In and Around RotoruaWhakarewarewa Maori VillageAnother bright sunny day.We head out to the city centre a check out the Government Gardens. They are stunning in the sunlight. We decide to come back later in the day when the sun is shining on the museum.We next head to the Whakarewarewa Maori Village to watch a cultural performance. This is actually a living Maori village (meaning people live there). The show …
Istanbul Day 3Hagia Sophia We are up and out shortly after 8am in order to have a better placement in line for the 9am opening of the Hagia Sophia Mosque. Getting there st 8:30am the line really snakes around the square in front of the mosque and is hundreds of people long and continues to expand quickly behind us. It starts to move ever so slowly at 9am.Due to renovations, …
Istanbul Day 2Dolmbahce Palace I did not sleep well. I don’t know why. Might have been the pizza, half box of Turkish delights, glass of wine or glass of raki (like Greek ouzo)…but who knows?After breakfast at the apartment we grab a taxi and head across the Galata Bridge to the Asian side of Istanbul. Part of Istanbul is in Europe and the other part is in Asia. The divider …
Larnaka and MorePalaipafos-Kouklia Archeological Site Our last day in Cyprus. It’s 8:30 am and I’m sitting in the back seat, stuffing my face with Turkish Delights as we head to one last Aphrodite site; the Palaipafos-Kouklia Archeological Site. Here we will see the remains of the Temple to Aphrodite which is most likely the first temple built to worship the goddess of beauty and love.It’s a relatively small site, but …