The Hagia Sophia sits directly across from the most stunning piece of architecture I've ever seen in my life and on this trip, ever, and is also what I would say with some certainty is my "favorite" thing I've seen/visited on this trip, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (the Blue Mosque):
In as few words as possible, the Blue Mosque is completely staggering, stunning, unbelievably impossibly beautiful, moving, epic, jaw-dropping, and, of course, pretty:
None of the pictures I have/could have taken/can find on the internet could do the Blue Mosque justice, both on the exterior and the interior. All of you, all of you people reading this, I am telling you both as my advice and recommendation and as an indirect threat that you must visit the Blue Mosque prior to your death. I suppose I will say that about Istanbul in general, but seriously, seeing the Blue Mosque is more important than whatever you have plans to do later today or this evening or this weekend or whatever you intend on doing within the next five-to-ten years. Do it.
I cannot emphasize how fortunate and grateful I am for having had the opportunity to see it. The picture above is of its interior.
From the top of the Galata Tower, you kind of get an idea on just how massive Istanbul is. It just goes on without end in every direction you look.
The picture above is one such example, as seen from the tower.
So I will try to give credit where credit is due, although I really can't say enough about the Blue Mosque. Nonetheless, the Hagia Sophia was also a completely stellar experience as well. It was originally built as a church (and was the religious focal point for the Eastern Orthodox Church) and was the largest church in the world for nearly 1,000 years (until the Seville Cathedral was built). It was then converted to a mosque after the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453. Its interior was, indeed, awe-inspiring:
Those people look like ants, don't they? And this thing was built between AD 530 and 540?
I think the coolest thing about the inside of the Hagia Sophia is, upon walking in, how you feel like you are in some massive Islamic mosque, and all of the ornate Arabic decoration and calligraphy is fantastic; however, in the upstairs enclave there are all these beautiful, beautiful mosaics of Christian icons (below):
It was just such a unique and fascinating experience. The Hagia Sophia was a fantastic visit; I advise that you go there as soon as you exit the Blue Mosque.
Aside from the impeccably manicured gardens and the beautiful mosaics, there were some pretty cool artifacts held within the palace's exhibits, including but not limited to: Sultan Mehmed II's (the dude who conquered Byzantine Constantinople) sword, the prophet Mohammed's gauntlets, and, supposedly, Moses's staff. I don't know how these things are verified but I trust the Turkish people... they're honest and have integrity, which is nice. The icing on the cake, however, was within the palace's treasury, where we saw the fabled Spoonmaker's Diamond. It's an 86-carat diamond (yes, eighty-six carats: seventeen grams of diamond) surrounded by 49 smaller cut diamonds. It was on sale while we were there and I thought it would make a nice souvenir for my mom, and I could of bought it (on Steve Purtill's AmEx) but instead I bought her a 1 Lira bookmark. I know she'll love it.
On the night of her birthday, by fate, the friends of mine who are studying in Budapest also happened to be in town, staying in the same room as us in the same hostel (okay that's a lie, we coordinated all of that actually) but needless to say we partied like... like it was the last night of our lives (have I used that one already?) Perhaps to your surprise, as it was to mine, Istanbul has the best nightlife we have seen on our trip, by far and away hands down. I forget what district we went to but it was just bar/cafe/pub/club one after another, it was just so cool. Unlike the other Islamic countries we were to visit (and have since), I can say that in Turkey it seems to be okay to drink alcohol, which was great for a bunch of frat dudes celebrating some bird's birthday. It was an epic night enjoyed by all.
They fit in the palm of your hand and they squak instead of meow. The cats are Turkish Van cats or Turkish Kedisi cats or something like that. They are famous because they always have two different colored eyes:
You can kind of see it in the picture above. The mommy cat (above) has one blue and one greenish-yellow eye. She was a sweetheart, and I really don't even like cats.
Okay, maybe this second picture is of something famous, but it's cool-looking:
This is the Library of Celsus, completed in AD 135. It was ordered to be built by Gaius Julius Aquila to honor his father, Tiberius Julius Celsus. It was built to hold 12,000 scrolls and act as a monumental tomb. Purtill, you can expect no such thing from me:
And this is the theater. It was capable of holding 25,000 spectators who came to watch either drama or gladiator fights:
You pretty much can't help but feel like you're walking through some serious ancient ruins as you wander throughout Ephesus. Who would have thunk?!
(Above, the Bodrum harbor as seen from atop the old castle).
Bodrum is also the sighte of ancient Helicarnassus. One of the ancient wonders of the world, the Tomb of King Mausalos, is no longer around but the stones used in its contstruction are still lying around. Apparently it was the most over-the-top tomb ever. It's where we get the word mausoleum:
And not far from the first mausoleum in the world is the ancient amphitheater. Much smaller than the one in Athens, but very cool just the same:
We stayed at an awesome, awesome hostel in Bodrum where we met a bunch of other travellers and we partied one night like it was the last night of our lives. I had a conversation with some 18-year-old Danish kid and he told me it is just about every Dane's dream to go to California. I told him damn straight.
Altogether, Bodrum was a nice introduction to Turkey. I was pleasantly surprised at how friendly the Turkish locals were, and was also quite enthused to discover that Turkish cuisine is centered around spicy food. In case I never mentioned it before, I love spicy food.
Before we knew it, we were on an early morning bus heading to the oldest city... ever?
If I can find a picture that will do Santorini justice, I'll be sure to let you know. As we did not want to take away from our time in the upcoming countries with set flight dates (Turkey and Egypt) we had two nights in Santorini. They were, quite frankly, two of the best days/nights of my life.
I will vouch that the sunsets are the most remarkable sunsets I have ever seen on the planet Earth:
There are so many amazing church steeples that dot along the coast line, we were lucky enough to still soak in the entire sunset from one (jaw-dropping) vantage point, as we could have just stopped in awe at all of the gorgeous churches.
We had met up with the other American couple I mentioned in Athens and had an amazing time being the only four drunk people dancing at some bar. Santorini, although quite small, has numerous vineyards on the island and all of the local wineries produce some delicious wine. I wish I could have shipped some home for my Dad as this stuff puts two-buck-Chuck to shame. All of the wineries bottle their wine in big two-liter plastic bottles (they are literally recycled water bottles) with a "label" on them (read: sticker). The ones we had were at least 12%, I'm not sure, but the 2L bottle is 3 Euros (4 to 5 for the high-end variety), so you can have a good time for cheap.
Anyhow, during the second day (March 19, Happy Birthday P Sir) we rented ATVs as you can get around the entire island in such a fashion. I made a point to find the sweetest European helmet I could:
That picture is taken from the top of some ancient town on top of a huge hill (there were no fewer than 25 switchbacks to get up there), its name escapes me, but the best part of it is this dog, below:
The dog, whom I named Baxter, is the best dog, ever. I miss him; I'm actually preventing myself from crying as I look at that picture. He saw our ATV cruising around town before we got to the hill, and then the little guy seriously ran alongside us through the town, up the mountain, and down the mountain again (at least 6 kilometers). He darted off to chase a cat when we got to the bottom of the mountain while we carried on our way. Some distance later I could see him in my side/rear-view mirrors as he resumed chasing us, but he slowly faded away as we were going too fast for him (those ATVs go up to 25-30km/hr). I was debating to stop and wait for him to catch up, pick him up by his neck and put him inside my sweatshirt and keep him. Baxter, if you're out there and reading this, I miss you.
Our ATV adventures lead us to the famous red sand beach:
And I should also mention we went to the black sand beach, as well. As you'd imagine, the sand is actually fine volcanic rock, which is why it's either black or red.
On the last evening, the only way to top off another amazing sunset would be a donkey ride from the bottom of the old port all the way back up to civilization (some 300+ big stairs). It's a staple in Santorini and is as touristy as it gets, but nonetheless it was fun. I discovered firsthand why donkeys are (in)famous for being so stubborn. For example, as we were a group of four (two couples), as soon as Natalya got on her donkey it took off like a world-class sprinter. We of course wanted to climb the stairs together, but Natalya's donkey was on a mission and beat all of our donkeys by a good ten minutes or so. Lucky for me, this put her in a good spot to take this picture:
Altogether, the ATVs, Baxter, the food, the wine, the people, and so many other reasons culminated together to create an unbelievable time for us in Santorini. I was pinching myself over and over; it was too good to be true. It was nothing short of paradise on Earth, and I cannot wait to go back to Santorini one day.
Sadly, our two nights had come and gone, and we were on a late ferry heading out of Greece/Europe and on to the second continent we will visit: Asia.
And within the few minutes of our walking from the foot of the mountain to the top, the sky decided to turn overcast on us as I posed in front of the Parthenon:
From the top of the mountain you can get an idea of how massive Athens is. In every direction, the city looks like what is pictured below, just an urban sprawl for as far as the eye can see:
We also made our way up to Lycabettus Hill to see the old (but very well preserved) St. George church:
Some other highlights of Athens include, but or not limited to:
I should also note that Greek hospitality is all that it is cracked up to be. The people are overwhelmingly friendly, they're curious and nice, and at any food place they just keep bringing you food and drink(whether you ordered it or not, whether you want it or not, and it's free).
Anyhow, after some amazing days/nights spent in Athens, we continued our migration through Greece and hopped on a ferry to explore some islands. More to come.
(By the way, the sun was a more than welcomed respite after the snow of Salzburg). And that would be me in front of the Schonbrunn palace, maybe 150 meters away or so and you still cannot get the entire thing in one shot.
It really defies description.
is
really
really
really
seriously
seriously, really, I kid you not
PRETTY:
I mean maybe I'll come back later and edit this post and fill in all the details of the buildings I saw, but for all intents and purposes I think it's rather inconsequential. All you really have to know is that Vienna is nothing short of jaw-dropping; I really didn't think Prague or Budapest could be outdone but Vienna outdid them (still a close call, however, versus Amsterdam). 
Engraved in the stone around that box room are the names of all the concentration and extermination camps that were active at one point. 
We went to go see the Gerard Richter exhibit, which was interesting, to say the least. The guy has the most ecclectic and random style of art, it's unclassifiable. He will paint some unreal cloudy seascape or some ultra-realistic planes or some kind of portraits that look like photos, and then he has weird mixed media art and just an unnecessary amount of abstract "art," or just throwing paint on a piece of paper and framing it and titling it something absolutely asinine. 