Tag Archives: bus trips

adventure, Middle East, short breaks, Türkiye

A quick jaunt to Istanbul… (part one)

About. two weeks ago, Bill came home from work looking a bit flustered. You see, he was supposed to go to Bavaria last week, for yet another business trip. But then, at the very last minute, the trip went from four nights in Bavaria to four nights in Istanbul, Turkey (or Türkiye). And since Bill is a super good guy who knows I’d been wanting to go back to Istanbul again after a 29 year absence, he invited me to go along with him.

There was, of course, the usual catch. Since his company was paying for the hotel, we had to stay at one within a certain price range. We also had to be at a place that was in the area where Bill was going to be working, which was in the financial district of Istanbul called Maslak.

We had a choice of a few hotels and ended up at the Hilton Istanbul Maslak, which is a lot more comfortable than where I stayed the first time I went to Istanbul. However, it’s a good 13 kilometers from the old town, and the traffic in Istanbul is absolutely horrifying. They do have buses and a metro, but they’re pretty crowded. On the other hand, taking public transportation might be more expeditious than using a cab. The traffic is stupidly bad in Istanbul!

I went to Istanbul in 1996, when I had just turned 24 years old. My friend Elaine and I, having finished our first years as Peace Corps Volunteers in the Republic of Armenia, decided to visit Turkey and Bulgaria by bus. It was quite an adventure. I’ve written about that trip on more than one occasion. It was not an easy vacation, but I learned and grew a lot from it. Just getting to Istanbul by bus took three days straight, with no breaks! We had to go through Georgia to get there, and spent a very long time sitting at the Turkish border.

This trip to Istanbul, by contrast, was much easier and more luxurious. I flew business class on Turkish Airlines, while Bill was in economy (company rules). I’ve got to say, having flown Lufthansa business class a bunch of times, Turkish Airlines has got it all over Lufthansa. I’ll write more about that in the coming days.

Perhaps this visit to Türkiye didn’t require me to stretch quite as much as my trip in 1996 did! Nevertheless, I did learn some new things. So, although this series is not likely to be as full of photos as my series usually are, I think I’ve got some new things to share. I hope you’ll join me as I write up our quick jaunt to Istanbul. I didn’t do as much as I would have wanted to do, but I think now that he’s been to Turkey and seen it for himself, Bill can be persuaded to go back. I hope I can get him to visit Cappadocia. We’ll see…

Anyway, I’ll probably get cranked up with this series tomorrow. Tonight, I’ve got some chores to get done. See you then!

Standard
adventure, art, house hunting

Hello Vipiteno… long time, no see! (part eight)

As I have mentioned in previous blog posts (and videos), I first discovered the formerly Austrian and currently Italian town, Vipiteno/Sterzing, back in June 2009. I went on a bus trip out of the Edelweiss Lodge in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. They advertised a day trip to Italy in Vipiteno and Bolzano. I went for it.

I remember that week spending every day on a tour somewhere with other military spouses and their families. On that particular day, I was seated next to a very hostile man who seemed angry that I existed. I guess he was mad that he had to sit next to me, instead of with his wife. That’s why you should get to the bus early, so you can stake out your territory.

In any case, I enjoyed both Bolzano and Vipiteno in June 2009. Bill and I went to Bolzano in August 2020. And now, we have enjoyed Vipiteno together. Below are a few Vipiteno pictures from my first trip. I remember our group was herded to a purse shop there. I bought a leather bag that I used for some time before it was time to replace it. We also visited a very old church that dated from the 14th century and is famous for its frescoes. I don’t know why I didn’t post more pictures. Bill and I didn’t have a chance to go there during our visit together.

Chiesa di Santo Spirito a Vipiteno

On Saturday, March 15th, we woke up to snowy skies, which later turned to rain. We enjoyed a good breakfast at Hotel Erna– cold cuts, cheeses, breads, fruits and vegetables, and these incredible rolls that were shaped liked crescents. They had a sweet filling and toasted almonds on top, and they were served warm. They were so good!

It was raining during our visit to the town, which literally put a damper on things. Luckily, there are many shops in Vipiteno. It’s a great place to buy things. And, indeed, we did buy lots of gifts for the grandchildren and stuff for ourselves. Bill also insisted on buying me an umbrella. Aside from that, I took a lot of photos, and availed myself of the very welcome free public restroom near the tourism office. I am relieved to report that it was also pretty clean!

The tower is pretty much the main attraction!

Vipiteno is also where I purchased my latest prop… I bought a middle finger paperweight. I feel pretty sure I will get my money out of using it. I even made a video about it.

I made this video for my friend, Dave, and to show off the new toy I bought in Vipiteno!

We bought toys and delectables for ourselves and the kids, then went searching for lunch. The town has many pizzerias, and a few places that appeared to offer cuisine that is more for the Austrian/German palate. We ended up at a pizzeria ourselves, a place called Ristorante Bellavita. It looked like they were doing some cosmetic work on the outside of the place, which isn’t on the main drag.

We sat down at the back of the restaurant and both decided to have pizzas. Bellavita offers some special ones. Mine was called Aline, and had Brie, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, bacon, and oregano. Bill’s was a white pizza that had pork bellies, mozzarella cheese, and basil pesto. He managed to finish his, but I only got through half of mine. Then, for dessert, I had Blanco profiteroles, which were chocolate filled and covered with whipped cream! We took the rest of my leftover pizza with us, but Bill ended up eating it.

I see the this particular restaurant doesn’t get the best ratings, but we definitely enjoyed our lunch there. Service was good; prices were reasonable; and we felt comfortable. Also, the pizzas were interesting and delicious!

After a bit more walking around, we realized the weather was getting worse. It was colder and wetter, and frankly, it wasn’t fun hanging around outside in it. So we decided to stop by a Spar grocery store (Austrian chain) and pick up some more goodies for home and the kids. As much as we shopped in grocery stores, there are still some things I wish we’d bought.

After that, we headed back to the hotel, and I played with my new pink hand. I also took selfies, and then a long nap… When I woke up, someone on YouTube had left me a comment on one of my best videos, advising me to take it down because of the election results. Bill and I made a video response to that, and I got to put the new pink hand to good use.

I’m glad we visited Vipiteno. It really is a charming town, even when the weather is bad. There’s good food and shopping, and it’s a nice place to spend a Saturday afternoon! For those who want to do more than shop, there’s also good skiing and hiking, as well as the train to lovely Bolzano, which is well worth a look. We might have gone there, if we hadn’t already been. I would probably rather stay in Bolzano, although the area around Vipiteno and Brennero is very charming. March was a good time to be there, too. I would imagine there are many crowds in season. I noticed lots of bus parking, and of course, my first time there was on a bus tour!

It kind of gives you a look at Hotel Erna, and the hand, which comes from Hong Kong, but was imported through The Netherlands.

And, as was our custom on this particular trip, we decided to stay in and watch movies as we wound down our trip. In the next post, I will describe the drive back to Germany, and that will end the blow by blow account of this trip. It will be followed by my usual “ten things I learned” post. Stay tuned!

Standard
Hebridean Island Cruises

Scotland and Northern Ireland 2017, Part eight…

I’ll be honest.  Until I took this cruise, I had never heard of The Giant’s Causeway.  Or, maybe I had heard of it only in passing.  It meant nothing to me when our guide, Bryan, told people to make sure they wore sturdy shoes.  Also, I wish I had known what we were going to see so that I could have made sure the battery for my good camera was fully charged.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t, so I had to rely on my iPhone and iPad for the pictures I took.  I think they turned out pretty great regardless.

I also had my trusty five year old Canon Powershot, which I like because it takes good photos and fits neatly in my beaded bags at formal dinners.  Sadly, that camera, which I purchased in advance of our 2012 Hebridean Princess voyages, is no longer holding a charge like it used to.  The good camera is another Canon that was bought in the spring of 2017, but it’s very cumbersome.  I may need to invest in a smaller one, which will mean the fancy big one will be neglected.

Getting to The Giant’s Causeway involved riding on a coach for a couple of hours.  Actually, we could have gotten to the site sooner, but our guide wanted to take a route that would give us stunning views of Northern Ireland’s coastline.  Ordinarily, I would have been all for that, except we went on this trip right after lunch.  Given that I drank a lot of wine and water during lunch and ate half a bowl of soup, my kidneys had a lot of work to do.  Also remember that I was on the rag… which is an indelicate way of putting things, but also adds some insight as to how desperate things could become.

The coach we used was unusual in that it did not have a toilet on board.  Consequently, many of us were squirming in our seats as Bryan described the splendor of Northern Ireland’s dramatic scenery.  I was getting grumpier and grumpier as we passed a number of public toilets, all just waiting for me to make a deposit.

The trip to The Giant’s Causeway involved a couple of miserable hours, though I did get some nice photos from the bus.  Once we arrived, I sprinted to the building where tickets were sold and headsets explaining things were granted.  A lot of us were in line for the bathroom before we boarded a shuttle bus to the Causeway.

Useful info.

Here’s a word to the wise.  It costs 1 GBP per ride to take the shuttle bus to the end of the road where the Causeway is.  Because we were wearing our lanyards, we didn’t have to pay for the bus ride, but we saw a lot of people who didn’t know the bus ride is not included in the ticket price.  Had I to do it over again, I would have simply walked.  The bus was jam packed with people, some of whom really needed the ride.  Also, the walk is very stunning and, to be honest, I could have used the exercise.  Bill and I did walk back after our visit, which allowed me to take more pictures and work off lunch.

I wore a pair of new ankle boots I got from Dansko, which is a shoe company that specializes in comfort.  They did pretty well on the rocks by the Causeway.  I would highly recommend good, sturdy, waterproof, non-slip shoes for your visit.  You will probably be tempted to climb on the rocks and they can get slick.  Also, make sure you pay attention to where climbing is allowed, lest you get yelled at by one of the minders standing by to make sure no one messes up the site.

The Giant’s Causeway was pretty busy when we visited and it was probably an absolute madhouse a couple of days later, when we encountered a couple of huge cruise ships in Belfast.  You may want to take into account when you plan your visit.  Make sure it doesn’t coincide with the arrival of a big cruise… although at just 45 people, some of whom didn’t even come on the trip, I think Hebridean Princess isn’t too taxing.

So here are some pictures from our visit, including a few I got from the coach on the way there.  I must admit, the torturous ride was well worth the end result.  Now I know about The Giant’s Causeway and I think it may have been my favorite of all of the places we visited, despite the crowds!

This is a shot of the indoor museum area, which I will admit I paid little attention to.  Shame on me!  FYI: The Giant’s Causeway has free WiFi.

One parting shot before we got back on the bus.

 

Below are a few pictures from the ride up to the Causeway.  They are nice, but maybe not as much of a draw as the Causeway pictures are…

Ooh!  This one is especially pretty!

These three pictures are from the ride back to the ship.  We got a beautiful rainbow that I had to capture, even though we were on a speeding bus and it was raining.  The ride back, by the way, was  shorter and a lot less painful.

And a few more stunners…

 
Standard