Turkey & Greece-Istanbul,Turkish Bath,Athens,Santorini, Oia,Samos,Ephesus 土耳其 希腊 爱琴海2周自驾,Nature ASMR
Channel: Snowbird Life
Date: 01/11/2020

5/9/2014 Flew in Istanbul
5/10 The Blue Mosque.  St. Sophia Museum. Built in 6th century, once was the largest Christian church in the world. ITopkapi Palace, Turkish carpet company, The Grand Covered Bazaar
5/11 Istanbul spice market then getting to Asian side.
Istanbul beylerveyi palace : built by sultan in 1861 as summer palace. No photo allowed inside though. Turkish bath is Really good. The New Mosque.
5/12 Istanbul sunny bright day at Basilica cistern, which was built in A.D.532 to hold 80 million liters water to ensure the water supply of the city. Walked through the Blue Mosque park to a cute street. Found an interesting art display in this street. Walked through Gulhane Park. Crossed the Bosphorus bridge to Beyoglu section of Istanbul. Hundreds of fish man lined both sides of the bridge and amazingly most of them caught fishes. Climb steep hill to the Galata Tower, the oldest and the most beautiful tower in Istanbul which was originally a light house in the 528 then was rebuilt in 1348 to current stone tower to provide 360 degree view of entire city. walking down the hill came across one a few Christian church. Dinner at a restaurant with great ambience and food. Walking back to hotel saw local ppl playing backgammon game at the cafe like most Chinese senior ppl play card or chess on the sidewalk. being local. 
5/13 train and bus to Rumeli Hisari fortress. This fortress reminds me the Great Wall somehow. It faces Bosporus strait separating Europe and Asia and joins the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara. There is an open-air theater in it. White rose dance show. Passed this restaurant a few times, finally got chance to eat here. 
5/14 to Greece wondering around in Athens. Athens happy train and delicious Greek food. 6 euro takes you everywhere in the city. Pretty much like Chicago summer free trolley. 
5/15 he acropolis and Athens acropolis museum. 
5/16 Santorini- Just chill here. Sunset pics are taken from just 2 mins walk distance. 
5/17 the monastery of prophitis. Agios Georgios, a little town of traditional houses. late lunch, wine tasting followed by another beautiful sunset. drive along the coast, passing the light house, the red beach and the black beach Day 10 Santorini - these two inhabited islets appeared in the sea after a volcano eruption in 1450 B.C. They were formed from lava and ash and are still volcano that you can feel the heat from vents on the ground and create hot springs. Walking in volcanic ash is difficult. Glad to find a couch to rest a bit before running to catch the group. No time for talking on the way down. Back to the boat right on time. Shopping time before sunset. 
5/18 donkey road, boat to Kameni Island to see volcano. Loved donkey yesterday but realized I need to take same road as them to take boat. They are pretty aggressive and chased people all the way down to the port. There was donkey dung everywhere!!!! Couldn't wait to get in the boat to escape the smell. hot spring! To get to the brown colored hot spring you have to Jump and swim in cold water. On the way back, amazed to see millions of years documented by layers and layers of sediment. Surprisingly found a big cat face in the landscape. Crazy Mother Nature. Learnt lesson of smelly donkey road so took cable car back to top. Had fantastic afternoon meal in a cute restaurant underneath grape wines. Double chocolate gelato for desert.
6/19 Santorini and Oia - woke up early, watched the guy painting the dome of the church before the town is awaken. Fish caught earlier in the morning. Oia is a cute little town.
5/20 Samos morning yoga, noon water gymnastics, massage and afternoon full body work out. Peaceful Aegean Sea. dinner at the port, delicious Greek food and gelato for desert again.
5/21 Samos - another vacation from vacation day. Morning yoga, massage, local Greek cuisine. 
5/22 Greece back to Turkey - 1.5 hours by ferry from Samos Greece to Kusadasi Turkey. Amazing sunset, beautiful garden and wonderful food in Korumar hotel
5/23 Ephesus Turkey - Mary's house, The natural spring water of health wealth and happiness, Wish wall and the baptismal cistern. 
Ephesus Archeology site . It was buried by earthquake in 1st century A.D. - IXOYE, the early symbol of Christianity. The sign of local pharmacy. Nike, the god of victory. The magnificent mile of shopping. A status of Caesar, the head is remove able due to different ruler back then. The public bathroom in the shopping center, seats were warmed by slaves in the winter. The sign of doctored office. Ephesus - rich ppl house and mosaic tiles on their side walk. Public literary and bordello next to each other.   Two story front entrance of literary. Two entrance of bordello for men and women respectively. The footprint is an advertisement for sailor looking for woman. The main theater of Ephesus and the entrance of public square. 
Temple of Artemis , one of the seven ancient wonders in the world . Beautiful sunset.