peace Corps volunteer, and where she was staying this summer with her former host family. Andrej and I really enjoyed this part of our visit, as it gave us the opportunity to meet some local people and see how the live.

A little about their living situation- 6 people (plus Laura, Andrej, and me) lived in the house. One set of grandparents, the mom and dad, and two girls. The family was all around extremely kind and welcoming. The house itself seemed quite large and spacious, and like most houses, was up on a raised concrete platform. It had a large front porch, where we all liked to sit and chat. They also had a big garden in the backyard where they seemed to grow just about everything under the sun. It seemed like most of the things we ate at their house were home grown, which was wonderful. They also kept some chickens and a pig back there.

We spent most of our time in Ozurgeti with the girls- Nino and Salome. Nino is 12, Salome is 14. They had to be the sweetest teenagers I have ever met! If they were embarrassed to be seen with a bunch of older Americans, they hid it well. Some of the things we did we the girls included going for walks around town, hanging out in the park, doing an impromptu tour of the tea factory, playing Uno, having fabulous meals, and visiting the country house.

Salome, Salome's friend, Nino, Laura and me in the park in Ozurgeti.

The girls hanging out in the park.

The country house was in a smaller village about 20 minutes out of town. It is really picturesque, with a river and mountains and lots of greenery. It was quite peaceful. We strolled down along the river, then made the somewhat strenuous hike up to the top of the hill where there was an old 12th century church where their grandmother works. We got to meet the grandma and take a look inside the church. The inside was quite neat because it had never been renovated due to lack of funds. It was nice to finally see a place in its original state. The grounds and views outside the church were very nice. There was also a pet sheep living at the church.

The river in the village.

Another shot of the river.

Laura posing as a peasant girl outside the village church with their pet sheep.

After visiting the church, we visited their aunt at the country house. Its a nice, rustic looking place with streams on either side. It had been recently partially renovated and it looked really nice! The family always fed us fabulous homemade cheese, made straight from the cows at the country house. While here, we had a wonderful feast of all kinds of good Georgian foods. Our favorites were an eggplant dish and a cheese bread. Andrej still raves about the cheese bread. The host family in Ozurgeti also fed us equally as well and we loved every bit of it. The Georgians were so hospitable!

The whole family was really sweet, and we didn't want to leave their company. We also had such a great time being with Laura for the whole week, and we didn't want to leave her behind either! But, eventually it was time to press on. After 3 great days in the countryside, we left for Batumi.

We spent one night in Batumi, a town on the Black Sea. It was a lively place with nice rock beaches that attracted tons of people. It had good shopping and good food. We enjoyed a special boat shaped cheese bread there. The highlight of Batumi for me was riding there enormous ferris wheel right on the sea side :-)

A view of Batumi from the top of the ferris wheel.

Georgia was a great experience for us- being able to see an old friend, make new ones, and stay with a local family and eat a lot of wonderful local food. This really is what travelling is all about!