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!

Coming Home!

I realize that we are way behind on our blogging and I will do my best to catch up with it soon. However, I just wanted to let you all know the news- we bought tickets for our flight back to Minnesota! We will be returning home on September 30th. We are sad to see our adventures coming to an end, but we are really excited to come home and see all of you again!

Israel

Israel is a place that I have wanted to see for quite some time. It was actually a big reason we ended up in the Middle East. I am so glad we visited- we had a great time, and I hope to tell you all about it!

We crossed the border into Israel from Jordan and went straight to the Sea of Galilee. This is the region where Jesus did a lot of his ministry. It also happens to be a very beautiful part of the country.

The Sea of Galilee.

We stayed in Tiberias, a very nice city right on the sea with many nice shops and restaurants, and a beautiful waterfront area. We rented bikes for a day, and I biked partway around the Sea of Galilee to a few historical Biblical sites. The town of Capernaum is partially preserved along with the remains of Peter's house where Jesus stayed. At Capernaum was also the sight of a synagogue where Jesus often went to teach. You could see ruins of churches built over the sight of Peter's house (including a funky but neat new church hovering over the ruins of the house). I spent some time enjoying the view of the sea. It seemed that Jesus picked a very pleasant place to do his ministry!

Peter's house under the new church in Capernaum.

Also on the sea, I stopped to see a couple churches commemorating miracles that Jesus performed, including the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, as well as the place where it is said that Jesus first appeared to Peter after the resurrection. I had a difficult but enjoyable bike ride back to town afterward, along with a stop for lunch and a chat with some friendly local people.

Also quite near to the Sea of Galilee is Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus. Andrej and I took a bus out there and spent a day checking out the town. Modern Nazareth isn't really anything special and just seems like a typical, modern Middle Eastern town. However, the sights were quite something.

One things we quickly learned about the Biblical sights is that one often can't be exactly sure where things took place. It all happened a long time ago, and at the time of its occurrence, the importance often wasn't recognized or didn't want to be recognized by the people who had the power to preserve the sights. Often they were preserved in their estimated spots a few centuries later after Christianity took off. Therefore, you often see more than one place claiming to be the sight of something or other, with each place being claimed by differing Christian sects.

Anyways, in Nazareth, we first checked out a couple sights where it was claimed that Mary was told she was going to give birth to Jesus. The first was an old well. The second sight was a Catholic church which was on the sight where they believe that to happen. The church was decorative in a really great way- in and around the church, there were mosaics of Mary and Jesus that were made from different Catholic communities around the world. They were really works of art, and I loved the fact that most of them reflected the ethnicity of their people. For example, the Thai mosaic makes Mary and Jesus look Thai and the mosaic is done in a traditional Thai style of artwork.

The Korean mosaic.

Right next to that church is a smaller church where it is believed Joseph had his carpentry shop where the young Jesus lived and worked with his family. There are more ruins beneath that church. We also saw another church nearby over the sight of the synagogue the young Jesus attended.

After and enjoyable time in a very modern part of Israel, we spent about 5 days in Jerusalem. I really can't say enough about Jerusalem. It is one of my favorite cities that we have visited, and there is just SO much history and culture there. Jerusalem itself is a very large and modern city, but it has the old walled city of Jerusalem inside the city. The old city has an incredible feel to it. It is all walled in with narrow stone streets. Over the centuries it has been built and rebuilt on top of itself, putting the current city much higher than it was 2000 years ago. The excavations are an archeologist's dream. The old city is divided into four quarters- the Christian quarter, the Armenian quarter, the Jewish quarter, and the Muslim quarter. The population and livability of each section has fluctuated over the years with political circumstances. However, at the moment, all four seem to get along fairly well. The Muslim quarter is the largest, the Armenian quarter the smallest.

We had a nice little hotel room with a balcony right outside the walls of the old city. It was a fantastic place for people watching. We were in a Palestinian part of the new city, outside the Muslim quarter of the old city. There was a bustling fruit and vegetable market right below our balcony. We arrived in Jerusalem on a Friday. Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, is from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Everything closes down during these times. Everything. But, from our balcony, we watched a procession of orthodox Jews on their way to synagogue inside the old city. The men with their curls on either side of their face, their big black hats and black cloaks with the tassels of their undergarments hanging down. It was quite the change from the typical Muslim dress we had been used to seeing for quite some time now, and it was so neat to see all these cultures coming together.

Andrej enjoying our balcony overlooking the gate to the Old City.

We went on a couple tours of the old city as well as spent a lot of time on our own wandering around. We walked through each quarter, each with a distinctive character to it. We got to see a number of the famous sights within the old city. We went to the Western (wailing) Wall. It is the western wall of the second temple which was destroyed in the first century. It is a very sacred sight for the Jews, and therefore they come to pray at the wall since the temple is no longer there (and there is now a couple mosques up on the temple mount). We also took a very interesting tour through the tunnels within the wall where you could see more of the original structure (since the current city is much higher nowadays). Women and men have different sides of the wall to pray at. When leaving the wall, people will walk backwards so as not to turn their back on such a holy sight. Besides the fact that it was the most important temple, the other thing that makes that sight so important for the Jews is that the temple once held the Holy of Hollies in a room where only one special priest was able to go into and only once a year. At one point, the Holy of Hollies was lost and no one no knows the exact location of where it used to be located. Religious Jews to this day will not go up on the temple mount because they feel they cannot physically be on the same sight as the Holy of Hollies, and since no one knows where it was, they just avoid it all together.

The Western 'Wailing' Wall.

This leads me into another sight we went to - The Temple Mount. On the temple mount is the Dome of the Rock. It is an iconic mosque built back in the 7th century on the sight where the Muslims claim the prophet Mohamed ascended into heaven in a dream to talk with God. There is also a smaller functioning mosque on the mount. Its a sight of a lot of contention between some Jews who feel since their temple was there, it is theirs, and the Muslims who feel that it is their property because their mosques are still there. Despite this clash in opinion, it still felt safe to visit (but there is a lot of security).

The Dome of the Rock.

Famous Christian sights we visited within the Old City include the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Inside, it holds the marble slab on which it is said Jesus' dead body was anointed, the rock within which it is said his cross was placed, and the tomb on which his body was laid. Numerous pilgrims come to this church, and it was pretty amazing to see. Once again, different sects of Christianity argue over where some of these things actually took place. We later visited a garden area outside the Old City where the Protestants believe Jesus' tomb is (frankly it looks much more like a tomb to me) as well as Skull Hill where they believed he was crucified.

The marble slab on which Jesus was anointed surrounded by pilgrims.
Underneath this altar is the hole in the rock in which the cross was said to have been placed.
The tomb of Jesus within the church.
Skull Hill.
What the Protestants believe to be the tomb of Jesus.

Another interesting thing in the Old City was the Via Dolorosa. It includes all of the stations of the cross and is supposed to be the path that the condemned Jesus walked. For example, along the path, it is marked with places where Jesus is said to have fallen, or have encountered someone, etc. It ends in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher of course. It was amazing to think that we may have been walking in the same steps as Jesus.

On one of our tours, we also got to see the room where they believe the last supper was held. Right near that area is a statue of King David. It had black paint poured all over it (which got quite the rise out of the teenage Jewish boys walking by). I think that was the only example of religious defamation we saw there.

The room of the last supper.
The statue of King David with all the black paint poured on it.

Another area we made sure to see of religious interest in Jerusalem was the Mount of Olives. Near to it is a gigantic Jewish Cemetery. On the Mount itself is the Garden of Gethsemane. It Is a very picturesque place with olive trees. It is said that these same trees heard the pleas of the soon to be condemned Jesus. Near the garden was also a grotto area where it is said there is the tomb of the Virgin Mary.

The Garden of Gethsemane.

The tomb of the Virgin Mary.

We had an amazing time seeing all these sights that are important to so many religions and people all over the world. It was especially neat to think that all those places and people in the Bible stories actually exist!

Jerusalem is not only religious structures and old historical sights. It is also a very modern city. We enjoyed doing a little shopping, eating at nice restaurants, and taking great public transportation.

One new-Jerusalem thing we did was go to the Holocaust Museum. It is rather new and very well done. The only unfortunate thing is that we seemed to be there on the same day that the entire Israeli military went on a field trip to the museum. It was absolutely overrun with them and you could barely see some of the exhibits. However, it was done very tastefully and really did a good job with telling you about the Jewish communities before they were torn apart and taken to the concentration camps. It was also interesting to learn about how more often than not, other countries tended to turn a blind eye to what was happening, and even after the war was over, many people no longer felt welcome in their communities, and other countries were often unwilling to take them. The victims of the Holocaust suffered terribly. Unfortunately, as we learned in Rwanda, the world has not learned from their mistakes and genocides still occur.

After leaving Jerusalem, we spent one night in Tel Aviv before flying out. If you have an Isreali stamp in your passport, the only bordering country that will let you in is Jordan. And we had already been there. So flying it was!

A few side notes about Israel...
Everyone, including us, wonders about the security situation in Israel. We went into the country quite cautiously. However, we did not encounter any worrying situations. We took public transport daily with no problem. Security was tight at the border, bus stations, religious sights, and the airport, but managed to not be much of a pain. The one curious thing I would like to comment on is their military presence. Israel has a mandatory draft for a 2 year military service for all young men and women (of course there are a number of exceptions). Therefore, at any given time, there is a large number of their population in the military. They wear their uniforms in public even when on leave. However, they also carry their giant guns around with them. This worried me at first when the very first bus we got on in Israel 3 other young men got on with their guns dangling over their shoulders. No one else batted an eye, and we learned not to either. They even seem to carry them when not on duty on occasion. At the Tiberias waterfront one night I saw a young man in trendy clothes looking like he was out for a night on the town, camera around his neck, giant gun on his shoulder. I just really hoped they were all mentally stable.

Also, Israel was a really tourist friendly country. Not only was the public transportation fantastic, but pretty much everyone spoke English! Not all signs were in English however, and I occasionally had to try and conjure up the little bit of Hebrew I learned in my Biblical Hebrew course in college. It wasn't very helpful. Israelis themselves do a lot of traveling, and they seem more than willing to help you out when you get stuck.

All in all, I loved Israel and I am so glad I got the chance to visit.