I decided to make my way up to the northernmost points of the Asian side of the Bosphorus in Istanbul. Anadolu Kavağı and Anadolu Feneri are two fishing villages, one frequently on the tourist path, the other not. This entry is about Anadolu Kavağı.
I had tried several times before with Isaac, but we were always thwarted by some outside force – weather, missed ferries, late buses. Now that Isaac had moved back to the US, I had to go it alone.
The highlight of my short road trip in Canada was absolutely Québec City. I had wanted to visit the historic city on the St. Lawrence River for a very long time, and it was well worth the trip up from Montréal.
Toronto has arguably the liveliest Greektown in North America. Greektown Toronto runs for several blocks along Danforth Avenue. Greek restaurants and businesses can be found all up and down the street. You can even see the street signs listed in both English and Greek.
Manoli, Aleko, and George picked me up and we began our four hour drive to Windsor, Ontario. Our excuse was to see the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers play at Comerica Park in Detroit the next day. Aleko and I sat in the back seat and played a heated game of Risk on my iPad while George and Manoli captained the ship.
From Kyiv, I took an easy day trip to Chernihiv, one of the most historic cities in the Ukraine. It’s over 1300 years old and has lots of cathedrals and monasteries.
After visiting Pripyat, the final stop on the Chernobyl tour was the town of Chernobyl. Before the evacuation in 1986, Chernobyl had about 14,000 residents.
Kyiv overall is a great city with lots to see and do. It’s very accessible and easy to find your way around with the tourist information signs posted all over the city. That being said, I was happy to be there, but after my week was up, I was equally happy to leave.
Alexandria. I like saying it. Probably because it’s a mysterious city I’ve heard so much about in history class, reading history books, and because I’m Greek. It’s a great city near and dear to the hearts of Greeks, with several songs and poems written about it. A city founded by Alexander the Great and from where Cleopatra seduced the Rome. And just like Constantinople (now Istanbul) and Smyrna (now Izmir), many lament having to leave it behind. For these reasons, I had to pay a visit.
Far to the west in Istanbul’s nether regions lies the district of Büyükçekmece. It sits on a large (and unfortunately polluted) lake, spanned by a historic Ottoman bridge built by Mimar Sinan (c. 1490 – 1588).
Çamlıca Hill (Büyük Çamlıca Tepesi) is a place on the Asian side of Istanbul with phenomenal views of the city and the Bosphorus. The Turkish name literally translates to Big Pine Tree Hill.