April has been a speedy month, with some amazing sunny weather and warmth with temperatures up to 25deg! Have just been away for 9 days of adventuring, with a spree of bank holidays, only had to take 3 days of annual leave. Brilliant! Good Friday spent in Windsor before heading off on our travels.
Saturday Todd and I flew to Istanbul for Gallipoli on Anzac day. The traffic in Istanbul is mad! Our tour picked us up from the airport and on the drive back cars were darting all over the place, and lots of excitable tooting. Our first day took us out for a tour in Istanbul, firstly to the Blue Mosque - an amazing building with an enormous central dome, and covered with mosaic artwork. Across the way is the Hippodrome where a big arena used to stand during the Ottoman Empire. Now it is an oval with three remaining obelisk's dated back to the 12 century BC. We then headed to the Hagia Sophia Istanbul's famous mosque. Also an incredible structure, more ornate inside with golden mosaic's depicting the historic Sultans with Jesus. After a yummy lunch we boarded the bus for our journey to Gallipoli.
By the time we got to the cove at about 9.30pm it was dark, an packed out already with sleeping bag bodies covering the grass. We found a spot on the seats and proceed to put all of our clothes on and snuggle up in the sleeping bag for our long night ahead. And it was long, and freeing! They played docos and information on the big screens throughout the night. So with the cold, discomfort and noise, didn't get any sleep. But had some appreciation of what the boys went through! And the docos were really interesting. During the dawn service it was amazing how quickly the light came up. And as the service progressed it struck me how young many of these men who lost their lives were, the majority less than 25 years. After the service we walked up the hill towards Lone Pine. The cove was beautiful in the early still morning, but it was still defiantly freezing! We stopped by one of the many cemetaries on the way up, pearched on the edge of the hill, little white plarks dotted the grass. A small reminder to what had previously passed. We stopped breifly at Lone Pine where the Australian service was to be held, and then continued on up the (rather steep!) hill to Cunuk Bair. On the way we passed the turkish memorial - a very striking cemetary lined up the hill. The Turkish soldiers were very striking in their khaki uniforms and a bit imposing in their regalia. We made it to the top a few hours before the service, so hold up on the grass for a much needed lye down and shut eye. The service area was unfortunately already packed with kiwi bodies. But we could see it up on the big screen. Afterwards it was manic to get everyone back on to their buses. By then I was well knackerd, freezing and in need of a hot shower! Consequently on the bus home I comaed out.
After Anzac we had another day in Istanbul. I loved the city, very friendly people and amazing food. We wandered the bizzar, covered allyways full of shops with everything you could imagine. Then headed down to the river front with an amazing view across the city. Then through the park surrounding the Topkapi Palace where the old sultans lived. It was filled with beautiful tulips, a feature throughout the city. It would have been great to have explored more of Turkey, but the following day when jetted off to Mykonos.
However the beach holiday I imagined was not quite what I expected, as we arrived to rain and chilly temperatures! We explored the town made up of stone slab streets and classic white greek house's, with churches every 200 meters. Very easy to become lost in the endless twists and turns! It was a tourist hive with many designer shops, jewellery and tourist artefacts. Our first night we found a cute wee place for some amazing food. The following day was brighter, I got a bit caught up in the hype of the Royal Wedding and watched her entrance before we headed out. Beautiful. We did a mission walk in the gale winds to the following bay and managed to find a warm (!) sheltered spot to enjoy some relaxation. That evening we found the most gorgeous restaurant in a courtyard covered with a roof of overhanging vines. Our final day was an absolute stunner. I spent the day lounging by our hotel pool, and even ventured in for a refreshing dip. Our hotel had a cute balcony overlooking the bay and was prefect for a quiet evening wine. The island was full of bikes and small cars zipping about, and greek 'island time; made life relaxing and care free.
And so its back to reality, and plans for the next adventure. Looking foward to having Phill here this weekend, and then need to do some dress shopping before the Irish wedding in a couple of weeks! Yay! Until next time :D xx
