Julia & Lance

Sofia

We said a sad goodbye to Azize at the famous Serkeci Railway Station (aka Istanbul Orient Express station) and boarded our sleeper train (just like Hercule Poirot did in “Murder on the Orient Express”) for the ten hour over night trip from Istanbul to Sofia. We  booked a private cabin on the train (but folks, […]

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Cappodocia

Bleak Anatolian plains, extinct volcanos, and whismsical rock formations. Subterranean cities, rock churches, and fairy chimneys. A super glamorous cave room and a magical balloon ride at sunrise. Disney? Universal? Fantasy Island? Where are we?  Cappodocia… way, way the most surreal and magical place we have been.   We took a flight to Kayseri in the

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Ephesus

Crumbling marble fountains, ancient settlements buried under Greek and Roman ruins. A sparkling jewel of a city. Here was the vast temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Ruled once by Alexander the Great. Visited by Socrates and Archimedes. Home and burial place of Jesus’s disciple John (writer of the

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Istanbul

Skyscraping minarets, call to prayer, christian towers and Jewish quarters. Europe meets Asia, east meets west, old meets new. Breathtaking artifacts, immense mosques, dazzling art and our lovely friend Azize, who made our whole trip to Turkey a truly unforgettable experience. Thank you Azize for everything. Istanbul astounded us, a kaleidoscope of eras, people, religions,

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Meteora

Precariously, perched monasteries, faded gold icons, jaw dropping landscapes and ancient rock dwellings. Meteora is a place of religion, magic and mystery. A slow five hour train journey took us up through Greece to Kalambaka. The town famous for the towering rocks and monasteries people call Meteora. Out of the thirty monasteries that were built

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Naxos

The enigmatic Portata, a great Venetian castle and a maze of white washed dwellings clinging to the hillside. This is Naxos an old, old place with a human history of 10,000 years. A magical place of gleaming marble temples, rugged mountains, picturesque villages and glorious beaches. We could’t wait to get exploring. Around the year 530 B.C.

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Athens, back to the beginning

We made it!! 24 hours from Kelowna to Athens. That was a LONG way folks. We caught the metro from the airport to Monastiraki, the location of our hotel. We walked out of the station and looked up. At the first sight of the Acropolis all thoughts of long flights and jet lag disappeared. Oh

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