Belgrade, Serbia

Belgrade was a pleasant surprise for us. It was a last minute decision to go there and i'm very glad we did. Not much of a touristy city which allowed us to wander through the nice local parks and enjoy a spot of shopping. There is some evidence of the war with the military museum and several heritage listed communist official buildings that cant be touched even though they were reduced to rubble during the war. Belgrade excelled in in offering nice affordable restaurants and funky bars. We checked out a few but took it easy after 12 days in Greece. 

 Beautiful restaurant covered in pot plants. 

 Me and my tank.

A massive temple that the locals raved about but was strangely modern and under construction. Not the prettiest attraction on tour but interesting nonetheless. 

Ios

I would have loved to have put up some nice scenic photos from Ios but there isn't any. The three days we had there were spent lying by the pool at Far Out Beach Hostel and the Three nights were spent bar hopping. So here is a small selection of flattering photography from one of those evenings...

 Giselle, Myself and Chels enjoying an archway at Orange bar where we drank malteser and mint chocolate shots.

 The boys testing out some good Greek kit.

 SLAMMER BAR! famous in Ios because they hit you in the head with an object after you scull a double shot. Oscar copped a skateboard to the noggin and i enjoyed a fire extinguisher!

Countless frozen strawberry and banana daqueries were consumed over the three days!

Santorini

Beautiful Santorini put on a spectacular show for us weather wise. We had three nights staying at Artemis Village. We spent a day exploring the island on vehicles (Oscar and I on Scooters, Nick and Chels shared a quad bike and the 4 girls hired a car). We spent the morning at Red Beach and climbing the hill to the Monastery for great views of the whole island, then in the evening we road to Oia to watch the sunset. Beautiful! Day two was spent in Fira (Thira/Main Town) where we did some shopping and met some donkeys. We had a nice group dinner on the cliff edge before an early night and an early ferry the following day to Ios.

 Riding Scooters (Jen being safety conscience and stylish, Oscar not so much).

 The four of us stuck together as the girls wanted to spend more time at the shops. Fighting the Greek locals on the roads was an interesting experience but a great day all the same.

 Red Beach, photos don't do it justice, the sand was burgundy. amazing.

 Highest point of Santorini. Took Chels and Nick a long time to make it up the hill on a 50cc quad bike, Osc and I were slightly more successful. 

 Views to die for.

 Sunset on the marble streets at Oia (sorry i forgot to rotate...)

 A long way down to the water, hence the donkeys.

 Sunsets and windmills. Such a god cliche.

 same again

 picnic dinner at the sunset. Raided the tin food section of the local supermarket. Deliciously cheap!

Eee Ore!

Mykonos

Ok. The Greek Islands begins in Mykonos. We stayed at Paragah Beach Camp-site which was an experience i never wish to repeat. Gail force winds ensured that everything stayed coated in dust and sand for three days and there was endless party music being blasted from 9am until 2am every night. However, we had a couple of nice days exploring the town on the other side of the Island, lay by our very nice pool bar most of the three days nursing hangovers from some very interesting nights out on Paragah and Paradise beach.

Cavo Paradiso Super Club.

Greek Salads and fresh muscles everyday YUM!!!

Dining out on the waterfront.

Windmill! this was at the port where we had two attempts at getting to Santorini as all high speed ferries were cancelled because of wind. This meant an extra night at our favourite camp-site and one less night in Santorini :( oh well...

Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul was incredible. The sheer size of the place was insane. Well that and the diversity of culture. When I was first told we were spending seven nights there I was surprised and worried we were going to grow bored. To my delight that did not happen. The obvious tourist sights were no let down, and this entry will be backed up with photos to come. The Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar were the two most obvious attractions and both as impressive as each other. Being with a large group of girls, hours, bordering days, we're spent in the Grand Bazaar. With over 6000 stores, there was plenty to see , plenty of haggling, and plenty spent. Purchases over the group ranged from jewelry, cashmere, watches, carpet bags, shoes and knock off handbags. Everyone had tales to tell and bags upon bags to carry at the end of the day. 

Going back to the diversity of culture for a minute, Istanbul was surprising for several reasons. Obviously because of its geographical location, there was the apparent meeting of eastern and western culture. On street level Islamic culture was at the forefront. With mosques on every corner, traditional dress combined with modern fashion, the call to prayer ringing out five times a day, and shisha  cafes littered all over the city, you were regularly reminded that you were no longer in Europe. Contrastingly, there were streets that felt very european, many much nicer than what we have seen so far. One street in particular felt like a street in Surry Hills. With  boutique shops/cafes  by day and wine bars by night there was a comforting familiarity with parts of Istanbul. 

The nightlife was an interesting mix of Turkish house and pop with European house. Bars and clubs alike were lively, and almost as importantly, friendly. Maybe it was the fact that we were in an Islamic state, or that we were in a nice area, or both, that throughout our whole stay I felt very safe in an otherwise overwhelming city. Bars filled cobbled streets and beers were being served in glass milk bottles. Staff and patrons friendly and helpful alike. There wasn't much not to like about this place.  A quiet Sunday evening saw us take to karaoke for Nicks birthday. At first we were the only people in there singing the worst collection of songs, or the best depending on how many beers deep you were. By the time Turkish locals arrived, some hours later, my familiarity with Turkish pop music was tested, however that didn't stop me from steeling a mic, butchering a song, and making new friends. It was ambitious to say the least. Some of us had early nights than others, namely Nick due to too many birthday shots at the bar. Can't say the same for myself. I ran out of money luckily. 

Jen and I on the main harbour front.

It is impossible to do this vast and expansive city justice with only a handful of photos, however here is one of part of Istanbul from across the pond.

Jen in the Hagia Sophia. The low hanging lights make this place.

Jen and I with one of numerous mosques standing mightily in the background.

Jen and Giselle in front of the newer palace. Unfortunatley no photos were allowed to be taken inside. The highlight was one of the many chandeliers, which at the time of purchase, was the biggest in the world. 

A black and white snap of the palace.

One of over 6000 stores in the Grand Bizarre. 

Bodrum, Turkey

Our next stop along the line was Bodrum. Chels had booked us a five bedroom villa with a communal pool with amazing views over the ocean looking straight across at the neighbouring Kos. It was the same nine of us still at this point with the addition of Chris, Jens brother, and his girlfriend, Maria. We all contributed fifty lira to a kitty and did the worlds biggest supermarket shop for the week, the plan being that each bedroom take a turn to cook a dinner for the group. Jen and I cooked green chicken curry which blew everyone's head off. Highlights of Bodrum over the five nights included a day cruise which took us to various swim stops and included lunch, all for 10 euros. That's the advantage of being in a big group, you can bargain everything down. Other than that it was nice just to be able to relax, catch up on some reading, and lie by the pool for hours on end. Overall I would recommend Bodrum as a rest stop. It offers very little in terms of Turkish culture, but everything for relaxation and recuperation.

The View from the villa

The Girls shot

The crew having dinner on the roof

HOT AIR BALLOONING!!!!

So our last morning in Cappadocia was a 5am start as we were picked up and delivered to our lift off point for hot air ballooning. At 120 euros for just over an hour of flight time, it was pretty expensive, but we all agreed it was well worth the money. As over 60 balloons fired up all around us, we were pretty excited to take off. The flying was incredibly smooth, only being interrupted every so often by the incredibly loud flame throwers to manoeuvre us higher. It was an amazing experience and there are hundreds of photos between the 8 of us that went.  

Some Turkish balloons that were firing up all around us. They used massive fans to get the initial air in, then fired them up as they got big enough. It was a nice way to light up the morning sky.  

 This was our balloon firing up. The biggest in the world until last year, now third biggest. It seemed to do the trick...

 The skyline littered with Turkish pollution.

 More rubbish ruining an otherwise beautiful sunrise...

 An otherwise pleasant view.

 Oscar and Jen ballooning.

 Rose valley, Love Valley and Cappadocia.

 Jen ballooning.

 I think between Jen and I alone we took over 150 shots. All as spectacular as the next.

 Oscar, Chels and Nick

 Nick, Chels, Jen and Oscar

 Nigel our pilot and a customary post flight Turkish champers

Our hot air ballooning certificates. Thoroughly deserved I think. Turkish humour at its best.