Miss Travelette

I've been to my daddy's hometown last month - never seen a place so green before! I had spent several weeks in the same region when I was a kid, but that was almost 20 years ago, so I had no clue about its limitless beauty though I knew the greenest part of Turkey is the east side of Black Sea.

It was surprising for me to see so many foreigners in the city, from all around the world, tourists were there to experience this perfectness. I, being a Turkish, felt quite proud about my roots which came from Rize. My mother is from somewhere else, but my daddy was born in a small village in Rize. We had a very little house over there, one made with wooden, and this was where my dad used to live when he was a little kid. He moved to Germany many years ago to study in the technical university in Munich, and lived there more than 10 years afterwards, but never forgot where he's real home is.

As his daughters, we're happy to carry on the tradition. My sister and I spent 5 days in this village, in a new huge house my dad got built. He planned every detail of the house, and got a huge 4-storey building in that small village. With this luxury and comfort standards, I will most definitely go there a few times in a year (!) Because otherwise, it's not that easy to stay in any village house in Rize as most of them are too old and everything gets a bit wet as a result of high moisture in the city.

The city itself is not a beautiful one, I should say that. But the rest is just so perfect! Do rent a car. Drive around the city. Follow the narrow pathways directing you to unknown villages... It's worth driving. You'll love seeing the dark green trees and high mountains everywhere.


The Bridges and the Castle

While driving around, you'll see many bridges that were built aaaages ago. These are masterpieces themselves and I loved photographing every one of them one by one. I now have a collection of bridge photographs (literally.) The one you see here is only one of them I saw when we were heading to a castle known as Zilkale.

Zilkale is the most popular castle in that region. It's sad that the castle has no web site that can be offered but it's easy to find as it's quite close to the city. 12 kilometers away from the city centre, when you start driving from the district named Çamlıhemşin to the south. You can ask anyone about the directions (if you can find some one speaking English of course), they will be more than happy to help you. Blacksea people are nice and helpful all the time.


The castle was built during the Trebizond Empire hegemony and was used by the Ottoman Empire afterwards. It's sad to see that most of the castle is gone now, and all you can see is incomplete walls surrounding the region. You might spend about 15 minutes in the castle, and that would be enough. It's quite small. Probably it was much bigger once.

The best part about the castle is, you can take magnificent photographs by the Kaçkar Mountains. Do take photos and share them with your friends! Most of my friends thought I went to Switzerland to see the Alps. Nope. All the photographs were taken right there.



Kaçkar Mountains, with the highest peak at an elevation of 3,937 meters, are alpine in character with steepy rocky peaks and numerous mountain lakes. They are definitely worth seeing and don't leave the castle without taking at least a dozen of photographs.


The Çat Village


When we stopped by a local cafe, one of the waitresses over there offered us to get to the Çat Village. So we all agreed to drive there, though we didn't know it would last more than 1 hour to get there! If you're a lover of beautiful views, you definitely must go and see the Çat Village; the view is utterly wonderful, but if that's not your kind of thing, then don't waste your time on the roads. It gets harder to drive when you get close to the village and as it's almost 3,000 meters high, you start to lose your control over your body. I experienced a serious breathing problem while climbing up the hills and begged my dad to drive back. As urban people who used to live with less oxygen, we're not accustomed to places with so much fresh air!


The village had a shocking effect on us as there were only 5 houses survived till today and the rest have immigrated years ago, God know why. After taking a few pictures on the top of the mountain, we left the village.




What to Eat
The cafe I mentioned above was one of the best local cafes in Rize. My dad told me that he visits them at least once every year to eat 'muhlama' in there. Muhlama is a traditional meal done with a mix of special kind of cheese, butter and flour. The Sini Cafe staff cooks it with garlic chive in it, and this was something new to me - I loved the taste of it!




Blacksea is a great place to escape from our every day city life. I felt fresh and happier after this vacation I had. And a perfect place to capture wonderful shots. Bon voyage to those who will be visiting it soon!

Hello again! I am just back from Russia - been to two beautiful historical cities: One is St Petersburg and the other one is Moscow, and this week (Probably I should have said this month!) I will mostly be writing about this last trip of mine. Before starting my post about St Petersburg, I would like to note that Moscow was not as interesting as I expected it to be, though St Petersburg was way better than I could have imagined. Thus, apart from St Petersburg being the first one I visited in Russia, I am starting this series of posts with it as it looked much more appealing to me. I can't stop looking at the photos I took there - full of colour and energy, different from grey and crowded city Moscow, and too similar to magical city Amsterdam (Actually magical is not enough to describe it. I am a big fan of Amsterdam...) By the way, the one here is a picture of me and the Saviour-on-the-Spilled-Blood or the Cathedral of Resurrection as some may call it.

About Russia

Though I have been to a few countries earlier, this was a new trip to me - a country completely different compared to the West European countries, with the remains of communist years, maybe a bit boring or as most people warned me, lack of cultural things like local food or so... None of them was the case. Russian people are a bit different than the European people, that's true, but every nation is different, isn't that so? The best thing about Russia was, as a tourist, being able to walk around the city without caring about on which path I am walking. In Turkey, if you are about to cross the road on a pedestrian path, then you have to wait for the cars to pass by before putting your feet on the ground. Not too surprisingly, in Russia, pedestrians have the priority. You can use pedestrian paths freely as every single car would stop to wait for you. These are small details maybe, but if you do not want to stop on every corner just the way I did, you should know that. No waiting! You have the priority in Russia (If you are not driving of course).

Food is delicious. This is for sure. Before I got there, almost 9 out of 10 people I talked to told me that I would suffer from hunger. I never believed but my family did! Of course this wasn't the case either. Russia is rich about the variety of food, and you can eat whatever you want in any restaurant. I mostly preferred steak, french fries and salad as a meal (and now I feel quite fat), but they have fish, or pasta, or different kinds of desserts as well. It's all up to you.

This is a picture of me in Moscow - I just wanted to put it here as I love it very much!

Besides all these, getting around the city St Petersburg (and Moscow) is too easy thanks to the city's great underground network. The Cyrillic alphabet might look a bit difficult to read at first, but trust me, you get used to it in a few days - even in a few hours I could say! If you want to use the metro as a means of transportation, luckily, every station name is written both in cyrillic and latin/roman alphabet, and this helps you a lot. By reading all those station names, you somehow start to understand the cyrillic alphabet. I now can read words in Russian, but if you could hear me reading, you would laugh your ass off... I am like a kid in school, spelling out the words as learning how to read. Even sillier, I get too excited when the word I read makes sense to me; especially words such as Mc Donald's or Prospekt or parking, and some other international words we used to hear in every day life...

A little note about Russia: Russia is famous with its pickpockets - at least, I've heard so. So I kept my bag with me all the time and haven't put my money in front pocket as this would be an invitation to the pickpockets. You just be careful about what you are carrying, and you'll be just fine. People kept saying Sicily is full of mafia members, and I was so scared of being abducted the first time I got there (haha silly of me), but Sicily was a safe place and I haven't seen a member of mafia at all. It's all the imagination of people around you. So don't worry about the pickpockets.

Now... My next posts will include details such as the histories of both cities, their most important cathedrals, palaces, squares and a few famous historical people who lived in Russia - like Peter the Great and his wife Catherine, and Ivan the Terrible (or Ivan the Great as some may call him).

Please keep following...
Ciaooo

I'm back here after a long time and it's been quite like a surprise to me to see my blog has now reached 32.631 page views - This is surprising because I haven't been posting since the last October at all. I preferred not to post anything as I haven't felt like doing - been too busy working lately and on my spare times, I never had time to write on a blog - instead I worked on a novel. But there are many other places I want to share with you, like Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava, Thessaloniki and many more, and I can't stop that powerful urge inside me anymore.

Vienna is a beautiful city, that's for sure. I had visited it last summer - almost one year has passed by then. Quite rich with its palaces, cathedrals, squares, and beautifully built houses. The hotel I stayed was a bit outside the city (outside means only 15 min. away anyway!), and there houses had lovely huge green gardens and the streets were very quiet. I loved that face of Vienna.

The central part of the city was a bit more crowded, but still peaceful. As someone from a huuuuuge city (Istanbul hosts more than 16 million people now...), Vienna is only the same size with my little town. It was quite strange for us to see all the streets in the centre by only walking around the city for one or two hours.

Vienna is not as colourful as Prague, or lively as Budapest, but it has its own characteristic and this is a unique one. I would suggest you to see the famous Stephansdom, Graben, the Peterskirche, Am Hof, Freyung, Hofburg, Albertina, Staatsoper, Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum), Naturhistorisches Museum, the Parliament, the Rathaus (City Hall), the University of Vienna, the Votivkirche, Schloss Schönbrunn, the Gloriette, and the Belvedere Castle.

If you will be spending more than a few days and clearly have more time, then you might want to see some other places I will not mention here. There are plenty of them! But here, you'll find a short trip around the city.

A Short Story of Vienna

First permanent settlements in Vienna takes place in Neolithic Age between 3500-1800 BC. and Celtic settlement of Vindobona on the site of today's Leopoldsberg happens around 400 BC. In 15 BC., under Emperor Augustus, the Romans establish a garrisson of the same name on the south bank of the Danube. In 166 AD., Vindobona was destroyed by the Marcomanni. The town is rebuilt and Marcus Aurelius makes it his headquarters, and the emperor dies in Vondobona in 180 AD. The first Barbarian tribes approach in 395 and the Romans are withdrawn from the town in 405. In 433, Vindobona is destroyed by the Visigoths and later by the Huns. Repeated invasions by the Longobards, Goths, Alani and Rugi between 500-650. In 796, Charlemagne defeats the avars and constitutes the Eastern March; the area is colonized by Franco-Bavaresi. The first mention of the city with the name of Wenia (from the Celtic Vedunia, "woodland stream") starts in 881, but the city falls to the Hungarians, then defeated by Otto I, who reestablishes the Eastern March between 907-955.

Otto I enfeoffs the Eastern March to the Babenbergs in 976. Vienna is occupied by the Hungarians but freed by Emperor Conrad II in 1030. The consecration of the Stephansdom takes place in 1147, and in 1156, the first Duke Heinrich II Jasomirgott chooses Vienna as his residence. In 1200, Vienna becomes the second most populous and economically important German city after Cologne. In 1246, the Babenberg line is extinguished and Vienna is torn by struggles for succession. In 1282, Rudolf I Hapsburg becomes ruler of Austria, and the Hapsburg rule begins, so the Gothic style flourishes in Vienna. In 1365, Vienna's University if founded, and between 1485-1490, Vienna is occupied by King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary; the city is retaken by Maximilian I in 1490. In 1529, the first siege of Vienna by Suleiman II's Turks takes place, and the second Turkish siege comes in 1683. In 1740, Empress Maria Teresa comes to the throne; and under her and her son Joseph II's rules Vienna enjoys a long period of economic and cultural prosperity. In 1848, Franz Joseph, destined to give a new face to Vienna, comes to the throne with his wife Sisi. The year 1918 is the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; declaration of the Austrian Republic with Vienna as capital, but Vienna loses its role as capital in 1938 and Austria becomes a province of the German Reich. In 1945, Vienna suffers grave damage during Allied bombings. In 1955, Vienna becomes the capital of the new Austrian Federal Republic, and becomes the third UNO city after New York and Geneva in 1979.

Me in front of the Stephansdom

Squares & Shopping Sites & Cathedrals

Stephansdom is the most popular cathedral, located right at the heart of Vienna on a square that is called Stephansplatz. It is fantastic - it looks massive outside and with the height of its roofs, only magnificent. It is known as the first Romanesque parish church on the site, and consecrated in 1147, and the Gothic choir was constructed by Duke Albrecht I in 1304. In April 1945, in the last days of World War II, the cathedral caught fire during bombing, and was restored later. The cathedral is 107 meters at length and 60 meters at height. The splendid coloured tile roof, which was originally supported by larch wood beams and was completely destroyed in 1945, has been rebuilt in steel.

Stephansdom has a fascinating exterior design and will leave you speechless with its sculptural details capturing different historical moments in every special piece. I would suggest you to stand in front of the cathedral for a while, and see what's there - you will see a great deal of sculptures bringing the story of Christianity to life again.

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Inside the cathedral, there awaits a very surprising part with strange people faces on the walls: the Four Fathers of the Church on the parapet of the pulpit. Apart from that, there are many more to see inside the cathedral, and I won't be able to write about them all, but I would definitely suggest you to get inside to explore the world inside. I loved this beautiful building.

Graben is where The Peterskirche is located. Graben is the elegant shopping district of Vienna, a street for first-class purchases and a classical site for meetings. I remember my eyes getting wide open the first moment I saw the Swarovski label on a building (as if we don't have Swarovski in Turkey...), and spending more than one hour inside the store - it is massive with its 3 floors (or maybe it was 4?!), and like a dream with its product types. If you are looking for a special kind of Swarovski, then this is the right place. I bought a few pieces and left the store smiling like a dumb (A typical woman)...

The store from where I bought my lovely accessories

There is another store selling accessories on Graben and it is very close to the Peterskirche, but very unfortunately, I can't remember its name. If you just take a walk around this sqaure, I am one hundred percent sure that you will see what I mean - the store shows its beauty even from its outside.

Me in front of the Peterskirche

Anyway. Peterskirche is also worth seeing with its old baroque style and lively colours. It is said that the church was built by the order of Charlemagne, but this is not for sure yet. The interior, with frescoes and ochre-and-gold stuccowork, is the work of famous Baroque artists including M. Altomonte, L. Mattielli, M. Steindl, S. Bussi, and A. Camesina. The fresco of the dome is a masterpiece by J. M. Rottmayr.

This church is also worth seeing, especially its interior - just magnificent. It is quite small compared to the other two - The Stephansdom and Votivkirche, but has a unique beauty that captures all your feelings.

Me inside the Peterskirche

Go and visit it - it is just easy to get there and free entrance is a good reason to enter.

Around Graben, I suggest you to spend some more time to look at the stores - as already said, this is the main shopping area, and you surely will find something for yourself. If you are not in shopping mood, then you might take a little walk aimlessly anyway, as you will see quite interesting things during those walks. The horse carriage you see below is one of those interesting things you can never come across with in any other city easily.

This site has these two churches, and some other less famous ones hidden among the streets of central Vienna, so I would suggest you to walk around the centre, to get into the smallest streets without saying "There can't be anything interesting, this is just a simple street far from beauty," and to explore the city's real face. Because I believe it is the smallest streets that shows a culture's real side.

A street on Graben

The last one I want to mention is the Votivkirche - This one is a bit far from the last two, very close to the University of Vienna, and was under construction the day I visited it. Hopefully you will be luckier than me, and visit it during your stay in Vienna.

Votivkirche was erected by the future Emperor of Mexico, the brother of Emperor Franz Joseph in 1853. Designed by Heinrich von Ferstel, who took his inspiration from the great French Gothic cathedrals of the 13th century, Votivkirche was the first post-Baroque church in Vienna. Each of the bell-towers are 99 meters in height and the idea was that of building a temple celebrating illustrious Austrians, similar to London's Westminster Abbey.

Me and Votivkirche in one

Me and a friend of mine in front of the Parliament

After seeing all these, when you walk towards the Rathaus, you will see the Parliament on your way - next to two main museums of Vienna. The Parliament has been my favourite as it has the evidence of ancient Greek architectural design. This building was completed in 1883 and was the seat of the Council State until the year 1918. A double ramp, embellished with statues of Greek and Roman historians - among whom Thucydides, Herodotus, Tacitus, and Sallust - and by bronze sculptures of the Horse Tamers, leads to the entrance. In the square at the foot of the ramp stands the monumental Pallas-Athene-Brunnen (Fountain of Athena Pallas): the goddess of Wisdom, more than 4 meters tall, is surrounded by allegorical figures: in her right hand is Nike, the goddess of Victory.

Palaces of Vienna 

Me at the Hofburg

There two popular palaces you should see in Vienna: one is right at the heart of the city, called Hofburg, and the other one is a bit outside the city, named Schloss Schönbrunn, and you can get there by tram only.


For more than six centuries, the Hofburg was the residence of the Hapsburgs, who governed first as Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire and from 1806 onwards as Emperors of Austria. The Hofburg has no intrinsic architectural unity; it is rather the legacy of a centuries-long history in which each epoch has left its mark. The complex has 18 buildings, 19 courtyards, 54 staircases, and 2600 rooms. It has different parts such as Michaelertrakt (St Michel's Wing), Kaiserappartements ( a part where you can see the difference between the simple lifestyle of emperor Franz Joseph and that of his royal consort Elizabeth - the Empress called as Sisi in Vienna), In der Burg, Amalienburg, Leopoldinischertrakt, Reichskanzleitrakt, Alte Burg, Heldenplatz, Neue Burg, The Neue Hofburg Museums, Ephesos-Museum, and Hofburg Gardens...

In the Gardens of Hofburg

Hofburg is easy to find as it is right in the city centre, so you can ask anyone to show you which direction you should go - you can get there by walk. But Schloss Schönbrunn is a long way to go, so you'd better take the tram to get there. It won't take too long though - as I remember it was about 15-20 mins. away from my hotel.

Schloss Schönbrunn

Schönbrunn is not the most beautiful of the Austrian castles, but it is undoubtedly the most famous. The closest station has a Jugendstil work by Otto Wagner, which is distinguished by two obelisks topped by the Imperial eagle.

the Gloriette from my camera

The castle has an interesting story: It was destroyed by the Turks in 1683, and in 1743 Empress Maria Theresa employed Nikolaus Pacassi to complete the castle and she lived there with her 16 children (no kidding) as their permanent residence. From 1848 until the end of the long reign of Franz Joseph, the castle was used as the Imperial summer residence - so you will see lots of stuff left by the Empress Elizabeth inside the castle. Of the 1400 rooms in the castle (no kidding again), only 40 are accessible to the public. Tapestries, porcelains, chandeliers, and rare pieces of Chinese and Japanese art and furnishings in valuable woods fill these rooms. At the entrance, there are e-guides in different languages, for free, and really good at guiding you through the rooms, telling which room belonged to who, and used for what and etc.

The castle has a massive garden (well, actually they call this part as Schlosspark), and this has even more grandiose aspect than the castle itself: with its oft-restructered 1.6 square kilometers, covering almost the same area as Vienna's first Bezirk (Innere Stadt), it loses nothing by comparison with French models.

Upon entering the park, your attention will be drawn by the Gloriette, the elegant neoclassical arcade that dominates the low hill south of the castle. The Gloriette 19 meters in height and 95 meters wide, decorated with trophies, animal skulls, and armor, is the best vantage point for enjoying the panorama of the castle and the park, as it offers a view that sweeps over the entire city.

Schönbrunn Zoological Gardens and Botanischer Garten (Botanical Garden) are also worth seeing!

Museums

Jane Seymour's portrait by Hans Holbein

There are countless museums in Vienna of course, but considering you'll have limited time just as I had, I suggest you to see the most important two: Kunsthistorisches Museum and Naturhistorisches Museum. The first one is about arts, and the latter one is about the history of nature. I only had time for the first one (well, I had to pick one, and I chose art of course!), and visited it, which took more than one hour of course - this one was a huuuge one, and there you can see masterpieces from famous artists of history, such as Van Gogh, Matisse, Renoir and many more... This museum includes masterpieces from different cultures as well - like Egyptian, Greek and Roman sculptures and terracottas, French and Flemish tapestries (the museum owns these but cannot exhibit for reasons of conversation), Austrian Baroque and Rococo works, furniture, objects, German, Dutch, Italian Baroque items and so forth. I think the Bust of Isabella of Aragon is a piece one should see only because she was an important character in history. A piece I was happy to see is Jane Seymour's portrait done by Hans Holbein the Younger - this is a work you can see in almost every book telling about Henry VIII's life. Van Dyck's The Fish Market is also one of my favourites...

Cafes

Yummy yum...

Today, the number of cafes in Vienna is about 2000, and the coffee house is a true institution in Vienna. As legendary says, it all started with Turkish armies leaving Turkish coffee behind them, and people of Vienna changing it to make a more favourable coffee that would suit them.

The cafe I sat near the Rathaus

Now in every corner, you will see a coffee shop, and though there are a few famous ones (mostly the oldest cafes), I suggest you to get into the one you fancied. This is what I did - there was a cafe, where I could take a look at the beautiful Rathaus from where I sat, a cafe very close to the tram line on that street. I enjoyed the sun shinning on me, with a lovely cup of coffee and Vienna's special dessert Sachertorte (don't leave the city without giving it a try!)...

Rathaus

I'm sorry to be unable to tell you the name of the cafe, but if you follow the tram live that goes to Rathaus, there you'll see a big and elegant one - this is the one. Not hard to find, just look around.

Transportation

So, BON VOYAGE to you all!

Me in Zwinger's courtyard

Dresden! A beautifully created gothic city that is located in today's Germany - the formal electoral and royal seat and capital of Saxony (today capital of the Free State of Saxony).

Dresden is a city called "Florence on the Elbe" - indicating how rich its art treasures are and how splendid its architecture is.

Having spent only one day in Dresden of Germany, I will be limited  with only the must-sees of this unique city, however Dresden has a remarkable richness in terms of its nature, buildings, gothic style, its modern face and liveliness, so whoever goes there, at least two or three days must be spent to see the whole city and all of its beauties. Here, you will see the historical face of it only  (But I think EVEN THAT is enough!)

The first time I entered the city, I had thought "how magnificent and how small", and recalled the perfect architectural beauty of Paris with realising how similar those two cities actually looked.

Me at the entrance of the gardens

Well, compared to Paris, Dresden is a very little compact city and remarkably new - that's because after the war years, the city was all ruined and had to be rebuilt later on, now looking exactly the way it was before the destroying. This is the good thing about the city - nothing have changed! All remained the same thanks to the successful German architects! This is very obvious when you see the old paintings of the city to see how it looked before the destruction.

What can be seen in Dresden?

Not being too popular in Europe, Dresden is a city that is not heard much probably, but there are very beautiful buildings in the heart of it. The most important ones and the ones you should see are Zwinger, Hofkirche, Frauenkirche (In each city, there must be a "Frauenkirche" in Germany anyway!), Taschenbergpalais. Besides, for some art lovers, there is a very special piece of art, Raphael's "Sixtine Madonna" which I will mention later on!

one of the figures near the terrace

After German residents of the city leave, in history, Slavs come to this part of Elbe and the name Dresden derives from the word "drezdane" which means "place of the inhabitants of the marsh woods". The oldest village was probably in the Neustädter Markt and the first town centre was at the old market. I will not write a lot about the history here as I do not think Dresden has a very interesting one.

The city centre starts at the end of the Augustusbrücke, where a group of figures "Der Morgen" (The Morning), installed at the base of Brühl Terrace, which was called "the balcony of Europe", linking it with Schlossplatz, stand. There you will see four figures depicting the "four times of a day". The terrace was converted into magnificent gardens in 18th century. This gardens have been my favourite part in the city, and I have spent approximately one hour there. The natural beauties in the garden, view by the river when you sit on the seats, the silence and beautifully created figures are just wonderful!

a part of the garden from my camera

the cathedral

Theaterplatz - the cathedral (Catholic Court Church, today the cathedral SS. Trinitatis) and Semper Opera House are on this area. I loved this church more as probably it was built with Roman late baroque style and its colour is a bit dark because of its surface (the material they use to build these buildings is some kind of chalky stone and it gets dirty very easily). This one was built by catholics as their main place of praying, while Frauenkirche was built by the protestants. The Semper Opera House can be a special time activity really, it's huuuge and have a very beautiful interior design. It witnessed a number of famous opera premieres, especially some of the famous Richard Strauss. 

The Georgenbau, with its neo-Renaissance style and its entrance opposite Augustusbrücke, is also worth seeing. This building was built first around 1530 and burnt down in 1701. The one you will see was built later on (the pictures on the right).

Left of this building, you will see a huuuuge yellow-white-black fresco in Augustusstrasse, named Fürstenzug, that is 102 metre long - that one was originally created in sgraffito first but then they had to change it with tiles as the work was showing the signs of weathering. The 800-year history of the House of the Wettin is portrayed here with illustrations of 35 margraves, dukes, electoral princes and kings on nearly 24.000 Meissen china tiles. The work will make you stand there and watch the wall for at least a couple of minutes - there is a real story indeed (see below).

At my back, the huge Fürstenzug

The Johanneum is also another building you will come across on this street - a building that served as an art gallery up to 19th century and later as an armoury and a transport museum lately (see below).

The Johanneum

Frauenkirche and the statue of Martin Luther

Both Protestantism and Catholism had effects on the city; there are two main churches, one serving for protestants and the other for Catholics. The one built for Catholics was mentioned above.

So the protestant church... Frauenkirche, however, with its cupola (Stone Bell), was built for the protestant believers - a very beautiful church in the heart of Dresden, has been the proud symbol of Protestantism. The original church was, very unfortunately, ruined during the second world war, and its reconstruction was completed in 2004 - so the church is actually very new but nothing looks different compared to the original one. 

Church's reconstruction costed approx. €250 million; this shows how important the rebuilding of this jewel of baroque style architecture was! Not to mention that, Frauenkirche was always regarded as the main church of the German Protestants in the old times and it obviously remains as one of the most important pieces of protestantism. 

The interior design of the church is decorated with very simple paintings and soft colours - but yet this is another characteristic of protestant churches! I think the entrance was free, but you must check before you get in.

The statue of Martin Luther right in front of the Frauenkirche, another important piece, can be seen after a visit to the church. Tourists mostly prefer taking pictures there with the Martin Luther statue!

Interior design of the Frauenkirche

Another important church is in the Altmarkt area, near the New Town Hall, named Kreuzkirche. This church was destroyed several times because of fires, wars and other reasons. Especially during the Seven Years' War, the Prussians wrecked the church so it had to be rebuilt in a new baroque style in 1792. The interior of the church has been kept intentionally simple. The church is the home of the world-famous Kreuzchor. It was there that the Reformation was introduced in Dresden in 16th century and peaceful demonstrations against the East German regime began in 1989.

the Kreuzkirche at the back

Another interesting building, The Yenidze is a mosque-looking building (as I know, built as a mosque but then used for other purposes), designed in a very oriental style and quite beautiful at nights with its glass dome illuminated when it gets dark - used as a cigarette factory earlier, renovated and converted to function as an office building and a venue for events later on. It's really strange to see such an oriental building at the heart of the city, which makes that area look like an eastern compound.

the Yenidze

And now, the most beautiful baroque building of Germany, Zwinger, the most exciting one (I mean, really exciting - it is a great feeling to stand in the middle of the inner room), the symbol of the city Dresden... It started as a construction of a festival ground on the bastion of the city fortifications in 18th century. The Zwinger courtyard is a huge area, and I took many photos there - which you can see below (only one here). The Glockenspiel Pavilion with its 40 bells of Meissen china dominates the south eastern section. The Wall Pavilion is opposite this. This huge building was also badly damaged but fortunately it is now as beautiful as it was before.

The Zwinger Art Gallery is a place all art lovers should visit - the Gallery of Old Masters (as you can guess from its name) exhibits many important European paintings, and the one I mentioned before, Raphael's Madonna is also in this gallery at the Hall of the Sixtine Madonna.
All these are located on the historical part of Dresden, however, there are plenty of modern buildings as well, but for that, you have to get a bit more inside. To eat, I would not suggest the cafes on streets as they are poor at quality but I might suggest Karstadt, a shopping mall (the company itself is based in Essen, but you can find its branches in other cities as well) very famous in Germany. You can find it in almost every city of Germany and their food is quite rich at diversity. Whenever I enter a Karstadt in Germany (I did this in Munich a few times!), I eat A LOT. Delicious, excellent, not very expensive - not expensive at all. So this is a suggestion but you might want to have your lunch on streets anyway, this is also another good way of experiencing the city atmosphere - I generally love doing this. Besides eating, you might want to shop after the lunch, so you will find everything you look for in any Karstadt again (Nope, they're not paying me for advertising them, but I do really love their food mmmm...)

I have not mentioned anything about transportation, because there you will not need it. The city is quite small and you can walk everywhere!

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If you have been there before, and have anything to add, please feel free to comment! 

Me in front of the palace

Today I've finished a book about Kensington Palace and its history; a book I bought inside the palace when I visited it last April. At first, I thought it was an ordinary guide book telling you where to go, what to see in the palace, and how to manage your visit and to learn some brief information about the royal families that lived there. Luckily the book was more than that and it led me to write some about the palace.

Kensington is a place where you can go and see inside it freely - only some parts of it of course! As an example for the popular royals we know, Prince of Wales and his wife Princess Diana had lived there during their marriage, and only after their separation, Charles moved out and Diana stayed in the palace. Now the palace has become a home for the popular couple, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and his beautiful wife Catherine Middleton (Kate Middleton as we all call her most of the time). 

The palace has been home for countless royals, but most important of all, Princess Victoria (of Albert) grew up here and spend some time afterwards with her husband. Also this is where she met her husband Albert and fell in love.

The palace was named as Nottingham House earlier; a mansion only, but was purchased by King William III and Queen Mary II as a new place to live in. The mansion, then, costed  £20.000. Sir Christopher Wren was the architect who changed all the design of the mansion and transformed it into a royal palace for the couple. Later, Queen Anne added an Orangery to the gardens, which is one of the most remarkable buildings of the palace, where the oranges of Queen Anne had been kept during the cold winters. The building is still there to see.

the Queen's Gallery

The King's State Apartments are worth seeing. The King's staircase is the first link to the circuit of rooms making up the King's State Apartment. Keep in mind that this staircase was once where the visitors of the palace went upstairs to meet the King or his officials. You must stop there to explore the environment as there are a lot of masterpieces; wall frescoes (frescoes are only on walls but anyway...), sculptures, iconic statues and ceiling drawings... All have stories but you would better get a guide book before entering the palace, because I would not be able to end this post if I had to start telling them all!

Most of the rooms are empty, which indicates that these rooms were being used as meeting rooms or ballrooms where people who are closer to the royal family met and danced till the morning. Besides, these rooms were used as meeting points as a celebration area after special events, such as baptism of a prince or princess or mournings for royal members.

William Kent was the painter of the palace, and did a really good job; the King appreciated his works a lot while other painters tried to insult him about his paintings as a result of their jealousy. I recommend you to observe the magnificent ceiling in the Privy Chamber, which was Queen Caroline's favourite entertaining space, to see Mars, the Roman god of War and Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, painted by William Kent. There is a strange object right in the middle of the room; a clock, a music box that play Handel. The pictures on the sides depict four monarchies from antiquity. 

The Cupola Room is the most splendidly-decorated room in the palace, which marks a great new beginning in the history of design. William Kent had lived in Italy for about ten years, and when he came back, his artworks included an Italian effect, which changed all the design standards not only in the palace but also in the whole country. So this room is where it all started. Lastly, this is the room where Princess Victoria's baptism was celebrated in 1819.

The Queen's state apartments were lower-key and plainer than the King's. There, you can see Turkish carpets, embroidered hangings and lacquer furniture. Queen Mary's obsession about porcelain led her to collect many pieces, and there were over 150 pieces in the room where now the Queen's Gallery is presented. The Queen's Drawing Room, Eating Room and Bedroom, all are located on this side of the palace. The famous story about Queen Anne and her ex-best friend Sarah Churchill Duchess of Marlborough also happened in these apartments. After talking to her friend Sarah Churchill for the last time, the queen rejected talking to her again. The reason is still unknown.

The palace has a part named "Victoria Revealed", where you can see her early life and family life in details; her clothing when she was a kid and her nine children's dresses and shoes, the Red Saloon where she had her first official meeting when her Uncle died, the drawings she made of her lovely children, the mourning room that tells more about Albert's unexpected death and many more. Besides these, you can see a statue of Queen Victoria, done by her talented daughter Princess Louise, that stands in the garden at the moment. 

Royal family members of 20th century like Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent and Princess Margaret and her husband Lord Snowdon preferred living a modest life in the palace, so they changed their apartments in the direction of the modern design of that times. Kensington Palace is also where the Duke of Edinburgh left for his wedding to Princess Elizabeth at Westminster Abbey in 1947.

Kensington had been a home for Prince Charles and Princess Diana during their marriage and Princes William and Herry were often taken to the gardens of the palace by their mother young Princess Diana. 

Today, the palace is a home for the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate use the palace as their London home.

The palace has a great exhibition of clothing wore by royal family, mostly from the 18th century; where you can see real mantuas (formal, wide skirted dresses), suits, waistcoats, baby dresses and shoes (mostly clothes of Victoria's nine children) and many more...

The palace garden has a cafe and shopping store as well as its public green areas where you can wander and see beautiful flowers - especially do not forget to see the statue of Victoria in the East Front gardens, done by her daughter!

For more information, please visit the Historic Royal Palaces

This is a photo I took on Camber Sands Beach.

I have just found a very useful website for Camber Beach near Rye, and wanted to share it with you all! Some of you may want to visit the lovely town Rye or another town around, but do not leave the region without seeing the Camber.

Here is the link for the website: http://www.camber-sussex.co.uk/

Accommodation, food and drink, property, shopping, attractions and many other sections included, this website might help you a lot.

Take a look!

I want to start this post with a quote from Samuel Jeake (an English writer who lived in Rye) dating back to 1678:

"This ancient town is compact as a little City, stored with buildings,
The town is of beautiful Prospect to look upon any way."

Just as the writer says, Rye is a very small, compact city in the East Sussex region full of beautiful ancient buildings. Rye has some of the most charming houses of England, and if you go out in Rye at late night when noone is around, you could feel as if you are in the medieval times, with all the stone-made tiny houses and old pavements, lovely little teashops and many others you can see around.

It is very clear to me now, but before I saw every part of Rye, I was not that sure about tourists going there and spending some days in this very little town as my friend (she's currently living in Rye) told me. But it's a true fact; people visit this ancient town more often than we can imagine.

the entrance of Ypres Tower

The town was conquered by the Normans in the past and the architectural details show us a bit about it, although a big part of the town was destroyed as a result of wars (mostly with France) and the English had to rebuild the town all over again. At the times of the Norman Conquest, Rye was surrounded by the sea, but today, the coast side is miles away and you can see sheep grazing on the lawns, where once the waves broke. You can go to the coast side anyway (it is not that far), perhaps only for the tide that is happening on this coast line every day (as I know, twice in a day).

Historical Places in Rye:
If you are to visit the town, there are some places that could attract you as a tourist. Ypres Tower (Baddings Tower) is one of those fascinating buildings in Rye, which was ordered by King Henry III. There you can also visit the Rye Castle Museum, the one that can give you the best information about the town's history and the town itself.

the Church of St Mary the Virgin

The Church of St Mary the Virgin is one of the few churches in this little town and can be seen on the Lion Street, located in the heart of Rye. This building was built up in the 12th century when the town was owned by the Abbey of Fecamp in Normandy. The church stands on the highest part of Rye, and its tower is open to visitors, so you might prefer going up to see a great view of the town from there. It is worth climbing! There, on the tower of the church, you will see an old blue clock. The mechanism of this clock can be seen by the visitors from the tower (from the inside) - the clock mechanism dates back to 1561, and its face dates from about 1760! On the clock, a sentence is written: For our time is a very shadow that passeth away...

the Land Gate

What is left from the town walls? Well, there were four gates located on different parts of the town walls earlier, but only one of them survived until today. The four are, The Strand Gate, Postern Gate, Land Gate and Baddings Gate, and the one surviving is the Land Gate. Besides, you might want to take a closer look at the walls, so I offer you to visit the Rye Town Model in the Heritage; it shows the walls well.

Streets of Rye:

At the back is Swan Cottage Tea Rooms

Mermaid Street is a street I would offer you to see; a street which was described in the 1770s as being 'near as steep as the ridge of house' by Reverend John Wesley. The Watchbell Street is also worth seeing, as there was a bell hung in the street to give warning of any approach of French people. Thomas House is known as the oldest houses in West Street, and is all white and brown, as most of the houses used to be in the earlier centuries in this area. For those who like royal things, the house where Queen Elizabeth I stayed during her 3-day visit to Rye can be seen at the corner of Church Square and West Street (the house is known today as the Old Custom House, the house with the crooked chimney). The High Street is another one worth seeing, which runs the whole length of Rye, from the Land Gate to the Mint. The Mint is a very narrow but lovely street where you can see black and white buildings, and Swan Cottage Tea Rooms is where I had a tea after lunch (I do have tea after breakfast, lunch and dinners!).

the Mermaid Inn

The Mermaid Inn is also one thing worth seeing, not because of its appearance but its historical importance. This Inn was used by the Hawkhurst gang of smugglers as a meeting place. Another place they used to meet in, to carouse and smoke pipes, was the Red Lion. The Mermaid Inn is open to everyone so that you can go in and have lunch or just some drinks - unfortunately when we asked for lunch, they were closing the kitchen, I don't remember why. So we chose another place around to eat.

Inside an antique shop

You might see antique shops everywhere in Rye, and I am very satisfied with some pieces I bought in several places. The antique framed Marilyn Monroe picture is my favourite and is now hanged on my wall in my bedroom! Old fashioned bags, clothes, second hand books, mirrors, some little pieces of home decoration and many more! I was all fascinated - hated that I could not carry them all to my own house as it would cost me a fortune!

A very sad story:
The story of Cantator and Amanda is a well-known story about Rye - Even I knew this story before I learnt that this legend happened in Rye. In 1845, when a new railway was built from Ashford to Rye and Hastings, a discovery was made. Two skeletons, clasped together, was found unearthed. The old legend of these two skeletons says that two young lovers, named Cantator (a monk) and Amanda (a beautiful young girl) were forbidden to see each other, so they ran away but were caught and their punishment was to be buried alive. This story dates from the 14th century and is shuddery...

The town's reputation & the rivers:

the Strand Quay and me on the bridge

The town was well known for shipbuilding, fishing and trading in the old times, and it is told that even King Henry VIII asked Rye to send fish to Dover in time for the arrival of famous Anne of Cleves, his bride-to-be. The River Rother is a very famous one in the history and the most well-known river of Rye but now it is not as wide as it was earlier. River Brede is another river where you can see loads of fishing boats around. Strand Quay, where now many private boats moor on the River Tillingham, was one of the centres of Rye's shipbuilding in the past, and there are many teashops and cafes on the quay now - it was lovely!

What else to do in Rye:

the Camber Sands Beach

Around Rye, apart from walking down the streets, the most I enjoyed was a long walk on the coast line - on Camber Sands Beach. There, with the remains of the tide, you can see little boys and girls playing on the wet sands (mostly semi-naked IN WINTER!), dogs running with their owners and youngsters climbing up to the small hills to jump down as a traditional game. It was very windy when I was there and cold, but I survived that one hour we spent there!

If you visit this side of England, I would definitely offer you to ride a horse in a farm or if you know someone in Rye, in their houses. Most people in Rye still own horses and they use them a
means of transportation in the town. As someone who adore horses and ride anytime I have a chance, I wanted to ride one of the horses of my friend's family that I am staying with, but very unfortunately, they were too old to ride, so I had to give up. But they had two lovely horses, Fred and Darcy, and they still keep them and feed them as some members of their family.

Fred and Darcy and me

What else can I suggest? If you like the nature, go and have a walk in the woods - it is very quiet and empty but you will never want to leave this place and will go everyday if you are staying in Rye more than a few days! Don't forget to take some pictures there!

a view from the woods in Rye

Where to stay in Rye?

Me in the garden of the Corner House

There are not many choices as this is a very traditional town - I won't be able to recommend you very high standard hotel rooms but I can recommend you a very lovely and warm cottage house: the Corner House

The owners, Yvonne and Richard Turner, who are the parents-in-law of a very close friend of mine, are very nice people; very hospitable and helpful, and the house is quite bright, clean, comfortable and best of all, the breakfast is free! I stayed there 3 days and 2 nights and did not want to leave! You can reach the heart of Rye from there by a short walk, so I would definitely recommend you to stay at this lovely old brick house which was built more than 100 years ago as the owners told me.

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