Author: Navygray

I’m home safely and with gratitude for another amazing experience!  This one was:

• 24 Days
• 12 Countries
• 7 Time Zones Crossed
• 4 International Flights
• 3 Rental Cars 
• 210 U.S. Driving Miles
• 3,350 Balkan Driving Miles
• 105 Hours of Audio Books
• 1,500+ Photos
• And a Mountain of Memories!

The Balkans were amazing! Dozens of highlights of things I had read about, but had never seen. Friendly people, pretty easy to navigate, good food, and spectacular sights and scenery. I’m again thankful for the good health and resources to travel, and with my very tolerant family that puts up with my absences. Maybe that’s the good part for them…?

Where to next? I’ve got three ideas stewing around in my head:

• A road trip through South Africa
• Hiking along part of the Great Wall of China
• Hiking in the English countryside and a visit to Portsmouth, England (to see cool Navy stuff)

And I definitely still have Antarctica on my Bucket List as my last continen to visit. But that one also interferes with ski season! Priorities…

Thank you for tagging along on my blog!

Before you go…

There’s no way God told Noah to put two mosquitos on that ark.

“The greatest wealth is to live content with little.” — Plato

I headed out at 4:30 am for the 45+ minute ride to the Istanbul Airport. Needless to say, there was scattered darkness at that crazy hour. 

The 11-hour flight was typical Turkish Air – comfortable, friendly, and good food. And I made it out of the DC airport in world record time! From the door of the plane, through immigration, customs, and onto the Hertz Shuttle in less than 10 minutes! Global Entry wins again, as well as an empty airport at Noon!

I drove my rental the 2-hours to Charlottesville where I was met by the prettiest girl in town!

Now this lucky guy is home! One more post coming to wrap up and finish off this trip.

Before you go…

If we’re not meant to have midnight snacks, why is there a light in the fridge?

Another gorgeous morning with temps in the low 50s by 8:00 am. So a trip to the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar were on my to do list.  And walking in Istanbul is actually pretty relaxing. Compared to all the other large cities on this trip, Istanbul has the best sidewalks and streets to walk on, with surprisingly few trip hazards.

The small clay pots above are used to cook meals in! The ones outside this restaurant are just for decoration.

Breakfast was a big orange “cookie” (with not a hint of orange flavor) and a chocolate horned pastry, and washed down with hot tea, of course, because I’m in Turkey!  All excellent, even the tea (that I normally never drink).

If you ever walk into Istanbul’s Spice Bazaar you will never want to leave — the smells are glorious and intoxicating!

HISTORICAL SPICE BAZAAR 1597-1664 — PRAYER SQUARE WOODEN AZAN PAVILION

THIS BALCONY LOCATED SOUTHEAST (THE QIBLA) IS NAMED AS AZAN PAVILION. THE SPICE BAZAAR IS A TWO-BAZAAR COMPLEX AS IT IS A COMBINATION OF TWO DIFFERENT BAZAARS. THE PRAYER SQUARE IS LOCATED AT THE CORNER WHERE THE LONGER AND SHORTER SIDES OF THESE TWO BAZAARS MEET. EACH MORNING ARTIZANS USED TO CONVENE AND PRAY HERE BEFORE STARTING THE DAY.

Surrounding the covered Spice Bazaar are additional streets with hundreds of shops selling nothing but scarves for women (to cover their heads, for warmth, for fashion, etc.).

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. In 2014, it was listed No. 1 among the world’s most-visited tourist attractions with 91,250,000 annual visitors. The Grand Bazar at Istanbul is often regarded as one of the first shopping malls of the world.

The Grand Bazaar is predominantly comprised of jewelry, clothing, handbag, and spice shops.

By noon the crowds were crazy in the bazaars and in the streets of Istanbul.  It had been so peaceful in the morning up until about 11:00 am, and then, Voila! A crush of tourists, shopkeepers, shoppers, workers, delivery people, etc.

A Turkish carpet vendor I spoke with outside the Grand Bazaar showed me photos of rug shows that he did in McLean, Virginia, and at a church in Midlothian, Virginia, not far from Charlottesville!  What a small world!

I have been very surprised with all the shop keepers I’ve dealt with in Istanbul.  They’ve been universally friendly and kind.  They offer you tea and sweets, and they are not pushy or aggressive at all, even though price bargaining is expected. And they are nice even when you decide not to buy something after trying on 15 leather jackets in each of three different shops (yes, I did).

The Nuruosmaniye Mosque was the first to be constructed in baroque style in Istanbul. The mosque was completed with the name of “Nur-u Osmani” in the era of Osman III. It was built between 1749 and 1755. The mosque and its social complex, which were constructed in a period when the architecture was under the influence of westernization, are considered as a milestone in the Ottoman architecture. Besides the mosque, a social complex composed of a madrasa (school), an imarethane (soup kitchen), a library, a tomb, a fountain, and a sebil (public fountain), was constructed.

At a number of restaurants, someone is often sitting at the open air front near the entrance and making flat bread. The people are generally older women like the one pictured below. This woman seemed quite pleased to allow me to take her photo (and I think she also liked the Turkish Lira I gave her).

Well that was pretty funny – I ran into the shoeshine scam! Shoeshine guy walked by me and dropped a shoe brush.  I picked it up and caught up with him to hand it back.  He was thankful, and chased me down as I walked away, got down in front of me and started brushing my tennis shoes!  When I said, “No, thanks,” and walked on, he came after again.  “Hey, Mister, I need to finish.”  “No, thanks,” again.  Walked away, but one more time he followed.  I finally figured out his shtick, and I kept walking.  He finally relented and went off after another mark!

I walked through Gülhane Park, the nicest city park I’ve experienced on this trip.

“The park was once the garden of the Topkapi Palace, the former house of the Ottoman Empire Sultans. However, the Mayor of Istanbul opened the green space to the citizens of Istanbul in 1912. And Gülhane Park has grown even more and more beautiful over time. Located on about 163 acres of land, Gülhane Park awaits you with a pleasant route surrounded by rare beautiful trees, resting areas, benches, children playgrounds, artistic sculptures and historical artifacts.”

I enjoyed a small pastry in the park called, “Kek.”  It’s pronounced like the English word, “cake.” It was a pastry with multiple layers of cinnamon.  Very good and not too sweet, unlike most American baked goods. I’ve never understood why the rest of the world (most…) can make “sweets” that are not, but are still delicious!

In the category of, “No One Cares but Me,” I noticed several warships in port during my evening cruise yesterday. It was too dark to determine their identity, so when I walked by the waterfront area today, I figured it out. There was a Turkish frigate, but since it was tied up outboard of another vessel, I couldn’t get the hull number. But the other two were the:

– ITS Carlo Bergamini (F 590), an Italian Navy frigate commissioned in 2013.

– HMCS St. John’s (FFH 340) – a Halifax-class frigate that has served in the Canadian Forces and the Royal Canadian Navy since her commissioning in 1996. 

All three were NATO member ships, so maybe they’re doing some joint exercises.

Dinner was a simple affair at a small cafe near the hotel.  I had a delicious shrimp, mushroom, peppers, cheese, and garlic dish, with Efes, a Turkish beer (with a protective cover!), and a trio of very good Baklava bites (the exception to the not so sweet treats).

Before you go…

I only know 25 letters of the alphabet. I don’t know y.

Clear skies in Sofia again this morning, but the temp was down to 34 degrees at 6:45 am when I headed to the airport. Chilly! I had another comfortable flight on Turkish Airlines. They are very efficient processes and friendly staff.  They even feed you a small meal on the short flight from Sofia.

After I got through through immigration and customs without any hiccups, I stopped at the “tourism desk” for Turkish Airlines. They directed me to the bus stops two floors below to head into downtown. The bus into town was only about eight dollars for the one hour ride!  And the bus was actually pulling out as I walked up, but the attendant stopped it to allow me get on!

My hotel room in the city center for two nights was free – compliments of Turkish tourism and the airline. Because I was willing to book a layover in Istanbul between flights (which I planned anyway), I was able to select from several free lodging options.  Great deal!

Istanbul is a large city…at almost 16 million people! The Los Angeles metro area is only ~13 million. So I obviously will only be able to make a tiny scratch on what the city, and country, have to offer.  But wow!  This a really amazing place!

Hagia Sophia Mosque (Ayasofya Camii), nicknamed, “The Holy Wisdom,” is awe inspiring.

It is a magnificent Byzantine church turned mosque turned museum turned mosque again since 2020. Its impressive dome and intricate mosaics will take your breath away. Massive in scale and scope, it was originally intended by Roman Emperor Constantine to be the largest sanctuary ever.  The original structure was built almost 1,700 years ago in the 4th century, back when Constantinople (now Istanbul) became the center of the Roman Empire.

Subsequent Roman rulers rebuilt, added, expanded, and modified, including a massive expansion in 532 A.D. using 10,000 workers. That also included the largest dome on earth at the time.  Stone came from sites across the Roman Empire. However, the dome actually collapsed a mere 20 years later.  So the next emperor had the dome rebuilt, this time even higher than the latter. And that version still survives to this day.

Catholic and Orthodox Christianity split in the 11th century. And in 1204 during the Second Crusade, many of the treasures in Hagia Sophia were looted. In 1400s, Sultan Mehmet the Conquerer attacked and eventually defeated the Romans. Hagia Sophia was turned into a Mosque in 1453. And in the following centuries, Constantinople continued to flourish under the Ottomans.

Many of the original Christian mosaics remain from the time when Hagia Sophia was a church and have now been restored.  They were mostly covered over the past several hundred years.

The nearby Blue Mosque.

Dinner was another good meal!

In the evening, I took a 2-hour cruise up the Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait, a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Turkey which is straddled by the city of  Istanbul. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara (and then to the Aegean Sea, and on to the Mediterranean).  It forms one of the continental boundaries between Asia and Europe. It also divides Turkey by separating Asia Minor from Thrace (or European Turkey). It is the world’s narrowest strait used for international navigation. On average, 160 ships per day transit the Bosphorus into the Black Sea.

Before you go…

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

The morning dawned with crystal blue sunny skies with temps in the 40s and climbing.  Well, I’m actually not sure what it was like when the sun was dawning since I didn’t roll out of bed until 9:00 am! But it was really nice by then! And what a great day for some walking and a museum tour in Sofia!

I think Sofia may be one of the nicest large cities in the Balkans.  Seems cleaner, newer, and maybe friendlier than some of the others.  The language is difficult and the signs impossible, but it’s rare when someone doesn’t speak English.  And Siri knows her way around when I’m driving!

One thing Sophia has plenty of is liquor stores! I mean everywhere!  In the city, there are liquor stores on practically every block.  

My first stop this morning after a thirty minute walk was the National Museum of Military History.  I was looking forward to that one.  “Was” is the operative word since the dang thing was closed for renovation!  Would have been nice if my phone or the website had let me know.

National Museum of Natural History

Info from the museum’s label. Probably more than some will want to read, but I found it interesting.

• The dodo, also known as the dront, is one of the most famous extinct animals and a symbol of human impact on nature. This flightless bird inhabited only the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean and reached a height of 62 to 75 cm and a body weight between 10 and 18 kg. Its size is among the clearest examples of so-called “island gigantism” – a phenomenon in which, in isolated environments and in the absence of predators, organisms evolve significantly larger sizes than their relatives.
• The biology of the dodo is no less remarkable. It was a ground-dwelling, slow-moving, flightless bird with extremely short, rudimentary wings, a reduced tail of soft feathers, and a massive, curved beak. Unlike most pigeon species, it laid only one egg per clutch, which greatly limited its reproductive potential. Its diet consisted of fallen fruits, fresh leaves, flowers and buds, bulbs, roots, and small terrestrial invertebrates.
• The origin of the names by which the species is known is also intriguing. Dutch sailors from the ship Gelderland, who landed on the island in 1602, called the bird “dront” (“swollen”, likely referring to its rounded body shape. The more widespread name “dodo” has several possible origins: from the Dutch words dodoor (“sluggard”) or dodaars (“fat-bottomed”), the Portuguese doudo (“fool,” “mad”), or even as an imitation of the bird’s supposed two-tone cooing sound – something like “doo-doo” or “doh-doh.”
• The dodo became completely extinct around the year 1700 – just 190 years after the discovery of the island by Portuguese navigators. The main causes of its extinction include excessive hunting, egg collection, the introduction of non-native predators by humans, and the bird’s low reproductive capacity. Today, its closest living relative is the Nicobar pigeon (Caloenas nicobarica).
• Despite its tragic fate, the dodo remains vivid in the human imagination as a symbol of extinct species. The renowned British conservationist Gerald Durrell chose the bird as the emblem of his wildlife conservation trust, and the magazine he founded bears the name, Dodo.
• Although no complete skeletons have survived, individual bones and partial remains are preserved in museums in Bucharest, Copenhagen, London, Moscow, Oxford, Paris, Prague, and other cities. The first known specimen to reach Europe was delivered to Emperor Rudolf Il in Vienna between 1605 and 1610. In 1626, another specimen was brought to Amsterdam, and in 1638, a live dodo arrived in London.
• In 2025, 325 years after its final disappearance, the first scientifically crafted dodo model was exhibited in Bulgaria, commemorating this astonishing bird.

The National Gallery of Art did not have a very impressive collection.  Even the interior of the building could use a good cleaning and painting. I’m thankful I got in for the “Retired Persons” rate!

Next up was “The Red Flat” museum. It is a tour of an actual apartment in a pre-WWII building and was supposedly that actual home of a communist era family.  The father, mother, and son lived there, although the father was often working in Libya or elsewhere as an engineer.  The self-guided audio tour was very interesting. You could sit anywhere and even handle most of the contents.  Like a time warp that sent me back to the 50s-70s. 

“Entering the Red Flat means travelling back in time to Communist Bulgaria of the 1980’s. By visiting the home of an average family you will discover what everyday life was like for ordinary Bulgarians during the Cold War. Work and leisure, school and vacation, eating, drinking, watching TV, partying and doing the chores – how did these things happen in the days of Reagan and Gorbachev? Enter the flat and find out for yourselves!”

Here are some photos of the apartment and its furnishings.

After the Red Flat, I stopped by the Aleksandar Nevsky Cathedral again to see it in the daylight on this stop in Sofia.  While the outside is spectacular, especially at night, the inside is pretty underwhelming when compared to a number of the other beautiful churches I’ve seen on the trip.

After finding many restaurants closed near my hotel, I was lucky to get into a small local restaurant a few blocks away.  I think the husband and wife proprietors were getting ready to lock the doors for the day when I showed up.  That was to my good fortune! My late lunch / early dinner was delicious!  And the cake was the best ever!  Like a light pound cake with cinnamon and nuts on top. Wow!

Before you go…

I love you more than coffee, but not always before coffee.