Bavaria and the Black Forest

MUNICH

The Mayor of Berlin may talk poor, but certainly the Mayor of Munich wouldn't. This is a rich town of 1.4 Million people. It actually has two Apple computer stores. Even though bombed in WWII, it was part of Western Germany and not under the control of the Soviets. This is the home of BMW. Historically, this region was very rich due to the East and West salt trade routes, aka white gold, and the perfection of liquid gold, ie., Beer. Sorry beer fans, the Samaritans discovered beer first, the Egyptians taxed it first, but admittedly the Germans do have a magic touch. Hordes of folks come to Munich for “Oktoberfest”and expect mobs and expect to meet new drunken friends. We came in February, but the beer is still great. As well, this city was the home of the royal family of Bavaria which created palaces and went to war. When you think of Germany, you think of Bavarian landscapes.

A united Germany did not come together until Otto Von Bismarck moved with force in 1866. In 1871, Germany emerged under the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm I.

Before this unification, the regions of Germany were separate states that spread into Poland and were governed by separate leaders, called Electors, but who often said “I’m King” of my own fiefdom. In Bavaria, and its capital city of Munich, the Wilhelm and Ludwig clan governed from 1385 until 1918. They built a marvelous palace in stages called simply the Schatzkammer der Residenz. Yeah, real simple. You know German is as hard as the Portuguese language.

Main Square in Munich

Our first day starts with another walking tour This was a large group of 30 english speakers, only 4 Americans. Our guide was a funny bloke from the UK who had married a German girl and moved to Munich. He led us around the several squares that make up the historic district, being “cheeky”when the story needed some humor. On the other hand, he did remind us that Munich was the hometown of the National Socialist Party of the 1930’s and we walked through a neighborhood of Munich that suffered the “Night of Broken Glass”, as many cities did. Shortly thereafter,  jewish populations were relocated. The night before we did see one of Hitler’s former residence, a two story, white stucco, apartment building. No photo. This part of trip has made us remember our history lessons about the rise of Adolph Hitler. The “Kristallnache”was spurred on by the murder of a Nazi official in France by a single Jewish man. It was an extrapolation of a fraudulent conspiracy scenario directed toward the Jews. Find a scapegoat, then blame the entire group. 

Finally for fun, our guide helped us time our videos and photos of the moving Glockenspiel. It was a hoot waiting for the 43 hourly clock chimes to sound and then watch 32 figures perform two historical events, round and round, including a jousting match. This tower is part of the new town hall aka Neues Rathaus.   

The Glockenspiel - Part of the city hall.  The "dancers" perform on the hour

Our other major sites visited on day one include:

St. Peterskirche. The church of Saint Peter is Munich’s oldest church, first built in 1150, but reconstructed several times, The Gothic altar, baroque ceiling fresco and Rococo sculptures are quite lovely. What was interesting to us, was the fact this church and others were Catholic, not Protestant, as we saw in Dresden and Berlin. Granted, there were no icons, but the prominent confessionals gave it away. Here, the Germans were more aligned with the Swiss and French regarding religion. 

Frauenkirche. The Church of Our Lady was another large Catholic church, almost cathedral size, and sporting the tallest domed twin towers. Interestingly, there is a glass crypt displaying the full skeleton ofthe patron saint of single women. Those who ask in pray many find romance. This church is also quite lovely, except for the bones. We later learned that 30 percent of Munich residence are Catholic, and actually a lower percentage are Protestant. 

Schatzkammer Residenz. This palace is so big that we became weary walking from wing to wing. The opulence could only be surpassed by the French Kings, who apparently all the Bavarian kings wanted to emulate. We saw the Antiquarium and Reich Zimmer. These are fancy German names for the barrel vaulted hall with beautiful painted frescos, and the extravagantly decorated “ Rich Rooms” of Rococo art. Forget the Chinese porcelain and French furniture collections. Tired of the opulence, there is always a “Bier Garten” close at hand. In fact, the soccer hooligans were in town today, drinking early, as Munich was playing the UK Arsenal side.

Day 2 Off to see Castles.

We are driving through Bavaria on the so called Romantic Road on a tour to see castles. There are 200 castles in Germany, but we are concentrating on 2 castles that were built at the direction of Ludwig II, the King of Bavaria for 22 years, and are within 100KM of Munich. Ludwig II was an eccentric loner who idolized King Louis of France, known as the Sun King, and the German Composer Wagner. This combination of hero worship caused him to pursue fairy tale architecture, inside and out, at these summer palaces, which he occupied without the queen nor large entourage. We drove toward the Swiss Alps that are really magnificent with jagged edges and snow caps, and evergreen trees. The valleys are dotted with small and large farmhouses and fields, they are postcard pretty, see some photos below

Schloss Linderhof.  We pass through a small Bavarian village and turn off onto a windy side road and park. Once out of the bus we take a short walk until we round the corner and see this small white gem of a castle. The grounds and landscaping encompassing the smallish structure are stellar. The Linderhof was the favorite hiding place of the eccentric King Ludwig II, who had visited this landmark for a combined 14 years, and mostly by himself but with servants he rarely saw. There is a large formal double stairway in the center of the Castle and then the spaces connect room to room by doorways in a circular flow. There are no hallways and the castles structure is basically round. Each room, especially the bed chambers and chapel, are outrageously decorated in gold leaf and rococo figures which matching or coordinated drapes and wall coverings, and mirror after mirror. The dining room displayed the table on an elevated platform so it could be set up and supplied with food from the lower level without the King’s direct interaction with the wait staff. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside. 

Schloss Neuschwanstein. This snowy white palace surrounded by close mountain peaks and its long winding access road used by Ludwig II for summer getaways is the inspiration for Disney world. Enough Said. This massive palace may have been larger had Ludwig II lived to see its completion. It was interesting to see a video about “What was not Built”. This plan included a complete cathedral and several extra spires. Again the original had splendid detail and was beautiful, but was surprisingly dark inside, with lots of carved wood and smallish windows. The king stayed at the site 14 days. The construction took 10 years. This is one of the top 10 castles in Europe, which probably means one of the top in the world.

At lunch we sat with 3 lovely flight attendants on a 5 day layover. They had traveled a lot but still were surprised by our vigorous travel schedule. We have been on the road for 5 months, but there hasn't been much slowdown. Today's journey, for example, filled out 12 hours from portal to portal. The views of the landscape were a treat and the castles did bring visions of fairy tales, but also warrior knights in shining armor. Guys can like castles too. 

see the pics below of the castle, the walk up and two inside photos

Coffee and cake treat for our hard work

 

3rd day. Is this a down day or another Castle day?

This turned out to be a working day. We did locate another castle close by, but then we decided there was other stuff to do. We worked out some details on the final 2 legs of our German excursion. Then, we really pushed it to plan the route and locked down the housing accommodations for the upcoming French Adventure. We also did some work on the blog and published. Finally we had some laundry thrown in for style points. We are planning to take the Flixbus to Freiburg Im-Breisgau in the Black Forest area at 10.00 AM tomorrow.

 

 

 

One of the many great views from the bus

Freiburg

The bus to Freiburg was a nice experience, really easy to get the right bus, with a calm and fast and quiet roll, that got us to the station which was only several blocks from our hostel. This was a modern hostel with straight line architecture, heated bathroom flooring, and separate rooms occupying 3 floors. The staff was very friendly and the guests were of all ages.

There was a community kitchen like we had used in the past, and we do like the ability to cook our own meals when desired. There is a large walking bridge over traffic that starts near our place but ends immediately in town right by a modern opera house and the fantastic new glass library built for Albert Ludwig University. The school buildings intertwine with the city scape and allow the 24,000 students a grand place to study. As a college town this place is marvelous, with shops galore, a giant Cathedral, market around the Cathedral, bookstores with english sections, other splendid churches and public buildings, bikes and bike paths everywhere, two cinema multiplexes, and a lot of restaurants to mention a few things. We actually took advantage of the movie choices and saw La La Land in English, but with German sub-titles. Fun Musical film and the popcorn, after months without, really tasted good.

Freiburg

"Salad in Germany, fried potatoes and sausage strips

"Salad in Germany, fried potatoes and sausage strips

We found a hip German pub and ate tasty local food and drank some great pilsner beer. We walked all over the city and really enjoyed the ambience, energy and active people.

 

 

This city is in the middle of the Black Forest region. The pine trees are amazingly tall, straight, in rows, and dense, thereby casting dark shade in the forest. We wanted to enjoy this nature more so we caught a day train to another cute little Bavarian village for a bit of trekking. We wanted to stretch our legs a little like we did in Patagonia. Another train ride and we arrived in “Titisee”, which had more snow than we had observed before, but the sun shone, the sky was bright blue, and the air was clean and fresh. A glorious day. We had planned out about a 6km trek through the forest and around a lake by the village before we left. Our hand scribbled directions worked, as we turned left and right at the designated landmarks. Not to say that we did not question ourselves once or twice, but we knew we were on the right track when we observed a giant ski jump, actually four ski jumps side by side at the “Europa Ski Park”, clearly used for competitive training. Remember that ABC promo, “the agony of defeat”, well this sight gave us shivers. It was pretty cool though. Our trek got a little more hectic as the sky clouded up, temperatures dropped, and the packed snow got ice. We were walking on the crest of a hill path that was on the decline and had to be very careful, maybe ok for cross country skiing, not so good for hikes. We slowed down and made it to a manicured path that made the end to the trek fun again.

See our photos of the trek

Black Forest cake

Back in the little village we had a bite to eat, including “Bavarian Chocolate Torte Cake” with its drop or two of Schnapps, very tasty. Back on the train and back to Freiburg by 5.00 PM. That final evening was when we saw our movie and then, surprise, we found a Vietnamese Bistro for a late snack. It was really good. In fact we have seen many Vietnamese restaurants around Germany. Go figure! 

 

 

Our bus to Stuttgart was scheduled for late afternoon, so we had time to do more sightseeing in this great little city. We made sure we walked from end to end to see as much of the university as possible and discovered many more charming side streets and historic city entrance gates where taxes where once collected. We actually spied a small fort that was elevated above the city. We could climb to it, but our legs where a bit too sore from the forest trek, so that was a no.  We traveled back to our hostel to pickup luggage and walk back to our bus stop. Janet made friends with our receptionist and gave her some suggestions for getting a J1 Visa for a stateside internship. She was a sweet girl, very thankful, and spoke excellent English. 

The town is again postcard pretty, see below

 

Stuttgart

Back on the bus to Stuttgart and headed for the northern edge of the black forest region. This is an industrial city, better known as the homes of Mercedes Benz and Porsche.

We probably would not have chosen to come here but for the important fact that the super high speed train, ICE, travels from there to Paris in like 4 hours. The city has the MB and Porsche Museums that we were told are really good, as well as the Kaiser’shouse, aka Residenzschloss, and an opera house. We decided instead to spend our time in Stuttgart on a day trip to one of the most renowned castles in Europe, so that probably means the world, a top ten. We planned and took the metro, then train 40 KM, then bus, to the Hohenzollern Castle, for a tour. This massive castle was located at the peak of a small mountain overlooking 360 degrees of expansive valleys that lodged two separate towns. The views were tremendous. It was far bigger than the Neuschwanstein Castle, of “Disney” duplication fame, but not as pretty. For example, It had 3 moats and 2 kill zones at the entrance, it had two chapels-Catholic and Protestant that were immaculately decorated, and numerous spires and towers. It was constructed of darkish brown stones and bricks, not the white sandstone of the Neuschwanstein. The interior was well appointed with the Kaiser’s actual furniture, art and portraits, and other period furnishings. The Kaiser Wilhem I’s crown and some jewels were on display as this castle is still owned by his lineage and not the government. It was a nice outing and a nice way to end our stay in Germany. Tomorrow, we are off to Paris, France.

See photos below, sorry for the quality, it was cold and cloudy again

Dresden Germany

Frank boarding the bus

Frank boarding the bus

We decided to take the FlixBus from Berlin to Dresden. It cost only $15 for 2 tickets rather than the $50 for the train. We left Berlin in the Brandenburg Region and now have moved south to the Saxony Region, known for its castles, cobbled marketplaces and churches. In a few days we will move to Bavaria and then finish in the Black Forest of the Baden-Wurttemberg Region.

Dresden was devastated by a controversial bombing in WWII.  Over 90 percent of the historic area was destroyed.  The important landmarks have been rebuilt, but only relatively recently as Dresden was in East Germany and controlled by the Soviets who had neither the will nor money to do so. The motive for bombing so late in the war has raised issues about military strategy verses revenge and punishment. After arriving late in the day, we walked around the central city square, which is visible from our hotel window. People where all around, strolling on this Sunday afternoon. We organized our thoughts about the sites we would see. 

Dresden Center Square where our hotel is

On first full day in Dresden is February 13th. This is the 72nd anniversary of the bombing that continued 3 days by UK and US forces.  There is a special ceremony scheduled for the evening at the town central.  After breakfast we decide to visit a few important sites, then an afternoon walking tour.

We circled the city center and received historical information from the local information center.  

The city of Dresden first gained notoriety by charging merchants who needed to use its Bridge across the Elbe River as part of the trading routes through Europe and was the home of Saxony’s royal family. Later, August III, wanted to expand the fame of himself and Dresden and built wonderful palaces and churches, and the Opera House.  He also became King of Poland which required him to become Catholic.  But Saxony was the home of Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer, so the King had to keep his subjects happy by building the protestant Cathedral known as Frauenkirche. 

Frank outside the Frauenkirche.  

So for our first stop, we visited this cathedral and we were really amazed with the beauty.  The entire church was renovated in the late 1990’s. The reconstruction cost $180 Million, most of the money coming from the UK and USA. The exterior still contains blemishes from the fire that followed the bombing as do most buildings in this town. It is impressive. We saw a short movie about the history and reconstruction. The host verified, “English”, we said yes, but added “ American”. The old guy replied, “Love, Love”. We felt good about that.  Guess he might feel different about Brits.

The black stones are original the light are new

Our  walking tour was small, just us and a fellow American from California who was on an extended travel schedule.  Nice guy who was moving around the planet on a reverse course from us.  We spent the afternoon visiting all the major sites.  First  the former Palace residence of August III aka “August the Strong”, who ruled this area, Saxony, for 60 years. The Palace, once it was rebuilt, has now been turned into a wonderful 3 story Museum of royal jewels and art, and statuary, and weapons, and other royal gifts accumulated during his reign. The court yard has been covered by a clear geodesic dome designed by an American architect. There is still work to be done in the second courtyard. It is really a very interesting display that shows the wealth of the King.  See the below pics as great examples of the Baroque style buildings lining the historical city center

Our pub lunch of sausage, pickles, pretzels and beer

After our tour we had a traditional german lunch and beers with our fellow american tour mate.  We discussed our travels and exchanged suggestions. It was a relaxing stop before more sight seeing.  One of the great benefits of our slow travel style is meeting and sharing time with other travelers.  

 

 

Since yesterday a large sand scape has been built in the square which will be used for a lighted candle memorial. The residents are set to stand hand in hand and encircle the city. After a day of sight seeing, it is now 6.00 P.M., and the bells of the many churches start to chime as the memorial begins.

 

 

On our second and last day in Dresden. We are taking the Bus at 12:30 to Munich. Just enough time to get a couple more hours of sight seeing in. There is spectacular museum that we will run through before we take off, the Zwinger.  The Zwinger, is a marvelous palace initially built in a “U” shape by August III, with the open end facing the river Elbe. This was August’s magic fair ground and play area where royal outdoor activities took place and gardens viewed. This is a marvelous area with expansive lawn and fountains surrounded by the Baroque architecture of the palace. Interestingly, the term “Zwinger” is derived from the German word describing the “dead zone” between castle walls. Later a fourth building was erected that closed the U and that is where the Art museum is located. This was our target,  where the works of great Old Masters were displayed. Unfortunately, the Porcelain collection from China was not open, though visible through the courtyard windows. We where able to see works by John Paul Ruebens, Bernardo Belleto aka Canaletto, the landscape painter, and Raffael, and other masters from Europe, derived from the 15th to 18th century and usually depicting some religious theme or landscapes. We had to cut the visit short in order to get to our Flixbus for the cheap 7 hour drive to Munich. We thought about taking a train, but the cost was substantially more and the time frame not substantially better, along with a change of trains, no thanks.

The museum was a no picture zone but we managed these two

Times Up! We are off to Munich in the Bavarian province of Germany.

Berlin Germany

Frank's first German beer

We landed in Berlin. It is very cold. We immediately navigated the metro system and got to the apartment for $5.60, rather than a $60.00 taxi ride. We have a great Airbnb located near a main road that ends at the Brandenburg Gates in the Charlottenberg district. The area has small restaurants on the corners and after the plane flight we had our first meal at the local pub. We liked the overture of a celebratory small glass of beer that was offered for free and set in front or us as a sign of welcome as soon as we sat down. We walked the neighborhood and shopped at the local grocery in order to make our own meals.

 

Brandenburg Gates

We signed up for our customary walking tour that started at the Gates.  These have magnificent columns which you must pass through on foot. It was so cold that we all had to stop for several warm up breaks. We did get a energetic tour guide from England who lived in Berlin and had obtained her Masters degree in German history. She was a pistol. The tour was made very interesting by her knowledge and insightful comments. She talked about Berlin’s prior history and then about the rise of the Nazi party. Of note for WWII buffs were several items:

  • The Holocaust Plaza designed by an American artist was powerful and controversial; it looked like a grave yard with blocks of granite of various sizes situated in walkways of different depths; so you can envision a vast grave yard yet also stand by a single tombstone and reflect upon the tragedy.
  • All the Nazi buildings were destroyed in the war and thereafter, except for the Air Force building. This large office building was too functional so even the Russians used it. Some say there was a gentlemen’s agreement between the Germans and Brits not to bomb each other's headquarters, but that is hard to prove.  

See the pics below, so sorry on the quality, it was so cold on our tour that our camera lens kept fogging up.

The pathway marking where the wall was throughout the city

As you know the  Berlin Wall split the city. We saw parts of the actual wall and also a pathway of bricks that run through the streets to mark the path of the wall and the accompanying “dead zone”; people shot on sight in the area. There were a series of crossing checkpoints between Russians and the French, English, and American controlled sectors of Berlin. Check point C, or “Charlie”,  the crossover between the Russian sector and US sector is still dramatized with bunker in the street and pseudo soldiers.

Check point Charlie

Hitler's "bunker" parking lot

The parking lot

In a nondescript, dirt parking lot maybe 4 lanes wide is the site of “Hitler’s suicide”. Under our feet on the muddy surface was the location of the bunker where Adolph Hitler and Eva Braun, his long time girlfriend and one month wife, killed themselves with poison capsules and for Hitler, a shot to the head. The Russians destroyed the large Nazi office building that covered the site after uncovering the bunker and flood the area. Hitler’s body was cremated and the ashes thrown into the Rhine river. The plan, then and now, was to disallow Hitler a burial place to martyr. The German government concurs.

 

 

Charlottenberg

Our second day was very cold again so we opted for a short 10 minute walk to the magnificent palace of Schloss Charlottenberg,  the summer home of many Kaisers.  There are so many King Wilhelms and King Frederichs in the German hierarchy that we can't keep them straight. This palace was used by Frederich I , the “Soldier King”, and his wife Sophie Charlotte, and the disappointing non-soldier son, Frederich II, and follows the baroque style of Germany. Each room is themed and connected to the next room by door, not hallways. The place is stunning. For example, the grand ballroom is ornately decorated in green with gold sculptures in the shape of floral trestles attached to the walls. The idea was for guests to feel like they were dancing in the gardens. The furniture that has survived are pieces of art.

Market Gate of Miletus

Museum Island

On the third day we went to the well known “museum island” located in the middle of Berlin surrounded by the river of Spree.  Berlin has about 50 museums, but on this day we chose to visit 3 museums of different types that were situated next door to each other. The first was the Pergamon Museum, which has antiquities from the Assyrian area of the Middle East, now Syria and Iraq. The structures and artifacts on display are similar to Egypt, but the kings and gods are different. The most amazing presentation are the “Ishtar Gate of Babylon” and the “Market Gate of Miletus”. The Germans have erected structures that display these gates as in ancient times. Unfortunately the Pergamon Alter, pride of the museum and namesake, was not available as it is under renovation. FYI, there is a lot of construction and restoration in Berlin, including a brand new science museum that may be done in 2018.

The second was the Neues Museum, which displays artifacts from ancient Egypt and its Nubian culture. Since we had already been in Egypt, we were most interested in seeing the bust of Egyptian Queen Nerfertiti, 1340 BC., and the Golden Hat, 1000 BC., a predictor of solar movement. We had a nice lunch and dessert here and also chatted with a friendly Munich resident who told us about the things we should see there.

The third was the Alte National Gallery.  The building is spectacular, inside and out.  The wide central staircase allows you to climb 3 floors displaying the beautiful works of well known German and European painters and sculptures.  This exhibit was really a treat, especially the sculptures.  We especially enjoyed Manet's "In the Conservatory and Sculptor Johann Schadow's "Double Statue of the Princesses".  We purchased a 3 day museum pass and cannot wait to pick up the other museums.

Potsdam travels

We took another walking tour to the former East Germany town of Potsdam, which started with a bus ride then on a train ride. Potsdam was destroyed significantly by Allied bombing in the war. It has been rebuilt extensively. Potsdam has the famous "Bridge of Spies" also from the Tom Hanks movie last year.  It is also the site of the “Potsdam Accord” where Truman, Churchill and Stalin met to decide how to divide post war Germany. We saw the historic photo site of the 3 sitting together. This city was also the summer home and getaway of Kaiser Frederich II, who built the “Sans Souci” palace and estate. It has fantastic gardens adorned with sculptures and ornate frivolities decorating the walls and roofline. The interior, at this time, was not as opulent as his other palace in our neighborhood. He did no government work there, but did entertain the artists, musicians, and philosophers of the day, while his wife had been allowed her own dwelling elsewhere. Fred II never had kids. FYI, Fred II, though more a philosopher than a soldier actually expanded the Prussian territorial empire and saved Germany from famine with the introduction of potato crops, among other attributes. He is know as  Frederich the Great, surpassing his father’s achievements.

Salad Bavarian style for dinner

We met some American expats on this tour and hit it off. After the tour we all went to a nice Bavarian restaurant with authentic German cuisine. We really like Schnitzel and veal. Best wishes to Steve and Gloria as they wind down the overseas assignment. Their grandchild was due to be born any minute.

 

 

 

Back to Museum Island

The next day we took the subway to our destination; to revisit Museum Island. We first visited the Alte Museum of Greek and Roman history with its ancient artifacts and sculptures gods that we could compare with our views of Egyptian antiquities. We did not overdo it, but selected the major pieces to contrast. Then we visited the Bode Museum with its Sculpture collection. More sculpture, wow! The building was gorgeous with two domes and circular staircases within a classical triangular building. But the sculptures were from renaissance artists and just inspiring.

We also visiting the German National Cathedral. It has been renovated and is magnificent on the inside with painted dome, sculptures of Calvin and Luther the originators of their faith, and beautiful religious paintings. The exterior is also impressive, but has some where and tear from the war and could use a good scrub. We walked up the winding staircase to the dome walkway that allowed us a stellar view of the city.

Alternative Berlin

Today is our last day in Berlin. We have planned our route, laundered and packed. We went on an “alternative Berlin”walking tour where we experienced the wacky stuff of this vibrant city.

The Berlin Wall with Street Art

We purchased another AB transport pass that allowed us to jump on and off metro trains until 3:00 AM. We traveled to the former East Berlin. The Friedrichshain side of the Wall where we landed is still erect and has 1/4 mile stretch of street art that was authorized and is of high quality, even if not as political as other areas. Hackescher Market has an alley by Café Cinema where there are some crazy, radical art forms and statements, and not far away is YAAM, an African youth enclave on the river Spree that has joined others in fighting rampant renovation of the waterfront. We walked through other neighborhoods that had turned former abandoned buildings into squatter cooperatives. Talk about alternative living. But it is the oddity and hipness of Berlin, especially the eastern side that draws people here. We are told Berlin’s mayor has said: “we are poor, but sexy”.

See the pics below of this area

 

We are off to Dresden!

Turkey

Istanbul

 

We traveled from the Cairo airport for our Turkey flight in a transport van with half of our group.  We have some trepidation, traveling the day after Trump  announced a ban on Islamic people into the US.  This is a challenging time to visit Islamic countries.

The airport was extremely busy due to extra security.  In Cairo you now enter the first screening as soon as you enter the airport; shoes off, electronics out, belts off, and pockets empty. This was a long wait but professional.  The second screening was at the gate and was very thorough, it included a full body pat down and they questioned Frank inhaler and the the portable speaker.  It was also interesting to have the females in a separate line where Janet was told to wait for the female officer. She also went through pat down.

In Istanbul, like Cairo, due to the political climate we chose to stay in a new fancy Hilton and opted for a full paid tour of the city rather than our normal free walking tour.

Our tour guide, Emre Onal, picked us up and we traveled to the historic district. He is a very learned guide and a husky man that makes you immediately feel safe. Our first impressions of Istanbul are very positive. It looks more like a European city than like the Islamic cities we have seen before. It appears very modern and clean, without overly bad traffic. Our guide pointed out where the New Year’s Eve bombing occurred; in a fashionable area at the foot of the bridge spanning a narrow part of the Bosporus Straights. This was the beginning of several discussions about the effect terrorism was having on the tourism business; same as in Egypt.

The guide, throughout the day pointed to all popular sites on how empty they were, he said at big sites, there should be 1,000 people here, and lines.  For us there was just a few people and no lines. Sad for him; good for us, maybe. We ask if he had any American tourist since New Year and he told us no, and we think he had not many clients from anywhere yet this year.  

The historic district is very walkable. We started at the  and moved to the Hagia Sophia (closed for day) to the Blue Mosque without any delay. 

The “Blue Mosque” It has a Byzantine like dome and 6 minuets. In ancient times this caused a problem for a while, because the Mosque of Mohammed in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, also had 6 minuets and to be equal was seen as disrespectful. The sultan of Istanbul, Ahmed Sultana, sent the supplies and workers and money to build 4 more minutes at Mecca. Problem solved without bloodshed, just money.

We are allowed to enter, without shoes and Janet's head covered, and take in the mosaic of blue porcelain tiles that cover the entire gigantic structure. Some 3000 can pray inside, and on Ramadan an additional 10,000 can pray in the court yard, with another 10,000 attending on closed streets. Beautiful and impressive , but not as big as the newer Hasan ll mosque in Casablanca, Morocco.

 

Typical Dessert of figs, ice cream and oranges

We had a wonderful lunch in a small café where the hosts were very open to discussions about Turkish politics, as was our guide. They recognize the difficulty that Turkey has by being a progressive country interacting with Europe, maybe joining the EU, and then adjoining the Arabic countries of the Middle East. They remind me that the USA has military bases here and that the Turks are fighting on the borders of Syria. They seem to hope that their government doesn't trend more toward an Islamic state. They speak fondly of General Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey in 1922, whose photo is in every shop. He was evolutionary, not revolutionary, and became president. 

We then are able to walk to the Palace of Ahmed Sultana, which overlooks the Golden Horn Bay. Though the Treasury and Harem suites are closed for restoration, darn it, we saw the Royal quarters, the state rooms, council rooms, weapons museum and museum of Islam artifacts. The structures were grand, but the stories behind the rise of power were the most interesting. Here are some photos.

Next we visited Yerebatan Sarnici Cistern, the ancient underground water system that was featured in the final scenes of the “Inferno “film based on Dan Brown’s book. It is up lighted and eerie. The Medusa heads are placed upside down or sideways, but apparently when the water level is high the reflection makes them appear correctly, for fun we rented the movie the next day, although not a great movie it does look authentic to the location.

Our last visit for the day was the famous Istanbul Bazaar.  We have been in many markets and Bazaar’s this month so we are not buying, but it was fun to look and have some friendly banter with the sales guys trying to lure us in to their shops.  Back to our hotel to pack up again.

Cappadocia aka Kopadokya

 

Fairy tale land. Back on track with our next guided tour, we get up at 5 AM and catch a 2-hour plane ride from Istanbul to the Cappadocia region in the center of Turkey. It was very cold with 6 inches of snow on the ground. We stayed in the cave city of Goreme. This land is right out of a fairytale. It has geologic and religious importance. Due to centuries of erosion, gigantic spires of volcanic ash have been formed throughout the valleys in this area. Some are topped with harder minerals lending a phallic appearance to these structures. More stunning are the seemingly infinite cave dwellings carved into these spires and the surrounding plateaus. You can observe innumerable cave doorways and windows. We have aerial and ground level photos. Note the pigeon stands in the rock. The guano is used for fertilizer.

 

Here is the kicker. These caves were first fashioned by the early Christians that were hiding from the Roman Empire and the Hittites of the area. In one settlement entitled the “Open Air Museum”, there were a series of primitive churches carved out of the rock with interior iconic paintings displayed. The colors were worn after centuries, but the paintings were not destroyed albeit for the typical pageant action of scrapping out the eyes of the figures---it has been said “eyes are the window to the soul”.

The next day, early morning, we went for a hot air balloon ride. The view was made more glorious by watching the sun rise over the plateau that abuts this fairyland valley. Our captain also maneuvered us at lower altitudes through the valley and landed the passenger gondola right onto a flatbed. We had 4 layers of clothes on to fight the cold, which was -10 degrees F. Only our feet and camera clicking fingers were frozen, but all is well. We recommend balloon rides.

We were also fortunate to visit an underground city carved 5 stories under the earth; we only went down 3 stories, thank you. It is a catacomb, with kitchens, sleeping rooms, storage areas for wine and water and food, ventilation shafts, secret and narrow passages, and large round stone doors to close off areas. It was a little claustrophobic bending down and shuffling along the passageways, but we were primed from our Pyramid experience and did not hyperventilate too much. What the early Christians did to save and practice their new religion should be an inspiration to us all. Check out some photos.

We are on a whirlwind schedule in Turkey. At the end of the day we are transported back to another small airport fly to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, unfortunately having to go through Istanbul, changing planes, to get to Izmir.  This airport is empty, see the photo as an example of how bad the tourism is in Turkey.  

 

Ephesus

The next day brings on another fantastic adventure. We visit one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. Ephesus is an ancient city first settled by the Greeks and then taken by the Romans and then the Ottomans. It was an important seaport that allowed goods to be transferred between Asia and Europe. It was very large and populated by as many as 250,000 persons in its heyday. The most remarkable structures arose during the Roman period, that included a colosseum, wide paved streets, Roman bath, Roman toilets, rows of storefronts, Temples to Artemis and Apollo, council chambers, and of course, the magnificent Library. The library was the 3rd largest in the ancient world, following closely behind the libraries in Alexandria, Egypt, and Rome, Italy.   Check out the photos.

We also took an interesting religious side trip today. As we had visited the Coptic church in Egypt that was supposedly the hiding place of the Virgin Mary when she fled to Egypt after the birth of Jesus, we visited another site important to the Christians. Near Ephesus in the village of Meryemana located at high ground in a valley that meets the Aegean Sea, is currently situated a small brick structure, now a church, that is purported to be the last home of the Virgin Mary before her death. Several Catholic Popes have visited the site. There are 3 factors that support this opinion.  We are informed and understand that the historical record supports the fact that Mary did spend her last days in Turkey. Significantly, the historic record supports the fact the Apostle John, tasked by Jesus to care for Mary, visited Turkey at this time and met with St. Phillip.  Phillip lived in this village. We entered the church and paid our respects.

 

At this time, we drove back toward our very modern Hotel in the city of Kusadasi, a wonderfultimes. It has been completely renovated with nice gardens. Most impressive were the sunshine and the reflection on the crystal clear waters of the Aegean Sea, turquoise in color, that allow you to see through to the rocks under the water.  We did not expect to see a full skeleton of a Whale displayed, but there it was. Interesting. We then enjoyed the walk on the market street, stopping to buy fruits, cheese, olives, and fresh bread for a quiet evening meal. This was a very fulfilling day.

 

The next morning, we were awoken by the strangest thing. In the dead of night, the mini bar in the room started to flash through its glass door like a beacon or something. It did not stop by slamming the door and we thought it was an emergency signal at first, then we had to flick every light switch in the place to get it to stop.

 

Pumukkale

The next day we had a long drive to Pumukkale, i.e. “Cotton Castle”, the site of ancient village of Hierapolis, with its Colosseum ruins and Calcium lake and terrace hot springs derived from a dormant volcano. This place was known for healing waters, but also, as happens with sick people, death, and was commonly known as Necropolis. Today, part of the site is a health spa.

This in country tour was whirlwind. We flew in from one airport and are flying out of another to return to Istanbul. The airport seemed in the middle of nowhere, and we feared a propeller plane would be our transit. No, nice jet plane and we got back to our bed in record time.

 

 

 

Istanbul

The final active day was reserved to see the famous Hagia Sophia, aka Holy Wisdom in old Istanbul. We selected a guide for info and to beat the lines. How spoiled! In any event we were told that in prior years 20,000 patrons per day visited the site. Now its 2000 patrons.  The structure is enormous inside and bigger then the Blue Mosque, even if the exterior view seems to match the Blue Mosque. Roman Emperor Justinian ordered this church to be built in 380 AD and brought 10,000 Greek artisans to town to complete the church within five years. The short time of construction was aided by recycling, i.e. stealing, many giant pillars from other temples, including Delphi in Greece. The Dome is free standing, supported by buttresses, whereas the Blue Mosque has 4 interior pillars. The walls are covered in gold leaf and color mosaic which sometimes present holy figures. Most of these figures were cover with plaster for many years as the Islamic faith prohibits icons displayed, but are now being restored. One exception, the figures of Jesus and Mary, both persons recognized in the Koran, were not defaced. At this alter only in the world, you can see the written symbols for Ala and Mohammed on either side of Mary and Jesus.  

We left the site and had supper at a noted bistro named “Massa”. We wanted to try “Meze”, a traditional meal, which is a smattering of small bowls of sauces and concoctions to eat together and with bread.  

Afterwards, we picked up some Turkish desserts, except the gooey “Turkish Delight” that we have enjoyed before. The young storekeeper was all smiles when he asked “American” and we said yes. That is one thing we have learned, all the Turks we have met seem to want to welcome travelers from the USA. This is our last night in Turkey.

 

Next stop - Germany

 

 

Egypt Part Two

After 4 hours of sleep our race around Egypt continued in Luxor with a visit to the Temple of Karnak on the east bank of the Nile.  The site is huge, the largest ancient religious site in the world, after the Angkor Wat Temple of Cambodia.  (which we should visit in late spring!!).  You enter the site down a street lined with ram’s head Sphynxs' and we are blown away by the beauty and size of the site.  After a great review from our guild, Sam, we have free time to wander in awe.  See the pics:

Papyrus Demostration

After the visit we travel to a local Papyrus art shop.  Since we visited a shop on our own we enjoyed the demo of the process and wandered without any purchases.  Next stop, lunch with the group at a traditional Egyptian restaurant.  The food in Egypt is very cheap, for less than $5 we have soup, a choice of meat with sides and fruit for desert.  It is very good. 

Now we must load up on the bus to drive to the city of Aswan.  The bus is quiet on this leg of the trip and we pass the 4 hours by sleeping and reading.  

Frank's new pet at the Nubian dinner

Our tour group is now splitting up and we join the group going on the Nile river cruise.  We race to the boat, check in, and have 5 minutes to drop our luggage and meet back with the large group for the night excursion.  We load on to a boat on the Nile and ferry to a small island where we go to dinner at a traditional Nubian home.  The food is homey, filling and good.  The history of the Nubians was provided by Sam our guide, they arise from the south Egypt, and the conversation within our group is great and even though tired, it is a great dinner.  On our boat ride back out, the Nubian hosts break out in traditional singing and dancing, soon the engine of the boat stops and we are all dancing and singing as we float down the Nile. 

 

Our first morning on our cruise ship starts at 4:15 am with a box breakfast and a 2.5 hour bus ride to visit the site called Abu Simbel, billed as one of the most impressive sites in Egypt. It was magnificent. See photos.

This is the Ramses II Temple, not tomb, with the 4 giant sitting statues, that had been carved into a mountain. These figures were probably 3 stories high. The site also had an accompanying temple for the Pharaoh’s favorite wife. It was not unusual for a Pharaoh to have multiple wives for love, lust, and politics. Ramses II had as many as 43 wives.  This site is also next to a lake caused by a dam built in the early 60’s.  The original dam project would have destroyed this temple and many others.  With the assistance of the global community the entire site was moved stone by stone and protected from the flood.  The US was one of the important countries on this project and as a return of our efforts Egypt gave us a another small temple that is now in the NY Metropolitan Museum of Art, very cool.  

Cruise ship lunch

We travel the 2.5 hours back to Luxor and our cruise ship.  It is a race again, the ship will sail at 1:30. Sam our guide arranged a special van to meet us on the side of the road to get to the ship and we split with the large group again.   We also meet our cruise guide Micky.  We made the boat just in time and lunch was waiting for us. 

 

The river cruise ship

Our cruise group is just 6 of us. The others crowded into an open deck sailing boat, called Felucca, to share together time. This was a rustic activity. We, on the other hand having slept in the desert for 2 nights the week before, chose the finer cuisine and service of the cruiser with sun deck, bar, sports TV, and afternoon tea time. The sun set over the Nile valley viewed from the top deck was very cool, as were our new friends who worked in London.

 

Our day was not done, before dinner we are off the ship to the next sight. We headed to Edfu to visit the largest and best preserved temple in Egypt. The temple is dedicated to the falcon god Horus and was built over a 180 year period from 237 BC to 57 BC.  Then we visited another Temple dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek built during the Ptolemaic period.  Back on the boat we have our first cruise dinner, very good with the best service yet. 

Our next day is up early again with a horse and carriage ride to the yet another great temple and site. See our pics:

We finish our day by relaxing on the boat, it is warm, over 80 degrees and we enjoy the top deck, the tea at 4:00 pm  along with great conversations with our other fellow travelers.  

 

We awake on our last day on the boat docked back in Luxor.  Our original schedule was free time, but after discussions with our guide, Michael we all agree to visit Ramses III at Medinat Habu.  Michael our guide arranged a van for our merry little group of 6.  This site is not on most of the tours and we had free reign of this temple site and could walk or stand anywhere. As we squeezed through some narrow passages to enter a secluded area, we met Egyptologists working on the site from U of Chicago, which sponsors a lot of research. They were talkative and well aware that the government endowments for the arts and sciences in the USA had been cut the day before.

 

That evening we meet up with our big group again and we toured Luxor temples on the east side of the Nile.  Again the site is huge with a temple that was expanded over many years and a fantastic Sphinx road.  Visiting the sites in the dark is great with the up lighting, but hard on our simple IPhone photos, but see below anyway

Our final day in Luxor is again very busy.  We are up at 4:00 am and leave for a Balloon Ride. This is our first balloon trip and a great way to see the ancient site 

After the flight we have a good Egyptian breakfast and we are off to the west bank of the Nile and the Valley of the Kings.  This is now our 5th day of visiting the pyramids, temples and ancient sites.  There are so many more that we will not see. Each site is seeming to be better than the last and each time we are totally blown away; we once again are in total awe.  The Valley of the Kings totally blew us away.

Some quick history, the Egyptians stopped building pyramids, since they were beacons for robbers.  They moved their burial sites to tombs carved into the hills and mountains.   We were able to enter 3 of the many excavated tombs in the area described as “City of the Dead”.  Once through the narrow entrances, the hallway descends to the burial chamber and storage rooms After thousands of years the walls are still painted with ancient figures and writing in bold yellow, red, and blue.

You can also visit the tomb of King Tutankhamun (Tut). We paid the extra fee to see King Tut’s tomb. He was the boy Pharaoh, having died at 19.   His mummy is at this site. He was short and slender. He is famous because his rather small tomb was found intact. We were able to view King Tut’s face mask, golden chariots, the gold funeral coffins, jewelry, weapons and supplies in the Egyptian Museum. No photos allowed in the tomb or museum but the collection is amazing. Our guide asks us to imagine the wealth, and gold, and stuff that would have been saved in the gigantic Ramses II tomb, as his reign lasted until his death at 90 years of age.  It was grave robbed. It is hard to imaging such wealth. After the tombs we visit one last site, have a great lunch and then back on the bus again for a 9-hour drive to Cairo.

Our last day was a tour of the important sites of Cairo.  We went to the Egypt museum and viewed the Hanging Church, named because it was suspended over the walls of a passage. The Coptic Orthodox Christians maintain this site which is reportedly the the place that Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus hide after they fled Judea. We also visited the oldest Mosque in Egypt and almost wrapped up with a visit to the famous Kahn El Khalili bazaar, but stopped at an Egyptian linen store. The end, except for a farewell dinner with 7 more of our other new friends from Egypt.

 

Final thoughts on Egypt

We were in Egypt a total of 11 days, 9 with a tour through the tour company Travel Talk.  The 9 days with the tours were by far the busiest we have had on our journey so far.  We traveled by bus for over 2,000 km and had several days of less than 5 hours of sleep.  Egypt has been a place we have yearned to visit and we are very grateful for this opportunity.  The history and ancient sites far exceeded our expectations.  It is difficult to express just how many sites there are, after a few days it just becomes commonplace to look out your window and see a singular site.  But the distances are far and in retrospect it would have been easier with at least one flight.  There are also the security concerns.  It has only been 2 years since the last government change.  It was clear to us that the tourists are still not visiting this country.  One guide told us that the pre 2011 tourist industry was $20 billion per year, last year it was just half a billion dollars.  We often traveled with a plain clothed policeman in our bus and while traveling in--country we had police escorts in certain provinces most of the time.  We also had a policeman escort when visiting the Cairo bazaar.  In our opinion, with a tour you have security and are secure, and this is one country that should not be visited without a tour.  Perhaps the country as a whole is not so safe.  But the people are kind, the service was excellent and the sites should be a must see for any world traveler.  

See below some pics of the streets and women of Egypt

 

View of Bazar from above

Egypt Part One

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For our next stop we are flying from Marrakech Morocco to Cairo Egypt.  We will be in Cairo 2 days before our tour starts.  We opted to use some of our Hilton point and stay at the main Hilton hotel downtown.

Overall the flight was good but this was one airport where all signs and the announcements were in Arabic only.  We got lucky with a gate change, we met one other American traveler and together when all the other passengers got up and left we better follow.

The flight was about 7 hours.  We were to be met by a shuttle from the Cairo Hilton. The charge was to be placed on our room. Our American friend needed a ride to the same area, so we ask our driver if she could share with us. It was ok for a cheap price, and we loaded up for the trip to downtown Cairo.

When we arrived at the Hilton into the parking lot we had to pass through a check point, where the underside and trunk of the vehicle were surveyed for explosives. We were allowed in and individually then passed through metal detectors with our luggage. Then a little ruckus occurred, our driver wanted cash payment even though we had a bill to give to the hotel.

The clerk interceded. Once sure we would not be double charged, we paid in cash for ourselves and the other American with us and was waiting alone in the car.  We felt bad how long she was in the car. We told her the story and sent her off, instructing her not to pay anymore.       

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We went to the Egyptian museum on the first day.  It was directly across the street but almost impossible to get to. The streets have no cross walks. So we moved from curb to curb between traffic with no set lanes. It is rather spooky and poorly planned. We made it and walked in the street around the high wall of the museum until we reached the front gate. This gate faces the Plaza where the first protests initiating the “Arab Spring” of 2011 began.  Again, you walk through metal detectors and X-ray your bags for security. This was the first time of many future times when we observed security persons holding AR16 rifles. As we cleared security, a professorial looking man approached us for a guided tour. We accepted. This man was one of the best guides we have ever had. He directed us through this giant museum explaining the chronology of the Egyptian culture using the artifacts to weave his story. He made history come alive in a way that was memorable. At the end of our tour he was concerned about us and the crazy traffic and walked us back to our hotel. The Egyptian Museum is gigantic and old, as are the thousands of statues and artifacts representing the old, middle and new Kingdoms of the Pharaohs, with still thousands of pieces in storage. We spent a large portion of our time looking at the King TUT exhibit. The boy king died at 19, but he is famous to us because his tomb was discovered intact with all the gold, including the unforgettable mask.    

Frank and the Guide

Frank and the Guide

Our second private guide and driver picked us up at the hotel for the tour of the new Islamic Religious Art Museum that had been renovated and just recently reopened. Again the entrance was secured by X-ray and armed men. The title work, textiles, and wood carvings were elaborate. We had seen some familiar versions in Morocco and southern Spain. As we walked around the museum our guide explained the significance of the pieces. As well, we entered into a dialogue about the origins and growth of the Islamic faith.  The guide was quick to point out that Islam through the Koran recognizes the Prophet Jesus and His mother Mary. Personally, we have read portions of the Koran, about 25 written passages that directly involve Jesus, usually in a dialogue with Muhammad. It is quite fascinating.

 

We then went to the Cairo open air market. We walked several streets with our guide that were easily accessible. The various shop keepers were welcoming but not burdensome. Later, we saw other market streets from our transport that were just packed with people, shoulder to shoulder, moving like a great wave. Some part of us wished we had been in the mass, but the reasonable side tells us the view, along with our easier walk, was the way to go.

We did visit a Papyrus paper store which displays art painted on this ancient, first ever paper.The shop keeper demonstrates the method of manufacture and then offers the paintings for sale. The process is interesting as the triangular plant stem is sliced, water cured, aligned, and pressed into sheets of paper. Once completed the paper has the strength of a paper towel, can be soaked and crushed, but will return to its original shape. The paintings, which mostly mimic the great symbols, stories, and language found at the pyramids and temples.

The Perfumery

 

Next, we visited a perfumery. Here there are bottles of pressed flower oils that make up the base fragrance of many perfumes he shops keeper points out there is no alcohol in his fragrances and his oils will not burn. This shopkeeper selected 4 different oils for us to apply and test. One drop will do you. Some oils have perfume fragrances and others are more therapeutic for ancient remedies. We both bought small vials of our favorites.

 

As the late afternoon approached our guide suggested we get something to eat. We stopped at an Egyptian, falafels, very yummy. 

Later that night, we met our tour group and guide. Apparently many had been delayed on their flights, so only eight of a group that would grow to 24 went to a dinner cruise, with belly dancing and the dancing acrobats.  This Egyptian belly dancer was an absolutely beautiful young lady with a professional band and routine and costumes. Then the acrobaticscame out with their swinging skirts and juggling all to music.  It was all great fun. The food and beer was classic Egyptian. 

The next morning, we met the other 20 group members as we entered the bus. Here was the chance we have been waiting for, to actually walk among the Pyramids of Giza, constructed more than 4000 years ago.  

 

We first traveled to see the Pyramid of Khafre. The structure is massive and we were massively impressed. Surprise to us, this site had an entrance to the burial chamber that was located under the Pyramid, like a small basement. Our group all entered. The walls closed in as we bent over head to knees to navigate the narrow corridor going down. Some of us had a shortness of breath. We then reached the burial chamber and stood up. The chamber with crypt was large enough to fit us all and the walls and crypt were covered with hieroglyphics.    

The Great Pyramid of Khufu, aka Cheops, was the next venue. This is the moseleum of Pharaoh Khufu. The burial chamber is not underground, but up in the middle of the structure. The doorway was discovered and is open. We stooped inside the entrance corridor, albeit somewhat claustrophobic, bent down and walked through the entry corridor. Then moving through an escalated passage we were able to stand fully and walk the lengthy trapezoid corridor to the chamber. Thankfully the passage is lighted, but most of our companions did not go in. The engineering of the stone blocks inside the corridor are seamless, seemed polished, and overlay each other like 3 layers of shingles on each side. Each block weighs 2.5 tons. The total number of blocks is 2.3 million.  The Chamber itself is large and has polished alabaster stone walls without etching and the Pharaoh’s crypt. We had a great “Indiana Jones” experience. No photos inside this Pyramid. See some other photos. 

Next stop was our camel ride. These two grand pyramids sit within a complex of mausoleums which are housed in many other smaller pyramids that can be seen on the site. We had the fun of a camel ride, our second in 2 weeks, of riding around the exterior of the site to observe its great size and expanse. It is pretty amazing. Egyptian camels are about twice as tall, and twice the fall, as the Moroccan ones we had rode and have a slightly different hump placement that allows for more comfortable seating. 

Next stop, The Sphinx. We completed this site by visiting the ancient entrance to the Khafre’s valley temple guarded by the Lion bodied Sphinx with the human face. This was impressive, even if not quite as big as expected. We were able to walk up the back of the Sphinx to get near its head. Originally, the Sphinx was the large main guardian of the walkway to the tombs which was aligned on both sides with a series of smaller statutes. The entry way was spectacular, but in partial ruins, and would have been over the top if intact.     

 This was a long day. We grabbed some Egyptian grub and started our bus trek to the next great archeological site in upper Egypt in Luxor. We were accompanied by a plain clothes policeman sitting in the front seat. He wore a suit, seemed very professional, but did not speak with us. We also had a local police escort for each district we drove through.  The trip was scheduled for 9 hours, a late arrival, but took 12 hours, arriving in Luxor at 5 AM. We had bus trouble from bad gas or some leaking on the expressway.  We were stranded on the side of the road awaiting service for several hours. However, within a short time of our break down we were joined by 6 additional police officers with M16's, they secured the bus using orange pylons and directing road traffic away from us.   Did we feel safe? we will talk about it later.

Finally, we checked into our hotel so late that the tour changed the itinerary with the instruction to be up and out to the bus again at 9 AM, so we could travel to the city of Aswan.  Talk about exhausted, but we pulled it together and got on the road to continue the adventure. 

Next Stop, Aswan Egypt

Morocco - The Modern Cities

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Fez

Today we depart Fez for the City of Rabat, the capital city of Morocco and the seat of government, if not the seat of finance and commerce in the country. This is a short drive and when we arrive a local guide shows us the most active of the Royal Palaces, where Muhammad VI and his family routinely live and are schooled. We then visit the Chellah Ruins where the ancient Romans had their fort and trading outpost next to the river, then Hassan towers, theOudayas Gardens, and finally King Mohamed V Mausoleum, a beautiful and intricate structure designed by a French architect , it houses the crypts of 2 kings and the late King V’s brother. This late King was the father of the current King VI.  Apparently, their governing styles are quite the opposite. The current King avoided the “Arab Spring” phenomenon by introducing new policies and advancing a new , more liberating constitution.  Portraits of King VI adorn every shop and store. He is loved by the people and by all our guides.   

Rick's Cafe

Casablanca

We arrive in Casablanca after another long bus ride. It is near dusk. We droveby the original “Rick’s Café” of movie fame with Humphrey Bogart. The movie was filmed in Hollywood, but the story was apparently based upon this american owned business. After settling in, our group walked the long waterfront and beach of this booming economic city. We are hungary and being left to our own devises find a British food chain popular with our friends called “Wok to Walk”.   Great oriental stir fry. While sitting there the powers goes out for 30 minutes. Our guide tells us that on that major street they turn the power off when the KingVI is driving his own car. Great story. Is it true?

 

The next morning we visit the third largest Mosque in the islamic world, called the Hassan II Mosque, designed by french architect Michel Pinseau. It accommodates 25,000 worshippers inside and 80,000 worshippers in the exterior courtyard. Men and women are separated but can attend at the same time. Each gender has its own ablution fountains. The minaret is 210 meters and is the highest in the world. It is said the structure is large enough to house Rome’s St. Peter’s Cathedral. The woodcarving and elaborate decoration is most striking.

Pano view of inside the mosque

The huge mosque

We then visit the neighborhood of Anfa, where the meeting of Roosevelt, Churchill and De Gaulle took place to negotiate the future independence of Morocco from French colonialism. Then off we go toward our starting point back in Marrakech   

great hotel in Essaouria

great hotel in Essaouria

Dinner at Travos Cafe, what a great group

Dinner at Travos Cafe, what a great group

Essaouria

Our long drive is to the sea resort town of Essaouria, pronounced “essowherea”. This is a UNESCO world Heritage listed city. OMG! This is a small jewel like beach town with battering waves hitting the rock formations by the ancient fort and traditional Medina residences and market. Some towns just have that storybook atmosphere and this is one of them. This was originally a fishing town and the marina is still lined with working boats. There is also a long, flat, sandy beach for sun worshippers and constant winds making this locale a world class wind surfing venue with professional competitions, thus its own coined name of “windy city”. We walked the market streets of the Medina, which are wide, giving the feeling of openness. The gals favorite shop was this particular jewelry shop, with similar items priced much less than the Fez versions. Our hotel is traditional, but impeccable and for $30 Janet added a great one hour massage.   Our view of the water was great, see the pics below from the roof and our room. The night of arrival we ate and drank at a place called “Travos Cafe”, one of many roof top restaurants with live music that over look the water.  Great fun! We all wish we could have spent another night in this town. 

Marrakech

Finally, we arrive back in Marrakech. It is said this is the city where the Arab culture of the cities meet the Berber culture of the mountain villages. Historically, it was here that the sub Saharan Traders carrying gold, salt and slaves would trade their wares to merchants who would sell them to European markets. Our group visited these sites in the Djemaael Fna Square and also walked through another shopping maze of Medina streets on our way to and from the Bahia Palace. This palace was modeled after the great Al Hombre in Spain, with interior gardens, patios, and large private rooms and baths. 

The market of Marrakech

The market of Marrakech

Our group and Koranic tour guide

Our group and Koranic tour guide

Janet was not satisfied with stopping her ancient sites visit without a tour guide and convinced our touring friends to visit the ancient Koranic school building. She paid out $100 Dhs for this old monk kind of guy to show us around. He spoke enough english to repeat his bit about ten times as we travelled through the building. We all started to look sideways and shake our heads. Janet asked him to join our group photo. He agreed then surprised us by flipping on his hood that had been hanging down but only after removing his stored bag lunch. The guy was a hoot. 

 

We finished our evening by finding a third floor bar above a restaurant to enjoy some spirits,  reenact the tour given by the monk guy at the Koranic school, and just laugh. We got so comfortable with our 2 for 1 drinks that we just settled in for dinner and ordered what was suggested by our French hostess.   

We finished our evening by again walking through the square. We did not see and snake charmers, but it was a crowd filled area of activity. I think we all felt safe. Our Guide picked us up at the designated location and we completed the tour seeing great sites and making new friends.   

Final thoughts on Morocco

We debated going to Morocco considering the current world situation with Islam Nations.  We are so glad that we added this wonderful country to our trip.

We took a circular route around Morocco which is exquisite with its shorelines on the Mediterranean and Atlantic oceans, the Atlas mountain range through its middle and the Sahara Desert to the east. The Moroccans are quick to point out that this is north Africa, not the Middle East. The early ancestors (2500 BC) were nomads who may have been distant cousins to the Egyptians, but considered themselves “free people”. The Romans controlled the coasts but could not conquer the tribes that they called “barbarians” which later became known as “Berbers” as they still proudly call themselves. The Berbers are the original people of Morocco with their own language, arts and deities. They lived side by side Berber Jews and a smattering of Christians. It was not until the 7th century that the Ottoman Empire extended the Islamic influence from Mecca to north Africa, but not without a fight. The Berbers led by their warrior Queen Uqba drove the Islamic armies back to Tunisia. Later by the 8th century the Islamic faith had extended to Spain, surrounding Morocco and the religion was accepted diplomatically.

The third largest mosque in the world sits in Casablanca, however many Moroccans cities still proudly maintain large Jewish populations in the neighborhoods called “Mellahs”, coined from the translation of “salt business” historically run by the Jewish community. Important to note are the social and political reforms offered by the current King Muhammed VI, whom the people seem to love. Also, he is fostering renewed economic prosperity and new infrastructure to the country which is evident in the small villages as well as the large cities we visited. For example, we were told a new Ford Motor Co. plant was being built and that a recent law prohibits the wearing of Burkas in the general public to alleviate safety concerns.   What a great country with friendly people. We urge all people considering a trip here to go!  

 

 

Canyons in the Middle Atlas Mountians