Tea in Istanbul

The Blue Mosque of Istanbul and Whirling Dervishes

The Aya Sofya, originally a Christian cathedral, converted to a mosque on the fall of Constantinople in 1453, and Ortakoy, on the European side of the Bosphorus

So first stop on my travel extravaganza was Istanbul, Turkey. It's a city where sometimes, you feel like you are in Europe, then step off the main tourist thoroughfare, and you feel as if you could be anywhere! I spent hours wandering the streets and looking at all the markets, from pure 'junk' to silk carpets costing thousands of dollars! You get the impression that anything is possible in Istanbul. I ended up spending about a week there, so got to see many of the major sights, the Blue Mosque, Suleymaniye Mosque, Aya Sofya, Topkapi Palace, the list goes on... But some of the best parts of my time in Istanbul, was sitting up on the terrace of the hotel, looking out over the Bosphorus with a good book.

Tea is the drink of choice in Turkey - a range of herbal teas (including the ever popular apple tea) to regular black tea is on offer, and I partook on many occasions. In most places, on offer is Nescafe, or ordinary filter coffee, but where the proper Turkish coffee was available, it was fantastic! The food was also great in Turkey, especially the baklava, which every day was just too irresistable...

The only issue I had with Turkey was being awoken every morning by the call to prayer. The first morning is was exotic and exciting... After that? Well I could have done without the early morning wake-up call.

I took two short trips from Istanbul, one to do the Australian pilgrimage to Gallipoli, on the Dardanelles. It's certainly great to see it first hand, and also get an appreciation for the Turkish side of it. Predictably, my tour group was filled with Aussies and Kiwis. The second trip, was a couple of days in Cappadocia, a 12 hour night bus ride south east of Istanbul - my first ever time in Asia. I had a great couple of days wandering the 'fairy chimneys' and markets of the area - it's quite a beautiful spot.

Cappadocia scenery, and the view over the Bosphorus from my terrace in Istanbul

Vienna - Home of Rex

The Riesenrad at the Prater - a site often featured in Kommissar Rex!

I visited Vienna over a couple of days before Christmas.

This was my second trip to Vienna, one of my favourite cities in Europe. Vienna is such a beautiful, cultural and cosmopolitan city... and also the home of one of my favourite TV shows, Inspector Rex (or Kommissar Rex) - I even have a personalised 'paw print' from one of the Rex dogs, and am responsible for getting my whole family into this show.

Left, Votivskirche and right, Stephansdom

I have many things that I love about Vienna... This time I met up with a friend who took me to one of the oldest restaurants in Vienna, where we had a lovely traditional Austrian meal. I was also lucky enough that my good friend Bindu, was travelling through Vienna with her husband, so I got to spend some time with them as well. I did quite a bit in my couple of days there - I went to the Schoenbrunn Zoo, wandered around the grounds of the Schoenbrunn palace, visited the Prater - one of Moser and Rex's hangouts (unfortunately I didn't run into them that day...). I also visited Stephansdom and Votivkirche, the cemetary with memorials to the likes of Beethoven, Mozart, Strauss, Brahms, and almost got blown into the Danube.

Bindu at the Danube, and Schoenbrunn Palace

Bindu and I also had fun roaming through the Christmas markets, and I also got to do a spot of shopping...

Bindu and I - rugged up for the snow and rain

Can't wait to go back again - Vienna is such a great place!

The Riesenrad of the Prater, and the Burgtheater

Hotel Sacher - home of the delicious and chocolatey Sacher Torte

Cinque Terre, Italy

View over the village of Vernazza

Last weekend, my friend Belinda and I took a weekend break to Italy. We flew to Pisa, but our primary interest in going was to visit Cinque Terre, a region in Liguria where five clifftop villages are connected by a walking track - the perfect day trip! The five villages are Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. We started the day by catching the train to Monterosso, and walked back to Riomaggiore. Between each town is approximately an hour to an hour and a half's walk. The nature of the terrain means that the walks can be a little challenging, but there was always the promise of pizza and gelato at the next town. Plus the spectacular views of the 'Cinque terre' made the walking really enjoyable. Unfortunately the path between Corniglia and Manarola was impassable, so we had to take the train, but the rest of the walking was fantastic, and we finished off the day at a pizzeria in Riomaggiore. Given that it was the winter, not too many places were open, but it also meant that the hordes of tourists in the summer weren't there as well... Overall a really enjoyable day!

Beats a Hills Hoist doesn't it, for hanging out clothes! Left: Vernazza street scene, Right: Rocks near Monterosso

Brightly coloured fishing nets at Monterosso, and Vernazza streets

Via del'amore: Window scenes

Topping the day off, was watching the beautiful sunset over the Ligurian sea.

The hills are alive... in Salzburg!

On my trip through to Vienna, I dropped into Salzburg for a couple of hours. I have visited Salzburg once before, in the middle of summer, so it was great to see it covered in snow. There is no subtlety to the seasons in this part of the world.

The view over Salzburg old town from the Hohensalzburg fortress

During my time in this pretty little city, I took the walk to the Hohensalzburg fortress, as can be seen on the top of the hill in the photo below, wandered the Christmas markets, visited the Salzburg Dom, and wandered through the frozen Mirabel gardens (of Sound of Music fame...)

The tourism bureau of Salzburg seems to push two angles prominantly - the home of the Sound of Music, and the home of Mozart. The Mozart angle is particularly amusing, as he spent much of his life in Vienna, and was not really made "at home" in Salzburg. Still the city seems to love him now, right down to the shop windows full of Mozart kugeln (Mozart balls - a chocolate made with marzipan) to Mozartplatz, with a statue of the man himself in the centre, and decked out with an ice-rink for the winter. Whatever the reason, Salzburg is a great city, a beautiful setting, and charming gardens and shops.

The Mirabell gardens, at the moment completely frozen over with a heavy layer of snow. Probably not the best time to run around singing "The hills are alive..."

The Salzburger Dom roof, and the view from the pathway up to the fortress

Here I am climbing the hill to the Hohensalzburg fortress, and two others doing the same

The view along the Salzach river