Because everyone else is doing it…
Archive for July, 2006
Europe Trip Day 14: Budapest by day
Jul 21st
Europe Trip Day 13: Budapest by night
Jul 21st
After a long wait in the Rome Airport, I made it to Budapest last night. The
city is big, beautiful, and HOT. Right about now I could use a trip to the
Swiss Alps!
I’ve got two sets of photos from my first 24 hours here. This entry has the
night photos from last night.
Europe Trip Day 12: Sicily
Jul 19th
Today is the last day of our cruise… sigh. No more stuffing myself with
food several times a day!
We stopped for about half a day in Messina, Sicily,
and from there we took a tour to the beautiful city of Taormina. We had a
lot of free time which allowed for yours truly to have a limon granite, which
is a slushy lemon-flavored drink.
We dock back in Civitavecchia bright and early Thursday morning, and then
it’s off to the airport for a VERY long wait in the terminal for my flight
to Budapest. I’ll be in Hungary until the 26th, touring around the countryside
with a side trip to Vienna. I’ll keep posting pictures until the end of the
trip!
More pics below!
Europe Trip Day 11: Malta
Jul 18th
After a lazy day at sea yesterday, today we stopped in Valletta, Malta –
not a place I’d ever expect to be, that’s for sure! Valletta has an impressive
harbor, and the whole city rises above it. The colors of the buildings are
almost identical, as everything is made of limestone. After a tour of Valletta
we headed to Malta’s old capital — Mdina. This was a pretty cool place, though
it felt more like North Africa than Europe.
After four hours in the blistering heat it was back to the ship for some pool
action. Following that (and a margarita) we sailed away, which was pretty neat.
I’ve got photos of our departure plus a lot more after the link.
Tomorrow is our last day of the cruise! We stop for half a day in Messina,
Sicily (we already went
past it) and then back to Rome on Thursday.
Europe Trip Day 9: Ephesus
Jul 16th
We pulled into the booming port city of Kusadasi, Turkey early this morning.
Still half asleep, we stumbled onto a bus for a full day tour of the ancient
city of Ephesus. Ephesus itself did not disappoint: it was pretty amazing.
The city was originally built by the Greeks in the 4th Century BC, with the
Romans a few centuries later. When the city’s natural harbor dried up in the
7th Century AD, Ephesus went with it. Despite being just 1/8th excavated, you
can still get a feel for what it must’ve been like when this town had 250,000
residents.
After walking around Ephesus in the blistering heat we headed to the museum,
which had numerous items found in the excavation of the city. Following that
we went to what’s left of the Basilica of St. John, which must’ve been quite
impressive when it was still standing.
We then had a pretty elaborate Turkish lunch at a train museum, with the obligatory
stop at a carpet store after that.
Not only was this my first trip to Turkey, but it was also the first time
that I’ve experienced the kind of shopping that is common in this part of the
world. The store owners are very determined to get you into their store, to
the point of hassling each and every person that goes by. My dad and I made
the mistake of going into a store selling "genuine fake watches" (I’m not joking)
and it was hard to get out of there. I can’t say that I enjoyed the Turkish
shopping experience.
More pics after the link!
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