Edirne

Day 5

Most of this day was spent in transit to Edirne, the second Capital of Ottoman Empire near the Greek border. After locating accommodations, we spend the evening wandering around the exteriors of this towns 3 noteworthy 500+ year old mosques.

Today Edirne is a town of 120,000+ with an agricultural base, feels much more authentic when compared to Istanbul (12 million + people).

All of the above pictures are of Ucserefeli Cami 1447


Day 6

Although we haven’t found dirt cheep lodging yet, we got a great deal on some tomatoes today. Only 35 cents a pound for excellent, vine ripened, locally grown, beefsteak style tomatoes.

Tasty hearty bread

Horsy got new shoes!!! Made of recycled car tires, much better for walking around town.

Ottoman head stones were traditionally topped with some form of a turban.

Eski Cami, a many dome and column style mosque built in 1414, reminiscent of Cordoba in Spain.

Selimiye Camii 1575

Muradiye Camii 1436

Day 7
Travelled to Bergama (Pergamum) only 9 hours on the bus. Landscape changed from rolling grass lands and sunflower fields north of the Sea of Marmara, to wooded hills, across the Dardanelles straight and finally to rocky steep scrub land next to the ocean, just like parts of Greece, Italy and Croatia.

If Ottoman Sultans were on MTV “Cribs”

Day 4

We visited Topkapi Palace Museum (and Harem-”Where the magic happens…..“) built by Mehmet the Conqueror soon after entering Constantinople and was used for over 4 centuries by Ottoman sultans. The expansive palace consists 4 courts, dividing public and private spaces, overlooking the Sea of Marmara.

At times up to 5000 people would live within the palace walls including, the sultan, his mother, his four wives, his harem of up to 300, the Eunuchs, the Janissaries (his hired guard), the Grand Vizier, the Viziers, cooks, other staff, etc.

http://www.australiangemmologist.com.au/ab23-08.html

The treasury included assorted “bling” such as The Spoonmakers 86 carat diamond, many many ruby and emerald adorned house wares. The sultans wore incredible robes and “MC Hammer” pants.

The afternoon was spend on a boat ride up the Bosphorous by many of the later more modern palaces.

We ended the day by heading up the hill to the largest mosque, Suleymaniye Camii, in Istanbul which was closed for renovations at the time of our visit

This Old Mosque

Day 2
Was filled with napping after many many hours of travel and sleeping on planes and in airports. We did visit the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts which contained some very impressively large carpets and nice inlay Koran stands dates ranged from the 8th to the 19th century.

The evening was filled with a stroll through the streets checking out the Ottoman wooden houses, people watching and enjoying some of the Ramadan art performances.

Ramadan, The Holy Month, is a time of fasting where nothing should pass the lips of the observer during day light hours. This year Ramadan ends September 10th. The sunrise call to prayer signals the start of the days fasting. The sunset call to prayer alerts the observers to break the fast with a specially prepared meal. All around the city, every park and restaurant is filled with people awaiting the call so that they can enjoy the meal that has been sitting on the table or picnic blanket in front of them for sometime.

Day 3

We visited Aya Sofia, the famous basilica, constructed by Justinian in 537, when Constantinople was the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. After the Ottomans took the city in 1453, Aya Sofia was converted to a mosque, and its architecture was studied and influenced the large central dome style of later Ottoman mosques.

The “Blue Mosque” named for the blue tiles from Iznik on the interior gallery, finished in 1616, sits next door to Aya Sofia, and represents the larger central dome feature on a slightly smaller scale.

We also visited the Grand Bazzar, the Eqyptian Spice Bazzar and the modern shopping district across the Golden Horn.

We made it to Istanbul

The first shot with minarets (in front of the Blue Mosque). Only 2,999 more to go!

Amsterdam for 14 hours

On our way to Istanbul we planned a 14 hour layover in Amsterdam.  We had both been there before, but enjoyed the opportunity to see the city again, to rent bikes and to simply cruise around.  (One day for two people + no hotel + no museams + economical food choices + no gifts + rented bikes = total expenses 60 euros.... I think we are done travelling in western Europe on a weak dollar!)

Bike parking outside the central station......

This traditional Dutch child hauling system of a three-seat bike, it seems is being replaced by the extended front bucket method. (Both remain smaller than a minivan or SUV.)

Just in case you need a few flower bulbs....

Or some spray paint for that urban art project.....

This canal parting shot was made with the new 10mm lens...

Oh how excited we are for the photo opportunites ahead.

Escaped Convicts Just Wanted to Visit 70th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

When we had exited Yellowstone National Park and entered Cody, WY we learned of the news of the manhunt for a couple who were on the run from Arizona. John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch were seen in Yellowstone Park the same weekend we were in the area. Next we made our way to Bighorn Mountains National Forest, WY. Guess what! Someone thought they had seen the couple here as well! Since we have seen so many motorcyclist lately on their way to Sturgis, it only makes sense that this couple is headed that way too. We guess they will wait until they get there to choose their favorite motorcycles to hijack.

Medicine Wheel, Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming.

Mount Rushmore (We didn’t feel the need to pay the required $10 to park at the site.)

Crazy Horse sculpture.

Nurturing an early appreciation for guns at the Wall Drug store, Wall, South Dakota.

Badlands National Park.

Minute Man Missile National Historic Site. (Yes, junior rangers, you can earn a merit pin for this one too!)

No Camping for Tents in Grizzly Territory

We skirted through Yellowstone late in the day, hoping to avoid August traffic. We only stopped to eat and to quickly look at the water falls. Because of rain earlier in the day the Yellowstone river was flowing nicely.

Our plan was to camp around 9-10 p.m. at one of the many state campgrounds outside the northeast entrance to the park, in the Shoshone National Forest. We checked the entrances into five different campgrounds and all forbade tent (non -hard -sided) camping due to grizzly activity! By 11: 30 p.m. after diving another 30 miles away from the gate, we were exhausted and decided to just poach camp on a ranch road.





We later found out that a death had occurred after a recently tranquillized and collared grizzly, presumably woke-up, and mauled an unfortunate 70year old resident and botanist out for his hike.



The next day we drove through Cody WY, and on to Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. The area was beautiful, and not very busy mid-week. They had rangeland for wild horsed and some great historic ranches to visit on the south end. We wished we had a boat to explore the river canyon, and that the wind didn’t howl after sunset.

On the road again....

Its surprising knowing how many Subarus are in Colorado, how difficult it is to acquire a replacement alternator. All four auto parts stores in Glenwood Springs had to order one in with only a three day delay.




Jason felt that this was, mechanically, the easiest alternator he has ever replaced. After we got the new rebuilt shiny alternator and power searing belt, and Sandy had charged the battery we were back on the road again.

We turned north at Rifle and drove up to Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area to stay at Firehole Camp Ground. Woke up to a bit of rain, while throwing on the rain fly we were treated to an early morning rainbow.



The beach was very pleasant, Jason pulled out his snorkel gear to check out the 2’ carp that were lazily swimming close to shore.

After relaxing at the beach we continued north to Half Moon Lake Camp Ground just outside of Pinedale, WY. We went for a day hike to Photographer’s Point in the Wind River Range. The next day we enjoyed another quality beach at Half Moon Lake.

In the evening we continued north on 191 along the Hoback and Snake Rivers. We navigated the swarms of tourists in Jackson, WY unscathed to find a popular dispersed camping location on the east side of Grand Teton National Park.

Thanks to the National Park Visitors center for providing us with free WiFi.

Start of the 2010 Trip

For those of you who haven't heard, we just moved out of our place in Avon, CO and are heading out over the next three weeks to travel the US and then flying to the eastern Mediterranean for 3 months.

So after putting everything in storage we took off on Saturday, and made it all the way to the turn off from 133 to Marble, CO (87 miles) before the alternator went out in Kari's car.  Hopefully we have gotten all of the car trouble out of the way.  Fortunately we had friends in Glenwood Springs, CO who were willing to put us up for the night AND let us borrow a car for a couple days while waiting for the part to come in.  Thank you again Sandy and Jen.  Forrest you have wonderful parents.  With those days we went over to visit Kari's cousin Heidi and her husband Ryan and their daughter, Saskia in Hotchkiss, CO.