Category: Europe & Middle East (Page 1 of 3)

All entries from countries in Europe and the middle east

Cape Sunion – Poseidons residence

February 11, 2017 / olaf / 0 Comments

On our last adventure on mainland we went for a day trip to the temple of Poseidon at cape Sunion a 90 min drive out of Athens.

It is said that the ancient Greek build the Parthenon (the big temple of the Acropolis in Athens) the Aphaea temple on Aegina and the one here on purpose, if you connect the 3 dots on the map you get a isosceles triangle (two sides are equal in length), the so called sacred triangle of Greece.

The temple stands pretty picturesque next to the sea and is a perfect spot for sunsets.

For more information about the cape and the temple: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounion

And this is already the end of our adventures to the ancient world, we enjoyed it a lot, the friendliness of the people, the good food, although heavy on meat and cheese but the fruits and vegetables so tasty, yumm! Definitely we have to come again, so many more adventures are waiting for us, so many islands to explore and so much more delicious fruits and olives to enjoy 😉

Aegina – Island life

February 10, 2017 / olaf / 0 Comments

Because of the weather situation we decided on visiting a Greek island, Aegina is easily reachable by ferry in 80 minutes from Piraeus the port of Athens which is basically a town on its own and not a filthy one!

Sunny side up we sat on the deck, riding along with the wind, classic! Our first mission was getting to the Temple of Aphaea before the crowds; we succeeded and had the very well preserved and partly reconstructed ruins just for us, priceless!

The cruise along the islands coast was another highlight with spectacular drops and beautiful lookouts and plenty of curves.

We also went to Paleochora, a place where the island population retreated from pirates and in modern days, just the churches survived the weather and island conditions, some can still be visited and bare a certain charm, the air smelt of herbs, bees were humming and birds flew all around, such a sweet day in spring.

Our last mission for the sunset was to climb the highest peak of the island, Mt. Oros. Up on 500 m we had a 360° lookout over the whole island and all the way back to Athens, the Peloponnese and the surrounding islands, incredible!

The night we spend in a boutique hotel named: Aeginitiko Archontiko and I would definitely recommend everyone in visiting at least to see the 200 years old house and to meet Rena the owner, she was like a mother to us, preparing even cake and cooking homemade marmalade for breakfast!

For more information about the island: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegina

The website of the hotel: http://aeginitikoarchontiko.gr

Olympia & the Ionian Sea – Home of the Olympic Games 8.2.17

February 8, 2017 / olaf / 0 Comments

Casing the sun we travelled to the western Peloponnese to see Ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games. Lots of old stones but not that many intact structures and the old cinder track can be visited. The whole area is on flat ground and beautiful old trees flank the even older remains of the once so beautiful town. Birds twitter and the air smells like spring, warm and full of sunlight.

A short trip to the Ionian see and the empty beach was the 2^nd highlight of the day, best light ever, just one hour before the sun went down, pretty picturesque!

To learn more about ancient Olympia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympia,_Greece

Corinthos, Mycenae & Nafplio – The Eastern Peloponnes

February 7, 2017 / olaf / 0 Comments

Again we were chasing the sun so after a short visit of the Acrocorinthos a not so ancient fortress and quite big, the next stop we made in ancient Mycenae. Heinrich Schliemann discovered the remains of the old Mycenae culture here in 1886 and started the excavations. The ruins are pretty old and ruined to the ground, just the impressive entrance gate and the tombs have been restored to get a glimpse of its past beauty.

More information on Mycenae: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycenae

And we did see the sun came out when we arrived in Nafplio, a pretty sweet old city and great fortresses can be visited, as they are already closing at 15h in wintertime we just had a stroll through town, half of the businesses and hotels are closed, definitely the touristy season we’re travelling…

Still we had a good time and a lovely chat with a t-shirt printer and a bartender 😉

Delphi – Oracle tales

February 6, 2017 / olaf / 0 Comments

Next stop, Delphi the home of the famous oracle of ancient times, it is said that the priestess was sitting on a tripod over an opening in the rocks and inhaling the vapour from the mountain, intoxicated she made the prophecies. Not just the Greek worshippers went to the holy place; even the romans and Alexander the Great later on used the oracle to question the future.

The city also played an important role for the ancient Greek, according to the myth, Zeus let two eagles fly and the place they went down was considered to be the navel of the world, as it happened it was right here in Delphi, the naval stone still can be find within the complex.

The ancient city is beautifully perched on the mighty slopes of Mt. Parnassus. Feels pretty amazing to be here in such a place with so much history and wander along the remains of a culture that existed more than 2000 years ago, and it still reverberates!

The gymnasium and the Tholos are located a bit outside of the spiritual area of town, just a few remains can be seen and the circular temple with its 3 restored columns is standing out of all the rectangular buildings.

Further reads: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphi

Meteora – Moni in the sky

February 5, 2017 / olaf / 0 Comments

Casing the sun we directly went up north from Athens, travelling with a car in Greece is comfortable as soon as you’re out of the big city. Highways have tolls and country roads have speed checks but still everyone is driving fast and a bit crazy, I was just adapting to the locals 😉

In the end of our 5 hours’ drive we already saw the otherworldly rocks the monasteries are built upon in the distance – a magic moment! Basically the spiritual places were erected in such an area to protect the monks from the Turkish enemies. Back in the days monks used ropes and nets to gain access. In modern days a comfortable road and steps hewn in the rocks give access.

Not all the monastery were open but we got a pretty nice idea of the monk’s life here while visiting the Megalou moni. The lookouts are so spectacular as are roads and trails, no handrails just steep drops, really reminds me of my home the Elbsandsteingebirge, minus the Monasteries…

For more information check https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteora

Athens – Home of the Acropolis

February 3, 2017 / olaf / 0 Comments

After 2 years I went again on a trip with my friend Eric, I met in Jordan and we already travelled Thailand and Cambodia together. So this time we decided on Greece.

We met in Athens and went straight to the Acropolis, literally meaning high city, to see the ancient remains of the big temple called Parthenon and all its surrounding structures, the buildings were destroyed a couple of times by different cultures but always rebuild, for more information go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acropolis_of_Athens.

The grandness of the remains as well as the lookouts from above are quite spectacular, you get a proper idea on how big Athens was and now, with all the suburbs, is growing bigger and bigger.

goodbye germany

October 2, 2015 / olaf

nach diesem großartigen sommer und einem letzten schönen fest mit guten freunden, das adäquat den sommer geschlossen hat, geht die reise los.

sogar mein späti verkäufer wird mich vermissen und hat mich noch mit tic tac, skittles, bonbons und sonstigen krims krams vollgepackt als ich tschüssi gesagt habe. die guten wünsche aller menschen um mich rum und die rege beteiligung hab ich so nicht erwartet und mich wirklich gerührt, alle menschen wollen geliebt werden, doch mit sich selbst muß man zuerst anfangen…

Istanbul – city on two continents

April 8, 2013 / olaf / 0 Comments

istanbul ist die größte stadt in der türkei und mit 13,7 mio einwohnern die 4. größte der welt, sie liegt auf beiden Seiten des Bosporus, der meerenge zwischen mittelmeer und schwarzem meer.

damit die einzige Metropole der Welt, die sich auf zwei Kontinenten befindet – Asien und Europa.

um 10:30 landung istanbul bei nieselregen und feuchten 11°C – ein kälteschock!

um 16:05 weiterflug nach berlin, bleiben also effektiv 2 std in der stadt wenn man bedenkt das es 1h bedarf um mit den öffentlichen vom flughafen in die innenstadt zu fahren.

gesagt getan, sehe ich ne stunde später die Sultan-Ahmed-Moschee, mit 6 minaretten, genannt blaue moschee – heute strahlt sie eher in grau blau

und gegenüber ein kleineres, aber nicht weniger altes gotteshaus, auffällig ist das die minarette im vergleich zu jordanin viel spitzer zulaufen

bei dem wetter macht das draußen sein nicht wirklich spaß, da geh ich lieber in richtung großer basar, durch enge gassen und niedliche häuserschluchten

bis ich in der riesigen markthalle ankomme, viele gänge die wie lebansadern pulsieren, hunderte verkäufer, touristen, bunte lichter, ein westlichen einkaufszentrum ist ein scheißdreck dagegen, das hier ist der ursprung des handels und wurde bis in die heutige zeit bewahrt.

die preise unterscheiden sich stark und auch hier bestimmt das verhandlungsgeschick über den entgültigen verkaufspreis, ich mach ein paar schnapper….

und widme mich anschließend dem eigentlichen vorhaben, ein kebab in istanbul: tadaaa

teuer, und nicht wirklich lecker, aber hey bin ja bald wieder in berlin, nur noch einmal durch den europäischen luftraum jetten – 3 stunden dann geht der ernst des lebens wieder los

amman – 2nd day revisited

April 7, 2013 / olaf / 0 Comments

wie in einer parabel kehre ich den letzten tag an den anfang zurück und entspanne in der warmen sonne und dem kühlen wind auf dem zitadellenhügel der über downtown thront

durch die ruinen spatzieren

den blick schweifen lassen

und den muezzin von oben lauschen – mehr braucht es nicht

die nächste morgensonne wird mich bereits forttragen, gen europa, also sag ich hier schon mal ma`a as-salāma jordanien, es war wundervoll