We want to wish you a very Merry Christmas from L'viv! We're going to spend the holiday with some American friends we've made here in Ukraine. Then we'll travel to visit Nika's family in Uzhhorod for the Ukrainian Christmas on January 6th.
We don't have any new pictures to post, but we do have a video we made to celebrate the start of winter. We hope you enjoy it!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Last Week of Vacation
During the last week we visited briefly the following places:
France: Strasbourg - We loved this city and wished we had planned to stay longer than one night there. Strasbourg has many quaint streets, beautiful old buildings, and a great Cathedral. Our Servas host took us to a beautiful lights-music-fountain show in the evening. We have never seen anything like that before - it was amazing! Then, we saw a lights show on the Cathedral! We also visited European Council building and saw where European Union meets.
Germany: We spent one day in Baden-Baden (southern Germany), where we went to the baths that are built to model Roman baths. It was a relaxing 2-hour experience. The next day, we took a train to Bovaria, the southern region of Germany that has Bovarian Alps and the Neuschweinstain Castle. We spent two nights in a beautiful setting (Pfronten-Weissbach community), where our patio faced hills and the Alps. We took a day trip to the Neuschweinstain Castle and loved it. This is the castle that Disney castle is modeled after.
We hoped on the train and went to Salzburg (Austria) for one day. It’s a nice city but too many tourists. We explored the city, saw great flower garden, and strolled along the river. We did not have time to do day trips out of the city. Next, we headed to Budapest (Hungary), before returning to Ukraine.
Switzerland
We stayed 1 week in Switzerland, in a hotel and at the home of someone connected to our university in Lviv. We took day trips from Bern to Alps, Lucern, and Lake Geneva.
Bern: We took several trains to get from Corniglia to Bern, where Nika was presenting at the international meeting of the Society for Psychotherapy Research. Nika had a great time at the conference, she was presenting on a panel together with her advisor from Ohio University, Julie Owens. Rob also attended the conference and was able to observe Nika’s presentations. We took a day trip from Bern to Luzern, where we visited with Rob’s best friend from US who was in Europe at that time.
The Alps: We hiked for two days in the Alps in an area by Interlaken. First day, we took a train to Lauterbrunnen, then a lift card to Grütschalp, and walked to Mürren. It was somewhat clouded this day, so we did not get to see all of the snow peaks, but the views were still great. Second day was very sunny and clear. We took a train to Grindelwald and hiked up a path to the village of Bussalp. We got amazing view of mountain Eiger and many other snow peaks. We got back to Bern to a wonderful traditional Swiss dinner (potatoes and cheese) make by our hosts.
Lake Geneva: We took a train to Lausanne and explored the city. From there, we enjoyed a 3-hour boat trip of lake Geneva that took us by the Alps and the castle Chateua de Chillon.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Northern Italy (1 week) – the best part was Cinque Terra!
- Resting on the Riviera. After Rome, we took a several-hour train to get to Grosseto, a city close to the west-coast of the Mediterranean sea. We stayed for two nights with a Servas host (see www.servas.org). We spent a day laying on a beach, swimming and tanning. Our host, a retired plane mechanic, was very kind; he showed us other cities on the coast, Castiglione della Pescaia, which has a fortified medieval city on a hill, with beautiful narrow streets.
- Florence: Spent 1 full day here. Saw downtown, beautiful cathedral (the Duomo), the bell tower, and the baptistery. Saw a beautiful 13th century church (Orsan-Michele), castle on Piazza Signori, the medieval bridge (Ponte Vecchio), and climbed the hill across the river to get to the Basilica of San Miniato al Monte (11th c.). The big terrace in front of the Basilica offered the best view of the city rooftops and the Duomo (see pics on the video below). There were great fireworks in the evening there, over the river, as it was a festival.
- Cinque Terra: We spent 3 days enjoying this Italian Riviera coast. Cinque Terra is a national park which includes 5 villages on the cliffs of the coast and surrounding hills are covered in vineyards and olive trees. Most of the villages have a beach with clear water. We hiked between all the villages and spent two nights in the village we liked the most, Corniglia. We had to climb over 300 steps from the train station to get there, and then more than that to get down to the beach on the other side. We had a great view from our room and terrace, enjoyed walking down one main long narrow street of Corniglia, ate locally grown juicy apricots and peaches, and rested on the beach. I could stay there for another week, but we had to move on to Switzerland, as I was presenting at a conference there.
Here are a couple more pictures from Rome (the Forum & St. Peter's Square):
Monday, July 25, 2011
European Tour (Part I)
Rob and I traveled around Europe for 4 weeks this summer (June 14 – July 11th). We spent 2 weeks in Italy, 1 week in Switzerland, then visited Stasbourg (eastern France), took a bath in Baden-Baden, Germany, and saw Neuschweinstain Castle (Germany). After that we made our way home by train via Saltzburg (Austia), Budapest (Hungary) and finally Ukraine. We flew into Rome, and then used Eurail passes for trains to get around Europe.
Rome (1 week): We stayed all week at B&B, which was a cozy apartment with shared kitchen, and gave us coupons to eat breakfast at a local coffee shop (coffee and croissants, apparently typical Italian breakfast). It was a great residential neighborhood close to the Coliseum.
What we love about Rome that it has layers of history, which are often preserved. Many of the current building are built upon previous ones, and we were able to see “the underground” Rome! For example, one of the highlights of our trip was a tour of necropolis underneath St. Peter’s Basilica, where St. Peter’s bones were found in 1970s.
Things we saw and explored in Rome:
Rome (1 week): We stayed all week at B&B, which was a cozy apartment with shared kitchen, and gave us coupons to eat breakfast at a local coffee shop (coffee and croissants, apparently typical Italian breakfast). It was a great residential neighborhood close to the Coliseum.
What we love about Rome that it has layers of history, which are often preserved. Many of the current building are built upon previous ones, and we were able to see “the underground” Rome! For example, one of the highlights of our trip was a tour of necropolis underneath St. Peter’s Basilica, where St. Peter’s bones were found in 1970s.
Things we saw and explored in Rome:
- The Coliseum: toured in the morning and came back to see beautifully lit up at night
- The Palatine Hill (ruins of emperors’ palaces) – spent hours exploring this large hill.
- The Forum (central square of ancient Rome’s life) – has triumphal arches, ruins of temples, surviving temples and ancient house of Senate.
- Spent a day biking the Via Appia Antica (Appian Way) – an ancient Roman road, which is a 10-mile long archaeological park, lined with ruins of tombs and monuments.
- Early Christian Catacombs of San Callisto – on the Via Appia, we took an underground tour of catacombs. This was very impressive, as we walked on first century streets and walls to each side were lined with openings where bodies used to be.
- The Vatican. Saw the Vatican museums – most impressed by Sistine Chapel. Then, spent hours exploring inside of St. Peter’s Basilica (saw Michelangelo’s Pieta), climbed to the top of St. Peter’s Basilica – amazing views of the Vatican. Best part was taking a tour of the Scavi – the necropolis (cemetery) underneath St. Peter’s, where bones of St. Peter were uncovered in 1970s. Rob booked this tour 2 months in advance. Again, like in Catacombs, we walked on first century streets and looked into the burial rooms, where walls were lined with holes.
- The Pantheon - one of Nika’s favorite things in Rome. This is the world's best preserved building from ancient times, which is a temple to all gods built by Romans in the 1st century AD. Walking into the Pantheon is amazing, as the dome is huge. It baffled me to think that it was built in the 1st century! Michelangelo studied the architecture of the Pantheon before building the dome for St. Peter’s Basilica.
- Day trip to Ostia Antica, well preserved ruins of an ancient Roman port/city. Entire lay-out of the city is preserved, some walls are two-stories high, also ruins of an amphi-theater, baths (with beautiful mosaic floors), cemetery, etc.
- Explored different squares (piazzas) of the city. Saw Trevi Fountain, Spanish steps.
- Explored the Travestere district of Rome, which is on the other side of the Tiber rive than downtown Rome. Visited a beautiful church of Santa Cicilia in this district. We took a tour of finished excavations underneath the church, which was a home of an early Christian wealthy martyr. I was amazed how well-preserved the lay-out of the home was; we walked along wide hallways and saw many rooms.
- Saw many beautiful churches, one of which is Basilica of St. John Lateran, which was the first church of the popes from the 4th century till 1300s. Also the site of the first Christian church ever built in Rome.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Cork, Blarney, & Moher
Rob and I spent 7 days in Ireland (April 22 - April 29), and also saw Krakow, Poland on the way back. We loved Ireland, and you will see whey when you look at the pictures below. To our surprise, we did not get rain while in Ireland. It was mostly sunny with some cloudy days. I even got sunburned! We used buses to get around Ireland, as they have a good bus system. We also rented bikes for two days of exploring the Dingle Peninsula.
Day 1: We flew from a city in Poland into Cork, Ireland on April 22nd. We got into Cork in the evening and explored the city in the dark. It is a pretty city in the south of Ireland with about 100,000 people.
Day 2: We went to the 15th century Blarney Castle, located outside of Cork. The castle is well preserved, and we climbed to the top of it. There is a tradition that if you kiss Blarney stone at the top of the castle, you will have a gift of eloquence. See a picture of Rob kissing the stone in the slides below. The castle has beautiful parks around it, and we spent hours enjoying the sunshine, green grass and blooming flowers and trees. When we got back to Cork, we attended an evening Easter service.
Day 3: We took an early morning bus from Cork to Liscannor, a small seaside village located close to the Cliffs of Moher. We wanted to hike the Cliffs of Moher, which are the tallest cliffs in Ireland. We got into Liscannor in late afternoon and walked around town to find a place to stay. Because April is not a very touristy season in Ireland, we did not book housing in advance, except for a hotel in Cork. We found a great bed and breakfast in Liscannor. Once we left our backpacks at the B&B, we went to hike the seaside for several hours.
Day 4: We headed to the Cliffs of Moher in the morning. It took us about 3 hours to hike to the cliffs, as we had to walk to the hill that leads to the cliffs and climb it. We approached the cliffs from the southern point, which is called Hag’s head. This area has a signal tower built in 1806 during Napoleonic Wars to watch for the coast for any sign of the French. The Cliffs of Moher rise from the Atlantic Ocean to a height of 702 feet and extend for a distance of 5 miles from Hag's Head to the northern part of the cliffs, where the visitors’ center is. We had a great time hiking the cliffs; we saw fields of green grass and dandelions at the top of the cliffs. We walked on the path past the cliff to get to a small town (one street only), Doolin, for the night. We walked 14 miles that day!!! Tired but happy we arrived in Doolin around 5 p.m. We found a place to stay and headed to the only pub in town that had great food and live music (see video below).
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Our Ireland Trip: The Dingle Peninsula
Rob and I spent 7 days in Ireland (April 22 - April 29), and also saw Krakow, Poland on the way back. We loved Ireland, and you will see whey when you look at the pictures below. To our surprise, we did not get rain while in Ireland. It was mostly sunny with some cloudy days. I even got sunburned! We used buses to get around Ireland, as they have a good bus system. We also rented bikes for two days of exploring the Dingle Peninsula.
Day 5: We took a morning bus from Doolin to Dingle, which is the biggest city on the Dingle peninsula. Dingle is a beautiful colorful town, located in the harbor. Once we found a place to stay, we walked around town, and on a green path around the harbor.
Day 6: We rented bikes in the morning and biked west of Dingle along the coast to a small village, Dunquin. It was so beautiful biking by the ocean! Gorgeous views of green grassy hills stretched for miles around, dotted with hundreds of sheep. We saw several ruins along the way, including ancient forts and beehive huts (residences made of stone without any cement). We also biked to a small sandy beach with clear blue water, too cold to swim. I have never seen so many sheep in my life. When we biked around the southwest corner of the peninsula, we got an amazing view of the Blasket Islands.
Day 7: We loved biking so much that we rented bikes again and off we went. We headed into the central part of the peninsula to see some ancient ruins. We saw the remains of the 5th century monastic settlement (Riasc), an amazing 8th century dry-stone oratory (Gallarus Oratory), where monks met for prayer. We also saw 12th century Kilmalkedar Church. (All featured in pictures below). Throughout the landscape we also saw ruins of ancient houses. The Dingle peninsula has the highest concentration of ancient ruins in all of Ireland. After seeing the ruins, we headed to the western coast to see the Blasket Islands again and some great beaches.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Spring is here!
Dear family and friends,
We have not updated our blog for a while, as we have been settling into life here and taking one day at a time. The biggest thing since last post is that we moved to a new appartment in early March, which has made a huge difference in our quality of life. This appartment is closer to downtown, where many of our friends live and city life happens (tons of coffee shops, restaurants, cultural events). It is also not too far to work, about 25 min. walking. We have really enjoyed living in this new appartment, this past month has been wonderful. The weather also has been getting warmer, and we had several sunny warm days, which we greatly enjoyed and went on some very good hikes.
We are going to visit my parents and grandmother in Uzhgorod on April 15-17, as it is my grandmother's 80th birthday anniversary. Then, we'll come back to Lviv to catch a train to Poland on April 21st, and our flight to Cork, Ireland on April 22nd! Yes, we are going to visit Ireland!!! We are so excited! We will spend Easter in Cork and then head out to hike on the west coast of Ireland. We are flying back on April 29th into Poland (flights are cheaper from Poland than Ukraine). We'll spend several days in Krakow, Poland, as it is on our way back to Lviv. We are so looking forward to this trip, as pictures of Ireland look gorgeous. We will write about our trip and post pictures once we are back.
We have not updated our blog for a while, as we have been settling into life here and taking one day at a time. The biggest thing since last post is that we moved to a new appartment in early March, which has made a huge difference in our quality of life. This appartment is closer to downtown, where many of our friends live and city life happens (tons of coffee shops, restaurants, cultural events). It is also not too far to work, about 25 min. walking. We have really enjoyed living in this new appartment, this past month has been wonderful. The weather also has been getting warmer, and we had several sunny warm days, which we greatly enjoyed and went on some very good hikes.
We are going to visit my parents and grandmother in Uzhgorod on April 15-17, as it is my grandmother's 80th birthday anniversary. Then, we'll come back to Lviv to catch a train to Poland on April 21st, and our flight to Cork, Ireland on April 22nd! Yes, we are going to visit Ireland!!! We are so excited! We will spend Easter in Cork and then head out to hike on the west coast of Ireland. We are flying back on April 29th into Poland (flights are cheaper from Poland than Ukraine). We'll spend several days in Krakow, Poland, as it is on our way back to Lviv. We are so looking forward to this trip, as pictures of Ireland look gorgeous. We will write about our trip and post pictures once we are back.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
3 days in Istanbul!!!
Rob and I took our first trip out of Ukraine last Thursday. We went to Istanbul, Turkey, for 3 full days. We arrived Thursday evening (January 13)and left Monday morning (January 17). It was an amazing trip and we highly recommend Istanbul to everyone who is reading this blog. This city of 15 million people is full of history, having been the capital of the Byzantine Empire for centuries, before conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 1400's. To top it all of, I have a great friend, Firuza, from my first year in the US that lives in Istanbul now with her husband. We were able to spend Sunday afternoon with her and catch up on the last 10 years :) It was so great to see her again. There are pictures of us in the second video.
I will briefly describe what we did each day. The weather was in mid-50s, and it was sunny on Saturday. Our hotel was located very close to the Blue Mosque. We left our hotel at 9 a.m. and did not return until after 9 p.m. We were able to see all the main sites and also experience traditional turkish neighborhoods (where nobody spoke English).
Day 1. We started out with seeing Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, located very close to each other, separated by a nice park with a fountain.
Blue Mosque - a huge beautiful mosque built in 1600s by a sultan of the Ottoman Empire, it attempts to surpass the beauty of Hagia Sophia (the Christian church from the Byzantine Empire times). The building received its name because its interior has tens of thousands of blue tiles. The Blue Mosque has beautiful minarets, with seagulls flying above them continuously. I had to wear a scarf in it, and we both had to take our shoes off.
Hagia Sophia - built by a Byzantine emperor in 500s AD. It was the greatest Christian church for about 1000 years, before the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453 and converted it into a mosque. Architecturally, Muslims also added minarets and changed some of the interior. The dome that you'll see in the video is 30 meters in diameter and it appears that there are no pillars supporting it, as the pillars were hidded in interior walls. Hagia Sophia has been a museum since the 1930s. Walking into this church is absolutely breathtaking! We spent several hours there, using a head-phone tour.
Close behind Hagia Sophia was the entrance to the Topkapi Palace, which was built by the sultan who conquered Constantinople in 1400s. Subsequent sultans lived in this palace till the 19th century, when they moved their residende to a European-style Dolmabahce Palace (see Day 3). Topkapi Palace is huge and covers a lot of territory; it also includes a harem, which was residential quaters for the sultan, his wives, concubines, children, mother, and others who lived in the palace. We spent hours walking around the palace, as it also included different museums.
Next, we headed to the Grand Bazaar, which is under-roof and has all kinds of things (lamps, carpets, scarfs, etc). I bought myself a scarf here. And on to the Spice Bazaar, where spices, teas, nuts, and all kinds of goodies are sold.
In the evening we had fresh fish sandwich for dinner, cooked on a boat (see pictures).
Day 2 - Saturday
We started out by seeing the Basilica Cisterns - underground water storage built in the 500s AD. The cisterns have an unearthly feel to them, as there are 336 tall columns arranged in rows, lit with light that reflects in the water. This was definitely one of our favorites in Istanbul. For centuries, the cisterns held water that was delivered from a reservoir near the Black sea via a 20 km long aquaduct. So, after that, we headed to the ruins of the aquaduct. The aquaduct was amazing, as one long wall survived the years. It was built in 300s AD.
After lunch, Rob and I got on a ferry boat that the people of Istanbul use to commute from the European to the Asian side of the Bosphorus strait. In 15 min. we were on the other side. There was a much more local feel to this area, as merchants did not speak English. We had to figure out a way to buy our sweets and fresh strawberries! Yummi! We explored this area and headed back to the European side of the Bosphorus. Next, we headed to what's considered to be the modern heart of Istanbul - Taksim Square and its surroundings. The square has the Republic Monument, featuring revolutionary heros of 1920s who turned the Ottoman Empire into the Turkish Republic. Starting at the square is a very wide 3 km long street with shops, cafes, and restraurants on both sides. This is the "place to go" in Istanbul and, as you will see in the pictures, this street was filled with people. We walked down the street, had dinner, drank pomegranate juice, and found a Christian church in one of the side streets. So, we attended a Christian service in the Turkish language on Saturday evening! After the service, we spent some time at a cafe and walked to our hotel. It was a long walk, but the city looked so beautiful in the dark. The next day, we figured out how to use the tram system, as we were getting tired from all the walking.
Day 3 - Sunday
We spent several hours touring Dolmabahce Palace and its harem in the morning. This was the sultans' residence from 19th century until the end of the empire. It was then the first presidential palace of the new republic. This palace was built in the European Style and was very grand on the inside. Each room had a huge crystal chandelier, one of which weighs 2000 kg.!!! and is 3 m. tall!!! It was quite impressive. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the palace, but we took some of the outside. The harem included 4-5 appartments for sultan's wifes, although sultans did not officially marry concubines as a rule (there were exception).
We met my friend, Firuza, and her husband for lunch and spent time with them until around 6 p.m. Firuza and I were best friends my first year in the US, when I lived in Richland Center, WI, and was a freshman at the univeristy there with the exchange program. Firuza is from Turkmenistan, but married Murat, who is from Istanbul. She has been living in Istanbul for 1 year now, and it was so wonderful to see her and catch up. We have not seen each other since 2001.
Day 4 - Monday - we walked to Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia before heading to the airport.
In addition to visiting these great historical and modern sites, we also had freshly squeezed pomegranate juice every day (4 pomegranates went into making each cup!!!) Yummi... And lots of sweets .... my favorites also included bahlava, dripping with honey, and Turkish delight (their type of candy).
Crossing the Bosphorus into Asia!
I will briefly describe what we did each day. The weather was in mid-50s, and it was sunny on Saturday. Our hotel was located very close to the Blue Mosque. We left our hotel at 9 a.m. and did not return until after 9 p.m. We were able to see all the main sites and also experience traditional turkish neighborhoods (where nobody spoke English).
Day 1. We started out with seeing Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, located very close to each other, separated by a nice park with a fountain.
Blue Mosque - a huge beautiful mosque built in 1600s by a sultan of the Ottoman Empire, it attempts to surpass the beauty of Hagia Sophia (the Christian church from the Byzantine Empire times). The building received its name because its interior has tens of thousands of blue tiles. The Blue Mosque has beautiful minarets, with seagulls flying above them continuously. I had to wear a scarf in it, and we both had to take our shoes off.
Hagia Sophia - built by a Byzantine emperor in 500s AD. It was the greatest Christian church for about 1000 years, before the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453 and converted it into a mosque. Architecturally, Muslims also added minarets and changed some of the interior. The dome that you'll see in the video is 30 meters in diameter and it appears that there are no pillars supporting it, as the pillars were hidded in interior walls. Hagia Sophia has been a museum since the 1930s. Walking into this church is absolutely breathtaking! We spent several hours there, using a head-phone tour.
Close behind Hagia Sophia was the entrance to the Topkapi Palace, which was built by the sultan who conquered Constantinople in 1400s. Subsequent sultans lived in this palace till the 19th century, when they moved their residende to a European-style Dolmabahce Palace (see Day 3). Topkapi Palace is huge and covers a lot of territory; it also includes a harem, which was residential quaters for the sultan, his wives, concubines, children, mother, and others who lived in the palace. We spent hours walking around the palace, as it also included different museums.
Next, we headed to the Grand Bazaar, which is under-roof and has all kinds of things (lamps, carpets, scarfs, etc). I bought myself a scarf here. And on to the Spice Bazaar, where spices, teas, nuts, and all kinds of goodies are sold.
In the evening we had fresh fish sandwich for dinner, cooked on a boat (see pictures).
Day 2 - Saturday
We started out by seeing the Basilica Cisterns - underground water storage built in the 500s AD. The cisterns have an unearthly feel to them, as there are 336 tall columns arranged in rows, lit with light that reflects in the water. This was definitely one of our favorites in Istanbul. For centuries, the cisterns held water that was delivered from a reservoir near the Black sea via a 20 km long aquaduct. So, after that, we headed to the ruins of the aquaduct. The aquaduct was amazing, as one long wall survived the years. It was built in 300s AD.
After lunch, Rob and I got on a ferry boat that the people of Istanbul use to commute from the European to the Asian side of the Bosphorus strait. In 15 min. we were on the other side. There was a much more local feel to this area, as merchants did not speak English. We had to figure out a way to buy our sweets and fresh strawberries! Yummi! We explored this area and headed back to the European side of the Bosphorus. Next, we headed to what's considered to be the modern heart of Istanbul - Taksim Square and its surroundings. The square has the Republic Monument, featuring revolutionary heros of 1920s who turned the Ottoman Empire into the Turkish Republic. Starting at the square is a very wide 3 km long street with shops, cafes, and restraurants on both sides. This is the "place to go" in Istanbul and, as you will see in the pictures, this street was filled with people. We walked down the street, had dinner, drank pomegranate juice, and found a Christian church in one of the side streets. So, we attended a Christian service in the Turkish language on Saturday evening! After the service, we spent some time at a cafe and walked to our hotel. It was a long walk, but the city looked so beautiful in the dark. The next day, we figured out how to use the tram system, as we were getting tired from all the walking.
Day 3 - Sunday
We spent several hours touring Dolmabahce Palace and its harem in the morning. This was the sultans' residence from 19th century until the end of the empire. It was then the first presidential palace of the new republic. This palace was built in the European Style and was very grand on the inside. Each room had a huge crystal chandelier, one of which weighs 2000 kg.!!! and is 3 m. tall!!! It was quite impressive. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the palace, but we took some of the outside. The harem included 4-5 appartments for sultan's wifes, although sultans did not officially marry concubines as a rule (there were exception).
We met my friend, Firuza, and her husband for lunch and spent time with them until around 6 p.m. Firuza and I were best friends my first year in the US, when I lived in Richland Center, WI, and was a freshman at the univeristy there with the exchange program. Firuza is from Turkmenistan, but married Murat, who is from Istanbul. She has been living in Istanbul for 1 year now, and it was so wonderful to see her and catch up. We have not seen each other since 2001.
Day 4 - Monday - we walked to Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia before heading to the airport.
In addition to visiting these great historical and modern sites, we also had freshly squeezed pomegranate juice every day (4 pomegranates went into making each cup!!!) Yummi... And lots of sweets .... my favorites also included bahlava, dripping with honey, and Turkish delight (their type of candy).
Crossing the Bosphorus into Asia!
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