Nature, travel, pets, home renovation, and geekery
While in Istanbul, our tour group visited the famous Blue Mosque. It is gorgeous. The exterior is beautiful, but the interior is even more beautiful. The interior is arches upon arches upon domes. Most of the interior is covered with gorgeous mainly blue and white tile, which gives the mosque it’s name.
Blue Mosque
Blue Mosque minuet
Arches of Blue Mosque interior
Arches of Blue Mosque interior
Carved stone
Domed ceiling of Blue Mosque
Prayer area
Blue and white tile
While our tour group was in the Ephesus area, we visited a rug making co-operative. The members make rugs by hand. The rugs are beautiful and intricate. They walked us through the process of how they make and dye the threads and then make the rugs. I rather liked the place because the person who was showing us all the steps readily admitted that the exhibits were for the tourists. They dye the threads elsewhere, but I like honesty in tour guides.
First they take silk cocoons and pull the strands out of them.
Silk threads being separated from cocoons
They dye the various threads using natural material. The wool is easier to dye than the silk.
Dyeing thread
Dyed wool threads and natural dyeing material
Dyed wool threads
They make the rugs on looms. Turkish rugs differ from all other rugs because they use a double knot. I couldn’t understand anything else they were doing other than that the person making the rugs has to count threads and follow a pattern the entire time.
Loom
They then showed us rugs in many different styles. They were all gorgeous.
Rolls of rugs
Rugs
Rug
Our cruise through the Greek Islands ended in Turkey, where we visited Ephesus. The ruins of ancient Ephesus are amazing, partially because of how much is left. The library is just gorgeous. Several streets are still present which gives you a really good feel for how the city used to be. The public toilets make me glad to be alive in the indoor plumbing age.
Street
Library of Celsus
Library of Celsus
Clay pipes
Columns
Odeon
Public toilets
Residential area
Temple of Hadrian
Theater
Residential area mosaic floor
Today we visited the small Dodecanese island of Patmos. It is where St. John is believed to have written the Book of Revelation in what is known as the Cave of the Apocalypse. The island is very pretty with gorgeous, wonderful views from the hills. It also not too touristy.
View of town
Harbor
A rocky beach
View from monastery
Monastery of Saint John the Theologian
Monastery of Saint John the Theologian
Monastery of Saint John the Theologian
Monastery of Saint John the Theologian
This morning we went to Kalymnos, the sponge divers’ island. The island is in Dodecanese island group and seems be known for the sponge divers and that is about it. We visited Nautical and Folklore Museum. It was tiny but had some nice exhibits on the sponge divers and the history of them. According to the museum curator, the death rate among sponge divers was near 25%, which is depressing to say the least.
Kalymnos
Kalymnos harbor
Sponge store
Tile porch floor
Prefecture
Church
Blue and white house
Today we visited Santorini. We came in at sunrise and left after sunset. It is not often I get both sunrise and sunset photos in a single day, but Santorini was worth it. Santorini is a photographer’s dream place. The island group of Santorini is a collapsed caldera. The main towns on the island of Santorini, Fira and Oia, are set on the ridge of the caldera. So, it’s a rather dramatic setting. The architecture is the classic Cycladic, but not all the buildings are white stucco. Some are different colors, and of course there are many churches with the beautiful, simple blue dome. If you can find the good vantage points, which is not always a simple endeavor, then you can get some amazing photographs. Finding the good vantage points involves going down many different tiny sidewalks that twist and curve and at times look like they lead no where.
Santorini sunrise
Santorini sunrise
Fira
Fira
Fira Catholic Church
Oia
Oia
Oia
Oia
Oia
Oia
Pink house in Oia
Kameni in middle of caldera
Santorini sunset
This afternoon was spent in Paros. I really liked Paros. It is small, not too touristy, pretty, and friendly. The Church of Ekatontapiliani was a highlight of our walking tour. It was a wonderful church to photograph with its beautiful stonework.
Paros harbor
Alley
Frankish Castle
Windmill
Church of Ekatontapiliani
Church of Ekatontapiliani
Church of Ekatontapiliani Baptistery
This morning we went on a hike in the Naxos countryside through a few small villages. Our destination was the Kouros, but really the journey was the best part. We walked along a rather small road, which should almost be put in quotes but they do drive on it. There was a small aqueduct running alongside the road that appears to convey water from mountain runoff and springs to farms below.
Rural area
Farming area
Olive tree
Metal gate to yard
Donkey
Aqueduct
Aqueduct waterfall
Lily of the Nile
Kouros
We visited Naxos today. We spent the morning walking around the town and then spent the afternoon swimming in the Aegean Sea. The town has the classic Cycladic white stucco architecture with bright blue trim and doors. The downtown area has few streets and mainly has alleys on which we continually got lost. Most porches and entries and potted plants and bougainvillea. I love how these old cities areas have no green space, so most people put as many potted plants near their house as possible. The downtown area is highlighted by a castle that is really now part of the town. Just off of the harbor is the unfinished Temple of Apollo.
Castle
Half gate on stairs
View from Temple of Apollo
Shaded balcony
Umbrellas decorate alley
Man walks past gate
Ultimate Greek house
Temple of Apollo
Castle tower
Bougainvillea
Potted plants on stairs
Fenced gardens
Beach
We spent the afternoon in Mykonos. It has the classic white washed stucco, boxy, architecture of the Cyclades islands. Mykonos is famous for its historic windmills, which are unique and fun to photograph. It has hundreds of tiny little churches everywhere. I was underwhelmed by Mykonos. It is really touristy and famous for its party scene. As I am not into the party scene, that did not appeal to me.
Famous Mykonos windmills
Mykonos harbor
Three houses together
Tiny alleys
Colorful doors and trim
Boats in harbor
Little church on the harbor
Dome of church at the harbor
Hotel Lefteris
Colorful pots in an alley
Pension Joanna
A famous Mykonos windmill on the hill
Up close view of the Mykonos windmills