Beautiful Berlin, Beers and Bikes

The crew at the Brandenburg Gate.

The end of Ramazan is marked by the Sugar Bayran which means school's closed for a few days and we are off to Berlin with Sarah and her sister Anna. We had found an apartment via HostelBookers.com in Mitte,  East Berlin. It's was huge place that was cheap and a stones throw away from the center of E. Berlin and the famous television tower. A evening flight puts us in our new pad around 2 AM, but are excited to see the city or at least the bar downstairs...'The White Trash".

The White Trash Bar.

We are overwhelmed, the place is far from closing and has an atmosphere of a fancy dive bar.  A hipster, happening place. It's dark wood interior light by neon and candle light is a breath of fresh (stale) air and we breath it in with delight. There is little like this in Turkey.

The first full day in Berlin, we wake without plans but discuss a lot of ideas. We are shocked to find a cafe across the street with bagels, loxs and croissants. I guess a sign that we've been in Turkey for a long time! It's a bit of an overcast day so we decide to walk the streets, take in the city and try out some new photo poses. This city is under a new awaking. It is very culturally diverse. As for urban development, the cheap rundown places are discovered by artists who take advantage of the low rent and depressed living conditions until the developers catch on and the neighborhood becomes desirable for its potential. It seems now is that turning point in E. Berlin and the evidence of art is everywhere, from small galleries on every street to a great display of graffiti. The graffiti seems to have its own respectable place, found not defacing the public but rather embracing the underpasses and allies, beautifying the city. One girl we met said ten years ago Berlin still showed many signs of WW2 such as bombed and bullet ridden buildings. Also she mentioned that many of the communist built structures built remained intact until a few years ago. A lot has change since the wall has fallen. Now Berlin's architecture is very modern and innovative, while trying to emulate the structures built prior to the war.

Make a wish!

The fountain in Alexanderplatz.

canals running along Museum Island.

  Amazing! But wow we were hungry! Berlin is a great place to have an appetite. We wandered into a street with a selection of good eats under a railway overpass and stop in for a bite. Sausage, potatoes, cheese plates and of course great beer.

Dark or light?

Typical German lunch.

Happy Hour.

Our rides for the day.

 After lunch we ended up in the Kulturform and decide to go to the Bemaldegalerie which hosts an extensive collection of European painting from 1300-1800. Now all that art makes a person thirsty so we took the underground tram back to Mitte  for happy hour. Since the fall of the Wall, East Berlin has had a cultural expansion embracing the foods of its new tenants and the selection is fantastic. Tonight we stopped for Vietnamese food.We have not had Asian food for over a year, a luxury we acquired living in Seattle.
Delicious!


We called it a night for tomorrow we ride....


We have reserved bikes with The Fat Tire tour company for a full day bicycle tour. This is a great way to see the city. Our tour includes the Berlin Wall, Check Point Charlie, Bebelplatz (site of the Nazi book burning May 10, 1933), Museum Island, Jewish Memorial of WWII,  Hitlers Bunker, Watch Tower of no man's zone, Brandenburg Gate, and lunch in the Tiergarden's brew house...and so much more.

Gary with the 1969 TV tower behind him.

Enjoying the ride!

What is left of the wall is behind us.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews in Europe designed by Peter Eisenman. 

 

 

 

Lunch in the beer garden!

                                                                The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtniskirche was bombed in the war and in 1963 the built the modern bell tower next to it (on the left).

Gary in front of The Reichstag.

Some fine German brew along the canal.

And it was so much fun the next day we did it again..sort of...we rented bikes and went solo biking all around Berlin. Oh sure we got lost this time, but we made our way and had another great day. Sunday it was time to head home....but... the 2 o'clock flight was on a 24 hr. clock (military time) so when we got to the airport we discovered we had missed our flight by 10 hrs and couldn't get another flight for another 12 hrs! Oh crap! Well, we re-booked,  took care of business, and headed back to the city. We spent the afternoon by the canal, grabbed some dinner and headed back for the red eye.

A bit sad to leave but hopeful to return. Berlin is a great city!

Child free in Turkey

Between visitors we had about 4 hours to ourselves to quickly clean up the house & freshen the sheets before heading to the airport for our new arrivals.  Carrie, Alicia and Kirsten have left their kids and husbands at home to enjoy the sights of Turkey. Their flight was on time but their baggage chose to layover in Istanbul for a few more days. The adventure begins- no baggage, no idea where or when it will arrive and 3 weary travelers in need of freshening up. Thankfully they had travelers insurance, meaning if the bags did not arrive in 24 hrs they received shopping spree money, and these gals are shoppers!

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The next day they are off to Bodrum all dressed in some of Rena's clothes for a few days of beach time, boat cruise, touring, dancing and yes shopping.


I chose to stayed home and let them have some girl time. 

They had a blast and came back to Izmir dressed in the latest Turkish fashions, a bit more tan and full of tales to tell of their Bodrum escapade.


 Now it is their turn to see Ephesus. We hired a car for the day and headed down to Selcuk.

Our first stop is the last home of the Virgin Mary.  Here is, Her last home and a wishing wall filled with prayers people have written on bits of paper and woven in the wall. Below is the line to draw water from the natural spring...the same water source Mary may have used.


Strolling through Ephesus, the dwelling houses and sitting in the main theater in the direct sun took its toll-  it was over 100º!  It was time to head to the cool hills of nearby Sirince for lunch...and of course some shopping.

 So long Izmir and look out Istanbul! Finally the bags arrive just in time to repack for the trip to Istanbul. We have found a fantastic pension just behind the Blue Mosque, close to everything but off the beaten track... and the view from the rooftop balcony was incredible!

  We hit all the historical and hot spots of Istanbul- Hagi Sofia, Blue Mosque, Topaki Palace, the Grand Bazzar,  the Spice Market,  Taksim Square, and even a little time to relax in the Hammam...all in a few days. A whirl wind of site, smells and shops and the evening are filled with great food, drinks and laughs until the early hours.

The verdict- they loved Turkey! We said our farewells and Rena and I stayed in Turkey awaiting the arrival of or next visitors. Thanks to the husbands and friends who supported the ladies while they came to Turkey. It was a wonderful visit and we thank them for taking the time to visit us.

Teachers in Turkey

Near the Beach

Baklava break!

At the bazaar

On to our next batch of summer visitors. Briel and John are no longer teachers but the title is much catcher than "principals in turkey". John and Briel arrived in Izmir after spending a week in Istanbul. This was wonderful because they already had a sense of Turkish culture and were no longer jet lagged. Once they settled into our apartment we walked around our neighborhood and showed them some local sights. The next morning we awoke and took the dolmuş (small bus) to the beach. The beach was very crowded, windy and the water was cold. We didn't last long. We headed to a nearby village and checked out their tiny crafts bazaar. It was very very hot this day. We decided we needed to sit down and rest. We ordered some homemade baklava and tea. It hit the spot. Afterwards we made our way back to Izmir. The next day we hopped into our rental car and went to Ephesus.

John and Briel at Ephesus

The pool in Sirince

     Again it was very very hot and we found ourselves moving rather quickly through the site to get out of the sun. We spent the night in Sirince (we seem to take all our visitors here). Our hotel had an off site pool we were able to use. After a hot and exhausting climb up a hill we were rewarded with one of the most beautiful pools we have ever seen. The pool was made entirely of white marble and was spring fed and cool. They view from the pool is across mountain side and beautiful gardens.

Stuffed squash blossoms in Sirince. So good!

Temple of Athena

The stadium

 The next day we were off to the ancient site of Priene. We were excited because none of us had been there before. Priene is perched high on the craggy slopes of Mt. Mykale. It is off the beaten path and we pretty much had the entire site to ourselves. Priene was an important city around 300BC when congresses and festivals were held there. The most impressive remaining building is that of the Temple of Athena. Five columns have been re-erected and all around lie the sections of other columns, like giant stone wheels. The 6500 seat theatre is also pretty impressive. It is said to be one of the best preserved examples from the hellinistic period.

Temple of Athena at Priene

fallen columns

It was so hot and none of us were really ready to head back to Izmir in any hurry. We decided to spend some time in the tiny village of Karaburun at a friends beach house. So we called the car rental company and told them we would keep the car another few days. The time spent in Karaburun was very relaxing. We enjoyed great meals, relaxing, reading and swimming. After a couple of nights we finally made our way back to Izmir.

Swimming in Karaburun

Amazing meal in Karaburun.

More baklava!

Last day in Izmir at the clock tower near the bazaar.

John and Briel had some shopping to do and we knew just were to take them. We headed to the Izmir bazaar by the way of a ferry boat. Here we spent the afternoon shopping and enjoying the sights and sounds of the always busy bazaar. We had one last great meal together as John and Briel were to leave the next day. The week had flown by for us. John and Briel were flying out of Izmir to continue their Turkey adventure in the southern area of Antalya. It was a great week for all of us. We thank them for making the trek to Turkey.

After seeing John and Briel off to the airport we had exactly 4 hours until we were to retrieve our next group of guests. We did a quick clean up and washing and headed back to the airport to greet the "girls" for our next round of visitors. Stay tuned for stories from their time in Turkey.