Istanbul!

Today we are in Istanbul! 

Surprise!

On the Bosphorus, I'm front of the Maiden's Tower.

     We realized a few days ago that we both forgot to: 1) Update several of our readers about our last blog update (thank you Jim for so consistently following us!) and 2) to update our blog upon leaving Innsbruck!

So how did we end up here?

     At the end of October both Harry and I finished our jobs, spent as much time as we could with our friends and coworkers, and in the mountains, cleaned our apartment to be the shiniest it has ever been, and packed up all we are taking back to Canada in our 3 suitcases, 4 backpacks and a large, plastic Ikea bag. We also had a wonderfully (not so wonderful) Austrian experience of packing that all onto a train, off to switch trains, on again and off again to Omi’s (grandma) house. We are now especially thankful to have a place for our baggage to sit for a month and to not have to carry it around Europe with us while we travel. 

With all of our luggage.

During the rest of week at Omi’s, we spent time visiting family and friends and saying our final goodbyes... And then we were off!

Visiting the 20 Schilling in Semmering with family.

   
     Our first stop, 5 days ago, was to Budapest. Being that the city is close to Vienna, it is a good city to fly South from, and that we have heard many, many good things about Budapest, we thought it’d be an ideal place to visit.

Budapest
     A very large city, in comparison to our little Innsbruck. And with only one full day to look around, we marked out all of our top sites on a map and set out on a meandering path that would take us each of these stops. We then spent the day navigating ourselves through Budapest, getting lost, stumbling upon little streets or neighbourhoods each with their own vibe, window shopping and peeking into shops and restaurants, and then also seeing the main sites like Parliament, the Chain Bridge and the Liberty Bridge, the market, St. Stephens Basilica featuring a relic of the hand of St. Stephen, and the castle. At the end of our walking, we ended up at the Gellert Baths to soak our sore feet and relax. That was heavenly. Our day concluded with a traditional Hungarian dinner of cabbage rolls and sausage and vegetable stew (not Goulash), and exploring one of the oldest and best known of the ruin pubs, Szimpla Kert. In Budapest the ruin pubs are a fairly recent trend of pubs opening in abandoned buildings, decorating with vintage or recycled finds, and consisting of several rooms where anyone and everyone can relax and share a drink. We very much enjoyed this experience as it was so much different than any other pub or bar we've ever been to and we left feeling that the ruin pubs are symbol of the city itself: a place with a patched together history, where something unique is waiting to be discovered.

Our tired bodies soon took us back to our hostel, where we needed to pack up our stuff and prepare to head to Istanbul.

Budapest from above

Istanbul

     At this point, I can confidently say that Istanbul has been an experience for all the senses: a new language, many, many, many new foods, a night-life that actually makes every restaurant packed in the evening, people everywhere enjoying life and each other and food, turning corners to find hidden streets with lights strung up and cute cafes, or the restaurant that serves the most famous of something  (be it Baklava, fish sandwiches, or Köfte Ekmek for example) and has a constant flow of people, the seagulls from the nearby Bosphorus Strait, the cats jumping along the red-faced roofs, the smell of the sea, kebab and fresh fish being grilled... and so much more.

 At the old Spice Market in Istanbul

    (posted from Athens, because of internet issues in Istanbul. Stay tuned, as there will be much more to come in a few weeks recounting the rest of our time in Istanbul and our time in Greece with a little bit of Athens, and a lot of time spent harvesting olives)

- C