January begins with great uproar in most of the planet. The excitement of New Year helps mitigate the fact that much of the northern hemisphere is frozen. January is a good time to get away as a group and there are several reasons for this. First, the supply pressure to the holiday season has passed. And the beginning of the year is usually one of the times when flights are cheaper.
The day began very soon. By 4:30 the alarm clock sounded, since we had to be at the airport at 6:30. The flight to Paris was perfect, as always. After a short stopover, just enough to get from one terminal to another, we're on the way again. In three and a half hours we got to Ataturk airport. This flight was a bit worse, and the food on top was frozen, but well, nothing could take away the illusion as we approach our destination.
When we leave the plane, we pay the visa on arrival fee, and after doing a little queue at the immigration we go for the suitcases. We left the airport less charged than expected, and we also changed for Turkish liras to pay the taxi. In the end it left us at the door which is what we expected.
The hotel is just as we expected, where a charming guy receive us. The room was quite spacious, the bathroom was hyper-clean and the beds comfortable, so what more could we ask for? We left the things. I evidently had little to leave. We organized everything and we left to discover the surroundings. We were next to the blue mosque. Going up a small hill, we find the Hippodrome with its columns and its newly opened cobblestone.
Seeing Hagia Sophia for the first time was impressive. It was already starting to get dark and it was illuminated, so the spectacle for the view was astonishing. I still do not take that first image out of my head.
We continued down the tram street until we decided we did not want to get too far away. We changed curbs, and turned up the same street! We stopped to have some hot drinks. It was quite cold, in the cafe. I opt for a very rich chocolate and Turkish coffee, although we still try to discover how it is taken.
After a long, and good, talk, we move to go to dinner somewhere. The one that convinces us the most is one in which they did not try to get us in. The dinner was very good. We tried Turkish food for the first time and the service was very attentive. I ordered a plate of chicken skewers, accompanied by rice, a spicy chicken steak and it was very delicious. For dessert I stole a little baklava.
After dinner, and very tired, but tremendously excited to finally be here, we went to the hotel to rest. We decided that we would go to see the Topkapi Palace tomorrow , and we put the alarm clock early.
Day 2 in Istanbul
The alarm sounds punctually at 8:25 and the game begins. By 8:30 we get to have breakfast, which is what we wanted. The breakfast is pretty decent with sweets, sausages, cereals, coffee.
We leave the hotel and go straight to the Topkapi Palace. Before that we stop to admire the Ahmed III fountain. They say that it is one of the most beautiful in the city. We cannot comment because until now we have only seen that. The fountain is right at the entrance to the palace.
We pay for the ticket and we go inwards. I had read in all the Istanbul travel blogs and forums that it is best to go first to the Harem, because the tickets are limited and I do not know what else. That recommendation has served us to see the place almost alone. It has been, without doubt, what we liked most about the palace. We wander around its halls, imagining all the intrigues that were framed within its walls for so many years.
To enter the Harem we have to pay a separate entrance. If we think about it coldly it is quite a scam, but if you do not enter I think the visit to Topkapi does not make any sense. Maybe I would highlight the Library, a very well-kept space with an exquisite decoration. I would avoid the weapons rooms and the Treasury. First of all because they do not attract me at all. Second because here there was a lot of people, in addition to the typical push.
After that pleasant experience, we enjoyed the view of the Bosphorus Palace. In summer that terrace has to be a luxury. What are we going to do? We have chosen the winter and today the day has threatened even with snowshoes.
We left the palace early enough for what we expected. We thought we were going to spend the whole morning there and decided to see Hagia Irene. An open door on the side calls us to enter without question or where we are going. I understood that we could not enter, and well, it's not like we can walk through the center of the church, but at least we can access it and see it minimally.
I was happier for having been able to see something that I was convinced that I would never see. We left the walled area of Topkapi and turning right we went to the street Sogukcesme Sokak, a very nice street that goes around the wall of the palace. The houses, attached to it, are all built of wood and painted in bright colors. It can be said without any doubt that it is a very authentic place, and also, again free of tourist hordes.
Taking first the street of the tram and then skirting the road that goes next to the sea, we arrive at the well-known Galata bridge. Before that we enter our first mosque. The one that shows such honor is the Yeni Camii, or New Mosque. Although we had to wait a bit because we were right in the hour of prayer, and when the faithful prayed, the infidels stayed on the street. It seems fair to me. While we waited we enjoyed the ritual before the prayer, and ablutions.
When almost everyone left, we started with the routine in all the mosques. We take off our shoes, take a plastic bag and keep it, and put the handkerchief on our head. We enter the mosque and feel the softness of the carpet. Above all we let ourselves be imbued by that mystical environment that each and every one of them has.
There were still a lot of people praying. So we did not get involved because we thought it was wrong to be out there swarming and taking pictures while a lot of other people were praying. We took the Galata bridge and we spent some time watching the hundreds of fishermen is there on both sides. Will there be fish for everyone? Apparently yes as they fill cubes. Best of all, many of them go fishing with suit and fine coat.
We had thought to take the tunnel to go up to the Galata Tower, but once there we went up the steep streets and the innumerable stairs. By the time we reached its base, the quills were shaking a little and it was no longer cold.
We paid the entrance, and climbed in the elevator. It's a good thing that this one does not have to be walked up. The views from above are great. We go out and have a coffee, a little expensive, in the cafeteria that is at the top. Here I went around the outside and took pictures around the perimeter. To me it is that only to see the people that there were in a few palms of cornice and some crazy people sitting on the railings. I already thought it was enough.
We return to take the elevator, this time to go down and look for a restaurant to eat. In this area we do not find anything, apart from a thousand electricity stores, and lights. So we cross the Galata bridge again and enter the restaurant. The site is on a terrace on the third floor with great views over the bridge, and the new mosque. There were a few waiters serving about fifteen tables. So it took them a little while to serve us.
This time I went back to some lamb meatballs with cherry tomatoes and chicken. We also share a dessert of the typical baklava. It was all, although for now it is one of the places we liked the least, since it did not stand out for the food or the service. Although yes, the location is incredible.
We left the restaurant with renewed strength. We went to the Spice Bazaar, although almost without wanting it we first came across the Rustem Pasha Camii. There are stairs that seem that they are going to take us to some mysterious place. After our initial doubts we entered and discovered its beautiful interior.
We left the mosque happy to have dared to enter and we already headed towards the Egyptian Bazaar. It is quite stimulating to see so many colors and things, but at the same time it is a pain. So we fled fast from the place.
From there we took the tram, discovered the system of jets and we fought a little with the machine and we got off at the Beyazit stop to get into the Grand Bazaar. We liked it better than the spice bazaar. It is much more spacious, and above all, much less overwhelming. We leave the shopping for the last days.
We went wandering aimlessly, but following a pattern to not get lost, and so we got out through the same entrance door that we had accessed. In the street tram we went down to the Sultanahmet area, quite tired already because we had foolishly walked half the city. We went to the hotel to rest, since it was already night.
The accumulated fatigue was noticeable, and there were those who took a few replenishing shower before going to dinner. The site chosen could not be better, which is also about 100 meters from the hotel. I chose a veal dish that tasted like Moorish kebabs. I had a rolled kebap that was cooked very well, and a roasted trout fish, although we do not really know what it was. And that was the end of our first full day in Istanbul, traveling back the 100 meters that separated the restaurant from our hotel.
Day 3 in Istanbul
We got up a day earlier, almost like every morning, and I say almost like every morning because we were very aware that we would spend our last day in Istanbul. The dream was coming to an end.
We have the breakfast and we paid already the stay of the hotel, because the next day we left very early. We left for those things that remained pending and for shopping. We started with the visit to the Kucuk Ayasofya Camii. This time we had more luck and we could access inside.
It is also known as the Church of Sergius and Bacchus, and as they explained to us in the hotel, it is not yet a museum, but as if it were. It is in the only mosque where we can wander to our liking. Again we enjoy it alone, and what a joy! It is beautiful, and not too visited because it is a little hidden. I guess people are more focused on other more typical or more at hand.
It is like Hagia Sophia, hence its name, also from the Byzantine era. Inside it is decorated with marble columns and still retains in its friezes Greek reliefs referring to the saints to whom it was consecrated. As we had several orders to buy tea, we went walking, once again, to the Spice Bazaar. We smelled all kinds of teas, spices, condiments until we decided on a store and bought everything we had ordered. From my point of view they are all the same, and in almost all they have the same. So it is about choosing one and that's it. Certainly they packaged everything under vacuum to keep it better. Here my companions stopped a reporter from Turkish television and wanted to ask some questions.
We went out with our bags in the direction of a couple of mosques that we had looked at and we had not yet been able to enter. They were both on the same street as the tram, so we got back together and got carried away by their tracks.
It was Friday, and it was noticeable. At the time of prayer, we were coincidentally on the tram. People were seen praying even outside the mosques, on the same sidewalk with their carpets. When we arrived we could not enter. So we decided to go for a coffee or a chocolate in a chain that we had already tried in Sultanahmet on the first day. This day we were in relaxed mode, without hurry, remembering everything we had lived until then.
We have rich chocolate with vanilla ice cream. When we finished and saw that people had left the mosque, we go inside. It was the Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Camii, in the Aksaray neighborhood. It is quite new, from the 19th century and with a more precious interior decoration than we had seen until then. We believe that it was noticeable that it had been built for a woman.
We loved the flooring. Super fluffy and warm, it is a very small mosque, in which we spent a good time looking at every detail of the walls. We were totally alone, only accompanied by a mother, who climbed the top to pray, and her daughter, who stayed at the door on the phone.
We left there with a lot of sadness. When we got there, we went to the Laleli Camii, another mosque that we wanted. The tulip mosque, surprised us by its color, a powerful mix of blues, greens and reds that we were not used to. In addition to the marbles and tiles, also in its stained glass.
We left our last mosque. So we put on our boots and took off our handkerchiefs for the last time. It's time to eat. As we were in the area, we decided to repeat at the restaurant which we liked a lot, because of the variety and quality of the food.
I do not remember the waiters I greeted when I entered. There were at least fifteen and I was thinking please let it end now. We went to where the cook was and to choose! With a full stomach and renewed energy, we crossed the street to enter the Grand Bazaar again. In the same tactic of previous days, we tried to follow a pattern and we lost sight of the main street for a long time.
It is technically impossible that one does not get distracted on any occasion, since all the streets are practically the same, with the same stores, and the same vendors at the doorstep. The bargaining was more or less well. I guess we lost, how could it be otherwise. For a change we thought we made good purchases! We have survived the Grand Bazaar! Now where are we going?
By the time we got exhausted from so much walking, it was already dark, so we went to the hotel to pack and without resting. We went to dinner promptly for the last time. How delicious was that Turkish pizza! What a pity to have discovered it on the last day.
It was already night and we had to return to the room to rest. Our flight left the next day morning, which meant we had to get up very early. We could not stop watching the Hagia Sophia illuminated by the night, or the Blue Mosque that we had been seeing every day, and that we knew we would never meet again.
And that's the end of our story in Istanbul, a place I always wanted to go to and that I can cross off my list, but from now on I'll always want to return.
There are many things that could be said about our trip to Istanbul but mainly it has filled us in a way that we never imagined. If I had to stay with something, it would be with the people in general, who are always willing to help, to make our days in the city a little easier.
I also loved their mosques, the small and hidden Little Hagia Sophia, the bright Sehzade, the carpet of the Pertevniyal. I would spend days and days discovering new mosques. And also a dream come true, the majesty of Hagia Sophia remains there undaunted watching the years go by. We can still imagine what the people of her time would feel when she walked through its doors.
AntarcticaLast day of the year. In previous years, the issue of December 31 was rather what am I going to dress tonight? or what are we going to eat for the New Years Eve? And here today, I will walk on the Antarctic! On the program for the first landing is the Aitcho Islands, a small archipelago in the North of the Antarctic Peninsula.
But before disembarking, I have to put on my heavy off-road gear. I wear long-sleeved sweatshirt, polar fleece, anorak, boots, double pair of socks, pants, lined and waterproof over-pants. I also wear gloves, hat, scarf, not forgetting of course sunscreen, camera, and sunglasses with a beautiful orange life jacket to complete.
Here we go! Distributed in groups, we head to the mainland. And it's fun! The black sand beach is approaching and we are here. I finally set foot on the white continent! And that's my first surprise. Antarctica! I imagined it like a huge piece of ice all white. And in fact not at all. The beach is all black. It is very rocky, with many rocky peaks and green too, with whole places covered with moss. That's wonderful.
We are welcomed by the first gentoo penguins of the trip. They waddle quietly, continuing to go about their business without paying attention to us. We also see our first seals and first sea lions. It's amazing to be able to approach all these animals so closely. Never driven out by man, they are not afraid of us.
After a short walk in the snow to climb a hill, we have a breathtaking view of an incredible panorama. It is rocky peaks as far as the eye can see. The black sand beaches are half covered by snow with a dark blue and milky sea. There are green reflections on the stones covered with moss. It's magical, perhaps one of the most beautiful landscapes ever seen in my life. We really feel that we are in another world.
It is so virgin and immaculate. I'm wondering if I really have the right to be in a place like this. Antarctica remains one of the only places in the world completely untouched by human pollution. Of course we take a lot of precautions to leave no trace of our passage. Nevertheless, our arrival leaves inevitably traces.
Guilt or not, I savor in any case the exceptional chance to be here. We get back on the boat for a nice hot chocolate and a good shower to warm up. And the day is not over. Tonight is the New Years Eve! And where were you for the New Year last year? At a friend's house in New York or in Sydney or at a party in Paris! And here I find the opportunity to rebound.
At least from next time I can say that I spent the New Year in Antarctica! And it is true that this eve was one of the most exceptional of my life. For the evening dress, it was not quite that. I wear jeans, black tee-shirt with long sleeves, and sandals with hiking socks. But it does not matter. I'm in Antarctica!
For the New Year's Eve meal is the skewers of shrimp, pork and chicken. We rush to the bar to start the evening with the bartender. From plastic balloons, glitter masks and flower necklaces, everything is there to warm up the atmosphere. For now it is rather, how to say, a little cold.
We distribute masks and necklaces to lift people up from their chairs. The meal is over and it's time to dance! Fortunately, there are also the young guys from the staff, guides and drivers, who join us to party. It is almost midnight, but it is difficult to realize. Outside it is still day. The sun is of course not there, but the light is very clear.
It's like being late in the day. The captain arrives for the final count with champagne and wish Happy new year! That's it, we're in the New Year. Celebrating the new year in broad daylight is really amazing. And Antarctica is the only place in the world where we can do it.
The majority of passengers go to bed after midnight, but the best are left. Worried at the beginning of the trip to be the only young to want to party, I finally found good evening companions. Alcohol flows afloat all night. I take full advantage of this exceptional moment. Every new year has always been a special moment for me.
Day 2
It was hard to get up in this morning of January 1 aboard the cruise. At least I am entitled to a little sleep, with a breakfast at 8:30, instead of 7:30. But the magical spectacle of icebergs all around the boat and a good bowl of coffee quickly dispel the fog of this morning hangover.
As soon as the breakfast is over, it is time to prepare for a landing on the Cuverville Island, inhabited by many gentoo penguin colonies. I head to the reception desk of the boat. There is nothing like fresh air to recover from a night, and here I am again walking on the white continent.
Thousands of Gentoo penguins roam as far as the eye can see, on the beach and on the rocks. The instruction is not to approach them within 5 meters so as not to disturb them, but here it is difficult. They are really everywhere. The key is to walk slowly, and make sure we give them priority when there is one who is about to cross in front of us. Here it is not a priority for pedestrians, but priority for penguins.
The best way to observe them quietly is to sit on a piece of rock, do not move and let them approach. It's really great to see animals that are not afraid of humans. And they are even curious. While going about their business, looking for small pebbles, they go to the sea. They come back, discuss or peck at their neighbor. They do not hesitate to come to see us, certainly wondering where these large animals come out in groups. For a moment, I even wonder who the animal is and who is watching who. One of them approaches me to the point of almost touching me. I reach out, but he will not come further.
We get back on the boat for lunch, and then land at Neko Harbor. There are again the Gentoo penguins. But we do not get tired of it. They are so endearing and fascinating to watch. And the setting is completely breathtaking. The boat must carefully cross a half-frozen water dotted with pieces of ice.
It is hard to find the words to describe the beauty of the landscape that leaves me speechless. And as for the photos, they only give a tiny view of reality. We climb in the powder snow to admire the view. We will not be far from an hour slumped together on the rocks to enjoy the happiness of this incredible show. There is a perfectly translucent sea of ice dotted with icebergs, in which the snowy mountains and a majestic glacier are reflected.
And back on the beach, the bartender is waiting for us with bottles of champagne! Cheers! We drink in the middle of penguins and icebergs! I have to pinch myself to believe it. It's really the best January 1 of my life!
Jurassic Coast Today we are going to travel to one of those sites that is truly historic. It will be a long walk that receives the name of the Jurassic Coast. This unique place is located in the south of England and is divided between the counties of Dorset and Devon. The starting point is the Old Harry Rocks in Swanage and the Orcombe Point in Exmouth at the end of the journey.There are three times that we have been there but at no time we passed beyond the Isle of Portland. This route is like an open book in which 200 million years of the history of our planet have been recorded. The Jurassic Coast is world famous for its incredible geological formations, breathtaking views and for its richness in fossil remains including dinosaur footprints. In 2001 UNESCO recognized its cultural value by naming it a World Heritage Site.
Afterwards, we ate and spent the afternoon in Bournemouth, seeing the tomb of Mary Shelley and walking through its streets and parks.
Swanage
We started our trip in the town of Swanage, a small town that is born at the foot of the cliffs that are part of this long natural monument. In its origins, the mining and fishing industry was the engine of the local economy. Although from the late nineteenth century they were leaving everything in the hands of tourism. It is not a bad summer destination because it has a magnificent beach and everything that is expected from a summer village.
The walk from the town to the Old Harry Rocks is about 4 kilometers. It consists of two limestone columns that rise in the middle of the sea at a place called Handfast Point. For lack of time none of the times we went there but there is no doubt they have their interest.
The Jurassic Route
To take the Jurassic route we have several alternatives, being on foot or by boat the best ones to enjoy nature. The South West Coast Path National Trail is the path that follows the coast. On its website, they propose a very long route of more than 100 kilometers. It runs through the south of England and goes around the western end of the island until you reach Minehead. For the less adventurous, they propose shorter routes, many framed within the Jurassic Coast.
Another option is the bus that allows us to alternate sections on foot and public transport. Finally, leaving romanticism aside, there is the car that was the means of transport in our case. We continue our little trip to go to an area called Lulworth Cove, a great center of attraction that attracts a million tourists every year. It is a natural inlet formed by the erosion of the sea for millions of years. It is an awesome place. It makes you feel really tiny. Its circular shape makes us doubt if there was not someone with a compass drawing arcs.
Once crossed the entire cove we headed east to visit the Fossil Forest. The journey on foot takes more than an hour between the round trip. It turns out that about 150 million years ago there was a drop in sea level. The ocean retreated so much that islands emerged from its bottom. The conditions propitiated the growth of a tropical forest that with the passage of time disappeared under layers of sediment. The capricious movements of the bark have brought this story to light. To enter you have to enter a shooting range of the British Army. It is not a joke. A red flag indicates that the access is prohibited.
We retrace our steps and take the route to the West. A short distance from Lulworth Cove we found a formation called Stair Hole. The group is composed of three different types of rock that after three million years of erosion have formed three coves and several caves.
If we continue walking in the same direction we will face a long climb that takes us to the top of a cliff. Once above we get an "aerial" perspective of Lulworth Cove. In front, we see the Jurassic Coast Trail in the form of ups and downs to beyond where we can see. From time to time we stop with the excuse of reading the panels that explain the formation of the landscape.
We then reach a cove in the center of which there is a curious stone barrier as if to defend bathers. On the way down we came across a sign that tells us where we are.
If we take the path on the left we will find ourselves in the cove we have seen from above. This is Man O' War, a series of inlets that have come together to form a curious beach.
On the other side, we have a spectacular rocky arch called Durdle Door. It is the most famous image of the entire Jurassic Coast and from whose feet comes a beach full of people sunbathing in summer. It can be reached by a steep path from the parking lot of Durdle Door Holiday Park, at the top of the cliff about 700 meters on foot or along the SW Coast itinerary Path.
Durdle Door is a natural arch of limestone of enormous dimensions that leaves the cliff to go into the sea and one of the most photographed structures of the Jurassic Coast. The curious formation is due to the initial mixture of hard and soft rocks (limestones and sandstones). The erosion acts on the second ones forming the hole that is seen at present and that with time will cause the collapse of the arch.
Lulworth Cove
Lulworth Cove is a small cove or bay near West Lulworth, where is the visitor center of the entire area, and very close to Durdle Door. It is a good place for amateur geographers and walkers. After leaving the car in the parking lot (also for a fee) and passing through the visitor center, the Lulworth Cove is a few steps away. It is a perfect horseshoe-shaped bay formed by the erosion of the softest clays within the limestone structure.
We were surprised by the layers of materials that are seen in the walls of this cove, both from inside and outside. We perceive the settlement of the different levels and how erosion and some cataclysms have been giving shape. From the eastern end of this beach, we reach the fossil forest and the Mupe bay, through an impressive walk along the cliff top.
The Fossil Forest
A stretch of the SW Coast Path, which also passed through the Durdle Door, leads from Lulworth to Mupe Bay. It passes through Lulworth Cove and the Fossil Forest bordering the sea through the cliff top. It is the only way to get to the Fossil Forest, which is in a restricted area of the Ministry of Defense and only open on weekends and all August.
This area is famous for its fossils, specifically, those known as "burrs" that created the algae that grew around decaying tree trunks in a swamp of 145 million years ago (Jurassic era). That is, what you see is the fossilized algae while the holes are what the wood left to rot.
In order to enter the fossil forest, it is not necessary to reach Mupe Bay. After leaving the Lulworth Cove, fossils begin to be seen, in the holes of some people squat, and the formations in undulating layers of the cliffs.
Bournemouth
Before lunchtime, we head towards Bournemouth to spend the afternoon touring the city. The first stop was in the area of the Boscombe Pier. Here in addition to walking along the pier (more modern than Swanage), we saw Jurassic rocks in the middle of the beach.
Then we went to the tourist office where we got the map that would help us to visit some of the most interesting places in Bournemouth. First, we went to the Lower Gardens where we ate. There are very beautiful and well-kept gardens, crossed by a channel of the Bourne River (which gives its name to the city). Here there is a hot air balloon that shows the city from the air to visitors (the Bournemouth Balloon).
Then we went to St. Peter's Church, one of the churches of B'mouth (abbreviated as well). Here among the tombs of several illustrious writers is that of Mary Shelley, author of the famous fiction novel "Frankenstein". She shares grave with her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, a famous English poet, politician, and free-thinker.
We go through several shopping streets, passing through the gallery The Arcade, towards the square called The Square. It has a huge kiosk restaurant in its center (the Obscura Café) and separates the Lower Gardens from the Central Gardens. We continue through the Commercial Road stopping at some stores.
To finish our walk, we crossed the Lower Gardens again to reach the beaches of Bournemouth and find the impressive pier of B'mouth (The Pier). It is a gigantic and fully urbanized dock, on top of it there are cafes, restaurants and even a cinema hall. In fact, the Bournemouth waterfront has its own tourist office and would give for another full day of excursions and visits.
As you can imagine a complete tour takes a long time. Here we have only covered the first part of the road by jumping places like Kimmeridge Bay or Durlston. Further on we have the Isle of Portland, the Beach of Chesil or Charmouth and Lyme Regis. There are many other points of undoubted interest that we leave for a future visit or for those who are encouraged to tell us their experience. Everything depends on how far we are willing to go.
