Jordan-1

Hi, today I will talk about what's I've been up to since I got into the airport in Istanbul on Thursday to catch the flight to Jordan.

Thursday night I was pleasantly surprised to meet my parents at the Turkish Airlines lounge in Istanbul Airport. They were apparently going to Jordan too, so they decided to surprise me. I was of course very happy with the surprise, since I hadn't seen them in some time, and because that meant that my stay in Jordan would be much more luxurious than I expected.
Friday we met my parents business partner in Amman (Jordan), and he took us to a Lebanese restaurant, to a mall (Mecca Mall) and to a café overlooking the city.

The city of Amman as seen from the café

Saturday we went to a resort by the Dead Sea. On the way, we stopped to take a look at the spot where Jesus Christ was supposedly baptized by John the Baptist. The place, where the Jordan river used to run, is now dry, but we went to a spot in the river itself where people are still baptized nowadays. We also saw a Greek Orthodox Church nearby.

The place were Jesus was baptized

People being baptized in the Jordan river

The church

We then arrived at the resort, where we decided to enter and float in the Dead Sea, which is 10 times more salty than a normal sea.

Sunday (today) we entered the sea once more, and even covered ourselves in the mud by the shore, which is supposedly very healthy for the skin.

Me covered in mud

Me floating in the sea

Istanbul-4

Hi, and welcome to the last post about Istanbul, where I'll tell you what I did yesterday and today.
Yesterday (Wednesday) I decided to take a boat to Kadikoy, on the Asian side, where I walked a bit around and visited a local market.

Some of the animal products I found at the market

Today (Thursday) is my last day in Istanbul, as I'm going to the Airport at 20:00 to catch a plane at half past midnight. I removed  my stuff from the room at 10 and, as I didn't have much to do, I decided to visit one last museum, the "Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam", filled with expositions about book, tools, machines and ideas from famous Islamic people. Then I had lunch and returned to the hostel, and now I'm writing this in the reception.

Astrolabes exposed at the museum

Istanbul-3

Hi, and welcome back to my blog, where I will continue telling you what I've been up to here in Istanbul.

On Sunday, I met my father's business associate, and he took me to many places I had not been before. We visited the beautiful Dolmabahçe Palace, went on a Bosphorus tour which sailed (and stopped) next to both the European and the Asian sides of Istanbul, went to the top of the Galata Tower...

Dolmabahçe Palace

European side

Asian side

One of the boats we sailed in

Galata Tower

We also briefly visited Taksim square, from where we took a metro to a shopping center, where I had a shave for the first time since I started this trip.

Before shaving

After shaving

 Monday I visited the Grand Bazaar (which is in fact quite grand) and the Valens aqueduct. In the evening, I went to a real Hamam (Turkish Bath), which is always a different and interesting experience.

Entrance to the Grand Bazaar

The Valens Aqueduct

Today (Monday) I walked a bit around the city, visiting the Suleymaniye Mosque and Taksim Square (again).

Suleymaniye Mosque

Monument at Taksim Square

Istanbul-2

Hi, today I'll be talking about what I've been doing since Wednesday.
On Wednesday I flew from Athens. My father's business associate retrieved me at the airport, brought me to the hostel and offered me dinner at a restaurant close to the hostel.
On Thursday it was raining, but I still decided to challenge the weather with my cheap umbrella and visited the Mausoleums at Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cistern (an underground water reservatory) and the Istanbul Archeological Museum, with many expositions (e. g. an exposition about the story of Istanbul). My hostel has a good location, so a lot of interesting places, including these three, are next to me.

Sarcophagi at one of the Mausoleums

The Basilica Cistern

Exposition at the Archeological Museum

Friday I visited the famous Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque (where I saw people getting ready for one of the 5 daily prayers) and some of the remaining structures from the ancient Hippodrome of Constantinople.

View of Hagia Sophia's dome from the interior

The Blue Mosque

The Serpent Column, one of the Hippodrome's remaining structures

Today (Saturday) I visited Topkapi Palace, which was used for a long time by the Ottoman Sultans, and is now a museum with many different exhibitions. In there, I also visited the Harem, the area where the Sultan and his family (and the eunuchs...) used to live.

Gate of Felicity at the Topkapi Palace

One of the rooms in the Harem

Athens-2

Welcome once again to my blog. Today I will tell you guys what I have been up to since last time.
On Saturday, I went on a guided walking tour around the most important monuments and archeological sites in the area. I saw the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Panathenaic Stadium, the Presidential Mansion, the National Garden, the Parliament Building, Hadrian's Library, the Roman and the Ancient Agoras, and the Areopagus, amongst others.
After that, I decided to actually go inside the Ancient Agora's Archaeological site (because I had only seen things from the outside) where I visited the Stoa of Attalos, which now holds the Museum of the Ancient Agora.

Me in front of the Panathenaic Stadium

Hadrian's Library

Sculptures in the Museum of the Ancient Agora

On Sunday I visited the Ancient Agora again, as I had hardly had time to visit anything but the museum the day before. There I saw temples and different social, political and commercial buildings. I also saw the Keramikos area, which was mostly used as a cemetery, from the outside.

Some of the ruins at the Ancient Agora

At night one of my roommates invited me to go to a metal concert with him, and so I did.

A band (Shadow Gallery) playing at the concert

On Monday I visited the city with one of my other roommates and two friends of his. We visited many places, some of which I had already seen, but also others were I had never been before, such as the National Library of Greece, the Keramikos Museum, Socrates' supposed prison, and the Filopapou Hill.

Me in front of the National Library

Today (Tuesday) I decided to rest a bit and get ready for the flight back to Istanbul tomorrow, so I didn't do much of any interest and only went out to eat.

Istanbul-1 and Athens-1

Welcome to my blog's third post, where I'll talk about what I've been doing since Tuesday.
On Tuesday I left Rome and went to Istanbul, where I met my father. Then a business associate of his took us to our Hotel, on the Asian side.
On Wednesday my father had work to do, and I stayed, with him, so there was not much time for tourism (the fact that we had to spend hours in the traffic didn't help). But I had some good typical Turkish food for lunch, walked around in a quite crowded neighborhood filled with shops, and went to the European side by ferry.

Turkish Bread

Water with yoghurt

Thursday I flew from Istanbul to Athens. I got to my hostel, where I  met a lot of nice people from different countries (England, Australia, Canada...), with whom I went to he hostel's bar and sang some karaoke.

Today (Friday) I went to the Acropolis Museum, where I saw a large variety of sculptures and other Ancient Greek artifacts from the Acropolis and its slopes. I then went to the Acropolis itself, and admired all the ancient buildings, including the famous Parthenon.

Entrance to the Acropolis Museum

The Parthenon 

Rome-2

Welcome to the second post of this blog. Today I will resume what I've been doing in Rome since Friday.

On Friday I decided to visit Vatican City, which is quite near my hotel. I had a guided tour to the Vatican City, where I went to a lot of interesting  rooms and visited the famous Sistine Chapel. After that, I went to St. Peter's Basilica, where I saw the famous Pietà, by Michelangelo.

Inside of  St. Peter's Basilica

Stairs in the Vatican Museum

The Pietà

In the evening, I went to a bar in the San Lorenzo area, where I met a lot of nice people from different countries. Later on, we went to a nice place, called Circollo degli Artisti, with lots of bars and a disco, where we had a lot of fun.

I came home very late, and I was planning on going out again Saturday night, so I didn't do much during the day on Saturday (the fact that the weather was a bit rough didn't help). At night I went out as planned, visiting some pubs and bars in near Piazza Venezia and in the Trastevere area.

On Sunday, a took a walk in the city, and visited the famous Trevi fountain, and the Pantheon.

Me, in front of the Trevi fountain

The Pantheon

Today (Monday) I visited the ruins of the Baths of Caracala, the second largest public baths in Ancient Rome. Unfortunately, it started raining, so I had to leave early.

Baths of Caracala

Rome-1

Hello, this is the first post concerning Rome (and also the blog's first post). Here I'll summarize what I've been doing for the last 3 days.
I arrived in Rome on Tuesday. I was quite tired,  since I had hardly slept the previous night, so I decided to rest at the hotel (a B&B) until dinner.
I had dinner at the house of my Italian friends Irene and Elisa. Our main course was pizza (because you can't go to Italy without eating pizza), and we had some delicious italian appetizers that I had never seen before too, such as the one below (I don't remember its name, but it included potato, ragú and bolognese sauce).

On Wednesday, I visited the Castel Sant'Angelo where I enjoyed a nice view of both Saint Peter's Basilica (and the rest of the Vatican) and a great part of Rome.

St. Peter's Basilica

Rome

At night, I wanted to go meet some people in Trastevere, but got a bit confused when I took the bus, so I ended up at the wrong station, far away from where I wanted to be. Well, you haven't truly appreciated a large city if you haven't been lost in it at least once.

Today (Thursday) I decided to visit  Ancient Roman ruins (because I love Ancient Roman History). First I visited the ruins of the Forum Romanum and of the palaces and other buildings on the Palatine Hill.

Forum Romanum

And then I visited the famous Colosseum, one of the Seven (new) Wonders of the World.