Sasha Petrovic – Page 13 – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Wanderlust December 22, 2012

And finally – the Parthenon

Our final day in Athens proved just as busy as the others, as we visited the last of the “must sees.” We ate lunch at Thanasis, which was the most Greek restaurant so far, and the meal was absolutely delicious (see pictures below). If only the house wine in the states tasted this good! We entered the Kapnikarea Church in the Monastiraki area, where we paid tribute to the living and the dead in true Orthodox manner. Afterwards, we walked up to the Parthenon, which is truly breathtaking. It was very cold and windy today, so we stopped by Piazza Duomo for coffee (Sasha went Irish, naturally). Then we walked another 2 miles (uphill, oh heavens) to the highest point in Athens – Mt. Lycabettus. We were winded when we got to the top, but it was worth it for the views. We drank tea and coffee at the restaurant, then rode the funicular to the base and wandered through the Kolonaki area on the way back to the hotel. Another amazing day – wine tour in Corinth tomorrow!
Sasha, loving his Greek beer, ready for the most authentic meal yet at Thanasis

The spicy green peppers proved too hot for my darling (a true Semple “man down”)

The most beautiful Greek salad ever

Amidst renovations of the Parthenon, with his man purse

An amazing view of Athens from the Acropolis

We finally made it to the Parthenon (but almost didn’t for the third time…)

Sasha with Mount Lycabettus in the background – our next challenge – which we conquered

Greek history everywhere you look – such an amazing city

A wet and windy day doesn’t damper our traveling spirits 🙂

A lot bigger than you think – a true Kodak moment

I loved the Turkish flag pic so much, I had to…

The entrance to the Acropolis

Deep thoughts atop Mount Lycabettus (we climbed up more than a mile, as we didn’t see the funicular – oh boy)

My wilderness man at the restaurant on top of Mt. Lycabettus

City as far as you can see

St. George Church on top of Mt. Lycabettus (highest point in Athens) – destination wedding?

Wind like you’ve never felt before

And finally, two iPhone pics:

5 o’clock somewhere – Irish coffee time

Snapshots December 20, 2012

Cappadocia, Turkey

We’re in Athens now, and I absolutely love it. We heard a lot of negative things about the city, but we don’t agree with them at all. One place we didn’t hear one bad word about is Cappadocia, where we spent the last two days. It’s in the middle of Turkey, on the Asian continent. We stayed at Gamirasu Cave Hotel, which was literally the coolest hotel I’ve ever been to (see pictures below). One the first day, we went to an underground cave city that is five levels into the ground. It was built in 400 BC, and later used by Christians to hid from Muslims during war times. We ate the most delicious meal at the hotel and called it a night after Sasha built a very impressive fire (Instagram pictures to prove it). The following day, we slept in and then had a driver take up to the Goreme Open Air Museum, Pigeon Valley, the Ugurp Castle, and Imagination Valley – all of which were breathtaking. Lots of pictures below as evidence!

Hot Turkish red wine – absolutely incredible

Snapshots December 19, 2012

Day Two in Istanbul

I’m playing catchup with pictures, as we don’t have the best wi-fi so it’s hard to upload pictures. Sasha and I just arrived back in Istanbul after spending two days in Cappadocia, which is in the middle of Turkey (Asian continent). It was incredible, and I’ve got lots of unique pictures to share tomorrow. As for now, I’m posting the photos from our second day in Istanbul. We did a private tour with True Blue Tour in the morning – Yilmaz was the nicest, most knowledgeable tour guide. We rode up a mountain on the Pierre Loti cable car, drank authentic apple tea, went inside a mosque and learned all about Islamic rituals, got a personal tour of the Egyptian Spice Market (met the Turkish Al Pacino – see pic below), tour a boat tour along the Bosphorus, then we on our own for the rest of the day. We bought hot chestnuts from a street vendor, walked through the Grand Bazaar, ate at the amazingly delicious Amedros Cafe, then bought lots of presents for family at the markets. We walked back to the hotel after dark and ate locally, given that we had to be up at 5am to go to the airport in the morning. I’m totally ready for friends to plan a trip to Istanbul so I can share lots of tips! More pictures to come tomorrow.

Best halloumi cheese and portobello mushroom dish on planet earth!

Wanderlust December 16, 2012

Istanbul Bucket List

What an amazing first day in Istanbul. So many wonderful bucket list places checked off: Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cisterns, the Hippodrome, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and Gulhane Park. We drank lots of Turkish wine and coffee, ate local foods (amazing cheese!), and walked until our feet were killing us. We’ve got a boat tour of the Bosphorus and the Grand Bazaar, so expect many more pictures. Instagram photos first…

And the non-Instagram pictures…

Wanderlust December 15, 2012

Touchdown Istanbul

After some of the most stressful travel hours of my life (an experience in Manila tops the list), I’m finally in Istanbul – and from what I’ve seen so far, I love. Due to Expedia’s incompetency, Sasha was not able to get on his flight in Accra, Ghana, so he is not here yet. He’ll arrive bright and early (after booking another flight). Tomorrow’s itinerary (yes, it’s printed) is jam packed. I’ll be posting pictures regularly.

xoxo