To get from Goreme to Bodrum was quite an effort, including Victor driving us to the Konya train station for our night train to Izmir, then a taxi to the bus station, then a public bus to Bodrum, then a taxi to the hotel. Phew!
Our compartment on the train
I certainly don’t recommend a 4.30am wakeup call for anyone! The flight was quite quick though, and although everyone was very tired, we had a full day of sightseeing to do. We girded our loins with caffeine and hit the road with our fabulous Rock Valley guide Öman and wonderful driver Victor.
First up was Derinkuyu Underground City, a series of manmade interconnected tunnels where people hid in various wars. We went seven storeys down, and our legs and backs were soon aching from crouching down to walk up the narrow and low, steep stairways. There are some great sights!
Volcano pool
The next stop was a brief photo opportunity at a lake situated in a dormant volcano crater. It was so beautiful that we all craved going for a swim, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough time, as we had to move onto the next stop, the Ilhara Valley.
Filed under turkey
I haven’t posted for a few days as I’ve been so incredibly busy! The flight to Istanbul was pretty uneventful, apart from me being told off by Customs people in Dublin Airport because I took a picture of the Customs dog. Whoops.
Turkish Air business class is nice – they have an unidentified “champagne” which does all the right things, and they give a bowl of hazelnuts and dried fruit with their drinks. The meal was great too – some lovely appetisers and then a lamb and eggplant dish, just right to get in the Turkish mood!
Filed under turkey
After finishing the convention, we hired a car (a teeny weeny 2-door Skoda that barely fit our luggage) and hightailed it out of the city to visit my great aunt J in Plymouth. It was certainly a different experience driving from the East End than last time driving from Gatwick airport, not least because the unhinged GPS decided on a route which took us straight through the middle of London at 4pm in the afternoon, instead of using the Ring Road, which might have saved us some time, and definitely would have saved me grey hairs!
We did end up doing a great sightseeing “tour” on the way the GPS took – past the V&A, around Trafalgar Square, along the Thames… eek!
Filed under England, United Kingdom
Choccy!
My last day in Brussels was quiet as I was pretty exhausted from my big day in Amsterdam the day before! I wandered around the centre of town a bit more and found the Galeries Royales where there are heaps of amazing chocolate shops. Woah. I picked out a few choccies for people at home in one of them (they might get home) and meandered my way back to the hotel through the malls. The Flower Carpet was due to open the next day, but there wasn’t anything to see there yet.
Day 2 in Brussels wasn’t supposed to be a huge day – I wanted a bit of a sleep in, to do some laundry and have a bit of a wander and explore.
The laundry was easy thanks to Professor Google, which directed me to the Wash Club a 10 minute walk away. Easy, and even if all the instructions were in French and Flemish, I managed okay.
Grand Place – very grand!
Next up was the exploring. I headed vaguely towards Grand Place, which sounded interesting, and wandered through a long shopping mall street to get there. As I got closer to Grand Place, the shops became less high street, more “traditional Belgian” places (beer, chocolate, waffles) and souvenirs. By the time I got to Grand Place I wasn’t really expecting much, but woah, this place is amazing! It apparently used to be the big marketplace before they had to kick it out to the burbs, so there’s streets around it called “Butter Street” etc. Fun!
Filed under Belgium, Netherlands
With nothing on the agenda today until the train to Brussels just after midday, I had a nice sleep in and a leisurely breakfast before packing up. As I was packing, I found that my brand new Spender & Rutherford suitcase had started splitting all down one side, which was disappointing. I’ve emailed the company so let’s see what they can do.
Once packed up, I decided to not run the gauntlet of the metro to get to Gare du Nord, and took a taxi through the deserted streets. Only a few tourists around, so it looked like everyone else was either having a late sleepin or were already in the museums.
Gare Du Nord
Up early today! To introduce me to Paris I had booked a walking tour with Urban Adventures (I’ve got a couple more in other places too) so I headed out in the drizzle to find the obelisk at Place Concorde.
On the way to the meet…
Eventually our guide, Arthur, showed up, and met our group of seven, and we paused for a brief history lesson. Then we set off, around the streets nearby, wending our way through the “Paris end” of Paris, where all the prestigious shops were. The end of this section was making our way to Fauchon, the amazing gourmet food shop, where we stopped for a macaron.
Fauchon macarons
Filed under France
My last day in Reims started like the previous – a long walk down to a champagne house! Today I was visiting Veuve Clicquot, one of my favourites, for their “Aromatiquement votre” tour.
Again, I was first there, but the other two people on this activity turned up pretty soon – an American couple. We warmed pretty quickly, especially when trading stories about champers and dogs! (not together…)
Pinot Meunier grapes
The tour started with a quick background on the champagne region and VC’s part in it. We looked at the three types of grape vines used to make bubbles (chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier, so named because the new growth looks like it’s dusted with flour, as “meunier” apparently means “miller”).
Filed under France
Two Weeks Away 