Bay of Kotor, Montenegro

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Bay of Kotor, Montenegro

After meeting Reyn and Cindy in Dubrovnik, Charles and I rented a car and drove a few hours across the Croatian border into neighboring Montenegro, where we spent a few nights on the shores of the lovely Bay of Kotor. Kotor is another walled city, though less "prettified" for tourists than Dubrovnik. 

Since we had a car, we stayed along the shores of the bay in neighboring Dobrota, about a 10 minute drive from Kotor. It was nice to have a little peace and quiet, and our AirBnb had a great view of the bay. 

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Dubrovnik, Croatia

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Dubrovnik, Croatia

We are still working on some of the finer points of travelling.  For example, we spent about 8 hours getting from Kalambaka back to Athens for a flight that we had booked to meet up with my Dad and Cindy in Dubrovnik.  If I had done a little more digging, I would have seen that there are flights from Thessaloniki, which would have taken only an hour or so by train.  Regardless, we arrived in Croatia.

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The Monasteries of Meteora, Greece

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The Monasteries of Meteora, Greece

Meteora is one of the most incredible things I've ever seen in my life. In my opinion, it's just as cool as the Acropolis, made more amazing by the fact that far, far less tourists visit this destination, since it's a bit out of the way.

Meteora is a formation of massive monolithic columns, topped with monasteries built as early as the 14th century. It made me think of my brother Justin and my sister-in-law Tania constantly, since he's a geologist and she is a structural engineer--the perfect combination.

The pictures below don't do this UNESCO World Heritage site justice. 

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Athens, Greece & the Island of Hydra

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Athens, Greece & the Island of Hydra

After an incredible stay in Istanbul, Samantha and I headed west a bit to Athens.  We figured this would make a great stop before meeting my Dad and Cindy in Croatia at the end of the month,  and we were right.  I had never been to Greece before, while Sam had but only for one rainy day back in college so it really felt like we were both exploring it for our first time.  Athens is a really beautiful city so full of history and culture, which made for days full of museums and walking tours through the ancient city.

We stayed in a great little apartment right below the Acropolis...

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Istanbul, Turkey

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Istanbul, Turkey

After all our time in the bush, we really enjoyed being back in a city, even if it was on the dirtier side, as far as cities go. Of course, that last bit is my observation, not Chuck’s.

We visited the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Sultan Ahmed Mosque, and of course, Hagia Sophia, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Two of my favorites were the Basilica Cistern—a large and ancient cistern beneath the city of Istanbul, and Dolmabahce Palace—which served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1887 and 1909 to 1922. I also loved the colorful spices and sweets at the Grand Bazaar. We took a cruise down the Bosphorus River, which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara and divides Istanbul into a “European side” and an “Asian side,” which for some reason really fascinated me.

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