Blog Category: Europe

Besides physically joining Europe and Asia, Istanbul also serves as a bridge between western and middle eastern ways of life.  Though never the same, one could describe most western metropolitan European cities as feeling “similar” with clear links in cuisine, architecture, and culture.  From the first half hour in Istanbul, you know immediately that this city is “different.” The first thing that hits you is the frantic pace with which the city moves.  While fast moving cities in Europe are not in short supply, most move with a sense of design; Frankfurt feels like things move precisely as quickly as a team of German engineers have deemed possible after a...

The city of Kaş is nestled about halfway between Fethiye and Antalya.  A popular vacation spot, it boasts a fantastic boardwalk of restaurants featuring authentic Turkish cuisine set against a stunning backdrop of the working harbour blending into the endless aqua ocean.  While certainly a tourist town, Kaş is typically visited by more Turkish vacationers than most of the traditional hotspots which ensures that it feels less changed to meet the perceived tastes of international visitors.  The prices are reasonable, the variety fantastic, and the scenery to die for – a truly spectacular spot to spend some time. The whole town is filled with cues that this is a place...

The Turkish coastline doesn’t get the same press as the beaches of Croatia or islands of Greece, but it should.  The marriage of the crystal clear aqua colored water with the dramatic cliffs and numerous islands dotting the horizon ensures that around every corner is a vista worthy of a postcard. I arrived into my first stop on the coast, Fethiye, fresh off a 13 hour bus ride from Göreme, and settled into my new home, the justifiably revered V-Go hostel.  I didn’t spend a lot of time documenting the city, which to my eyes, had a nice harbour but otherwise was somewhat unremarkable.  However, the real value to staying...

Göreme, one of the cities in Turkey’s Capadocia region is best described as what I expect the moon might look like.  The region is known for its distinct rock structures and more importantly, the incredible underground cities that existed within these rocks.  The other unique thing is the dozens of hot-air balloons that rise before 5:00am to float over the valley and watch the beautiful sunrise.  These are some of my most favourite photos I have ever taken and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Default Gallery Type Template This is the default gallery type template, located in: /home1/uhlmannc/public_html/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/nextgen_gallery_display/templates/index.php. If you're seeing this, it's because the...

Athens embodies the financial pain that much of Europe is enduring more than any other place we visited.  Despite that, it’s impossible to not be awed by a city that has been so integral to so many moments in history.  Remnants of Athens’ ancient beginnings are woven throughout the city like an amazing tapestry of new and old.  This is a great example of ancient history in Athens getting in the way of modern progress.  The plaque on the opposite side proclaims that they found these artifacts by accident while excavating for a planned subway station and as a result, ended up having to move it to over 100′ to...

When we first arrived on the ferry from Crete (where we had booked our accommodation in advance), we were absolutely overwhelmed by the sheer size of the crowd of eager Greek salespeople hoping to fill their hotels, hostels, guesthouses, and camping space with unprepared tourists.  As we waded through the crowd keeping one hand on our wallets and our eyes out for cafes advertising free wi-fi, we were met by a most unlikely suspect – a Californian surfer-gone-restaurant-manager who pegged us as North American from a mile away and hustled us into the restaurant.  Our new friend, Nick, turned out to be a great guy who had helpful advice on where...

We ended up on Crete somewhat by accident, it doesn’t have the cachet that Santorini or Mykonos enjoys, but once we got off the airplane, we were amazed by what we found.  Crete is a substantially larger island than most and having no idea what would differentiate one part of the island from another, we simply picked the highest rated hostel, the Youth Hostel Plakias and set out figuring out how to get there. While we arrived safe and sound to Crete at about 9:30pm, the same could not be said for our bags which took an unexplained detour to parts unknown. We had plans to rent a car and...

Split is the city that I never knew I always wanted to visit, until I got there.  It’s a city that has literally grown out of the walls of the 4th century Diocletian’s Palace, complete with classical orange tiled roofs, cobblestone roads, and open air cafes littered across the boardwalk.  The thing that is most surprising to me about Split is that while many European cities look similar, here more than most you feel an unescapable feeling that the ways of the old times are stronger and fresher.  Yet despite this obvious nod to history, Split never feels old fashioned, it simply feels… well, Croatian. When we first decided to...

The name Venice conjures up images of classic gondoliers serenading their passengers as they paddle gently through the occasional waft of traditional Italian cooking while navigating the truly unending maze of canals that snake throughout the city.  I didn’t really know what to expect when walking out of the airport – the pragmatic side to me knew there were probably going to have to be some adjustments to this fairy tale, but how much? Let’s get the bad news out of the way first: Venice costs a [relative] fortune, smells terrible, and it’s virtually impossible to get anywhere without tripping over a 20-person tourist group being paraded around by an...

The Barcelona trip was totally an accident – we had a Europe trip planned for Summer 2013 and this wasn’t it.  Those who know me know that I can’t resist a deal though, and the fateful day that United posted a mistake fare for business class airfare from Seattle to Barcelona for $1700 return, I knew this was happening.  After booking the airfare on a whim without even clearing the time off work… we found this beautiful 2-bedroom apartment right in the heart of the gothic quarter, listed on AirBNB for about $100cdn/night. We had the details of the apartment printed out but didn’t bother to get a map – after...