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 As you know, we love driving around a country. I’m not sure it’s more economical than public transportation, but it certainly becomes more depending on the number of people you are traveling with, and on this stint, it was four of us. We arrived in Germany and proceeded to the rental car desk, where we were [... Rental Car Woes Washed Down with Smoke Beer]  The one of the fantastic things about living in Europe is the proximity to so many things to see and do. Living in Turkey, we’re a little removed from that, but we always have to fly through central Europe when traveling back to the U.S., which we do every year thanks to the U.S. government. This year, [... Whirlwinding Europe Starting in Belgium]  I am a budget traveler, but I have to tell you, Botswana wasn’t a budget experience. As we were preparing to plan for our trip there, there was just too much to see. I came across a great website, Drive Botswana, and gave them a call. The conversation went something like this:  One of the great things about living in Turkey is that it is almost entirely surrounded by water. Where there is water, there are ferries to interesting places. Along the western coast, many of these ferries goo to Greek islands. Last year we took one to Rhodes, and this year we tried the small island of [... Day-tripping to Chios]  You cannot, no matter what all the guide books say, do Thessaloniki in one day. We were there on a Monday, and therefore none of the museums were open. All we did was visit the Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments of the city, which were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. So we walked and [... Gawking at Icons and Frescoes in Thessalonika] Temple of Apollo The Temple of Apollo on Mt. Parnassus was revered in ancient times as the place to come, make a significant sacrifice, confer with the oracle, and reap your rewards. Many influential citizens of the time did just that, and the Delphi is mentioned over and over in history. We came not knowing what to [... Searching for the Oracle of Delphi] A major stop on any Meditteranean cruise itinerary, Athens still retains its charm while throngs of sweating tourists invade it on a daily basis. There is so much to see here, that a couple of days, let alone a couple of hours off of the ship just aren’t going to cut it. We started our time here [... Ancient Rocks and Even More Ancient Rockers…in Athens!]  For such a small country, Bulgaria has quite a few UNESCO World Heritage Sites and we hit as many as we could. I’ve already told you about Rila Monastery, Nessebar, and the Madara Rider. The other two we were able to visit were the Thracian tomb in Kazanluk and the Boyana Church outside of Sophia. The [... Two UNESCO Sites and Sophia to Boot]  The walls of the fortress hide the massive size that it is. Leaving the coast, we headed north towards Varna, then inland towards Shumen. We had heard about Shumen over and over, because it produces one of the best beers in the country and it seemed like a good place to spend the night, but first [... A Shumen and a Horseman]  One of the many churches found in this quaint fishing village. After leaving Plovdiv, the roads were noticeably better, not good, but better. Our first stop on the Black Sea was Sozopol. We parked for free near the church, and just walked around. Since it’s completely off-season it was so quiet. We may have seen a total [... Black Sea Beauties] |
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