Europe Trip 2010

Europe 2010: Santorini

Jul 23rd

Posted by Jeff Keller in Europe Trip 2010

Finally feeling somewhat better (but staying away from food), today I ventured to Santorini, Greece. It’s not the first time I’ve been here — I’ve got a ton of photos from my visit in 2006 on this very blog. Just getting to the island is an adventure: first you take a tender boat to the base of the island. From there you can either wait an hour to take a tram to the top of the hill, or a donkey. We had recently heard that the donkeys were not treated well, so we were going to take the tram. Then we saw the line. So, we took the donkeys again, which is totally crazy.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from today:

: Taking the donkey up to Fira

: You can’t take a bad photo here

: Love the doors here

: Destroyed in an earthquake several decades ago

: The buildings in Fira look like snow

: The Celebrity Equinox in front of Fira

: You can see the donkey route toward the left

: Long distance shot of Oia

: You can see the windmills

Europe 2010: Mykonos

Jul 23rd

Posted by Jeff Keller in Europe Trip 2010

The day started out pleasantly enough: we went to Paradise Beach for some swimming. Later, we strolled through the narrow, colorful streets of Mykonos town. Unfortunately for me, I came down with some kind of stomach bug that afternoon, which put me out of commission for the rest of the evening, and all of the next day, so I have no pictures of the three ancient cities near Ephesus that I would’ve visited.tutorial android

Here’s what I do have from Mykonos:

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: View from the stateroom balcony

: Paradise Beach

: Narrow streets of Mykonos town

: Yet another door photo

: They use other colors besides blue here

: Requisite door picture

: Yes, that is the Ramrod Club

: I figure I’ll get my fill of blue churches in Santorini

Europe 2010: Istanbul

Jul 20th

Posted by Jeff Keller in Europe Trip 2010

2 comments

Istanbul is a bustling city of over 15 million people that straddles Europe and Asia (no, there’s no spot where you can have one foot in each). Aside from the call to prayer that is heard six times a day, it’s a pretty westernized place. Our ship spent a total of 25 hours in Istanbul, and I spent about 12 of those exploring the city. Check out the photos:

: Our pilot boat approaches

: Sailing into Istanbul

: The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia

: Blue Mosque from the ship

: Hagia Sofia

: Topkapi Palace

: The Turkish flag with Galata Tower in the background

: The city is a mix of old and new

: The Bosphorus Bridge spans Europe and Asia

: An ancient Underground Cistern

: They needed something to hold up the columns, so they used Medusa’s head

: Entrance to the Spice Market

: Inside the Spice Market

: Turkish Delight

: Spices and tea

: The Four Seasons

: Another fancy hotel

: Bosphorus Bridge and mosque

: Fancy houses on the Asian side of town

: Artsy shot of the bridge

: Another B&W shot

: Galata Tower and a minaret at night

: Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, and the Blue Mosque at night

: The Bosphorus Bridge at night (it changes colors every few mins)

: Blue Mosque

: Inside the Blue Mosque

: Dome

: Area reserved for prayer

: Egyptian obelisk in the Hippodrome

: The heavily guarded Topkapi Palace

: Another gate to the Palace

: Lazy kitty

: Part of the harem portion of the palace

: It’s good to be sultan

: Nice view

: Looking for hand-outs at a local restaurant

: Hagia Sophia

: Entry corridor

: It’s huge!

: Dome

: Upstairs corridor

: Mosaics

: Entrance to Grand Bazaar

: Another entrance… note the date: 1481

: The crazy Grand Bazaar

Europe 2010: Athens

Jul 18th

Posted by Jeff Keller in Europe Trip 2010

We got a break from the hot weather in Athens — it was only about 93 today, with low humidity and a nice breeze. Most of Athens was unexciting (which is what I’ve always heard), with the highlight being none other than the Acropolis. Here are my photos from the city:

: Working our way up the Acropolis

: We passed through this gate (under restoration) on the way up

: Looking at another ancient building from the Acropolis

: Old colisseum

: Holy sprawl, Batman

: The Parthenon

: Too bad you can’t go inside

: One more

: Man, I feel like I’m back in Art History class in 7th grade. It’s the Caryatid porch on the Erechtheion!

: Back down near sea level, this is where the first modern Olympics were held, I think

: Acropolis from below

: Mask of Agamemnon

: Ancient sport

: Shopping street in old town with a nice view

: TONS of ferries in Pireaus

: Leaving Athens behind

Europe 2010: Split, Croatia

Jul 16th

Posted by Jeff Keller in Europe Trip 2010

While it was a cute little town, Split was a bit underwhelming. There wasn’t a whole lot to see (that we could walk to, at least), and the heat didn’t help matters. Needless to say, we only spent about 2 hours there. Here are some photos from the city and surrounding area: