June 19th-22nd: Athens

In catching my flight to Athens and leaving Turkey behind, I was feeling melancholy.  I had left too many stones unturned including Cappadocia, which I'd heard is amazing.  However, receiving the passport stamp at Athens quickly reinvigorated my sense of excitement.  I had four days to see the city of ancient democracy!!

Day one - I settled in my hostel which had a rooftop bar and view of the Parthenon. I headed to the Museum of the Acropolis which was well worth the €3.  In addition to the ancient artifacts it had a nice history on the progression of the Athenian city state.  I didn't realize how brief the Athenian democracy lasted between defeating the Persians and the arrival of the Macedonians, not even 100 years.

Day two and three were dedicated to other ancient sites including the agora, roman forum and the actual Acropolis.  The ruins were all impressive with the Pantheon being superb.  After touring the city with two other guys from my hostel, we headed out to modern Athens. We experienced the shopping and cafes.  The thing I loved the most was that Athens never felt like a big city. It always maintained the vibe of a small town.  My final day I headed south to the cape of Sonio to swim in the greenish-blue Aegean and visit the temple of Poseidon.   

A few cool photos are below. But I took most of the pictures with my other camera so I'd have them in higher quality. 

Photo: Church from the grounds of Hadrian's Library

Photo - Greek flag flying on the Acropolis 

Photo - Parthenon light at night

Photo: Acropolis from nearby hill 

June 17th - Library at Ephesus

I caught an overnight bus from Istanbul to Selck. First off - those busses are not designed for people my size. Second - they are terrible to sleep in.  On arrival I took a recovery day at my hostel. The owner was really nice and invited me to join for dinner and a swim at the family pool.

Photo: Relaxing pool side

On the following day, after my recharge, I headed to the ancient city of Ephesus!!!  The highlights were the ancient library which was the third largest of the ancient world and the large theatre where St. Paul preached Christian doctrine. Overall it was an amazing place (but I'm becoming a bit of an ancient ruins snob and Ephesus was no Pompeii in Italy).

Photo 2: Library at Ephesus

Photo 3: Library at Ephesus

Photo 4: Greek Theatre 

June 15th - Goodbye Istanbul & a friend from Jordan

Today was my final day in Istanbul so I decided to spend it walking about. There was so much of the city that I still needed to see. I walked from my hostel over to the spice Bazar and then across the Golden Horn to Galata Tower.  I then decided to try and get near Takism Square despite the ongoing protests. A number of locals I had met suggested that this would be completely safe during the day. I ended up in Takim and it was very calm. You could see the protesters camped in the park with police nearby. The craziest part was that tour buses were bringing people to Takism.

At 4pm, I headed back to the old part of town to see Ay again. She wanted to wish me well before I departed. We then connected with a friend of hers from Jordan, named Munir, that was staying at her apparent through Airbnb.  He works in Internet retail and was visiting Istanbul for a few weeks. I throughly enjoyed talking with him because of his knowledge concerning the Middle East.  As an American, I will be the first to admit that I harbored a strong uncertainty against the Middle East. I have concerns about militant and fanatic Islam, terrorist attacks and kidnapping of western people that travel in the region.  All of these predispositions were challenged in the three hours I spent with Munir.  What I have learned through travel, over and again, is that most places never match their reputation. I also firmly believe in cultural exchange because there is no greater ambassador for a nation than its citizens. It is my hope to travel to Jordan someday to meet with more Middle Easterners and I challenge more Americans to do the same. Traveling to learn their culture and share ours would help remove the misconceptions and pave the way to a more lasting friendship rooted in mutual understanding (Also not propping up dictators in the region would help as well).

Finally thank you to Ay for the parting gifts!! They were wonderful. And I really enjoyed the fish sandwiches and pistachio desserts.

Photo: Galata Tower

Photo: Protestor tents in Takism

Photo: Tour bus inTakism 

Photo: The three of us! - Ay, Munir and I

June 14th- Palace of the Sultan

Headed to Topkapi Palace today. It was pouring in the morning so I didn't head out until 1pm.  The palace was so intricate and displayed stunning tiled rooms and views of the Bosphorus. I spent the entire afternoon there. While visiting I also met a man from Iran. He was middle aged and a doctor in his country. We struck up a conversation because I asked him to take a few photos for me. He is in the process of immigrating to the US. He has a kid on the way and wants to provide a better future. It was really great having an open minded conversation with him about the differences between our two countries. 

I wrapped up my day by sitting on the steps of the Blue Mosque.

Photo at Palace with assistance from my Iranian friend

Photo of balcony overlooking Golden Horn

Photo: Blue Mosque!!!

June 13th - Couchsurfing

Today I had my first experience with Couchsurfing.com. I connected with a local from Istanbul named Ay and she was kind enough to show me around her hometown.  We went to the Hagia Sophia. This building is incredible because of the blend of Islam and Christianity. When the Ottomans conquered Constantinople and converted the Hagia Sophia to a mosque, they simply plastered over the Christian mosaics. See in some photos below!

Then Ay and I headed on a water taxi so I could cruise the Bosphorus! It was impressive to witness the sprawl of the city up and down the water front. 

June 12th - Part II: Two events of circumstance

I studied German in high school and was often told that I should have taken Spanish. As an American citizen, I can understand the reasoning. Spanish is the second most spoken language in the US and is growing rapidly. Regardless, I wanted to learn German because it seemed more applicable to my long-term interests to work in technology and travel throughout Europe.  Today my decision was vindicated. Strolling through Istanbul and ending up quite lost as I searched for my hostel, I decided to ask for directions. I'd heared of Turkish hospitality and decided to put it to the test but ran into one hiccup - no one around me spoke English.  They still wanted to help and there I stood surrounded by three Turkish women pointing to the address on my iPad. Then one of them said "Deutsch"? When they only speak Turkish and German, and I only speak English and German, you use German! Five minutes later I was escorted down the street and straight to my hostel. Vielen Danke!!!

Photo: In the Grand Bazar

Later after checking into my hostel, I headed out for a walk. I grabbed a doner kebab for dinner and walked to the grand bazaar. On my way back, a young man approached. I was skeptical because I read to many stories of street scams. He quickly explained that he was only 16 and simply wanted to practice his English. So there I was sitting on a park bench serving as an English teacher and picking up some Turkish. Afterwards he was so thankful, he took me to meet his uncle and offered me Turkish apple tea. The tea was incredible and was pure apple. I guess my friend Geoff Lewis was right - when traveling "just say yes" and you are often rewarded with unique experiences :) Finally, it turns out the uncle has a background in electronics and studied in Switzerland. He owns his own rug whole seller in Istanbul. He invited me over for lunch tomorrow and promised to teach me about Turkish carpet making so I can identify a quality rug! One adventure leads to another.

Photo: Turkish Carpet with Medallion Design. 

Regarding carpets, I leaned that the difference between Persian and Turkish is the knots. A Persian rug is a single knotted carpet while a Turkish rug is double knotted. This makes the Turkish rugs less likely to fray.

June 11th-12th

Welcome to my travel blog! I've undertaken this two month journey through the world at the encouragement of a personal mentor and with the support of my family (emotional support, not so much monetary support :-D). As I set out I'm excited about the possibility of these next few months. I want to meet new people, be okay with discomfort and differences in culture. I want to let go of all illusion of control and take in the world. Basically, I'm seeking  an unexpected journey. 

This notion brings us to our blogs title - There an back again. While it seems bland a Tolkien aficionado can undoubtably appreciate the reference. Aside: they were showing The Hobbit on the flight to Amsterdam. I absolutely watched it!

Currently, I'm in transit to Istanbul and am writing from my layover in Amsterdam. I've dropped in a few photos below to commemorate the occasion.

Pic 1: Three tickets and a passport - All the paperwork required for my first trip to Asia. Hopefully I can dodge the current protests in Istanbul.

Pic 2: Connecting through Amsterdam :)