Copenhagen

December 1
We spent all day traveling from Rome to Copenhagen with a layover in Riga, Latvia where there was snow on the ground. We flew Baltic air. The primary language was Russian. We took the train into town. Since we didn't know where the hotel was we were going to take a cab. The driver told us how to get there. It was about three blocks away. Things are very expensive here. We had dinner at a Thai restaurant for almost 300 Kroner, which is about $50 for Phad Thai and chicken with vegetables.

December 2
We woke up to snow on the ground. It was the first of the year. The hotel clerk said some years they don't have much and others they can have a lot. Seems a little like Seattle. Good thing we brought warm clothes and gloves.



There are dedicated bike lanes. People were even riding in the snow. This is outside the train station.




Christianborg Palace. They don't live here, but it is still used for official events.







Do you think we could pass for King and Queen?



Seats more than our table.


















Train station



Carlsborg Glyptotec (museum)






Little Mermaid (the one on the left)

We'll be home tomorrow (December 3) evening.

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Naples and Pompeii

November 30

We landed in Naples this morning. This was a bonus city that was added along with Istanbul to replace Egypt. The weather was similar to home. For the first time on the trip we had steady rain. Naples is where Pizza was invented. It is also the site where 120 bombings by the Nazis took place in WWII. We bought a train ticket to Pompeii when we got off the ship and walked to the train station. We were warned that there may be a train strike. When we got to the station it was confirmed. The strike only lasts for a few hours. We were standing near a couple and negotiated a cab to Pompeii. Pompeii was a Roman settlement that got buried when Mt Versuvius erupted 1,7000 years ago.












(we are now in a Copenhagen hotel with wifi)

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Location:Naples and Pompei

Turkey

November 25
This morning we docked in Izmir, Turkeys third largest city. Turkey is known for clothing and farming. It's warm enough to have two growing seasons. The main attraction was Ephesus which was the third largest city of the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria. It had a population of 250,000 which was quite a lot considering the world population was a lot less at that time.



The library is behind us and the shopping area to the right. Only men could go to the library. There was an tunnel connecting the library to a brothel.






Original water pipes. There were also pipes for heating.






This is the house of the Virgin Mary, although there is dispute whether or not this is true.





Holy water



Wishing wall






We passed by a wedding.

November 26
Today we arrived in Istanbul at 1:00. Istanbul used to be called Constatanoble and Byzintine. It is the only city that is in two continents, Europe and Asia. Turkey has a government that also keeps church and state separate. Christians and Muslims coexist. This afternoon we went to the Topaki Palace which used to be the home of the Ottoman's. One part of the palace was for the harem. Once they became part of the harem they never left the palace. The Ottoman's also had Eunuchs. They seem similar to the Chinese Emperors.















Blue Mosque









Turkish delight



Baklava

November 27
This is our last day in Instanbul. We were able to see everything we wanted to.



The Gallata Bridge separates the Asian and European sides of Istanbul. Notice the restaurants on the lower part of the bridge and the people fishing.








The Spice market is near the bridge. I got some Turkish saffron.














The Grand Bazar is one of the world's largest and oldest. It was built in 1455, has over 3,000 shops and 250,000 to 400,000 visitors per day. (Northgate is one of the first shopping malls in the US built in the 50's)




Mom shopping for a Hooka pipe. We were able spend just about all of our Turkish Lira. The stores also took Euros or dollars, but you needed Lira for thr tram and attractions.



The University of Istanbul is in the background. There was some sort of demonstration. We were warned to stay away from any demonstrations. We stopped at a Starbucks on the way back but were not able to log on.

Greece

November 23
Hard to believe that we have been gone over a week. Today we were in Olympia, the site of the original Olympics. At that time you could only compete if you were Greek.






Here we are at our Thanksgiving dinner. You might not be able to tell, but we had turkey, stuffing and pumpkin.



November 24
We are now in Athens, where we visited the Acropolis, which means the highest city. Our guide said it the oldest city in the world. It's where math, science, philosophy and democracy were developed.

























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