Copenhagen, Denmark

Hyrum and I returned home from Turkey on April 29th, on May 3rd I was off on another adventure.  Poor Hyrum, I left him on the very day the movers were coming to take all our household goods to Oregon.  At least he had Oma here to help him out during that crazy time.

So, where was I heading?  I was off on a cruise around the Baltic Sea for 11 days with three of my friends.  The first stop, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Here we are trying to close the trunk after loading the car full of luggage, it was a tight squeeze!

How many GPS's does it take to get to Copenhagen?  We had these two GPS's plus a printed out map, just in case.

Copenhagen is the city of the famous storyteller, Hans Christian Andersen.

Our friend Nadja is from Copenhagen and she said we had to try the "French Hot Dogs" they were pretty yummy but I'm not sure why they are called that???

We walked all around Copenhagen.  This is the New Harbor and it was a wonderful sunny day so it was packed with locals hanging out in the sunshine.

On our walk we went into the Cathedral of Our Lady to see this statue of Christ.  There is a replica of this statue in the Salt Lake City visitors center.  It was pretty neat to see the original sculpture.

We wandered around and found this little town of Christiania.  It's basically a commune where people live rent free and sell marijuana to the tourists.  

Jody in front of a mural in Christiania

An artsy gate leading into the children's playground.

Crazy hand sculpture made from a  tree trunk.  Christiania was pretty funky, it was fun to visit but there is no way I would want to live there!

Our walking tour ended at a sculpture of the Little Mermaid, one of Hans Christian Andersen's more famous tales.

We stayed the night in Copenhagen (our boat didn't leave until Saturday afternoon).  The next morning we attended a session at the temple and then had a few more hours to explore one more sight, Our Savior's Church.

Copenhagen, Denmark temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Our Saviors Church.  We climbed up to the top of the spire...on the OUTSIDE of the spire.  

Walking up and around the spire of the church.  I have been to the top of many church towers but this was the first time you had to walk on the outside of the spire!

At the very top of the spire.  It was really windy up there and I have to admit, I was glad to come down:)

By the afternoon we were ready to board the Norwegian Sun cruise ship for our fun trip around the Baltic Sea.  More adventures to come!!

Istanbul...Not Constantinople

Did you really think my traveling posts were finished?  We've only just begun:)  On Wednesday, April 25th, Hyrum and I caught a plane to Istanbul, Turkey.  Let me just give a quick shout out to Turkish Airlines.  The flight was less than three hours and in that time they gave us an actual meal plus a movie for FREE

We arrived at our hotel pretty late at night but we couldn't resist the opportunity to walk around the park that separates the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia...our hotel was right across the street from the Blue Mosque.

This was the view we got of the Blue Mosque each morning as we ate our breakfast on the hotel patio, pretty amazing!

The Hagia Sofia at night

The first day in Istanbul we did the tourist sites, we toured the Hagia Sofia, the underground cistern and the Blue Mosque and we also walked around the impressive Grand Bazaar.  We also saw many, many, many Mosques

Inside the Hagia Sofia.  Built in 532AD as a Christian church it was converted into a Mosque in 1453 when the Ottomans took control of Istanbul.  It was finally turned into a museum in the 1930's and is an amazing site.  The interior is so impressive with the mosaics and the huge dome, this was definitely a highlight of the trip.

The underground cistern.  Built in the 6th century AD it has 336 columns and covers the area of about two football fields.  Built to meet the needs of a fast growing capital city, when full it could hold 27 million gallons of fresh water.

The interior of the Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent

Inside the Rustem Pasa Mosque

The Grand Bazaar.  I was expecting it to be more like the market in Morocco but it was much more organized and better maintained.  A crazy, crowded hectic experience but fun to see the colors and smell the smells of this place

Fun colorful shoes

Mmmmm....Turkish Delight

I loved the colorful lamps

Friday we decided to take a break from the crazy city and take a boat ride up the Bosphorus Strait.  Turkey is located in both Europe and Asia and the Bosphorus Strait separates the two sides.  The 2 hour boat ride was wonderful.  The weather was beautiful and we saw many villages and gorgeous houses on both sides of the Strait.  The final stop was on the Asian side of Turkey so we hopped off and explored a bit around this quiet village, just so we could say we've been to Asia:)

On the boat

From the boat dock you can hike about 20 minutes up to the top of a hill and explore around an old castle.  From this vantage point you can look out over the Bosphorus and all the way to the Black Sea.

We walked all around the old castle wall.  This picture doesn't really show it but we were up pretty high.  Look Ma, no handrails!

About halfway around the wall we stopped to sit for a while and just enjoy the beautiful day.  Down in the little bay there were lots of dolphins jumping in and out of the water.  There must have been a school of fish or something right in that spot because we sat and watched the dolphins for about 15 minutes.

We got back from the boat tour in time to do a bit more exploring.  The sky looked like it was going to rain so we ducked into the Blue Mosque.  What a real treat to be allowed into such holy buildings and to enjoy the beauty and history of such wonderful places.

By Saturday we were ready to hit the site seeing trail once again.  Our first stop was the wonderful Chora Church.  Rick Steves was not joking when he suggests giving your neck a nice stretch before entering this church.  The mosaics are fantastic and you have to look straight up to see them and then you get dizzy spinning around trying to see them all at once!

My favorite mosaic from the church.  This shows Mary on her death bed and Christ is receiving her spirit in the form of an infant.  The detail work was amazing and the size of each piece of tile was so tiny.

Next stop, the old walls of the city.  Yes, some of the stairs to climb up to the top of the wall were this steep!!!

From the top of the wall, overlooking Istanbul

After the wall we found our way over to the Eyup Sultan Mosque.  Eyup Sultan was the prophet Muhammad's right hand man and he was buried here.  Centuries later Sultan Mehmet built a Mosque to mark the spot of his grave.  This Mosque was unique in that there weren't many Western tourists here but a crowd of Muslim pilgrims visiting this holy site.  This is a photo of how I looked each time we entered a Mosque.

The interior of the Eyup Sultan Mosque.  Once again we were amazed to be allowed into such a Holy place.

We continued on our walking tour of the back street neighborhoods of the city.  The tour ended at this pretty but very low key looking church.  It turns out this is the seat of the Orthodox church.  Like the Vatican in Rome, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate holds the offices of the head of the Orthodox church and its more than 300 million followers worldwide.

We went inside to have a look around.  They were holding a service so we quietly sat down on one of the benches.  There was about 30 minutes of chanting and then this man appeared and gave a short sermon.  Well, it turns out this is Bartholomew, the 270th archbishop of the Orthodox church!  This was the main guy, the head hancho and there was NO security.  It was a real treat to be in the right place at the right time and enjoy this experience.

Our plane didn't leave on Sunday until the afternoon so we took the opportunity to visit one last site on Sunday morning.  We went up to the Topkapi Palace.  It was the first time all week that we actually had to stand in line to buy tickets!  Once through the gate into the Palace courtyard we headed straight for the Harem which was the living quarters for the Sultan and his wives and concubines.  

The tile work inside the Harem was so beautiful

Many of the doors were inlaid wood and many of the walls and floors were covered with tile

The Palace is also home to the many jewels and treasures of the Sultans including the Topkapi Dagger...yeah, those are real emeralds.

Here we are in the courtyard of the Palace.  After our visit we headed out to the airport.  It was such an amazing city to visit and one we hadn't really planned on seeing, this was a last minute trip idea because the tickets were cheap and Oma was here to watch our boys.  I'm so glad we got to see Istanbul!

Prague with Andrea and Oma

The day after we returned from our big Spring Break trip Oma, Andrea and I headed over to Prague.  I have been to Prague in the Czech Republic many times but it's one of those cities that you can return to over and over again and always see something new.  This time around I really wanted to tour the Jewish quarter because that is the one place I had yet to see.

Of course we had to try the trdelnik, it's a yummy dough that is cooked and then rolled in cinnamon and sugar...mmmmm

One ticket gets you entry into six sites in the Jewish quarter.  This is the Spanish Synagogue.  

The interior of the Spanish Synagogue, simply amazing!

Iron work showing the symbol for a Jewish guild in Prague

Inside the Pinkas Synagogue each of the walls is lined with the names of over 7,000 Jews from Prague that died during the Holocaust.

Upstairs in the Pinkas Synagogue is a room full of children's drawings from the Terezin Concentration Camp.  This exhibit, more than anything I have ever seen related to Concentration Camps, made me pause and really think about the individuals that were sent to these places.  What truly broke my heart was when you looked at the ages of the children that had drawn the pictures, not many of them survived life at the Camp.

Really cool old Jewish cemetery

After our walk around the Jewish Quarter we headed over to the Charles Bridge.  This is Andrea making a wish while she rubs the figure of St. Charles.

A fun "love bridge" we passed on our way to the John Lennon wall.  Couples put their names on these locks and then lock them around the bars of the bridge and throw the key down into the water, thus ensuring their love will last forever.

This store was our landmark to look for when getting off the trolley to get to our hotel.  I just had to take a "cheesy" smile picture in front of this sign:)

We stayed the night in Prague and woke up on the morning of April 17th with beautiful weather.  We decided to do the walking tour of Prague starting with Wenceslas Square...

...And ending in front of the Powder Tower near the main market square.  The walk was wonderful, I love all the different architectural styles represented along the streets of Prague.

????  Can anyone that speaks Czech please tell me what this sign was trying to say?  It's the yellow sign with a picture of a bird crossed off.  "Don't feed the birds"?  "If you're a bird you may not land here"?  "No birds allowed"?  I really am curious.

We ended our time in Prague with a relaxing walk through the Vysehrad Park.  From the top of the hill you get a great view of the river and city below.

The Church of St. Peter and Paul, located in the Vysehrad Park, is completely painted in Art Nouveau style.

Behind the church I found the angel I want for my tombstone when I die, isn't she pretty?

Oma looking out over the city.  We had a lot of fun in Prague, I hope to see it at least one more time before I leave.