Last Day in Istanbul!

What a day! We woke up and had a wonderful traditional Turkish breakfast up on the rooftop terrace. Then were off to explore the Old City of Istanbul!

First stop was the Basilica Cistern. This underground water collecting area was surprisingly beautiful. It was built by Justinian in the days of Roman rule. It was massive and had many, many columns and brick arches. There were only had a few lights as well as spooky music... So it was quite the experience. 

One of the Medusa heads found in the cistern.

Then we walked to the Archeological Museum of Istanbul! Many interesting relics of very early civilizations, beautiful ceramics and tiles, and finally a room full of very large sarcophagi (my plural word for sarcophagus.. Maybe it's right?). 

No clue.

Lauren found another friend!

The bathroom at the museum... Classic Turkey.

After it was time to shop! We headed straight uphill to the Grand Bazaar! (Really... When we asked for directions he offered the easy way or the short way... I picked short). It was nothing like I expected! It was covered and just lined with shops. 

View of the Bazaar from our lunch spot.

I've learned my mother is the queen of bartering. It all makes sense now. We then found (well Trip Advisor helped us out) a cute little "kiosk" or street vender inside the bazaar. It was so yummy! So authentic. Lots of meat. Lots of yummy meat. It was fun.

We headed back to the hotel to pack up a bit, get off our feet, and have a drink on the rooftop. And now I'm currently writing this on the ferry to dinner! However, the plan was to see one more mosque before heading to the ferry. Unfortunately we ended up sitting in a cab in awful traffic for quite some time, were dropped off at the wrong mosque, and then had to walk about 2 km to the ferry. It was quite the experience to walk through real Istanbul. 

For dinner, we are meeting a friend from Kingwood who is doing mission work here in Istanbul. We grew up in youth group together so it'll be great to catch up and see him again. I'll finish later!

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Now on the ferry heading back to the Old City. Dinner was lovely! (And tasty as usual. It was so great to see Andy again and see the area he's living in. He's doing amazing work here in Istanbul. 

Now to head back, finish packing, and get to bed early! Our flight leaves at 6:20 tomorrow morning. So we're leaving the hotel at 3:45! Yikes.

I'll post one more time tomorrow when we get home! Then I'll be sure to give y'all a link to all the pictures when I get through them all!

It's hard to say goodbye to such amazing places, but we're excited to get home.

Love,
Llewy

Istanbul Day Two

Today was our first full day in Istanbul! After we finally got off the boat and stood in a mess of a line for a taxi, a cab driver walked straight up to us and said, "I'll take you, no problem" (We have a pretty silly amount of bags). We walked over to his tiny taxi and were thinking we would have to take another one for our bags. He piled them in the trunk and didn't close it all the way and just said, "good!" and walked to get in the car. We were all terrified the bags were going to fall out! We are now also mad we didn't take a picture. It was pretty funny looking. Well it turned out that the taxi driver, Haydir (my best guess on how to spell it), was hilarious, So we thoroughly enjoyed our extra long cab ride to the hotel. It was extra long because he definitely had no idea where the hotel was. Great start to the day.

So we dropped our bags off and Haydir took us down to the ferry area to hop on a Bosphorus Cruise! The government run boat cruises up the Bosphorus for an hour and a half. Drops you off very close to the Black Sea in a tiny little town for 3 hours. Then back to Istanbul. We had little audio guides to point out the different building along the way! It was gorgeous. And we were blessed with another beautiful day!

We obviously had to get Turkish ice cream! Well we were just missing ice cream in general.

We ate lunch at the restaurant just to the right of my parents! (Your right, not theirs)

After the ferry ride we decided to be adventurous and walk back to the hotel. We went the way that seemed like the most direct walk. That turned out to be steep hills and random side streets, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! Especially being on a few streets not overrun by tourists. We checked into our hotel and were told that the rooftop terrace was free to use whenever and we could bring our own booze up there! So Dad ran to the store and we sat out on the terrace for a while just talking about the trip and having a great time.

Another gorgeous view!

We ate dinner at a restaurant pretty close to the hotel. The food was fabulous and the dessert was AMAZING. 

Ready for another full, fun day in Istanbul tomorrow!

Hope everyone is doing well. We miss y'all.

Love,

Llewy

Cruise Day Six: Istanbul

Last full day of the cruise and first day in Istanbul! 

We didn't dock in Istanbul till around noon so we had a lazy morning on the ship. Played trivia of course and got 3rd place! Cruising into the port was amazing. The views were spectacular with Europe on one side and Asia on the other. From the boat we could see most of the places we were going to see on the tour today. 

After leaving the ship we found our tour guide, Elif, and we were off to the old city. First stop was the Topkapi Palace. The palace of the sultans of the Ottoman Empire. Then Hagia Sophia. This museum was originally a church, then converted I a mosque and now is a museum. It was absolutely stunning. 

Next was the Blue Mosque. It's actual name is the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, but is called the blue mosque because of the blue tiles that are so beautifully placed inside. We had to put on head shawls and wraps around our legs to be completely covered. 

Finally we did some shopping! Mom got a new box for her collection, I got a beautiful silk pashmina, Lauren a purse, and Dad... Woops. Well after that shop we headed to the spice bazaar which was pure craziness. But we made it out of there with plenty of Turkish delights!!

We made it back to the ship for a wonderful Italian dinner and are now packing up to head off the ship tomorrow! Tomorrow the plan is to take a cruise down the Bosphorus (the strait that separates Europe and Asia.. And Istanbul) and just explore. Should be a great one!

Love,
Llewy

Cruise Day Five Kavala and Philippi

Today was a beautiful day! Kavala and Philippi. Kavala- the port city. Philippi- more crumbling rock (but really cool crumbling rock... I'll explain later). We were a little nervous since we were using a tour company that had no reviews online... But as soon as we met these sweet girls who started the company, we felt completely at ease! We used a tour company called "Greece Me Now". Yeah that's no reason to panic... 

Well we started by driving up to the top of the hill of the town. Gorgeous views of course. At the top we saw the house Mohamet Ali (pronounced Muhammad... So not the boxer... But the founder of present day Egypt). Then we headed to Philippi! 

We saw another theater, agora, two basilicas and lots of lots of fallen columns. But the most significant was the area where Paul and Silas were beaten in public and the believed prison he was thrown into. 

Down the road we visited the church of Lydia. This church was built to celebrate her life and since she was the first Christian woman baptized in Europe! Very beautiful and there was a baptismal cut into rock in the river running next to the church. It looked so cold, but so awesome!

Finally we headed to another small town on the sea and had lunch right on the beach again! The restaurant was owned by the father of one of the girls driving us around. The food was wonderful and the beer fantastic... Yet again. 

Then it was back to the ship! Afternoon trivia (2nd place). Asian food for dinner (DELICIOUS). Night trivia (3rd place). 60's show (I only knew a couple songs). 

So sad today is the last day of the cruise! We're docking in Istanbul at noon today. Then spending the night on the ship and we leave the ship for good tomorrow morning!

Hope everyone had a great day. 

Love, 
Llewy

Cruise Day Four: Mykonos

So today was our beach day! And also the only cloudy day of this trip so far! Gotta love it. We also rented our own car today. Probably should have found out that the streets are as wide as the car and that there are no road signs, Oh and we should have had a better road map. As you can tell... we got lost a little bit. But it was still an adventure, and I could tell my dad was having WAY too much fun driving through those streets. 

Mykonos is beautiful. We stopped by about five beaches and loved them all. The views were incredible, plus crystal clear water and sandy beaches! Can't beat it. We actually stopped and had lunch at this swanky restaurant right on the beach! It was very tasty! We just wished the sun was out so we could lay out on the beautiful beach!

We finally made our way back to town and did some window shopping before hopping back on the boat. We all laid out on the deck before trivia... some of us passed out for a little bit. Woops. Then headed in for trivia! I know we placed, but I can't remember what we got. Yay more points! Then we had a wonderful dinner, saw a great show, and are now heading to bed. 

Hope every had a great day.

Love,
Sarah

PS- I didn't get to include in my post yesterday that last night we placed in trivia again... and I may or may not have done karaoke. That's all!

Cruise Day Three: Ephesus

Another early morning for the Llewellyn clan... We got off the ship and met our private tour guide for the day at 8:30! We walked to our car which actually turned out to be a 16 seater bus. Just for us! Then we were off to Ephesus. This part of Turkey is absolutely beautiful. Mountains covered in pine trees. But we also saw plenty fig trees, mulberry trees, and pomegranate trees! So much green!

Our first stop was the House of the Virgin Mary. Apparently there was a German woman who had a vision of her house being on the top of a mountain with the ocean on one side and Ephesus on the other. This then led the archeologist to the site. They had been searching for it for a very long time. There was a wishing wall right below it as well. 

Next we went to the archeological site of Ephesus. The largest in the world! (Thank goodness they dropped us off at the top of the hill and picked us up at the bottom). What was really interesting about this crumbling rock is that you could actually walk through it! And on top! It was very beautiful. So rich in history. At the end of the site we saw the large theater of the city. The theater where the apostle Paul spoke to the Ephesians! So that was pretty neat. 

The toilets of that time...

Van all to ourselves!

 Next we walked around the St. John Basilica. Or what's left of it. A lot of this church was destroyed by an earthquake. But this church was built on top of the tomb of the apostle John. From this hill we could also see the Temple of Artemis. Well one reconstructed pillar from temple.. 

Finally we went to a small restaurant where they served us really authentic Turkish food. Yum yum yum. Oh and Turkish beer. Also next to the restaurant we were given a tour of a silk rug shop. They even showed us how to get the silk threads from the worm cocoons. 

Efes = Ephesus

Boiled coccons and the strange contraption used to grab the strings of silk.

I'm now typing this up on our drive back to the port. I'll add more tonight before I post!

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Now I'm typing while we wait for post dinner trivia! We already won 3rd place in the trivia this afternoon. We all had a very relaxing afternoon. And tonight we're going to the Andrew Lloyd Weber show.

Hope everyone having a wonderful day!

Love,
Llewy

Cruise Day Two: Rhodes

Rhodes.. aka Rodos (said in my best Greek accent, make sure to roll the "r").

This morning was the day to go out on our own! No tour guide.. the ultimate test. Unfortunately, Lauren wasn't feeling well so she stayed back to rest on the boat while the three of us rented the car and headed to the town of Lindos. Lindos was about a 45 minute drive from the port. A gorgeous drive I might add. The terrain on the island of Rhodes was surprisingly mountainous and reminded me a lot of west Texas, actually (well more like New Mexico when it gets closer to the Rockies...). We made it to Lindos, parked the tiny rental car, and headed through the cute town on foot. Lots of shops, restaurants, and of course a path to the top of a hill with ruins on it. The theme of the trip: Many, many steps leading to lots of crumbling rock. I kid of course, because every hill has led to incredible history and beautiful scenery. This hill was no exception. The view from the top of this hill will forever go down as one of the most truly breathtaking I have ever seen. This picture definitely won't do it justice, but here you go..

As we walked back down the hill we stopped for lunch. I now can say I have eaten the best tzatziki of my life. Yesterday's was good, but today's was even better if that's possible. Plus the pita bread was amazing. I also had the garlic lamb and it blew my mind. It's official, I'm obsessed with Greece. We headed back to the city of Rhodes to grab Lauren for the end of the day. We stopped at a little swimming hole kind of place to look around and it was also gorgeous as you can imagine. My mom and I have fallen in love with some of the flooring they use all around Greece. It's a stone flooring that all the small stones are set in cement with the skinny side up... in black and white designs. It's hard to explain, so I'll be sure to get a picture on here soon. Well sorry for the tangent, but this swimming hole had this flooring all over the place, so we were in love. We made it back to Rhodes, picked up Lauren and drove around the "New City" for a bit. It was great! Then we turned the car back in (with no scratch, good work Dad!) and walked into the "Old City". It was such a cool experience. So many shops, restaurants, etc. Mosques, a palace, more of that flooring. Overall, just a beautiful place.

We got back to the boat. Won second place in the afternoon trivia. Went to the fancy French restaurant on board (YUM). Then decided to take our own cruise pictures because there is no photographer on this ship surprisingly! So... you're welcome. Sorry if it's a little blurry. I'm still teaching Mom how to take pictures on an iPhone...

At the end of the day, the Llewellyn's shopped quite a bit, ate like Kings, and took lots of selfies. Ok, the selfies were just me. 

Tomorrow is Ephesus! Very excited. Talk to y'all tomorrow.

Love,

Llewy

Cruise Day One: Santorini

SANTORINI.

Goodness goodness. Santorini is amazing, gorgeous, breathtaking, etc. We started the day tendering from the cruise ship to shore. Then we had the choice of riding the donkeys up the winding road or the cable car. Unfortunately we were misled to think the donkeys would take too long, so we took the cable car (I wish we would have taken the donkeys!!) But nevertheless, once we got to the top, the view was AWEsome. 

We met our tour guide and we were off. We saw the famous village of Oia! (the classic postcard pictures of the blue domes?) There were just so many tourists. 

Our tour guide, Demetris, was so great at showing us places that weren't overrun by cruisers. We went to a winery, another village on a hill (with only one hotel, so very very few tourists!) and then ate lunch right on the water on the southern part of the volcanic island! I ate the best tziki of my life. 

We headed back to the boat and decided to just relax on the deck for a while. I ran on the track and then played shuffleboard and croquet with the parents. My dad owned me at shuffleboard, but I'm just going to announce the fact that I beat my parents at croquet (by a mile, I may add). But the best part of all these things is that the view from the track and the game terrace was INCREDIBLE. I will never forget today, and thanks to this blog I really shouldn't. Hopefully I can add at least one picture.. but if not, I'm so sorry!

Tomorrow is Rhodes! We are being very adventurous and renting a car on our own! So I'm about to go and do some research to make sure we know where we are going! 

Hope everyone is doing well! Talk to you tomorrow!

Love,
Llewy

Athens and First Day of Cruise

Warning: No pictures today. I'm having a lot of trouble downloading! I will try with the computers tomorrow.

Today we woke up in Athens! It was such a beautiful day.

We had a taxi waiting outside our hotel this morning. George's taxi to be exact. and our driver/tour guide, Kostas, took us around all of Athens.

We saw the Acropolis, including the Panthenon, the Temple of Zeus, Hadrian's Gate, we drove up to one of the tallest points in Athens.. we saw multiple ancient "agora's"or city centers. And then finally Kostas dropped us off at the cruise ship!

So far, I'm really diggin this ship. It's beautiful and our food for dinner tonight was FANTASTIC. (Steak.)

We went to the show after dinner which was fabulous, and Lauren and I realized we're the youngest on this ship by a mile (but we aren't complaining!).

Off to bed to get ready for an incredible day in Santorini tomorrow! (I may actually have to post this tomorrow morning before we leave!)

Love and miss you all,
Llewy

Arrivederci Roma! Hello Athens!

Such a bittersweet day! Our last day and Rome and our first night in Athens!

This morning we woke up and finally visited the Pantheon! I mean, it's been on our doorstep for 3 days now... it was about time! It was gorgeous inside and the size of the dome just takes your breath away. Luckily it wasn't raining today because the oculus (the big hole in the middle of the dome) has no cover! It's the only light source to the whole building! Raphael, a famous painter who did a lot of the work we saw in the Vatican yesterday, is actually buried in the Patheon as well.

Then we decided to hop on one of those open roofed double decker buses! It worked out really well that we were able to get on and get off at different stops all over the city. A couple things we saw on this day adventure.. We went to the church, San Pietro in Vincoli (which literally means St. Peter in Chains) where the shackles that held Peter in prison are on display as well as a beautiful sculpture of Moses by Michaelangelo. We also finally went to the top of the wedding cake! The views of the city were BREATHTAKING!

Lauren met another new friend on the way.

Then we ended the morning/early afternoon walking by the Castel San't Angelo and eating at a restaurant recommended to me by one of my closest friends who studied abroad in Rome! Yum. Oh then the last cone of gelato of course.

We headed to the airport, hopped on the flight, and were on our way to Athens. I literally couldn't take my face off the window. It was just so beautiful. All of it.

We are now settling into our hotel in Athens. Well... settling into the roof top bar. The views from up here are absolutely surreal. I'm currently looking at the Acropolis as I type this (the only free wifi is up here). Also, our hotel rooms have a spectacular view of the Temple of Zeus, well what's left of it. I'm having trouble downloading the last pictures. So they'll have to wait till tomorrow hopefully! Sorry, limited wifi means limited pictures!

Now I'm going to enjoy my view and beer. Have a great day everyone!

Love,
Llewy

PS- HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNIE PAIGE.

Roma: Day Three

What a day! I had an amazing birthday in Rome, so thank you to everyone who wished me happy birthday!!!

We started the day at the Vatican. In the museum, then ending in the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. Our tour guide, Roberta, was wonderful! She knew so much about the art history.. and there was plenty of art.. let me tell ya. So much history! It was a great morning.

We ended up back at the Piazza Navona, the piazza we ate at our first day in Rome. And then actually ended up eating at the same restaurant too (the gnocchi was really good ok?) Then it was nap time of course.

We walked around for a bit after nap time, trying to go up into the "wedding cake" but got there right when it closed! So we'll try to get up there tomorrow. We headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. Got all fancy and took a cab to the restaurant. It was in a different area of town so it was so awesome to see a new part of Rome! Also, the food was FABULOUS. and the atmosphere fantastic.

Then we took a cab back to Pantheon area.. walked to the Piazza Navona.. went back to the same restaurant... and had dessert. They definitely remembered us. Woops. But they have the original chocolate truffle! And it was delicious!

We're now back at the hotel. Everyone's going to sleep and I'm just typing away. So goodnight everyone! Have a wonderful day, and we'll talk to you from Athens tomorrow!!

Love,
Llewy

PS- I figured out how to get my blogspot back in English. Phew.

Roma: Day Two

Day two in Roma!

The Llewellyn clan woke up bright and early and took a cab to the one and only Colosseum. We met our tour guide, Vera, and we were off!

The tour of the Colosseum and the Forum was wonderful... I think I remembered most of it from my freshman Ancient Roman History class at Texas... I think. But really and truely, it was incredible.

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My other pictures of the Forum won't upload! Sorry! I have pictures on my camera which will be on facebook soon enough.

We then headed back toward the Pantheon on foot and stopped for an early lunch (here.. eating at noon is early). On the way, we made a detour by the Area Sacra. Apparently Julius Caesar was killed here. Now the ruins are actually used as a cat sanctuary! Lauren made a new friend.

Monument for the unknown soldier. Or the "wedding cake" as the locals call it.

Area Sacra

The clan then made its way back to our hotel for an afternoon nap. Once rested we decided to head out for a walk! We ventured down to a really crowded shopping street. Hit up some side streets and then made our way back to the Pantheon for a drink before dinner. I actually typed up most of this blog entry at this little cafe on the piazza in front of the pantheon!

This was outside a really cute wood shop we found on our walk!

After drinks we headed to dinner. I'm officially starting a new game where I see how much pasta I can eat in the next couple days. It seriously never gets old. We might as well add white wine to that game as well. On our way back to the hotel we stopped for some gelato of course! I went with Twix this time. WAY better than the mint last night.

Well, it's off to bed now. What an incredible day full of history and yummy food. Hope everyone is having an excellent day! Vatican City tomorrow!

Love,
Llewy

ps- my internet is still in Italian. Lucky for me, I'm picking up the language real fast. I learned how to say check please today. Important stuff.