14 Photos From 2009

While organizing photos this weekend I came across several photos I haven't shared on this blog, but I still like. They were all taken by me in 2009. Here they are, hope you like them!

Gypsy flower sellers in Kadikoy, Istanbul, Turkey.

I love their mishmash of prints.

A man and wife's catch of the day in Chios, Greece.

They were quite proud, this was tonight's dinner. 

Balloons at sunrise over Goreme, Cappadocia, Turkey.

Every morning 40-50 balloons hover over the town at sunrise, 

well worth running to the roof in your pajamas.

Upon landing in a field outside Goreme, 

our balloon operators deal with the rapidly deflating balloon.

I was actually still in the basket when I took this shot.

My hometown of Naramata, BC on Christmas Day. 

That's my sis on the far dock.

The Bosphorus at sunset, Istanbul, Turkey.

My old apartment is left of the mosque.

My mom inside an old abandoned windmill, Chios Greece.

It was Mom's lifelong dream to visit Greece.

Romanian priests in Cappadocia, Turkey.

Taken outside the cave churches at the Open Air Museum in Goreme.

Woman in a church, Mytillini, Lesvos Greece. 

I love Greek churches and the people who visit them.

 

Mom, Mel and I all taking photos in Pyrgi, Chios, Greece.

Mel's putting her yoga skills to work. 

Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, UAE. 

Taken from the plane. It's huge.

Sunday Morning at a cafe in Al Ain, UAE.

Almonds on ice, Cesme, Turkey.

Street treats are seasonal; iced almonds are only available in summer.

Balat, Istanbul - Tourists rarely visit 

this old Greek and Jewish area, 

but it was one of my favorite areas to wander.

Samos, Greece!

Last September, Mel and I went on a trip to Samos, Greece. It’s just an hour from Turkey, and we went partly to renew my visa and partly to get a taste of Greece.

Mel wrote a great entry about how I almost sent her to a Turkish prison here in her blog if you missed it. (Ok not really.)

Last week, needing another visa and not really keen on Bulgaria, I went back to Samos again. It wasn’t quite as fun without a sister there to listen to my corny comments and lame jokes, but it was a nice getaway.

I swam in the Aegean, OD’d on that fantastic lemon yogurt they sell over there and ate the “forbidden white meat”. Yummy!

Go away kid. Get your own fantastically delicious gyro!

I guess to pick two highlights I would have to say No. 1 would be stumbling across this church in Pythagoras. The inside was your usual Greek Church décor, crammed with icons, intricately carved chairs and more icons, hardly giving your eye a place to rest.

But the real reason this place was a highlight was because several monks were sealed away from the public area by a partial wall. You couldn’t see them, but you could hear them and their voices easily cleared that wall and them some. I sat for a long time listening to them sing and chant, their voices were strong and soothing and the way they sang was very relaxing and also, very touching.

Then a guy came and kicked me out. One o’clock siesta!

Hello! The main shopping street at  1pm!

The second thing I found fascinating were these weeds. I noticed them on the bus ride back from Pythagoras. They covered the hills and roadside. Of course I walked forever in the heat looking for these, only to find some a few meters towards the beach from my hotel. 

A little searching on the Internet led me to Poison Hemlock. Eek! Deadly stuff!

“Be wary of this plant--0.5% by weight is enough to kill a person, and people have died from eating as few as 8 leaves--but consider that most of us have probably picked it as children, mistaking it for Queen Anne's Lace.”

Queen Anne’s Lace! Whew! My weeds have a dark red flower in the middle, a sure fire way to know your dealing with the safe stuff. False alarm!

All in all it was a very relaxing nice break from the chaos of Istanbul. Got back home with very little drama, although the woman who stamped my passport on the way into Turkey was the same one who busted me on the way out last time!