Selçuk

After a lovely evening in Bergama, we headed (further) south to Selçuk, the city closest to famed Greek-then-Roman ruins Ephesus.  

The amphitheater is said to hold

more than 10,000 people. 

This is the one shot of the stage I was able to get without 10+ tourists. Just the one! 

The library is unreal: its enormity, its resilience, its unbelievable beauty.

Gorgeous statue at the library. 

Even the ceilings are perfectly detailed. 

View of the library from the side. 

Walk, handsomely showing off the column. 

Turkish pizza. This is a real thing and it's glorious. 

Bergama

I have to be honest. The blog is really dragging me down. I'm 2 weeks behind and it's a real struggle to keep it updated. Part of the reason is that I've been updating Instagram regularly and I feel like people are more interested in photos anyway. The other part is that I'm simply not happy with the quality of my writing on this blog. If I'm honest, I'm unable to really dedicate myself to writing posts that I feel properly describe our experiences. That said, I don't want to give up on the blog because it is a good digital journal of our travels. This brings me to my plan. 

I am going to use this place to post photos with brief captions. You'll get to see what we are up to and I won't stress out so much. And hopefully I'll get some of the hundreds of photos off my camera and phone. How's that sound? 

Next up, Bergama, Turkey, where we visited Pergamon and met a hilarious old man and his son. 

Arch at Pergamon, looking down over the modern city of Bergama. 

Amphitheater on the side of the mountain was enoous and gorgeous. Getting up and down the stairs might be a bit tricky for some. 

Gorgeous old ruins at the top of the mountain. 

It's awe-inspiring to imaging how these columns were built and how - after thousands of years - they are still standing. 

One of the many kittens in Bergama. Though cats are considered vermin and certainly not cute, cuddly animals in Turkey, these little guys curled right up on the rugs were irresistible. 

Our hotel was next door to a Turkish rug shop. I wandered down to the hotel to meet Preston after looking around town and he was no where to be found. A sweet older gentleman had been sitting outside the rug shop most of the day and he chuckled to himself as I passed: "We've stolen your husband and sold him!" He declared with a twinkle in his eye. He indicated behind him into the shop and I stepped in to see Preston sitting comfortably among the rugs, sipping tea with the man's son. The man just giggled from outside. 

A Visit to Troy and The Palace of Athena

After 3 very hot, noisy and crowded days in Istanbul, we were ready for our 4 day road trip. We took a ferry from Istanbul to Bandirma, where we picked up our rental car ($92 for 4 days, including the GPS. Really.) Once the GPS was set up, we were off to Assos. 

The west coast of Turkey is loaded with ancient ruins, some are major tourist attractions, others are just...there. It's a pretty incredible thing, to drive from city to city, town to town and see the remnants of ancient cities along the way. We planned to stop in 3 cities that boast some of the more well-known. Our first stop was Troia (Troy), just outside of Assos. 

We had an absolute blast driving down to Assos. The roads are wonderfully built and the directions were very simple. Sometimes having the freedom to drive after a long while without access to a car is so...nice. Anyway, Troy is pretty incredible-the city was built 9 times over the course of history-and there was quite a lot to see. The one thing I thought was a bit much was the gigantic faux Trojan horse at the entry of the site. People were climbing into it and posing and it just felt a bit too...Disney or something. 

After Troia we went into Assos to check into our hotel. Assos is situated between a beautiful beach and the foot of a mountain range. Driving in from the top of the mountains to the bottom, just at the water, where the hotel was, was stunning.

This is not the real Trojan horse. Do not be fooled. 

Edge of Troia. 

More of old Troia. 

It was a hot day, but it was such a remarkable thing to see-a city built 9 times over. 

After Troia, we headed into Assos to check into our hotel. Once checked in, we went to check out the small amphitheater and the Palace of Athena, which was my favorite site. We trudged up a huge hill (probably actually a mountain) to wander around it and the views were so beautiful. 

Amphitheater in Assos, looking out over the sea. Bet they had some good shows here. 

Amphitheater. 

More amphitheater. 

On the road down to our hotel. 

Turkish flag waving over Palace of Athena. 

Remains of Palace of Athena. 

A view from the edge of the mountain. 

Selfie! 

Turkey: First Stop, Istanbul

We left Munich excited for 10 days in Turkey. We flew into Istanbul on the afternoon of the elections and everyone we spoke to were very excited, impatiently awaiting the results.

We split our trip: 3 days in Istanbul, then a 4 day road trip down the west coast, then back to another part of Istanbul for the remaining 3 days. The first leg of the trip we spent in the older part of town, where many of the popular tourist attractions are located.

Our hotel was nice and the staff were very friendly, immediately serving us a glass of hot Turkish tea (extremely popular). After, we asked for a restaurant recommendation and one of the hotel staff actually walked us to the restaurant the recommended. We were pretty bummed about the meal, to be honest. There was definitely some sort of "friendly arrangement" between the hotel staff and restaurant owners to bring tourists to their establishment. The food wasn't great and was extremely overpriced. We decided from there on, we'd rely on our own research, instincts and moods for where to eat in Turkey, which, for the most part, served us very well.

Turkey is an incredibly reasonable country, particularly compared to other European countries. A bottle of water is 1 Turkish Lira (TL), which is comes to about $0.40 USD. This is actually very good for us for a number of reasons, but the primary being I bought a ton of water (it might not be the best idea to drink from the tap in Turkey, so our refillables were going to be an option).

Our first full day, we hit the Old City. We visited the Blue Mosque, probably the most famous mosque in Istanbul, and one of the few that is open to tourists. It is a stunning building but I have to say I was disappointed in the hoardes of people swarming this sacred place. It was very noisy, something that was incredibly surprising to me. We visited many cathedrals in France and Portugal, all full of tourists, but they were all quiet, peaceful. I anticipated that the people touring the mosque would be as peaceful but it wasn't so. Still, it's a gorgeous place.

Courtyard of the Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque from the front. It was a rainy day. 

Hagia Sofia from the Blue Mosque. 

After we left the Blue Mosque, we headed to the Basillica Sistern. Again, filled with huge tour groups. We quickly learned we were going to have to be very patient, because it was overwhelming and again, very noisy.

inside the Sistern.

We had planned to go to Hagia Sofia after, but we were kind of over tour groups so we headed to the Grand Bazaar.  

Entry to the Grand Bazaar, home to hundreds of vendors, selling everything from rugs and scarves to jewelry and tea sets. 

And of course, Turkish spices. 

And every dried fruit imaginable. 

On our way back to the hotel, we heard very loud music and what sounded like a street party. It was a gathering of members of the Turkish HDP party, celebrating their victory and being represented by 80 members of Parliment, unprecedented in Turkish government.

Celebrating victory. 

We did a lot of wandering in those first three days. We had dinner at a lovely place called Arch Bistro. Preston enjoyed the clay pot, meat and vegetables cooked in these tall pots, the brought to the table on fire. After the fire went out, the bottom of pot was broken off and the meal poured over his plate.

A trip to a local park yielded this charming photograph. 

And we took a ferry across the water, the views were stunning. 

After three days, we'd had it with the crowds and heat and were so excited for a road trip.

Munich!

After we left Bourges, we spent an evening in Strasubourg, a wonderful little French city in the heart of the Alsace region. We had a great hotel right near the cathedral and shared pigs knuckle and traditional Alsacian pizza (lardons, onions and cream).

The impressive Strausbourg cathedral. 

The canal in Strausbourg. 

Pig knuckle. 

Alsacian tarte. 

The next day, we took a train to Munich. Preston has a friend that has been stationed in Neuremburg and we were lucky that he had some time off to hang out with us and show us around. 

Sausage "salad". 

Jeff took us to the English Gardens which is an enormous park that puts Central Park to shame. It's absolutely enormous and an ice cold river runs through it. At one end of the park, some genius decided that if a bridge and some dam sort of thing were built, people could actually surf the river in the park. There were probably 20 surfers of all ages, and they were very good. One right after another, they dropped into the river and surfed the consistent wave until they could no longer hold their balance, dropping into the water and floating swiftly downstream, only to climb out and do it again. The banks of the river were packed with people watching. It was one of the coolest things I've seen and my photos do not do it justice.

Surfing in a river. 

Another surfer. Tons of people lined. The banks to watch this.  

Lake in the English Garden. 

That night, we were all craving Indian and found a fantastic place near our hotel. After dinner, we went to the Hofbräuhaus and had a beer the size of my head.

Exterior of the famous Hofbräuhaus.

I was asleep pretty much right after this beer. 

The next day, Jeff drove us out to Dachau. There are absolutely no words that could describe the feeling that this former concentration camp evokes. (Interesting fact: Germans call Dachau a "war memorial".) There, we saw barracks, walked through the museum and a few memorials before seeing the gas chambers and cremation rooms. It was a terrible place and no amount of history education could prepare us for the experience. I did not take photos of Dachau.

Later, after a late (and awesome) German lunch in the town of Dachau, Jeff dropped us off and we said our goodbyes. It was a wonderful few days, and I discovered that I really love German food. The beers are good, but I'm all set after one (beer isn't my favorite, particularly when it's as hot as it was those 2 days). Next stop, Turkey!

 

A Day in Sancerre

We spent a day visiting various areas of the Sancerre, a region that boasts some of our favorite French wines. Our first stop was a goat farm, run by Stanaslaus, a wonderful man, who makes awesome goat cheese.  For the record, when we return home, I'll be pushing Walk for a goat.

After the goat farm we visited a wonderful little picnic where we were showered with cheeses, bread, sausages and wines. We also bought some escargots for dinner later that evening, as well as some chocolates infused with local flowers. Then we headed to the city of Sancerre.  

Bit of a cloudy day. 

View from a hilltop in Sancerre. 

The main road through the city. 

Cool old poster in the Sancerre museum.  

We finished the day by drinking a lovely bottle with the delicious escargot we bought earlier. Perfect day. 

Back to France: An Adventure in Eating

Our second - and last - Workaway adventure took us to a small hotel near Bourges, a small city about an hour and a half south of Paris.  We would spend the next two weeks helping out in the kitchen and garden. We spent the next two weeks with our lovely host, Catherine, eating decadent French food. I learned to make jams and chutneys and Preston planted a new tomato garden and built a compost area. We also became friends with some wonderful new people, Clemence and Thomas, and we hope to visit them in Lyon as well as host them in Saint Louis very soon!

I'll keep this short, the photos of the food really speak for themselves.

Prawn pot pie. 

Roasted rabbit with pasta and a yogurt sauce. 

Rabbit tagine with cous cous. Incredible. 

Gluten free orange cake with English creme. 

The finished jars of citrus jam I helped make. 

Homemade bolognese.  

Preston made over roasted ribs for our host. They were so good, they made it to the restaurant menu! 

Periwinkles, an appetizer. 

Seafood risotto we paired with a fantastic Muscadet we found in a Bourges wine shop. 

Perfect lasagne. 

Potato and sage cakes. 

Sintra

Outside of Lisbon is a small town called Sintra. It's about a 30 minute train from Lisbon to Sintra, so we headed that way to spend a day. We arrived close to lunchtime and were pretty hungry, so we stopped at a little cafe near the train station that I'd read about on TripAdvisor. The best part Bout our lunch was our server. Yuneski Is originally from Cuba, but moved to Portugal about 14 years ago. The minute we to,d him we were from Saint Louis, he started talking baseball. His favorite players are John Jay and Yasiel Puig and he knew a LOT about the Redbirds. He told us he was looking for a Cardinals hat, but it was very expensive to order one online since the taxes were so high. Fortunately, we had friends that were flying into Lisbon the next day and we were able to get in touch with them to get him a hat. A few days later, we made the trip back out to Sintra to deliver the goods. Cardinal Love all around the world!

Cards hat, direct from STL making the trip to Sintra! 

After lunch, we hit up a fantastic park situated on a hillside that was absolutely stunning. We climbed all over its trails and wandered around, coming out down near the city center. 

There are several things to see in Sintra: the Palace, an old Moorish castle and Quinta De Regalira.

We decided to spend most of our day at Quinta De Regalira. Imagine if Missouri Botanical Gardens and City Museum had a baby and that baby grew up to be really into Alice and Wonderland. This was kind of what it was like: a HUGE garden with secret paths, waterfalls, columns and stone features everywhere, all surrounding a giant home. We spent about four hours walking around and I'm certain we didn't see everything. It's was just...enchanting. 

View from a tower at the main house. 

Exterior of the main house. 

One of the many cubby holes formed from stone. 

Hidden in the center of the massive garden was an underground turret, reaching up to the sky. 

The famous waterfall and pond. 

We also went up the mountain and looked at the Moorish castle as well as for a glimpse of the Portugese Palace, but we were pretty wiped out after that big hike. One of my favorite days. 

MUDE: Museu Design Moda

In need of a bit of a walkabout and itching to check out the Mude, as it's called in Lisbon, I trekked down into the heart of the city to spend and hour or so wandering around before meeting Preston for lunch. I was once again, so lucky to happen upon a costume installation, this time for renowned theatrical costume designer, António Lagarto. Lagarto has been designing costumes for shows like Swan Lake, Hamlet and Giselle since the 70's, and it was interesting to read how he approached displaying costumes that are meant to be seen on the human form in a static environment. 

Swan Lake. 

White swan. 

Gorgeous installation depicting Giselle.  This particular piece involved 19 forms, positioned around blue neon.

Tutus and more tutus. 

Costumes for Hamlet. 

Lisbon

We left Porto after a week and headed south to Lisbon. Because Preston is the best travel planner in the world, we avoided the 3.5 hour train ride and €48 cost by taking a 1 hour plane ride for €22 (total!). Lisbon is the capital of Portugal, and as Preston pointed out the international capital city that has the most sunlight each year. 

The view of Campo de Orique from our terrace. 

Our VRBO was in a more residential part of the city, called Campo de Ourique, and it was the perfect location for us. We were living among locals, there were great restaurants around and a gorgeous mercado in the center of the neighborhood. We've made sure to hit up the mercados in each city we visit, it's a great way to see the local culture, shop for groceries and eat lovely things we probably wouldn't ordinarily have the chance to taste. 

The market at Campo de Ourique. There was a fantastic fish market, many wines shops and of course fruit and vegetable stalls. It seems like this is the spot in the neighborhood for happy hour.

We bought these guys from the Mercado de Ourique and they were delicious! 

Nearby was a gorgeous little park, called Jardim de Estrela. Ducks geese and peacocks wandered around the huge park, there were several little stands, a cafe and plenty of benches to lounge on. We spent quite a bit of time in the Jardim, relaxing, reading, drinking lemonade. It was incredibly peaceful and relaxing.

Little ducks all over the garden. 

Preston is working on a bit about the food, so I'll leave that portion for him to tell you about, but I will tell you about our Fado experience. Fado is a type of Portugese music, specific to the Lisbon area. There is typically an acoustic guitar, a 12 sting guitar and a Fado singer. We decided to have dinner at one of these Fado restaurants. You order your food and wine and typically around 9 pm they start to play. The restaurant we went to had incredible food and every thirty minutes or so the lights would go down and the proprietor, accompanied by two musicians, would sing for about 20 minutes. We left at 11, after having been there for 4 hours, but the Fado performances typically continue on until about 2 am. 

Wine and Fado by candlelight. 

I realize I am very behind on the blog here, but we are just enjoying our travels so much, that I've become a bit lax on it. If you want more immediate updates, check out the instagram @walksabout, as I'm much better at posting there. 

Cool ride through Lisbon on the citywide tram line. Very similar to the San Francisco cable cars. 

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River Meets Ocean

There is a very cool old tram in Porto that runs along the Duoro River edge. For 2.50€ you can take the tram all the way out to the edge of Porto, where the Duoro River meets the Atlantic Ocean. There aren't a lot of beaches, but there are plenty of long walkways that stretch out into the ocean, which make for spectacular views. 

Inside the tram w loads of tourists. 

Lighthouse. 

I snuck a pic of Walk when he wasn't looking. 

Another lighthouse, clearly ready for its close-up

Dr. Pinto and Our Visit to the Portugese Hosptial

A few days into our stay in Porto, Preston woke me early in the morning to tell me his ear hurt. I wasn't too concerned until later in the day when he couldn't get out of bed. According to The Oracles (Google and WebMD) , it was shaping up to be a pretty wicked earache. I thought a few days rest and loads of water would probably take care of it, plus we'd wisely included some antibiotics in our first aid kit, which he'd been taking.

Unfortunately, at some point in the middle of the second night, his ear drum apparently ruptured. I'll spare you any details, but if you've experienced a ruptured ear drum, you know what happens. I searched the TripAdvisor forums for Porto, hoping to find advice on where to go or what to do (no luck there), and Preston emailed the owner of our VRBO, a very sweet man, who'd been exceptionally helpful in making sure our stay was comfortable. 

Apparently in Europe, pharmacists can give prescriptions without a script from a physician (I'm a bit fuzzy on the details there), so I set off for one of the countless pharmacies in the neighborhood (there is NO lack of pharmacies in Europe, they are on every corner!). Unfortunately the pharmacist told me that he needed to see a doctor - she said something like a ruptured eardrum would be too serious for her to give us meds without a proper diagnosis.

Our VRBO host had told us his brother was an ENT doctor and he'd been trying to get ahold of him. Since he hadn't heard back from his brother, and Preston was feeling terrible, we decided we need to get going. I got Walk up and around and we headed to the city hospital, where we were immediately told that if we didn't have an EU insurance card, we'd have to pay cash, about €950. The hospital was loud and noisy, teeming with people. I was sure we were going to be in for a long and expensive day. Then, one of the intake attendants suggested we go to the private hospital, just a few minute cab ride away. It would be fast, and more than likely, much cheaper. 

The private hospital was fantastic. Extremely efficient, we were checked in and with a doctor within 15 minutes. A quick exam by the lovely Dr. Pinto determined that it was not a ruptured ear drum, but an outer ear infection. We were prescribed several things and we were on our way in a total of 45 minutes, at the bargain rate of €80, no less! 

After a day or so, things were significantly better, and Preston was cruising around Porto like a pro. We didn't do much in that two day period, so here are some photos of an amazing old library, Lello & Irmão, that was converted to a bookstore in the center of town, it was crawling with tourists, but absolutely stunning.

Staircase in the center of the library. 

Preston catching up on his reading.

Ceiling of the first floor, looking to the second. 

Clérigos Church

The church is situated in the center of town and a pretty big tourist hotspot. We went on a fairly rainy day so it wasn't too busy. It was designed by an Italian architect, Nicolau Nisoni, who is known for several buildings in Portugal. Built in 1732 and finished in 1750, the tower has 240 steps that these tourists paid 3€ to climb. Along the way, there were some interesting timelines and details into the life of Nisoni, as well as the Beotherhood, for whom the church and tower were built. at the top, you can see pretty amazing views of the entire city. 

Finally made it to the top. 

I really like this graphic for the church. 

Another city view. 

Porto, Portugal

Walk and I have 2 weeks until our next Workaway assignment (boutique hotel about an hour south of Paris), and having explored a good part of Southern France, we were ready for something new. We found incredibly cheap flights to Portugal, a fantastic VRBO and here we are!​

The view of the Duoro River from our apartment. 

Porto is situated in northern Portugal, right on the Duoro River.​ the city itself reminds me so much of San Francisco: steep streets to climb, tiny wine shops, loads of outdoor cafes. Even the buildings are distinctive like San Francisco's Victorian homes. Many of the homes and buildings here are decorated with intricate tiles, usually extending from the ground all the way to the roof. 

Tiled church. 

The first few days were quite rainy, so we stuck close to our little area, perfectly situated across from many of the port houses on the Duoro River. Our first night we found a great place that had octopus that Preston loved, and I tried the local sandwich, Francesinha, which is on practically every menu here. It's a steak sandwich, with ham, coppa and sausages, topped with cheese and a spicy marinara-type sauce. It was delicious. Each place has their own take on the sandwich, some better than others. 

Now, THAT is an octopus! 

As much as I like to go out to dinner and check out local restaurants, I also like to buy local food and make it. Shopping around, we've found amazing bacon, smoky sausages, dense olive bread and incredible fruits and vegetables. We made a few small dinners in, sipping wine and watching the boats cruise up and down the river. 

Mercado in Porto

Many more things to post about in Porto, I'll try to make that happen before we take off tomorrow for Lisbon. 

Fontfroide Abbey and Gardens

Just outside of Narbonne sits the Fontfroide Abbey, easily one of the highlights of the trip so far.  The abbey was founded in 1093, though the bulk of the complex was not completed until the middle of the 12th century.  The monks still produce food, honey, wine, and furniture at the abbey and maintain an incredible botanical garden that they've terraced into a nearby hill.

This part of France (Pays Cathar) is the former stronghold of the Cathar Christians, a rogue offshoot that believed in two gods, reincarnation, and other things that the Catholic Church wasn't thrilled with.  Non-Cathar, Fontfroide Abbey was one the few spots in this area that maintained allegiance to Rome and played an integral part in removal (massacre) of the Cathars in the Albigensian Crusades.

Not as ornate as the cathedrals in the region, but still an amazing building.

Not much remains of the ancient mural behind this statue

Calanque Beach Near Cassis, France

We took a road trip to the Calanque National Park near Cassis.  The trip took us from the foothills of the Pyrenees, through the Rhone Valley and chaotic Marseille, to this national park.  Calanques are similar to the fjords of Norway, deep inlets off the sea, some of which hide beautiful secluded beaches.

This was as far as I was willing to go - crazy cold

Current Mediterranean rock-skipping record stands at 4

This was where the hike started

Cathédrale Saint-Just et Saint-Pasteur de Narbonne

Narbonne is centered around an enormous, only partially finished cathedral. Construction began in 1272 and was halted after the completion of the choir in 1332. The buildout never resumed, due to its enormous size, location and lack of finances.

The Cathedral was very close to our apartment in Narbonne, and is central to the shops, restaurants and cafes. We passed it multiple times each day and its size is incredible. I kept thinking about the final buildout and how large the intended cathedral would have been. 

Looking up at the cathedral from under an archway in the garden. 

Even at midday, it was still quite dark in the main worship area. 

An attempt at a photograph of the garden. 

View from the outside by another garden. 

First Day at the Beach!

And it was cold and windy. After the castle in Gruissan, we hopped back in the car and drove to the nearby beach, which was all but deserted. Apparently, when the weather is good, it's a hot spot for wind surfers. The day wasn't great so no wind surfers, but a few hopeful fishermen were doing their best. 

Light houses at the beach

Beach selfie

I also completely forgot to post my favorite photo from our trip to Gruissan, giant pots of olives and pickled peppers. Don't you just want to eat those up?

Languedoc Wine Country

The majority of our time spent in France on this trip has been in the Languedoc wine region of France.  It's not the top tier region like Bordeaux or Cotes-du-Rhone or Champagne but the wineries here are small and unassuming (for the most part), even though it's the largest (volume and acreage) wine region in France.  The locals are fiercely proud of their wine and are happy to take some time to introduce you to the region, its big producers, and the wines to try. 

We don't typically tour vineyards unless we can set something up directly with the vineyard as many of the vineyard tours are hated as much by the vineyards as they are by the people on them.  You would typically stop at multiple vineyards where some poor sap has rehearsed a 10 minute spiel on his wine.  It's always best to reach out to a winery that you're interested in to see if you can have a tour of the place.

Languedoc has a wide variety of grapes - red grapes include syrah, grenache, and mouvedre, with varying amounts of cabernet, merlot, and others.  White grapes include sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, viognier, chenin blanc, and mauzac.  Narbonne is in the largest region, Corbieres, though most our favorite Rhone-style blends are from the Minervois area, which is just northeast of our last town, Carcassonne.

Wine here, like the food, is very inexpensive.  The majority of local wines are less then 8 EURO (~$8.50) and the highest priced wines rarely go over 20 EURO.  A glass of wine at a local bar/restaurant is typically a local one and generally cost 2-3 EURO.

We prefer the lesser known wine regions (like our Irouleguy visit in 2012) mostly because of the great wines that are not available in the US, the quality that can be found, and the cost to stay here.  Bordeaux and Burgundy are great, but lodging and restaurants can be pricey, and there are fewer opportunities to sit and talk with a winemaker.

Next week we will stay with a family with a winery in the Bergerac region of southwest France.  They are a 10th generation winery and relatives of a colleague of Megan's.  After that we will be spending 2 weeks in Portugal, researching (drinking) this Port drink that people talk about.  

-Preston

Gruissan

We spent the rainy day visiting the beach and the seaside town of Gruissan.  This town historically guarded the entry into Narbonne and was controlled by a hilltop castle.  We climbed it.

A lot of shops and restaurants were open for a Sunday and we had lunch at a great pizza place.  We saw where sea salt is harvested and drove through several coastal vineyards.