Aside from the endless neighborhoods with their shops and food there are things to see in Istanbul. Big amazing things. Ancient things. The history of the city is almost impossible to comprehend. Layers on layers on layers. And some…
Day 91 – From Taksim Square to the Hagia Sophia: Walking Istanbul’s city center neighborhoods (part 2 of 4)
January 18, 2020
Istanbul is enormous. It has over 15 million people. That’s almost double the largest city in the United States. And it would take a few lifetimes to actually see it all. In my two weeks I barely scratched the…
Day 91 – Istanbul, Turkey – An introduction (part 1 of 4)
January 15, 2020
It’s New Year’s Eve and I’m sitting around a makeshift table in a hidden little fourth story bar on a backstreet in the Tarlabaşı neighborhood of Istanbul. I’ve just proven to my skeptical table mates that you can in…
Day 84 – Bucharest, Romania.
January 1, 2020
Without knowing much at all about Bucharest or even Romania we decided to spend our first Christmas abroad there. What I discovered was that exactly thirty years earlier on Christmas day, one of the soviet’s most brutally repressive dictators Nicolae…
Day 79 – Sofia, Bulgaria
December 23, 2019
We knew we were probably doomed while our previous hostel talked about the sick that everyone had. But it wasn’t until the train to Sofia that it really started to kick in. We arrived with screeching sore throats, coughs,…
Day 78 – Niŝ, Serbia – Taking the train to Sofia from Belgrade in the off season.
December 19, 2019
If you haven’t noticed the recurring theme yet, travelling the Balkans in the off season is a little harder than the rest of the year. And heading into Bulgaria was no different. In the summer there’s an express train…
Day 74 – Belgrade, Serbia – An unexpected good time. (Beograd / Београд)
December 17, 2019
I had no idea what to expect in Belgrade. I’d heard no travel stories or experiences. So we came with an open mind. We’ve been travelling for over 2 months now and we haven’t made many local friends except…
Day 68 – Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina
December 14, 2019
Sarajevo was a pleasant return to a metropolitan area. The bars were lively and the food was everywhere. Cheap and local food was plentiful and you got your pick of upscale and fast food too. Old town was where…
Day 63 – Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina – War torn but still standing.
December 7, 2019
Entering Mostar, there is no hiding from the recent past. The scars are on full display. There is no forgetting what has happened here. As we walk from the near derelict bus station towards our apartment in old town…
Day 61 – Dubrovnik, Croatia – the Dubrovnik Winter Festival!
December 1, 2019
We had originally planned to travel through Albania then up to Kosovo but while we were in Kotor a major earthquake hit Tirana, Albania a few days before we were to start that leg of our trip. After a…