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Depending on what you read or who you listen to, there are either 300 or 400 beers available in Bruges. The place we ate a late lunch/early dinner! boasted of 300 with several local beers on tap with alcohol contents ranging from 4 to 12 percent.  With only 2 days in town I have so far sampled only 4 , all of which have been superior to the suds that the mega breweries in Canada pass off to unsuspecting consumers. Only 296 to go- its going to be tough!   The trip to Bruges from Amsterdam was rather eventful and a good introduction to the intricacies of european rail travel.A delayed conection out of Rotterdam caused a missed connection in Roosendaal which ultimately added two further connections to the trip, as a detour through Ghent cut a half hour off the trip. Regardless, we arrived 2 hours later than scheduled to a dreary damp city.  Hungry and tired, a quick meal of soup and pizza supplied some much needed energy as we tried to figure out the local transportation opt...

Sunday night is being spent in Amsterdam,  or to be exact Hoofddorp, a suburb adjacent to the airport.   A dreary night awaited us when we arrived from Istanbul, and from weather reports, that is also what we can expect for the next few days.  We wrapped up the last couple of days in Istanbul with a Saturday morning visit to Topkapi Palace where I finally managed to see the section dedicated to the Holy Relics of the Prophet Muhammad. Under renovations on my last visit and blocked by massive queues of Muslims due to Ramadan in 2006, this was a case of 3rd time lucky. Worth the wait? I think so- where else are you going to see the Staff of Moses and the Sword of King David and bits of Muhammad's beard ( OK, Other than Ripley's Museum at Niagara Falls!)   True to form, the kitchens were closed on this visit.I dont think the palace is ever FULLY open to the public. At least the Harem was open but sadly there weren't any taste tests being offered!  An afternoon visi...

10pm Friday,          Seems we covered a whole lot of ground over the last few days and have the blisters to prove it.    A morning walk through Gullhane ( umlaut above the u!) was an easy way to walk off a mundane Turkish breakfast [9 kinds of olives, 8 kinds of mystery meat, stewed eggplant and various breads] The Turkish have clearly mastered the art of hard boiling eggs to the point that they will probably bounce if dropped on a hard surface= fried eggs? well let's say it seems to be a work in progress!    The park takes a route north through the section known as Seraglio Point and borders the western side of Topkapi Palace, the fortifications of which loomed high above us.   After leaving the park the route south continued uphill to an area known as Sultan Ahmet Square, an open courtyard with central fountain. To its north, the Hagia Sophia and to its south the Blue Mosque. An early attempt to enter the latter was postponed on seein...

I guess it is reaching that point on the vacation where one starts to forget just what day it is. Today was spent largely doing nothing, That turned out to be rather strenuous. Starting with a hike from the hotel to the highest levels of the Old Town we walked through one of the downtown parks, admiring the view from the cliffs over the very blue waters of the Mediterranean. A visit to the Ataturk House, where the famous leader spent time during his first visit to the area in 1930, proved to be a short but interesting diversion.   Lunch at a place called Leman Culture turned out to be an interesting experience. With a rather eclectic menu, reminiscent of the Loonie Spoons cookbook series, the food was a pleasant change from the kebabs, kebabs and more kebabs of the local vendors. With its own Facebook Page and endorsements from various people including my nemesis- Dr Oz! it will definately be worth a second look, if not here then in the Istanbul location, if we can find it.   ...

A week into the trip, Sunday marks the 5th day in Antalya.  Overall, the weather has been great, if a little unpredictable . Wednesday evening torrential rains left the streets awash in water for 2 hours before the storm passed on, A beautiful day followed with highs approaching 30C. We spent the better part of the day checking out the Old Town and the adjacent city areas.  Friday a guided tour took us to Perge, Aspendos and Side ( pronnounced See-Duh) all ancient city sites. Perge's history goes back to 3000 BC, but most of the current site is from the Roman Era ( around 100-200AD) The visible ruins consist of an ampitheatre,  a stadium  ( both off limits due to restoration efforts) and a central city area consisting of an Agora , a main street, several fountains and bath houses. The main street featured rows of marble columns which at one time supported a roof which covered shops and a sheltered walkway. In the centre of the street a water flowed through a central ...

11pm  As expected , the last night at the New Pera Suites was spent listening to bad renditions of Turkish versions of songs that sounded somewhat familiar but ..... Sort of a bloopers reel from Turkey's Got Talent- assuming such a show exists.  It was raining when I finally fell asleep- I'm guessing around 4am and it was still raining when we set off for breakfast at McDonalds around 9am.   The trip to Antalya involved a taxi, a shuttle bus, 2 separate luggage searches at the airport then a 70 minute flight via AtlasJet, a regional airline.   The pre-arranged transport was not waiting upon arrival. He showed up 15 minutes late ( the first bad sign) then halfway between the airport and the town of Antalya he stopped to ask for directions as he drove down a narrow side road which was clearly not  where we were supposed to be.   After making several calls ( to no avail) he began to rely on me for directions as I toggled between maps on my phone and street sig...

10pm          The police once again made their rather unwelcome presence on Istiklal Caddesi this evening. Several dozen, in full riot gear, stood in the rain with batons and tear gas launchers at their sides, their plastic shields giving them some degree of shelter.   Thankfully, they were gone by the time we returned from supper.  Sleep came in brief cycles last night as the bar across the street finally closed up around 4am. Motor traffic and street sounds continued till close to dawn. I finally got out of bed at 8:30am with, at best, 3 hours of sleep under my belt.   A basic breakfast of bread, cheese, "mystery meat" butter and hazelnut spread , washed down with Nescafe, gave me enough energy for the day ahead.   The day began with a walk ( approx. 2km)from the hotel to the Golden Horn, the body of water that separates the Beyoglu District from the Bazaar Quarter to the south. Intermittent showers kept things rather damp for the first par...