personal experience travel – Page 12

July 7, 2019

The Rocky Mountaineer, Vancouver and Vancouver Island

In my determination not to miss anything or have any regrets on my 2011 fall tour to the Canadian Rockies, I not only upgraded my hotel rooms at Chateau Lake Louise and Banff Springs Hotel to have the best views, and took my first ever helicopter ride over the mountains at Banff, but booked the Gold Leaf package on the Rocky Mountaineer for a two day train ridge through the Canadian Rockies from Banff to Vancouver.

The Gold Leaf package included a special car with a glass domed observation section upstairs and a dining room and kitchen downstairs. It also included having ones luggage delivered to the hotel in Kamloops for the overnight there. In Red Leaf, one would be in a regular train car where sandwiches would be served and everyone needed to take their own hand luggage to their hotel in Kamloops with their larger case remaining on the train. I really liked the idea of the glass domed observation car and of getting my larger case for the overnight, so I splurged again. I was very thankful I could afford the splurges on this trip (there were many earlier trips when I could not) and viewed the whole thing as a very special trip that would give me great memories for the rest of my life. So Gold Leaf package it was.

The group from the Florida retirement community went Red Leaf, so I didn’t see them at all for the entire train ride. There were two other couples in my group who also went Gold Leaf and were in my same car. I was up towards the front of the car with one of the couples a short distance away (just a couple rows back on the other side of the car) and the other couple further back in the car, near the stairs to the lower part, which not only had the dining room and kitchen, but restrooms and an outdoor observation deck.

We were given mimosas when we arrived, then the 1^st seating group went down for breakfast. I was in the 2^nd seating group, so we had some pastries and another mimosa while waiting. For both breakfast and lunch, we had menus from which we could order what we wanted. The food was delicious.

Our first day we traveled over the Continental Divide and along the Kicking Horse River and Shushwap Lake. We also went through the corkscrew tunnels with part of the train coming out one tunnel while another part was going in another tunnel. The Gold Leaf cars were at the back of the train, so we could see the rest of the train well ahead of us.

Due to delays along the way, we arrived at Kamloops three hours past when we should have. Because of this, we were served dinner on the train instead of at the hotel and had an open bar until we arrived in Kamloops. Once we arrived at the hotel, I found that my larger case was waiting for me in my room.

The next day we were returned to the train, where I was in the 1^st seating for breakfast and lunch. We traveled through the Thompson Valley and Fraser Canyon, arriving in Vancouver around 5:00pm (which was on time). We were staying at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel on Canada Place, just across the road from the Olympic Cauldron from the 2010 Olympics. All of the cruise ships dock at Canada Place.

There was a representative from the tour company at the hotel waiting to sign us up for day trips for the next couple of days. For the first day, I chose a trip to Vancouver Island. The entire group from Florida signed up for the same trip and filled out the coach for the first time slot, so I went on the next coach. I met a lovely couple with whom I had lunch and then some gelato later.

After taking the ferry across to the island, we went straight to Butchart Gardens where we had a couple of hours to explore the place. The gardens were absolutely gorgeous. Originally a limestone quarry used for the making of Portland Cement, once the quarry was played out, Missus Butchart turned the quarry into a sunken garden. An Italian garden, a rose garden and a Japanese garden were added over time. When the Butcharts turned the gardens over to their grandson, he added a fountain. The gardens are still run by the family.

On the way back to Victoria, we were given a general tour of the island. Then we were dropped off at the Empress Hotel with a time and place established to be back on the coach. I explored the hotel first. Opened in 1908, the hotel was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway. It is a very elegant hotel in the Chateauesque style. Their afternoon tea is legendary.

I took photos of the Parliament and of the bay before heading for Miniature World. I’m very interested in dollhouse miniatures and gravitate to dollhouses and miniature exhibits. Miniature World had several dollhouses (once called “baby houses”) and lots of historic scenes in miniature. They had 85 exhibits in all from Olde London (Tudor London) to World War II to outer space. They also had some scenes of the western US and Canada with a miniature version of what a Native American village in the upper western coastal area would have looked like.

I had some time before I needed to get back to the coach, so I had an old-fashioned shake at a nearby soda shop. This fortified me until I got back to the hotel in Vancouver and had dinner.

On my final day in Canada, I had a late flight home. So I checked my bags at the hotel when I needed to check out of the room and took off for a Hop On Hop Off trolley tour. This covered such locations as Stanley Park, False Creek, Granville Island, the Art Museum, the Library, Gastown (the original settlement), the Lions Gate Bridge, and the Olympic Stadium. There was also the hotel in which Howard Hughes lived the final years of his life.

The day I was flying back home was the 10^th anniversary of 9/11. I have to admit that I was a little uncomfortable about being on a plane on that date. The security person at the airport in Vancouver rather cheerily reminded me of the date, which didn’t help. But all went well and I arrived home safely in the early hours of 9/12.

In the Gold Leaf car
View from Rocky Mountaineer
One reason why I wanted to ride in the domed observation car
Along the route
Another part of the route
Some rapids along the way
The ferry to Vancouver Island
Sunken gardens at Butchart
More of the sunken gardens
A totem pole at Butchart Gardens
The Japanese garden
The Italian garden
The Empress Hotel in Victoria
The bay in Victoria
The Parliament in Victoria
Model of Pacific Coast Native American village
Canada Place in Vancouver
Vancouver as seen from Stanley Park
The Olympic Stadium in Vancouver

June 30, 2019

Banff & Helicopter Ride

While still in Jasper National Park, we started off our day with a visit to the Athabasca Falls. This is a waterfall with a large force of water carving out a gorge through quartzite and limestone. It was quite beautiful. I took loads of photos and had difficulty selecting just a couple for this post.

Entering Yoho National Park we could see the corkscrew tunnels that the Rocky Mountaineer would go through when we rode it a couple days later. Also in the Yoho National Park, the Kicking Horse River has three waterfalls, one of which has carved through a rock formation, creating a natural bridge. Once again, I had some difficulty narrowing the number of photos to share down to just two.

The river, and our tour, continued on to Emerald Lake. It is a gorgeous turquoise blue (caused by powdered limestone) and its high elevation means that it is usually frozen from November to June. There was a high end lodge on a small island in the lake, reached by a long bridge. The island included a conference center and a cluster of buildings with shops and places to eat. It seemed like the perfect place to have a relaxing vacation (in late summer or early fall).

We drove to Lake Louise Village to have lunch. There was a cluster of places to eat there as well as some shops. I got a small (two glass) bottle of wine and a very small bottle of Bailey’s (a single glass) at the liquor store. I got some cheese, fruit and nuts at the grocers and some bread at the bakery. We didn’t have an included dinner that evening at the Banff Springs Hotel and I planned to stay in the room, have a bubble bath and have dinner while looking at the view from the hotel. I had splurged there too for a room with a view.

The hotel was built in 1888 in the Scottish Baronial style. It had a large number of rooms and suites, plus restaurants and shops in the building. It also had a golf course.

The room was at the top floor with a magnificent view of the Bow and Spray rivers and the mountains. I relaxed with a glass of wine while taking the bubble bath and ate dinner seated at a built-in window seat while watching the changes in the light as the sun set. Here too, the splurge was worth it.

The bathroom was tiny. It had a claw foot tub that I needed to climb into from the end. The toilet was next to it, so I could close the lid and use it as a side table for my glass of wine.

After breakfast, we started our day with a ride in the Banff Gondola up Sulphur Mountain. Fortunately, the gondola was an enclosed four seater. Not being a fan of heights, I don’t like open gondolas. We had great views from up at the top of the mountain.

Once we came down from Sulphur Mountain, we drove to a spot called “Surprise Corner” where we could get the postcard view of the hotel. Despite its name, Tunnel Mountain had no tunnels. But it gave us some great views of the hoodoos and of Bow River. Hoodoos are kind of needle-like rock formations.

At the Bow River, we dropped off several members of our group for them to take a float trip on the Bow River. Loving water as I do, I would normally have joined them. However, I had other plans for that same time.

The rest of us drove around in the area for a while and took some more photos. There was a clothing optional beach. We could see some topless women, but everyone we could see had something on their bottom half.

We dropped several more people off at our hotel. The remainder of us were taken into town and dropped off there. I had lunch at a restaurant specializing in home cooking which was across the street from the Banff Park Lodge Resort Hotel. I was joining another group there after lunch to take a helicopter flight over the Rockies. This was because I was the only one from my group who wanted to do it.

Back when I was a teenager in Texas, I had an opportunity to take a short helicopter ride as part of a small fair. The helicopter was a two-seater with open sides. So I chickened out. In Banff, the helicopter was five-passenger plus pilot and enclosed. We were strapped in around the waist and over our shoulders. We also wore headphones and microphones to communicate with one another and the pilot. This also wasn’t a fairground group, but the people who performed rescue operations by helicopter in the area. They knew what they were doing. For my first helicopter ride, I felt I was very much in safe hands.

We were about 8,500 feet up for a 30 minute flight. We flew over mountains and valleys, lakes and rivers that were in areas not all that accessible. There were no roads, so the only way in or out would have been by hiking. We hovered right next to a glacier. I waited until we pulled back a bit before taking a photo, as it just would have been of a lot of snow so close. I loved it! I definitely did feel safe inside the helicopter and so delighted in the views from up there. The ride was very smooth, not jumpy or rocky.

Once we returned to terra firma, the other group’s bus driver dropped me off at my hotel before taking the rest of their group back to theirs. They were a very nice group of people who welcomed me with open arms. I enjoyed spending time with them.

That night our group had a farewell dinner in the Conservatory at the hotel. Not everyone in the group was going on the two-day Rocky Mountaineer trip to Vancouver. It was mainly the group from the Florida retirement community and just two more couples in addition to me. The others were all heading back to Calgary the next day to catch flights to their homes.

While having dinner, we had a young deer venture over close to the building to eat some of the vegetation just outside the Conservatory. We were all careful to be quiet and not move too quickly so he/she wouldn’t be spooked.

Next time – the Rocky Mountaineer, Vancouver and Vancouver Island.

Athabasca Falls
The gorge of Athabasca Falls
Kicking Horse River
Natural Bridge at Kicking Horse River
Emerald Lake
Bridge to Emerald Lake Lodge
Banff Springs Hotel
Banff Springs Hotel side entrance
Lobby of Banff Springs Hotel
View from hotel room at Banff Springs Hotel
Banff gondola up Sulphur Mountain
View from Sulphur Mountain
View of Banff Springs Hotel from “Surprise Corner”
The Hoodoos
The helicopter in Banff
View from helicopter
Glacier seen from helicopter
Another view from helicopter
The Conservatory in Banff Springs Hotel

June 24, 2019June 24, 2019

Canadian Rockies: Calgary, Lake Louise & Jasper

Although a large number of my trips involve visiting other civilizations to explore their history, culture, art, etcetera, I do take purely scenic trips upon occasion too. In the fall of 2011, I took one of those trips to the Canadian Rockies. This particular tour appealed to me not only because of all of the gorgeous scenery and wildlife, but because I would also be able to experience some river rafting, a helicopter ride over the mountains, riding on an ice explorer over a glacier, and a scenic train trip on the Rocky Mountaineer. Then there were the overnight stays at Chateau Lake Louise, the Jasper Park Lodge and the Banff Springs Hotel. It all seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime experience to me.

My experience started early with my alarm clock going off at 2:30am for me to get up to get to the airport on time for my flight to Toronto. For some reason, from Minneapolis, I had to fly east to Toronto and then catch a flight west to Calgary (in Alberta). I arrived in Calgary by lunchtime and went out to explore the area around the hotel, which was downtown.

That evening, we had a meet-and-greet with wine and cheese. There were 34 people on the trip other than me, mostly from the US (which is not the usual when I’m on a tour). They were all couples except for four women who were traveling together. There was a group of 16 who were traveling together from a retirement community in Florida. They and the four women weren’t too interested in mixing with others, but I had 14 others who were. As usual, I met some very nice people.

We just stayed the one night in Calgary. Before leaving town the next day, we did a short tour of the city, including the Saddle Dome, the Calgary Stampede grounds, and the 1988 Winter Olympic site just out of town. Then we headed off towards Lake Louise, where we had lunch.

One of the cool things that I noticed as soon as we were out in the area of the Rockies was the number of land bridges that existed for the animals to be able to get safely across the highway. They were nice and wide with grass, trees and other vegetation planted on the top and tunnels for the highway traffic underneath. Although I’m sure there are other places in the world that have them, they were the first that I had ever seen.

After lunch at the Chateau Lake Louise, we hopped back onto the tour coach to visit Moraine Lake. There were some large piles of rocks which afforded some lovely views when climbed. There were also signs saying that people needed to be in groups of four or more by law due to grizzly bears. Our Tour Director, Tyler, made a few jokes about people on bicycles being “meals on wheels” and on a motorcycle “fast food” and such. I figured he was just trying to make certain we understood how dangerous it was to go off on one’s own.

At dinner, back at Chateau Lake Louise, instead of having us all in a group together in one room, we were disbursed throughout the seven hotel restaurants with varying dining times. We could sign up for the style of restaurant and the time we wanted to dine, giving 1^st and 2^nd choices. Then Tyler grouped people together accordingly. I was paired with a couple from South Carolina and another from Florida (but not part of the big group from the retirement community). They were all quite nice and dinner was enjoyable.

I had splurged a bit by paying a little extra for a room facing the lake. We were only going to be there one night and I just didn’t want to be facing the road. I was in the oldest wing that was built in 1913. The room was elegant with dark wood, a chandelier and a very fancy bathroom. The bed was comfy, but I woke up early so I could see what the sunrise looked like. This was why I had paid the extra money, so I was not going to miss it. The view was gorgeous! I have included a photo here.

On our way to Peyto Lake, we passed by Bow Lake. Both lakes are glacial fed (as are Moraine Lake and Lake Louise) and line the Icefields Parkway. Peyto Lake is a beautiful turquoise blue and is down in a valley, so we viewed it from above. After passing the North Saskatchewan River, while going through the area known as the Great Bend, we saw Battleship Mountain (which indeed looked like a battleship) and Bridal Veil Falls.

At the Columbia Ice Field, we boarded an Ice Explorer to drive out onto the glacier itself. The vehicle had enormous tires and quite a long ladder to climb to get inside. Once on the glacier, we were taken to an area that was roped off as being safe for us to get out of the vehicle and walk around a bit. That part of the glacier was as thick as the Eiffel Tower is tall. Most of the trip I was in summer clothing, but here I was bundle up for winter. The ice dome was a triple continental divide.

We had lunch in the town of Jasper and did some exploring while the luggage was dropped off at the Jasper Park Lodge. For dinner that night, I opted for something a little less formal, but still a fairly early seating. Apparently the couple from South Carolina felt the same. We ended up dining together again. Lydia had fallen on the way to the dining room. Her husband wanted to walk back, so I rode with her on one of the little carts used to ferry guests around in order to help her to her room.

My room was a short distance from theirs and up one level. I climbed the stairs near Fred and Lydia’s room and walked around to my own on the deck. I heard a rustling below and looked over the railing to see a female elk looking back at me. A young elk was nearby. Then I saw a large male. I backed up quietly and slowly to go into my room to get my cameras (I didn’t have a camera on my phone yet). I was glad I had come up a different staircase as I would have encountered the elks directly to get to the one closest to my room.

I came out with both cameras and took some video first. Some people walked by not quite far enough away and the male elk bucked and bellowed. I was tickled to have it on video. By the time I got around to the other camera, it was starting to get a little dark. The one photo in which I managed to get all three of the elk family, was slightly fuzzy.

The next morning, we passed Medicine Lake on our way to Maligne Lake. There we took a short cruise to Spirit Island. The views from Spirit Island were breathtaking. Medicine Lake is not really a lake, but part of a river that backs up and suddenly goes underground and disappears (coming out in a canyon about nine miles away), depending upon the time of the year. So, sometimes it’s a lake and sometimes it’s a river. It was transitioning from lake to river when we saw it.

We had lunch at the lodge at Maligne Lake before continuing on to the Athabasca River. On the way, we saw a couple of grizzly bears, which I managed to film. At the Athabasca River, we went river rafting. We saw a black bear from the raft shortly after we began the ride when we weren’t going very fast.

I loved the rafting trip. It was wild enough to be fun without being terrifying. I got soaked. Being that it was a hot day, it felt great. We had ropes to hold onto so we wouldn’t be tossed from the raft. We also were wearing life jackets.

On the way back to the Jasper Park Lodge, we encountered the same male elk that had been by my room the night before. I knew it was him because he had some barbed wire caught in his rack. We found out the next morning that the park rangers tranquilized him to free him from the barbed wire.

Next time – Banff and a helicopter ride over the Rockies.

Calgary Winter Olympic Park
Lake Moraine
Chateau Lake Louise
View from room window of Chateau Lake Louise
Peyto Lake
North Saskatchewan River
Battleship Mountain
Ice Explorer
Columbia Ice Field
Portion of Jasper Park Lodge
Elk family outside of my room
Maligne Lake
Boat to Spirit Lake
View from Spirit Lake
Grizzly Bear
Athabasca River
Black Bear
Male Elk with barbed wire in rack

June 16, 2019

Hollywood 2011 – Part Two

The Movie Star Homes Tour began in the Hollywood Hills and included such places as the Magic Castle (a private club for magicians), Bela Lugosi’s house (which had gargoyles), Orlando Bloom’s house, the Hollywood sign, and the Griffith Observatory. Laurence Fishburne had a sign out front saying that security is provided by the Matrix Security Team. James Dean’s former home had a lot of glass block and was very modern. Steven Spielberg’s house was at the top of one of the hills and somewhat resembled a series of flying saucers with circles stacked upon circles.

The house from the original version of Nightmare on Elm Street was on a street lined with established, large trees. The person running the tour felt that the street looked spooky. Where I live, streets like that are commonplace and a street without a tree canopy over it looks odd. I guess it’s all about perspective.

Then we drove along Sunset Boulevard to see Chateau Marmont, the back of Johnny Depp’s house (screened by bamboo trees), the Viper Room (once owned by Johnny Depp) and the Whiskey a Go-Go. We went to Beverly Hills where the first house we saw had been Marilyn Monroe’s when she was married to Joe Di Maggio. We saw houses that either were owned or had once been owned by various stars such as Dr Phil, Nicholas Cage, Tom Cruise, Tom Selleck, Paul Newman, Ozzy Osborne, Frank Sinatra, David Beckham, and Mariah Carey. Some houses we could actually see, but some we could only see the gate.

The house where Michael Jackson died was pointed out to us as were the houses used for the TV series “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”. I especially liked Tom Selleck’s house, which was large, but not at all pretentious. I also thought “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” house was not only fun to see, but quite beautiful too with loads of shrubs of large white flowers (which I think were roses) just outside of the gates.

Then we went to Rodeo Drive and passed the Beverly Hills Hotel (which my mom and I had been to before for dinner with Janice and her mom and her mom’s husband, Raoul). The tour then looped back to Hollywood, pointing out some older apartment buildings and homes there before stopping at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The fella conducting the tour gave us the spiel about it being the most haunted building in Hollywood along with reports of the various hauntings and then he offered to let us off there. We said, “Sure.” Some of the others on the tour got off there too.

We all went inside of the building, but only Janice, Lily, and I got on the elevator and went upstairs to drop off a few items before going to dinner down the street at the Pig ‘n Whistle. We returned to the hotel for dessert and drinks before Janice and Lily headed home. Janice was going to pick me up the next day late in the afternoon. We all enjoyed the tour (which had a relatively small group of twelve in an open-topped vehicle) – especially the stories told by its leader.

At breakfast on Sunday, which I ate at the diner downstairs in the hotel, I found myself sitting next to three guys who were “taking a meeting”. The one fella represented a woman who was a model and was dating a football (soccer) player (who was better known than she was) and wanted to engage the other two guys to market the woman for the fitness business.

All three men sounded so overblown and phony, but I guess that’s just the way it all works. It was fascinating to listen to them and sometimes difficult to keep a straight face. I’m not an aficionado of corporate-speak, so the even more extreme version – Hollywood-speak – was especially amusing to me. But I just pretended to not hear anything they said while eating my eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast with fresh-squeezed orange juice. Mom had said that Janice’s grandfather used to make deals at that hotel, so it seemed appropriate.

After breakfast, I walked down to the Hollywood Wax Museum. At the entrance were Marilyn Monroe and the Wizard of Oz cast – the Scarecrow, Dorothy and Toto, Lion, Tin Man, and the Wicked Witch of the West. The place was quite packed with loads of wax figures from throughout the film spectrum, both classic films and modern hits. The actors and actresses were portrayed mainly in particular film roles with some (like Johnny Depp) in more than one display. It was fun to see, but I have to admit that the wax figures were not, for the most part, as well done as those at Madame Tussaud’s, which was where I went next.

Madame Tussaud’s wax sculpting isn’t always perfect either, but there were some that were uncanny. It took me a moment to realize that the Steven Spielberg figure was wax. He really looked like the actual person. The Hollywood Wax Museum mostly had its figures in displays for you to look at, while Madame Tussaud’s had them here and there where people could walk among them and get their picture taken with them. You could sit next to Tom Hanks as Forest Gump on his bus stop bench or sit down next to Will Smith in a party setting.

Paul Newman and Robert Redford were dressed as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Paul Newman looked quite realistic, but the person who fashioned Robert Redford did not seem to be quite as talented. One of the things I liked was to be able to see a person’s size compared to my own. Who is tall? Who is tiny? I was careful not to bump into anybody.

Since I am a fan of action movies, I enjoyed a room with Daniel Craig, Bruce Willis, and Robert Downey Jr. (among others). The first two Ironman movies had already come out by then so he was represented as both Tony Stark and Ironman, but they didn’t have any of the other Avenger actors as of yet.

Just outside of the museum entrance was a very good Marilyn Monroe look-alike. She can be seen in the photo taken of the entrance.

Janice picked me up at the hotel as planned and we went to the Hollywood Forever cemetery to visit her mother’s grave. Margaret is buried next to Don Adams (of “Get Smart” fame). She always enjoyed a good laugh, so I figured he was keeping her entertained. There is a bench on her grave from which one can view a lovely lake. She’s also not too far from Tyrone Power, who was a favorite of hers. We also checked out other nearby graves of Marion Davies, Johnny Ramone, Jayne Mansfield, Cecil B. Demille, and a memorial to Hattie McDaniel right next to the lake.

We fed a few ducks and geese with some bread and then went to the main mausoleum to say “hi” to Rudolf Valentino (who always has fresh lipstick prints on his marker, despite being wiped off daily) and so I could see where Margaret’s funeral took place. Margaret’s parents are both in one of the mausoleums.

While passing through Beverly Hills on our way to UCLA, we drove by the ‘Witch House’. It really did look like a house where a fairytale witch would live. At UCLA, we picked up Lily from a weekly group that she went to at the school. We joined one of Lily’s friends and her mother and went to a very nice Japanese restaurant for dinner. Both the tempura and sushi items we had were delicious.

The following day was Monday and my final day in Hollywood. I slept in a bit, then had breakfast, checked out of the hotel, locked my luggage up in a room at the front desk and went on the Double-Decker Fun Bus Tour that left from in front of the Kodak Theatre. The Fun Tour covered Hollywood and West Hollywood. It was a sight-seeing tour with a lot of humor.

The tour leader singled me out, asking whether or not I was married. I said I wasn’t, so he pointed out a place where I could get a hot pink wig, and Frederick’s of Hollywood, where I could get a “really sexy” outfit and I would be “married in no time”.

We covered Hollywood Boulevard and then went to where several film studios – Sunset Gower, Sunset Bronson, Raleigh Studios, and Paramount Studios – were located. We also passed the rundown apartment building where Judy Garland, her mom and sisters lived when they first arrived in Hollywood and she was part of the Gumm Sisters (her real name was Frances Gumm).

Pinks, the popular hotdog place at the time, had a long line along the sidewalk outside to get in. We went by the super expensive antique shops on Third. An item that might be $60 on Melrose Avenue could be $200 on Third. Third was also where the hotel that Mom and I used to stay in some of the times we went out to visit Margaret was located. We passed the building and the hotel appeared to be closed.

We went along Sunset Boulevard again. In addition to Whiskey a Go-Go and the Viper Room, our tour guide also pointed out the House of Blues and the Saddle Ranch Chop House. All along the way, he continued to make pithy comments and flirt with me.

There were two locations of Mel’s Diner. The one on Sunset Boulevard was featured in the movie American Graffiti. The other one was next door to the Hollywood Museum on Highland, just off of Hollywood Boulevard. We were shown the one on Sunset on the tour. When the tour ended (same place it began), the tour guide actually asked me out. I said “thanks” but was leaving town that afternoon.

Since I was at the intersection of Hollywood and Highland, I walked the short distance to that Mel’s Diner. Once I was seated, I could see an autographed photo of Leonardo Dicaprio on the wall of the small booth I was in. The server saw me looking at it and asked me if I was a fan. “Definitely”, I responded and then she told me I was sitting in his favorite booth. I asked if that meant I would need to move if he came in and she said that most likely, he would just join me. I came close to suggesting she give him a call.

After lunch, I collected my cases and sat out in the comfortable sitting area behind the hotel, which is actually the main entrance, until the airport shuttle arrived.

Next time – a memorable trip to the Canadian Rockies.

Bela Lugosi’s house
James Dean’s house
Nightmare on Elm Street house
Steven Spielberg’s house
Chateau Marmont
Whiskey a Go-Go
“Fresh Prince of Bel Air” house
Along Rodeo Drive
Hollywood Wax Museum
The Wizard of Oz at Hollywood Wax Museum
Madame Tussauds entrance
Steven Spielberg wax figure
Daniel Craig with Robert Downey Jr and Bruce Willis in the background
View from Margaret’s grave
Rudolf Valentino’s marker
Witch House
Hollywood sign
Paramount Studios
Mel’s Diner on Highland
Interior view from Leonardo Dicaprio’s favorite booth

June 9, 2019

Hollywood 2011 – Part One

A first cousin of my mom’s lived out in the Los Angeles area. So Mom and I visited her every once in a while. While there, we would sometimes do some touristy things like visiting Universal Studios, going to Disneyland, running out to Santa Monica or Malibu, spending some time in Hollywood or Downtown LA, and visiting both the original Getty Museum and the newer one. When Margaret passed away, Mom could no longer travel and I decided not to go out for the funeral, but to visit at another time when I could actually spend some time with Margaret’s daughter, Janice, and her daughter, Lily.

After my trip to Turkey, I had enough miles to fly out to LA for free. I also found a wonderful deal at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, which was just across the street from Grauman’s Chinese Theater. I flew out for a long weekend so I could do more touristy things when Janice and Lily weren’t available (such as when Janice was at work). She offered me the use of Margaret’s condo, which she had not yet sold, but I figured the hotel would really be better since I wouldn’t need to rent a car and drive anywhere and could just run across the street to the theater to catch various tours. I could also see loads of tourist places along Hollywood Boulevard.

I flew out on a Thursday and took a shuttle from the airport to the hotel, where I had lunch at the diner in the hotel. The diner was a throwback to the diners in the 1950s both in style and menu items. Mom and I had eaten there once before, so I already knew what I wanted – the grilled cheese sandwich and chocolate malt. The sandwich had five types of cheese on Texas toast (so was huge) and the malt was created by hand and served with the remainder of the drink in the metal shaker. I would not be going away hungry.

The hotel room was actually a Junior King Suite on the 12^th floor of the hotel, facing Hollywood Boulevard and the Hollywood Hills. That was the great deal. I was able to get this Junior King Suite for less money than a regular room usually cost. I think it might have been because Cannes was going on at the time, so a good share of the Hollywood community was out of town in the south of France instead of making deals or staying at the hotel. Instead of two rooms, this was one large room with the bed at one end and a sofa, chairs, a desk, fridge, and large TV at the other end.

The hotel was built in the 1920s and was the site of the original Academy Awards ceremony. It was also the site where Shirley Temple learned her special tap dance on the steps. It is considered to be the most haunted building in Hollywood with the most haunted floor being the 9^th. I was offered my choice between a room on the 9^th floor and the 12^th. Not wishing to share my room with any ghosts, I chose the 12^th floor. Although Suite 1200 is haunted, that was not the room I was given.

After lunch, I checked out the stars on the sidewalk in front of the hotel. Then I went across the street to the Chinese Theater to explore the hand prints and footprints and take a tour of the inside of the theater. The interior was mainly red, gold and black. There was a film being shown at the time. So, although we could briefly look inside of the theater itself, we couldn’t take photos. We could spend time in the lobby, the ladies room (which was very, very fancy and large), a party room, and some other rooms, including a special VIP room for celebrities to see the film without intermingling with the regular audience.

The theater was built in the 1920s as a movie palace. The Academy Awards were held there three times. The two lions that sat out front of the main entrance were original Ming Dynasty. There are several stories regarding how the idea came about for the footprints and hand prints in the forecourt. However it began, it is fun to explore.

Before I left the forecourt of the theater, I booked the Warner Brothers VIP tour for the next day at the booth there. It would be leaving from the theater. After that I continued down that side of the street as far as Cherokee, checking out what was then known as the Kodak Theatre along the way. The columns on each side of the stairs from the street up to the theatre listed all of the “Best Picture” winners. This theatre was built in 2001 for live performances and to host the Academy Awards.

On the other side of Hollywood Boulevard were lots of souvenir shops, a Disney shop, the Egyptian Theater, the El Capitan Theater, a few pubs, a McDonalds, and a small grocers where I could buy a few things to keep in the hotel for snacks or meals when I didn’t want to go out. That night I had dinner with Janice and Lily in the hotel’s main dining room. The room was very “old Hollywood” traditional in feel with lots of dark leather seating. The food was fairly traditional too.

The Warner Brothers tour the next day was quite fun. We saw several exterior sets from TV shows “ER”, “The Waltons”, “Growing Pains”, and “Harry’s Law” which starred Kathy Bates. We also saw interiors from “Friends” (Central Perk) and “Harry’s Law” (the courtroom). Leonardo DiCaprio had just finished the J. Edgar movie, so we could still see some of the exterior sets and the soundstage for interiors.

The museum had loads of props and costumes from “Chuck”, “The Mentalist”, The Matrix, the Batman movies, Inception, The Departed, and the Harry Potter movies. They also had older costumes belonging to John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, and Clint Eastwood, plus newer costumes that had been worn by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, and Leonardo DiCaprio. In the car section, they had cars from “Chuck”, “Get Smart”, The Matrix, Gran Torino, Austin Powers, Batman, and the flying car from Harry Potter.

Janice and Lily thought it would be fun to do the tour of the Movie Star Homes together. None of us had ever done it before. So I booked it for 3pm on Saturday.

The first thing I did on Saturday was to take the subway (underground) to Hollywood & Vine. Janice’s grandfather had owned a large nightclub called the Florentine Gardens from roughly 1938 to 1948 not far from that famous intersection. The club featured such performers as the Mills Brothers, Ozzy Nelson’s Orchestra, and Sophie Tucker. Yvonne DeCarlo (who later played Lily Munster on TV) was once a chorus girl there and Marilyn Monroe married her first husband there when she was still Norma Jean Baker. Various gangsters, including Bugsy Siegel, spent time there as well. It is still a nightclub and still called the Florentine Gardens. So I decided to go and take a photo. The subway station at Hollywood and Vine was pretty interesting too.

When I got back to the Hollywood and Highland neighborhood, I visited the Hollywood Museum. They had loads of costumes and props from both old and new movies and television series. I especially enjoyed seeing items belonging to Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Tyrone Power, Bob Hope, Mae West, Jean Harlow, Cary Grant, Shirley Temple, The Social Network, “The Sopranos”, “Lost”, “Star Trek”, Leonardo Dicaprio, Bruce Willis, Mark Wahlberg, Star Wars, Planet of the Apes (the first one and the remake), Dream Girls, items from the old horror movies, and items from the Indiana Jones movies. They also had an actual Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Writer’s Guild award. Hannibal Lector’s cell from Silence of the Lambs was there too. Several floors were jammed full of stuff and it was all well worth seeing.

On the way back to the hotel, I grabbed some lunch and took some time to write in my journal and relax before meeting up with Janice and Lily to go on the Movie Stars tour.

Next time – the Movie Stars Tour, overhearing a couple people “taking a meeting” at breakfast the next day, exploring the Hollywood Wax Museum, Madame Tussaud’s, and the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, visiting UCLA, dinner at a Japanese restaurant, the Double-Decker Hollywood Fun Tour, and lunch at Mel’s Dinner.

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
Hotel lobby
Stairs where Shirley Temple learned her special tap dance
View of hotel from room
View of Hollywood Boulevard & Hollywood Hills from hotel room
Grauman’s Chinese Theater
Jimmy Stewart’s hand and footprints
Interior of Chinese Theater
Kodak Theatre
Stairs to Kodak Theatre
Exterior city set at Warner Brothers
The Walton House
“Growing Pains” house
Central Perk from “Friends”
Hollywood & Vine subway station
Florentine Gardens Nightclub
Hollywood Museum
Marilyn Monroe display
Ruby slippers
Frankenstein’s Monster

June 2, 2019

Return to Istanbul – Topkapi Palace

Topkapi Palace was built in the 15^th century for the Ottoman Sultans, replacing the ruined Great Palace of Constantinople (destroyed by the Ottomans during their siege of the city). It is unique among palaces as being different from either European or Middle Eastern palaces. One of the draws for me was that it has a fully intact Harem! The palace also has lots of grilled windows and secret passages to allow the Sultan and his family maximum privacy.

Once we passed through the Imperial Gate, we were in the 1^st courtyard. There is a Mint and a small, Byzantine church, Haghia Eirene, in this courtyard. Several other buildings that used to be there aren’t any more. There is a fountain to the right, however, that was purportedly used by the executioners to wash their hands after performing a beheading. Lots of unsuspecting people were using it to refill their water bottles. Due to the heavy rain, I didn’t get a lot of outdoor shots unless I was under an arcade. Even then, with the torrent, many photos would have been of the rain and not what I was trying to see.

The gate from this courtyard into the next was called the Gate of Salutations. I thought it looked like part of a fairytale castle. Experts say it looks Byzantine. You can judge for yourself when you look at the photo included here.

Through this gate we entered the 2^nd courtyard. The Divan was where the Imperial Council met and had one of those grilled windows that the Sultan could hide behind and hear everything that went on there. In the photo, the grilled window is in the upper middle of the wall.

The entrance to the Harem and to the Imperial Kitchens (with utensils and porcelain on display) are also found in this courtyard, as well as the stables and one of the treasuries (at that time housing a collection of arms and armor).

The Gate of Felicity goes from this courtyard to the 3^rd. The Palace School was located here as well as the Audience Chamber, the Imperial Treasury, and numerous private apartments and special chambers. In order for me to tour the Harem, I needed to return to the 2^nd courtyard once we had our free time.

I paid the additional fee and entered the Harem. They gave us maps, which were somewhat helpful as the Harem is a very large labyrinth of rooms and courtyards. A newcomer could easily get lost. Even with the map I found myself getting confused a couple of times. But then, there were roughly 93 rooms that were open to the public.

The Harem was in use until the early 20^th century. Even though the Ottoman sultans had moved into the newer Dolmabahce Palace in the late 19^th century and the sultans lost power not too long thereafter, there were children who had been born in the Topkapi Palace Harem who were allowed to live there for as long as they wished. So there were some elderly women still living there at the end of their lives when the sultans were long gone.

At one point, about a year or two after I took this trip, some women from my church held a book club based on a book about life in the Topkapi Harem that was written by a granddaughter of one of the last residents of the Harem. She had visited her grandmother there and had interviewed her and other Harem residents in addition to the research she did for the book. It was quite fascinating.

In movies, harems are usually shown as large open pools of water with naked women bathing with eunuchs fanning them, surrounded by nasty-looking guards. Not quite. This Harem housed the Sultan’s mother, his wives, his concubines, his children, and all of their servants. The bathing areas were much smaller and more private than depicted in films. There were schools for the children, wives and concubines. The guards (who were eunuchs) weren’t there to keep the women and children in; they were there to keep others out. The residents of the Harem could go about their lives, including outside of the palace, but with an escort for their safety.

The first courtyard within the Harem area was the Courtyard of the Eunuchs. This was technically just before entering the actual Harem. The dormitories of the eunuchs overlooked this courtyard.

After passing through a sentry post, the Harem itself was reached. The first courtyard there was the Courtyard of the Queen Mother where the Sultan’s mother and her servants were housed. This had some truly elegant rooms. Taking photos of the rooms presented some difficulties as the day was dark, the rooms relatively small, and a lot of people were in them. In one of the rooms in the Queen Mother’s suite, I got a good shot of the upper portion of the walls, part of the ceiling and a chandelier. An attempt at photographing the entire room ended up with just a crowd of people not entirely in focus. Sometimes that’s just the way it is on a trip.

The next courtyard was the Courtyard of the Concubines. It was mainly pink. This area had dormitories for the general concubines with a special apartment for the Chief Concubine. There were also laundry facilities, baths, a hospital, and some beautiful gardens that overlooked the Bosphorus. I took some rather dark, but otherwise decent photos of a couple of the rooms in there.

The Imperial Hall was where the Sultan would hang out with friends and family. We were roped off from a good-sized section and it had a high dome with additional windows, which helped to get a good photo showing how ornate the room is. I just bided my time until I could get up to the rope with nobody in front of me.

When I finally made it through to the last courtyard – the Courtyard of the Favorites – and out of the final gate of the Harem, I was in the 3^rd courtyard of the palace again. I went and sat down under an arcade to reconnoiter (the photo of that courtyard was taken from my seated perspective). Checking my watch, map, and the lines, I realized that I didn’t have enough time left to see both the sacred relics in the Pavilion of the Holy Mantle and the Topkapi Dagger and other important jewels, art and artifacts in the Imperial Treasury. So I opted for the Pavilion of the Holy Mantle.

The Pavilion of the Holy Mantle was built to house relics of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed. It was originally part of the Sultan’s private quarters, but was opened up in the 16^th century for special viewing by others. Relics of the Prophet include his mantle, some hair from his beard, a tooth, a footprint, a bow and a sword.

What I really wanted to see were the other relics. These included a pot belonging to Abraham, the staff of Moses, the sword of David, the turban of Joseph (the Joseph with the coat of many colors), and an arm of John the Baptist (which was encased, but parts were visible). I was able to see all of these, but not allowed to take photos or video. Whether or not the relics were authentic doesn’t really matter that much to me as they were cool to see anyway.

After Topkapi, we visited the Grand Bazaar. By this time I was feeling really sick and it was still raining heavily. It was pretty much a monsoon at this point. So I opted to stay on the tour coach and take a nap after I picked up some items for dinner at a little food shop next to where we were parked. I had visited the Grand Bazaar in Cairo, Egypt (which is much older) just a couple years earlier, so I figured it was okay to miss this one.

I had to get up at 2am to catch my flight. I dozed off from Istanbul to Amsterdam and then watched a couple of movies from Amsterdam to Minneapolis. When I got home, I think I slept for three days straight (with my dog curled up with me). But I loved seeing Turkey and revisited both Istanbul and Ephesus three years later as part of a trip to Greece & the Greek Islands.

As we were heading back to the hotel from the Grand Bazaar, we passed the train station for the Orient Express. It is quite Victorian and reddish in color. My photo is shot through a rain-streaked tour coach window. Someday I would love to take the Orient Express from Istanbul to Venice, spending some extra time in both cities.

Next time – a long weekend in Hollywood, being a tourist while visiting family.

Gate of Salutations
The Divan
Inside the Divan
The 2nd Courtyard
Courtyard of the Eunuchs in Harem
Harem
Courtyard of the Queen Mother in Harem
Inside Queen Mother’s apartment
Inside Queen Mother’s apartment
Courtyard of the Concubines in Harem
Inside a Harem room
Another Harem room
The Imperial Hall in Harem
Courtyard of the Favorites in Harem
3rd Courtyard of Palace looking towards Audience Chamber
Pavilion of the Holy Mantle
Orient Express Train Terminal

May 26, 2019

Return to Istanbul – Haghia Sophia

Back when I was taking an art history class at Texas A&M University at Commerce, I became enamored with the Haghia Sophia in Istanbul. The photos of it showed a magnificent building, which was completed in 537 AD by the Holy Roman Emperor Justinian as a Greek Orthodox Cathedral. It was built over two previous buildings, also churches.

Haghia Sophia, meaning “Divine Wisdom” continued as a church for close to a thousand years until converted into a mosque by the Ottomans in 1453. It then remained as a mosque for nearly 500 years until the 1930s when it was turned into a museum. At that point, the paint and/or plaster that had been placed over many of its mosaics was removed. It is considered to be one of the greatest examples of Byzantine architecture in the world. It was also the largest cathedral on earth for roughly the first thousand years of its existence.

I was really excited to see it. I was still feeling mighty sick and it was a cold, rainy day. I drank a couple glasses of fresh-squeezed orange juice (by the way, Turkey has the most flavorful oranges I have ever tasted) with my breakfast, downed loads of cold meds, bundled up and headed out with my feet barely touching the ground. The Haghia Sophia was one of what you could call my “bucket list” locations. Josh Gates, host of “Expedition Unknown”, “Legendary Locations”, and “Destination Truth”, has declared it to be one of his favorite destinations as well.

It was starting to rain as we arrived, so we didn’t spend a lot of time outside, entering the building almost immediately. We gathered in the Narthex to listen to our tour director tell us about the history of the building. I already knew the history and was itching to get into the main part of the building. It was difficult for me to be patient, but I politely waited until he was done talking and escorted us towards the entrance to the nave.

The main entrance to the basilica is the Imperial Gate, which has a mosaic over the door depicting Christ on a throne with the Emperor bowing next to Him. This is one of the more famous mosaics within the Haghia Sophia.

Once inside of the nave, my jaw dropped in awe. Wow! So beautiful! The size is amazing. A mosaic of Mary and the baby Jesus can be seen straight ahead from the entrance in the apse near one of the two half-domed ceilings that flank the central dome. There are also mosaics of the Archangels Michael (fragmentary on the left) and Gabriel (a good share of him on the right) flanking the apse.

A coronation square for the crowning of Emperors is found in the floor just to the right and close to where the altar would have been. The altar was replaced by a Mihrab, which indicates the direction of Mecca. Not far from that is a Minbar, which is a raised, covered platform from which the sermon is delivered. It is reached by a steep stairway.

A special loge for the Ottoman Sultans is found perched on columns slightly to the left of the apse. A tall, throne-like chair called a Kűrsű, on which the Imam sits, is located over on the left side of the nave. I took photos and video of everything.

As soon as we were released for free time to explore on our own, I dashed off to the Vestibule of Warriors, where I could see the famous mosaic of Mary and the baby Jesus flanked by Justinian and Constantine over the door leading to the nave. There was a photo of that mosaic in my art history textbook. Constantine offers a representation of Constantinople while Justinian offers a model of the Haghia Sophia.

I felt that the ceiling of the vestibule showed the age of the building. It looked much older than so much of it that has been repaired (from earthquake damage) and renovated over the centuries. Perhaps it has been pretty much left alone.

The Haghia Sophia doesn’t have stairs. Instead it has ramps leading to its various levels. I headed up the main ramp to the gallery. I was so excited that I forgot to take a photo of the ramp, so I got one of the ramp that I used to come back down later. On the way to the ramp, I passed the Wishing Column. The line to touch it was longer than I cared to join. I had things that I wanted to make certain not to miss.

Up in the gallery, after taking some photos of the nave down below, I walked around to the other side of the building to the marble Gate of Heaven and Hell. Just inside of the gate was the famous Deësis mosaic, which has the adult Jesus flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist interceding for humanity on Judgement Day. The bottom portion of the mosaic has deteriorated, but the upper part is still amazing.

I continued along the gallery. The middle part was called the Loggia of the Empress, where the Holy Roman Empress and her court could watch what was taking place in the nave below.

From close to the end of the gallery, I took photos of the tall chair and the overall nave below on my way to two more mosaics that were nicely intact. One was of the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus flanked by Emperor John II Commenus and Empress Irene. The other was of Christ with Emperor Constantine IX Monomachus and Empress Zoe.

That was as far as I could go, so I returned to the opposite side of the gallery, continued along to the farthest I could go there too and then descended down the ramp located in the far corner down to the main floor. A gift shop was located at the bottom of the ramp. I bought a book on the basilica before having to head out to meet the others and our tour director. By this time, it was absolutely pouring rain. So I hid under the roof of a fountain until we could head off to Topkapi Palace.

Haghia Sophia
Narthex
Mosaic above Imperial Gate
View into nave from Imperial Gate
Mosaic of Mary and Baby Jesus in apse of nave
Mosaic of the archangel Gabriel
Coronation Square
Mihrab
Minbar
Sultan’s Loge
Ceiling of Vestibule of Warriors
Mosaic above entrance to Vestibule of Warriors
View of nave from gallery above
Marble Gate of Heaven & Hell
Deesis Mosaic
The gallery with Loggia of the Empress
Kursu (tall chair of Imam)
View of nave from gallery above at the other end
The ramp coming down from the gallery
Ceiling of fountain where I sought shelter from rain

May 19, 2019

Return to Istanbul – Part 1

As I mentioned in my first post on my 2011 trip to Turkey, I have always wanted to visit Istanbul. It seemed like such an amazing, mysterious place and it did not disappoint. Too bad that, by the time we got back there after traveling around the country for a couple of weeks, I was sick as a dog. But sick or not I was determined to soak it all in and see everything I wanted to see.

We had an early morning in Bursa and, immediately after breakfast, took off for the coast to take a ferry across the Sea of Marmara to Istanbul. Although I sort of drifted in and out on the way to where we caught the ferry, once we were on the ferry I was wide away and stood at the front of the railing to take in all of Istanbul as it hove into sight.

Our first stop in Istanbul was the Hippodrome of Constantinople. This track for horse racing and chariot races was built in 203 AD when the city was called Byzantium. In about 324 AD, when Constantine the Great relocated the capitol of the Holy Roman Empire to Byzantium (it was soon renamed Constantinople), he enlarged the Hippodrome to accommodate 100,000 spectators.

The four gilded horses at St Mark’s in Venice were looted from this Hippodrome during the Crusades in 1204. It is believed that the horses originated in either Greece or Rome.

The Serpent Column in the middle of the Hippodrome was removed by Theodosius the Great from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. It was originally cast to commemorate the victory of the Greeks over the Persians in the Persian Wars of the 5^th century BC. It once had a golden bowl supported by three serpent heads at the top. All that is left now is the base.

In 390 AD, Theodosius the Great brought an obelisk from Karnak in Luxor (dating from about 1490 BC). He had the obelisk cut into three pieces when he moved it to Constantinople. Only the top section survives on a marble pedestal in the same spot where Theodosius originally placed the obelisk.

In 1453, when the Ottomans took over, they built over the Hippodrome. In the 1950s the area was excavated and where the track was has been indicated with paving. We had lunch at a café next to the Hippodrome before making a visit to the Blue Mosque.

Constructed between 1609 and 1616, the Blue Mosque is actually the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. It was built on the foundations of the former Byzantine Grand Palace and got the name of the Blue Mosque because of its interior. It is decorated with thousands of ceramic tiles with the most prominent color being blue. The mosque also has six minarets. It is one of the few mosques that I have been able to visit that is still an active mosque. It is quite beautiful. Fortunately photography was allowed inside.

Next came a cruise on the Bosphorus. We started on the European side. One of the first places we saw was the 19^th century Dolmabahce Palace. This was where the Sultan and his family moved from Topkapi Palace. Topkapi was too old and not stylish enough in his opinion. The new palace was the largest in Turkey. We did not get to tour it. However, it is pretty much of a Victorian European style, so not terribly unique. The Sultan was trying to match his European counterparts.

Built in 1452 by Ottoman Sultan Mehment II, Rumelihiseri (also known as the Fortress of Europe) was originally built for an Ottoman siege on Constantinople. This fortress worked in tandem with the Anadoluhisari (Anatolian Fortress), directly across the Bosphorus (and at its more narrow point), to cut off all naval traffic on the Bosphorus. After the fall of Constantinople (which was then renamed Istanbul and made the new Ottoman capitol) this fortress was used mainly as a customs checkpoint and as a prison.

Immediately after it was built, Mehment used it to levy taxes on any ship using the Bosphorus. A Venetian ship decided to ignore the orders to stop and pay. They were immediately sunk, surviving sailors beheaded, and the captain impaled and used as a human scarecrow as a warning to all other ships.

The Anadoluhisari was built by Sultan Bayezid I in 1396-7 as part of his plan for a siege of Constantinople. The siege was interrupted by a crusade and then a period of turmoil for the Ottomans. After Mehment’s successful siege, this fortress also served as a customs house and as a military prison.

Shortly before we reached the end of the cruise, we passed by the Blue Mosque, Haghia Sophia, and Topkapi Palace. We would be spending the following day exploring these last two buildings and the Grand Bazaar.

That night, we were going out for dinner and entertainment, which included belly dancers. These were not the same type of belly dancers as in Egypt. They were the more common version that are seen in most movies and TV shows where belly dancers are featured.

Once again, I pretty much passed out for the night. I was really looking forward to seeing Haghia Sophia and Topkapi Palace. Both places were legendary and the main reasons why I wanted to visit Istanbul in the first place.

Roman mile post
Serpent Column
Obelisk
Roman marble base for obelisk
Blue Mosque
Blue Mosque arcade
Blue Mosque interior
Another view of interior
Yet another view of interior
Bosphorus cruise boat
Dolmabahce Palace
European side of Bosphorus
Fortress of Europe
Anatolian Fortress
Asian side of Bosphorus
Blue Mosque, Haghia Sophia & Topkapi Palace
Belly Dancer

May 12, 2019May 12, 2019

Ankara, King Midas’ Tomb & Bursa

When leaving Cappadocia in the early, misty morning, we saw several balloons rising in the air to give tourists a balloon’s-eye-view of the area. Although I won’t hesitate to go up in a helicopter or small plane (as long as they are enclosed) I’m not a fan of going up in anything I could possibly fall out of. I won’t do outdoor observation platforms or narrow, swinging bridges across deep gorges either.

On our way to Ankara, the capitol of Turkey, we could see Hasan Mountain off in the distance. This is the second tallest mountain in Turkey, the tallest being Ararat. The photo I captured shows some snow-capped peaks roughly in the center of the photo that seem to be floating as the lower portions of the mountain are hidden by the mist.

Ankara, the second largest city in Turkey after Istanbul, became the capitol in 1923 at the end of the Turkish War of Independence. It is a very old city, however, with its origins dating back to the Bronze Age. A large number of artifacts from the area are housed at the fascinating Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. The country now known as Turkey has also been known as Anatolia throughout most of its history.

There are some stone and bone tools dating back to the Palaeolithic Age (before 8000 BC). From the Neolithic Age (8000 – 5500 BC) is the oldest known cave painting in existence and a mother earth goddess figure. I have included photos of both with this post.

The museum is quite large with several items from pretty much every other period of history from the Chalcolithic Age, Early Bronze Age, Assyrian Trade Colonies, and Hittite Period. From the Phrygian Period they have King Midas’ skull and most of the pieces found in his tomb. There really was a King Midas; in fact there were three. Not sure which one was supposed to have asked Dionysus to give him the ability to turn everything he touched into gold. But the one whose skull and belongings are displayed in the museum in Ankara is considered to be the most important of the three.

They also have items all the way through history up to the modern era. Saw loads of swords, daggers, helmets, etc. There were some really cool looking feathered owl mask-like pieces that turned out to be something that would be placed over a severed head. That took them from cool to creepy.

We went to the Ataturk Memorial. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey (from 1923 to his death in 1938). He has an enormous memorial in Ankara. When we arrived there, a private service or viewing of some sort was going on inside of the mausoleum and the attached museum. We needed to wait outside for a while. It was very cold and pretty soon began to rain torrentially.

While waiting to get inside, we took photos and videos of what we could outside, including a changing of the guard ceremony. Once it began to pour, we cowered under a covered arcade (and behind a pillar) until we could get indoors. Once inside, we could take photos within the mausoleum itself, but not the museum. They had a large number of items from his life and even recreated some rooms from his home. They had several of his cars and carriages.

From there we entered the former Kingdom of Phryge to visit Gordion. This was where Alexander the Great “cut (or unraveled) the Gordion knot”, which was the equivalent of Arthur pulling the sword from the stone. There were a large number of burial mounds including the largest of them all for King Midas (this is the Midas from the 8^th century BC). We had lunch near the tomb and then visited it and the museum next to the cafe where we had lunch.

Although it wasn’t raining and wasn’t quite as cold as it had been in Ankara, by this time I was not feeling at all well. However, I behaved myself while in the tomb, unlike King David’s in Jerusalem and King Tut’s in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. I didn’t lie down on any slabs (although I desperately needed a nap) or trip over anything. To be fair, although I missed seeing the step in David’s tomb and fell headlong against the gate separating women from the coffin, I don’t think it was at all my fault that the electricity went out when I was in Tut’s tomb, leaving me alone in the dark with Tut himself.

Midas was not in his tomb any more since he was in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. The tomb was built of wood surrounded by a stone tomb with loose rocks in between the two enclosures. Then a mound of dirt and grass was over the stone tomb. It was different from any other tomb I have seen. I was really glad to be able to see and photograph it.

En route to the former Ottoman capitol of Bursa, we stopped off for a break at a Turkish coffee shop. Not a coffee drinker, I was glad to see they had hot chocolate.

When we arrived in Bursa, our tour director said to meet him in the lobby in 45 minutes (after we received our luggage and got ourselves a little settled in our rooms) to go on a walking tour of the old part of the city. I told him that I was not at all well and needed to go to bed. Bless his heart, he showed up at my door right about the same time as my luggage with some cough syrup with codeine, some antibiotics, some fresh-squeezed orange juice, and a gyro. The drugs could be purchased without a prescription in Turkey.

The room was a large corner room which was rounded with windows all the way around the two exterior walls. There was a large, round column in the middle of the room. It also had a small table and chairs for me to sit and have my dinner. Just outside of my windows was a statue of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Osman Gazi who lived roughly from 1257 to 1326. Once I had my dinner and took my drugs (including some cold tablets I brought with me) I went to bed and slept soundly.

Next time – back to Istanbul to actually tour the place.

Balloons over Cappadocia
Hasan Mountain
Cave painting
Mother earth goddess
Hittite sculpture
King Midas’ skull
Medieval helmets
Owl “masks”
Soldier at Ataturk Memorial
View from Ataturk Memorial
Interior of mausoleum
King Midas’ Tomb
Corridor in tomb
Stone outer tomb & loose rocks
Wooden inner tomb
Turkish coffee house
Bursa hotel room
View from Bursa hotel room

May 5, 2019May 5, 2019

Cappadocia

The Silk Road was a network of trade routes from China through India and Persia and on to the Middle East and other Mediterranean locations. Its heyday was from the 3^rd century to the Middle Ages. Along the route were Caravanserais. These were essentially motels for merchants traveling along the Silk Road that included accommodations for both people and animals (horses, donkeys, camels), shops for supplies, food, drink and a mosque. At night they closed up tight like a fortress to keep the travelers safe.

One such Caravanserai is the Agzikarahan Caravanserai, which is close to the town of Askaray. It was built in the early 13^th century and was one of the last (and largest) built. It also contains a small mosque reached by narrow steps. Even narrower steps (where it was necessary to hug the wall) lead up to the roof.

The area of Cappadocia consists of hundreds (possibly thousands) of formations eroded by wind and rain from soft volcanic rock over millions of years. The Hittites lived here between 1800 and 1200 BC and began to carve out dwellings from the rock. Some of these dwellings are still lived in today.

In the 4^th century AD, Christians fled to the area to avoid persecution elsewhere. They created underground cities that were completely hidden and fortified. We toured part of one of these cities at Ozkonak. The people engineered the means to bring both fresh air and water down into their cities. At Ozkonak, they also had a communication system of pipes, which is unique among all of the underground cities in the area. 60,000 people could be housed on ten levels for up to three months when the city was sealed against their enemies. Four levels are currently open. Large round stones were used as doors.

As short as I am, I needed to practically double over to walk through the tunnels connecting the different homes and other buildings. Not being used to having to duck down when I walk, I forgot at one point and beaned myself. I really smacked my forehead hard. I was embarrassed for being such an idiot, so I kept quiet and just held my cold water bottle to my head for a bit.

By the 9^th century, the people came out from the underground cities and began carving out churches and homes from the volcanic rock in the Goreme region. We could see the remains of St Basil’s Church up above us. We visited the Tokali Church (the Church of the Buckle), which is the largest of the group. Then we went into the Barbara Church. This one was much smaller and built in the 11^th century. But the wall frescos were not in as good shape as some of the other churches. The floor was full of graves. We needed to walk across planks to get around the church.

The Yilanli Church (or the Snake Church) was named for a fresco of St Theodore and St George slaying a dragon that looked rather snake-like. After visiting this church, several of us climbed up some narrow, shallow (in depth), but high (in height of each step) stairs to a monastery consisting of a storage room, kitchen and dining room. There was a church above the dining hall. The stairs had no railings at all. So when I needed to come back down, I turned around and went down backwards. The steps were so much like a ladder that I treated them as such.

Up another set of steep stairs (but with a railing) was St Katharine’s Church. This was another 11^th century church. We visited a carpet maker and a jewelry maker. The carpet maker wove the rugs on the property and had several beautiful carpets – especially those made from silk, which were the most expensive. The jewelry was mainly turquoise. It was also created in the shop. That evening we had dinner at a place with folk dancing. I enjoy seeing the costumes and dances of the countries I visit.

The next day, we went to the Pasabag Valley (Monks Valley) which had mushroom caps on top of its “fairy chimneys”. The area is called Monks Valley because several monks lived at the top of the columns there. Their rooms were accessed first by steps, which became more like a ladder, which then became handholds. The space within became more and more narrow as the top became closer. This was to discourage strangers from climbing up to the rooms. Storage rooms were often at the base of the building and could serve several people.

We stopped at several other places, including the Three Graces and a camel formation. Near the camel, we encountered a wedding party who posed for photos for us. We had lunch on an outdoor terrace at Uchisar in the Pigeon Valley (or Valley of the Dovecotes). A massive rock cut castle overlooks the valley. We could clearly see and photograph this castle from where we had lunch.

Where the tour coach had been parked was next to a small shop. The shop owner’s dog relatively recently had had puppies. So we all gathered around the puppies and mother to ‘ooo’ and ‘aw’ at how adorable they all were.

Before calling it a night, we went to a Whirling Dervish ceremony. Because it was a religious expression, no filming or photography was allowed. After they were finished, a few of them came out and recreated some of what they had done so we could take our photos and video.

One of the younger women on my tour was originally from Afghanistan. She was on the trip with her parents who had taken her and her siblings to immigrate to Canada a few years earlier. She was quite friendly towards me, but her parents were not. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the language barrier or not. She sat next to me as we watched the Whirling Dervishes in their worship. She whispered to me about what they were doing and why throughout, which made the whole experience so much more magical.

The order was founded in the 13^th century in Konya, Turkey. The ceremony has four parts, starting with a solo song of praise followed by some improvisation on a reed flute. The second part involves the participants bowing to one another and then making a single file procession around the hall. Once they have all bowed and proceeded around they hall, they kneel and remove their black cloaks, leaving white gowns and tall, brown hats.

It is during the third part that the whirling takes place. As mentioned in an earlier post, they spin on their left foot with the right palm stretched towards heaven and the left hand pointing to the ground. They very much appear to be in a trance. The last part of the ceremony involves a recitation from the Qu’ran and a prayer.

Next time – Exploring Ankara (the modern Turkish capitol), King Midas’ tomb, and Bursa (the original Ottoman capitol).