It's goodbye from Ann

Well..... after starting and ending in the UAE with 18 countries in between, thousands of ks flown and driven, trains, ferries, some 8000 photos taken and some 116 blogs written, Ann and Gary's adventure has finally come to an end. This will be my final blog - hope you all have enjoyed following it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. What a fantastic time we have had since we left on April 4 - what a ride - from Broadway's Lion King to Buble on the ipod in the motorhome, the world's tallest building in Dubai to Turkey's 7th century BC underground city, Oslo's ice bar to Reykjavik's thermal Blue Lagoon, friendly local Irish pubs to high tea at the Burj, immense fjords of Norway to Croatia's tiny coastal coves, chaos and noise of Istanbul to quaint French and Italian villages and of course our many gastronomic highlights - NYC Oyster Bar, Dubai's heavenly high tea, Iceland's local delicacies, succulent seafood chowders in Ireland, fabulous french pastries, superb spaghetti (with clams) in Italy and Croatia and of course I have to mention our many gelato whatever the time of day - pistachio my favourite.  

What are our favourites? - Venice, Cinque Terre, Rome's Trevi Fountain - just as good the second time - the Flam Rail trip in Norway and the time we spent in Flam and Belestrand - Tallinn was beautiful, Ireland was gorgeous, Slovenia  and Croatia were real  highlights, especially Plitvice Lakes and Dubrovnik - our 6 days there were pure magic, Cappadocia in Turkey,  stunning Lake Maggiore and picturesque hilltop towns in Italy, Carcassonne and Avignon in France - the list goes on and on. We have enjoyed the mix of hire car and B&Bs, independent travel and hotels, motorhome and organised tours. 

So until our next adventure this just about sums it up.................

Ann

(and Gary)

     

Dubai.....August 13 and 14

We arrived just before midnight to our hotel in Dubai - the gorgeous Sofitel Jumeirah Beach - the traffic at the Beach at that time of night was chaotic. Building construction and road and rail works are carried out 24/7 so the place never closes down. Restaurants, clubs and shops are open till the small hours of the morning - people and cars everywhere. I had never seen a Porche 4x4 before but I've seen plenty now. Our hotel room is huge with an equally huge balcony - but at 40 degrees we have not ventured outside yet. Walked up the marina to check out restaurants for dinner - time for some meat or ribs. It was soooo hot - raced back rather quickly to the cool haven that is our room. Ventured out in the heat one last time for dinner - it was worth it - superb ribs and steak - a fitting final meal. We leave Dubai in the morning for our flight into Sydney and then back home - can't wait to see the kids again - have missed them so much. 

  

Views from our room

Ann

Grand Bazaar - grand prices!!

Off to the Grand Bazaar and what I was expecting to be the highlight of Istanbul, if not all of Turkey. Shops abounded, as far as the eye could see - but the prices were horrendous and bargaining was nowhere near as good as in Morocco or Egypt. I couldn't believe it but we came away with nothing apart from memories of colour, smells and noise - so much noise. Still it was an experience not to be missed. We did find a very nice place for lunch on the walk home and even went back for dinner. Our travels in Europe have come to an end - tomorrow we are on the 1st leg of our trip home - Dubai. 

Gold, gold and more gold

Bargaining for a carpet - he laughed at my offer

Pick a plate - any plate

Turkish delight anyone?

Ann

Istanbul...........August 10 and 11

Back to the chaos and noise that is Istanbul. We changed hotels this morning - found a much nicer hotel for our extra 3 nights with a view of the Bosphorous Sea. Spent a quiet afternoon in the hotel - I am still getting over the tummy bug. Will start looking at more of the city tomorrow.

Walked up to the hop-on hop-off bus which took us all over the city, both the European side where we are staying and across the bridge to the Asian side. Istanbul is a crowded, hectic, bustling, rather dirty city. A slightly cooler day today, overcast and quite breezy, which lifted the smog that we had seen earlier so the view over the Bosphorous was very clear. As everyone lives in high rise apartments, the parklands are full of families enjoying the outdoors - picnics and bbqs everywhere. You cannot walk 5m without a local wanting you to buy something, come into his shop or eat at his restaurant. Gets very tiresome if you just want to stroll and take in the atmosphere. We have a 1k walk to the Grand Bazaar tomorrow so we will have to prepare ourselves for further bombardment. We saw a huge crowd protesting near the now infamous Taksim Square and hundreds of armed police gathering nearby - across the bridge from us - glad the bus didn't hang around. Found a restaurant off the tourist strip and had a nice pizza and caesar salad. Looking forward to seeing and shopping in the Grand Bazaar tomorrow.

Ann

Gallipoli - Istanbul......August 9

We leave Cannakale by car ferry for a half hour ride and return to 'Europe,' and visit the Gallipoli Peninsula - a place of enormous significance to Australians and New Zealander. Located at Turkey's most westerly point this area is now serene, but the role it played in April 1915 during the First World War is now firmly etched on the psyche of the New Zealand and Australian nations. We visit the beach and cemeteries of Anzac Cove, then head up the hill to pay homage at the poignant memorials of Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair. The latter the highest ground secured in the campaign on the 8th of August, 1915 (by New Zealand and British troops) before being beaten back due to lack of reinforcement. From the Ataturk Memorial at this spot we see the Allied troops goal - the Dardenelles. We looked down upon the rough and barren hills and gullies that became the graveyard for so many thousands of young men from both sides. Around this area we find remnants of trenches used by the Turkish soldiers. After touring the former battlefields we headed back to where our adventure began - Istanbul. We arrived back in Istanbul in the late afternoon where we say goodbye to Ergun and Selo who are leaving tonight to return to Ankara. The 5 of us had a final dinner together in a restaurant near our hotel.

Sunflowers everywhere

Hundreds of kilometers of farmland

The outskirts of Istanbul

Ann

Troy - Canakkale.....August 8

Early this morning, after breakfast we begin the drive to Canakkale. On the way, we visit an important historical site, Troy. Troy was a city that existed over 4.000 years ago and was known as a major ancient civilization. Archaeological digs found that there had been nine separate periods of settlement. (3000 BC-AD 400) on what became accepted as the site of ancient Troy. Apart from a wooden Trojan Horse we found Troy a disappointment really. In Çanakkale we had a lovely dinner and viewed yet another Trojan Horse - this one used and subsequently gifted to the city by the producers of the movie Troy filmed in 2004. Our last day on the road tomorrow - we are ready to leave Turkey - have enjoyed the everchanging countryside and Cappadocia especially but the repetitious food is getting hard to swallow - the same food over and over again and poor quality. Tonight's dinner was a little different which was a complete and pleasant surprise.

The Hollywood "Trojan Horse"

Ann

Ephesus

Our first stop this morning, after our obligatory coffee break, was to a leather factory for a fashion parade showing off their fabulous leather jackets. Beautiful leather but a beautiful price as well - needless to say we all came out jacketless. We then drove to Selcuk, which is our base for visiting Ephesus - one of the best-preserved classical cities in the eastern Mediterranean and a great example of Roman architecture. We drove to Ephesus, possibly the greatest Greco-Roman site in the world. Always an important religious centre, Ephesus was founded by Ionian Greeks in the 11th Century BC and flourished under Roman rule. As much as we would have liked to have visited Ephesus, we both had to pass - I now had Gary's tummy bug and a long walk in the heat was out of the question....besides we are a little over Roman ruins and ancient cities. Poor Ergun our guide - he is so passionate and so knowledgeable about all things Turkey, both present and ancient and is so upset that we are missing today's 'highlight'.

Last week - master potter....today - catwalk
model - Gary talents are endless!!

Selcuk Castle seen from our room - as far as we could walk today

Ann