Posts Tagged ‘adventure’

Like the roads in Old Town Rhodes, it started off bumpy!

Our ferry was cancelled, so we had to drive 2 hour to get to another ferry spot, and then was told we had to wait 5 hours for the next ferry. Was a bit stressed, but things turned around qwhen I saw a colony of bunnies! They were just hanging out! And then better yet, Jim got us on an earlier ferry we were told was full. We were the last to get on, but all was right in our traveling hearts.

We stayed in the medieval area of Rhodes Town. It’s beautiful, with tiny streets going off in all directions made either of river rock or marble. Ancient rock walls line these streets. It’s just beautifully confusing. You can meander the tiny streets and alleys for hours, picking a street cafe to then people watch, when your feet and legs get weary.

We did our own tour of Old Town our first afternoon/evening, including a meander inside the palace.

Our second day we took a bus to Lindos, another cute but way way smaller town of meandering foot traffic only streets and alleys. We went straight up around 30 flights of hills/stair to the amazing Acropolis. Then we meandered down around 50 flights to the beach for lunch and a cold dip in the Aegean Sea. It was smart because we had a 20 flight up climb still to do and it kept us cool.

Our 3rd day we took sail on what I thought was going to be a nice big catamaran, but nope, Jim booked a pirate ship! It was not a pirate themed tour though, they did keep us well fed and had plenty to drink. There was no walking of planks either. We went to 3 wonderful spots to swim, we jumped off the front of the boat and snorkeled, although the water was beautifully clear and blue, there were no fish. I brought bread on the 2nd stop, we got a bunch of fish and snorkeled a bit more, but the water was sooooo cold it affected my body and I opted out of the last swim spot, but Jim jumped off the top deck and swam to shore. It was mostly overcast for the day, but we got some sun for the trip back to town

Our last day, we slowly made our way up to the Acropolis in town, which is nothing compared to the one in Lindos. And then after a 2pm lunch, we lounged, and then hit a museum for our last day!

ADVICE:

I recommend staying in the medieval part of Rhodes town. Our place, St. Artemois Boutique hotel was more than awesome. Attached to the old, maybe ancient, church St. Artemois. It has only 4-6 rooms only with a pretty courtyard. Made to order Breakfast was in the courtyard and came with our $125. a night fee. Maria is a gracious host too.

I’llSTILL ADVICE:

If you don’t like cold water to swim in, do not go to Rhodes in May, even late May. Even hot out some days the water was still freezing.

We found Rhodes town and Lindos kind of crowded at times, (of course especially with cruises) but the locals said it is nothing compared to high season, which starts in June.  I don’t know if the water gets warmer later into the summer, but the air does.

Also, I recommend Lindos, it’s definitely a workout but as far as history / ruins go its cool and with a beautiful view. Maybe go with a guide to learn more about it than the few informational signs we read.

We are off to Santorini now! Thanks for visiting…

MY GNOME LITTLE WORLD.

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Good-bye enchanted beautiful Fairy Chimneys, amazing valleys and colorful balloon clouds in the sky.

Hello high desert, Silk Road Caravan Stops, Dirt Roads, Romani Camps, Rumi and Whirling Dervishes!

First pull over is a ancient caravan stop along the Silk Road from China to Europe. The history, the the adventure, the dangers, oh my! The trails from the US East to the West is nothing compared to this.

ADVICE: Do stop at the Silk Road Caravan Stops. Unless you have unlimited time, don’t go off roads looking for more history.

Looking for another ancient Silk Road Caravan Stop got us off road, a wee bit lost and on an adventure.

We finally found it! Ha, no we did not. But we did find one in a small town!

We reached Konya, home of the Whirling Dervish and its creator, who lies in death there too.

I always associated Rumi with the yoga/self help/hippy seen, but he was a Sufi muslim, which is kind of a hippy sector of Islam.

We went to the museum/mosque where the Whirling Dervishes do their ceremony, but unfortunately we were not there on a night they do it. Sad to miss  them, but visited Rumi’s resting spot.

ADVICE:

Try to go to Konya on a weekend to see the real Whirling Dervish ceremony. Do stop at roadside fruit stands to buy a kilo of strawberries for $2.50 (do wash before eating though). And definitely help tortoise safely cross the road.

We walked around the city center and turned in for the night for a long road trip the next day.

The drive where I bought strawberries from the farm, opium poppies grew, and I saved 2 Greek Tortoise to boot! 

And then came Pamukkale, aka the Cotton Castle, which is a hard calcium buildup dripping down a mountain side for 1000s of years from the natural hot mineral springs. And let me not forget Hieropolos, an ancient Roman town, which was smartly built by said hot springs.

ADVICE:

The travertine (cotton castle), Cleopatra’s pool and the Hieropolos ruins are all in one 30 Euro fee. No wait, Cleopatra’s pool is extra, but it is in the same park. Carry towels, bathing suit, and water in with you. We did not know this.

The warm spring water “pools” at the top of the travertine are beautiful but just wear shorts to go in, they are very shallow, not very warm and the bottom is weird to sit on.

And do all three, including the hike up to the theater at Hieropolos.

We packed in a lot that day, the ruins, and a swim in Cleopatra’s pool, which was another hot spring (immediately above) where ruins are tossed about the bottom. She never went, but the water was brought to her to bathe in upon reaching the shores of Turkey. And also, we slightly bathed in the cotton Castle’s very shallow pools of hot mineral spring water at the top of the mountain.

It was another early night for an over the mountain road trip to the beach the next day, with a stop at a farmers market and a quick stop to save another turtle!

And we made it to the sea, the coast, the Blue Lagoon, Baby!  We are having a nice rest for 1.5 days before we head to Rhodes, Greece!

ADVICE:

If you want a quite very chill stay, get a hotel on the Blue Lagoon. If you want party and action, stay in the beach area of Oludeniz. Do hang out and do activities in the Oludeniz beach area. The pirate ship cruises, the sky dotted with paragliders and the all around festivity is appreciated.

Beach Time, Eating, Drinking, a great massage and then we jumped off the top of a 5000 mountain!

ADVICE:

Do go paragliding here if you want to. It is scary before the take off, but so beautiful and relaxing once you are in the air. Other than that enjoy the many colorful parachutes in the sky all day. Also we went in May, so it was mellow and the water was chilly.

It was amazing, but honestly it scared the caca out of me before we took off. I mean, who purposely walks to the very edge of a 5000ft high mountain with a kite on their back. Um, me, I guess, with weak knees, fear in my heart and my brain exploding. But I did it, we both did it.

I’m 60 Damnit!

This was a long one, will go shorter next time.

Thanks for visiting My Gnome Little World.

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Us Gnomads on the way to Rhodes Greece!

Not that kind of a trip! We are on a road trip. First stop, Cappadocia, where the Fairy Chimneys live and magic happens.

Ok, it may not be called “Fairy Town” but the rock formations all over town have been nicknamed “Fairy Chimneys”. You don’t have to ask me twice, you had me at “Fairy”.

We left Istanbul and flew to a town an hour away from Goreme (where the “Fairies” live), so we rented a car and are now on a road trip.

As soon as I saw the Fairy Chimneys as we were on the outskirts of town, I got excited and emotional. They are amazing, not just as a weird freak of nature but they were carved out for people to live in, for churches and crazy enough to be tombs too. What is left is a town that now uses these places as businesses and hotels and restaurants. It is a magical place.

The area is called Cappadocia and it’s not only a world wide tourist spot, but people from Turkey come by the droves to see this cool natural thing and to maybe to stay inside a fairy chimney for the night as well.  The Turkish people have been keeping a secret though, they come for the wine too. There is some good wine being produced in this area. So ending the day looking at Fairy Chimneys with a local red and white is the best thing we could do!

My photos do not do them justice. But it may get even better, because if weather permits there will be some colorful hot air balloons floating around the sky as well for even better picture taking!

The weather permitted one fine, but way early morning!

After we finally got up, we got back down, way down. We bent over and squatted our way down 8 floors below the surface into an Underground City! It’s amazing and a bit claustrophobic, but so worth it.

Like People lived in the Fairy Chimneys, People lived underground too. These particular Christian people were hiding from Arab Muslims a thousand years ago or so

Their cities were intricate and had everything, even wineries!

The Cappadocia magic didn’t end there, they have magic valleys as well. We danced through the Imagination Valley, with kissed through Love Valley, we were amazed through the Ihlara Valley and we passed through Pasabag Valley.

The Ihlara Valley

The Love Valley…

Can you tell why it’s named that?

Imagination Valley

The Pasabag Valley

The photos and my words do not relay just how magical this place was to me. Constant beauty everywhere you looked.

We left this morning along the Silk Road west. My next blog will be Silk Road Stops, Konya, Pamukkale and maybe Oludeniz…depending on my experiences, photos and the stories I want to tell.

Thank you for visiting

MY GNOME LITTLE WORLD

And come back soon for travel adventures, art exploring and all around mayhem.

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Making nature into what it isn’t.

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A Starfish Sea Urchin.

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Dead Coral Growing.

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Shells in the Sky.

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Sea Glass on Solid Ground.

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Sponge Flooring.

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Plated Turtle Food.

Nature doesn’t need me. I pluck it from its home and it bring it to mine.  I need nature. 

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As I am begging for inspiration, pleading for motivation, I cage nature.

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There is sits.  Mocking me.

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My mind rolls around these visions in my head as the sea rolls around glass, making it solid so you can’t see through it, you just see it.

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I stole from nature for my own pleasure.  To turn nature’s art into my own.

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Who was I fooling?

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Nobody can do better than this?

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But Yet I Try.

My Vintage Watercolor Pencil Version of the photo of nature above.

I won’t try to insult it by calling it anything other than “Sand Sea Sky”.

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Why I love Photography, I pluck it from where it is supposed to be yet keep it there.

Thank you for allowing me this musings.  I hope you enjoy and will visit again.


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No, we did not create the sea.

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We packed up whatever we wanted to keep, like kitchen stuff, tools and important stuff from our California Apartment, and Sold the Rest.

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We sold a lot furniture, my projects, some of my art, and much of our beloved vintage stuff.

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Then we moved, again, by airline with just 5 suitcases and some boxes.

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Although, we were lucky enough to go on many adventures with family while living nearby, this move was really hard, emotionally.

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All the other moves were just pains in our asses, but this one tore our hearts. We moved away from family. It’s weird, we want to be close to our families, but we also want to explore and go on adventures. Our married life has been all “This” and almost nothing but “This”. We have accepted it is Who We Are now. We.Are.Gnomads.

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If it were any other place, I probably would have said no, but I couldn’t say no to where we are now. We live on an island, an island in the Caribbean. I could not say, “No” to that opportunity and the work is important to Jim. We moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico so Jim could work on the project to rebuild the power system here, which is dearly needed.

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We have explored some of the island, and I am learning tons about it’s electrical system along the way. And Jim is making his way around bureaucracy, island time and the government to get his project rolling. I am proud of him. He really wants to do this job, it is what the residents of this island really want and need. Below is a photo of damaged windmills 18 months after Hurricane Maria which shut all the islands of Puerto Rico down.

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We have been living here fully since the end of February. We got our apartment the 1st of March and we are well on our way of settling into City Island Life.

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Old San Juan

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Our Beach, Ocean Beach

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Colorful Calle Loiza, Our Neighbor to the East.

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The Evening View to the West.

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We live on the 8th floor of 10 story building with a view west of the sunset over the neighborhood, and with a bit of a view of the Caribbean Sea to the North. We get great sunset.

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We have explored a fair amount around the main island (as they call it here).

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We have also been lucky enough to have already gone to a small island off the East Coast of Puerto Rico, Vieques.

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We are just plain lucky and We.Are.Gnomads. And This Is OUR Gnome Little World.

Thank you for visiting it.


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