Euro-Trip: 16-18 (Paris)

Paris!  The final stop on our crazy tour.  We were back in mainland Europe, but were forced to move slow.  Nadine got another stomach bug on Day 1 in Paris...which she then shared with me, while I gave her my cold.

After departing Istanbul, we got to our AirBNB apartment in the city, grabbed some food & red wine for dinner, and celebrated Dave's 31st birthday!  And then each crashed hardcore.

Day 1...it was rainy so we headed for the Louvre.  We saw Mona, Venus de Milo, etc...but what was really neat is that we had just been to the places where the Art was from!  (Athens, Rome, Egypt, Turkey).  We finished up by 1pm, then hopped a train for Versailles to see the palace.  The weather had cleared, and we spent the afternoon walking another European Royal Grounds.  We returned back to the city for a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower at dusk...pssh, what a cheesy place to propose  ;)

Day 2...as a delayed celebration of Nadine's PhD Dissertation Defense, we took a day trip to the Champagne Region (specifically Reims).  Dr Lippa had a plan, but we also winged it with no French between us in a rural area.  We sampled several local 'bubblies' at lunch and then toured two houses (Casanove & Mumm).  We took home souvenirs, then hurried to catch the train home.  A bucket list item crossed off!

Day 3...to enjoy our last day together for awhile, we strolled around a sunny Paris (both sick, but of course hand-in-hand).  We saw Sacre Coeur Church & Notre Dame Cathedral, Saint Chappelle's 12th century stained glass, climbed the Eiffel Tower, stood under the Arc de Triumph, walked down Champs Elysees, saw the lights of Moulin Rouge, and paid our respects at the Paris Shootings Memorial at Bataclan Theater.  Amazing!

Day 4...we got to the Paris airport early, but each knew what was coming.  The last hour slipped away too fast, and Nadine got on a bus for her terminal.  We starred at each other through the same pane of glass on the bus, knowing that was it for awhile.  

But it was all worth it, every minute, every day.  Even today, as Nadine finishes her final 10 weeks in Germany, each of our pre-Marriage choices and journeys are worth it.  The day will come where we will finally be together for good, and what an epic celebration it will be...and you are all invited  :)

Paris... Nadine, Dave, & Mona in the Louvre

Paris...Nadine & Winged Victory in Louvre

Paris... front of Versailles Palace

Inside Versailles Palace... hall of mirrors

Backyard gardens of Versailles

Paris (duh!) Eiffel Tower at dusk

Paris... stealing a kiss in front of Sacre Coeur

Champagne region... sampling bubby at lunchtime

Champagne region... cellars of champagne bottles

Champagne region... rack of champagne bottles

Paris... Notre Dame cathedral

Paris... Eiffel tower during the day

Paris... view of Louvre from Eiffel Tower

Paris... Dave in front of Arc de Triumphe

Paris... evening shot looking down Champs E'lysees

Paris... Moulin Rouge at night!

Paris... street next to Bataclan where chaos was too real

Euro-Trip: 13-15 (Istanbul)

We happily landed in Istanbul, but didn't get to our hotel until 2am!  We were happy to have Cairo behind us, but also starting to wear down.

Day 1 started with 1st getting to our hostel around 10am.  We were warmly greeted with Turkish Tea, and then headed out to tour the Topkapi Palace, where the Sultans used to live and where religious artifacts such as Moses' Staff & David's Sword reside.  Then we went into the famous Blue Mosque, and had our first Islamic experience.  That night we had Mezze Plates at a couple restaurants, then bought a bottle of wine to take back.  But Dave passed out quickly, even before we could reflect on the day.

Day 2 started with Haga Sofia...the most famous site in Istanbul.  Seeing Christianity & Islam side-by-side was very refreshing, but also a reminder of how far there is to go.  We then saw the Basilica Cistern (main water supply when Rome was displaced to Constantinople), and then took a cloudy but dry boat cruise on the Bosphorus Strait. (the body of water separating Europe & Asia).

After the chilly cruise, Nadine led us to lunch & then to the most amazing Turkish bath.  Just...amazing.  We then wandered Istklal Street and sampled plenty of Turkish Delights & Baklava.  We ended the night with crossing the 5th continent off our list...we ventured over to the Asia side of Istanbul & had dinner.  Nothing fancy, but a great view of the city at night.

Day 3 was short, and we only had time for the Grand Bazaar (market).  We did some shopping, then headed for the airport to Paris.  We had to run to catch the plane, as Dave forgot about the Butter Knife in his backpack!  Oops!

Overall, we loved Istanbul for its food and city experience.  Very nice people...but still dangerous, as we fortunately missed this.

Inside Topkapi Palace

Blue Mosque on a cloudy evening

Inside the Blue Mosque... not during prayer

Cheat sheet on prophets in Christianity & Islam

Inside the Bascilia Cistern... water supply of Constantinople

The bed (and Dave) is as wide as the room in Istanbul

Inside the Hagia Sofia... Islam & Christianity in one church

European side of Istanbul city during Bosphorous Cruise

The 1st intercontinental bridge.. Bosphorous Cruise

Rumeli Fortress... Bosphorous Cruise

Spidery Mosque on the Bosphorous Cruise

Inside of our Turkish Bath House... Aga Haman

Baklava heaven!

Maidens tower from Asia side of Istanbul

Entrance to the Grand Bazaar

Euro-Trip: 10-12 (Cairo Egypt)

(lots to tell...this one is a little long!)

Our travel from Athens to Cairo was heavily delayed, but this gave us plenty of time to prepare (e.g., fill our water bottles in the airport b/c its not healthy to drink Cairo city water) as well as time for the nerves to ebb and flow.    We knew we had to be on 100% alert.

We landed safely in the continent of Africa on January 1st, then navigated through an airport with Arabic signage, and met our arranged taxi driver (through the hostel).  You could immediately feel the difference in the way of life.  Especially driving into Cairo, it became very apparent we were in a 3rd world country.  Traffic did what it wanted, trash and dirt lined the streets, and people roamed everywhere.  We went straight to the hostel in the middle of the city (which was really awesome!) and straight to bed, as we had an all-day Pyramids tour!

Day 1...we awoke to a beautiful sunny day, and started our guided tour of the Pyramids area by driving over the Nile River.  We had a personal driver & tour guide (Henry), who spoke fluent English and had spent time at a University in New Jersey.  We started at Memphis (the old Capital), then onto Saqqara (home of the Step Pyramids), and ended in Giza to see the Great Pyramids & Sphinx.  Along the way, we also stopped at a museum to see how papyrus was made (the world's 1st paper!).  We felt very safe the entire time, and Henry answered all of our 1000 questions.  There was NO WAY we could done that tour by ourselves...so many stories to tell, but we'll share those in person!

As we drove home, we each starred out the window and took in the many neighborhoods of the city.  People in cars, people on bikes, people on donkeys, people walking barefoot, just people doing what they needed to survive.  When we got home, we cautiously ventured out to get some dinner and stressfully dealt with businesses trying to short us money.  But we stuffed our bellies, re-hydrated with some Egyptian Beer & Wine, and watched the city hustle below.

Day 2 (our final day) was spent mostly in the Cairo Egyptian Museum.  After walking past several guards with automatic weapons, we spent the whole morning wandering the halls.  We had gone from Rome, to Athens, and now back to the beginning of History (the Egyptians had the first written language).  We ended by seeing the Royal Mummies Room...very surreal.

We then walked ~1 hour across town to the Al Azhar Park.  This walk was probably the most life-changing part of the trip (e.g. 'feeling' the call to prayer while walking in poor neighborhoods...very raw experience).  We ended the day watching the sunset in the Park, then stressfully flagged down a Taxi to the airport.

We arrived safely and on-time, and were relieved when we took-off for Istanbul.  We managed to survive Cairo with the water we had packed, but the stress got to Dave as he began to come down with a bad sinus cold.

Driving in Cairo... everything goes!

Streets of Cairo lined with Trash

In Memphis...Nadine next to huge statue of Ramses II

In Saqqara...entrance to old Temple

In Saqqara...potentially 1st columns in history

In Saqqara...step pyramid, before Great Pyramids

In Giza... Great Pyramids!

In Giza... camels by Khafe Pyramid

In Giza...standing at base of Khufu Pyramid

In Giza... inside Khufu Pyramid (Indiana Jones!)

In Giza... The Sphinx

Watching how papyrus gets made (worlds 1st paper)

Heiroglyphic alphabet on papyrus

Our bungalow style hostel atap a Cairo highrise

Main hallway of Cairo museum

Cairo Museum... paint preserved on Egyptian statues!

Cairo Museum... King Tut's mask

Walking through Cairo... man delivering bread

In Cairo... Al Azhar Park