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I'm Back (European trip report)

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I'm a baaad blogger.

It's been a while, sorry 'bout that.  We were on vacation 'til the 5th, then I got massively jetlagged (which was weird, because I didn't have any jet lag issues on the trip to Istanbul, usually I have problems going west to east, not east to west).

 

Anyway, we had a great time on the vacation - there were 11 of us traveling (the 4 West Coast Ostermans, 3 of my 4 siblings, my younger brothers girlfriend, my step-mom, our "adopted grandparents"), so we were quite the pack.  We started in Istanbul, staying at the Four Seasons (I HIGHLY recommend it - it's in the Sultanamhet, literally steps away from the Hagia Sofia, Blue Mosque,and Topkapi Palace.  The Hagia Sofia:

 

We then moved to the Greek Isles. Visiting Santorini, we hiked up to the top of the remnants of the old Thera volcano - it's still active (if not very).  I kinda went a bit overboard taking pictures of Bougainvillea, for whatever reason, I just find it picturesque.  This is a house I ran into in Oia (2nd largest city on Santorini):

Next on to Naphtlion.  We visited the ruins of Mycenia, and had an awesome lunch in a small cafe in the harbor.  We left early in the evening, so I was able to get a couple of evening pictures (an unnamed fort in the harbor):

After Naphtlion, came the city of Itea, which is where the Oracle at Delph is (a rock wall at the oracle):

Then to Corphu (where they offer bowling at their casino):

 and Korkula (in Croatia).  At Korkula, we went swimming in the Aegean sea, the water was WONDERFUL.

 

We finally ended up in Venice (on a water taxi ride to the island of Morano):

This was the view from our hotel:

And, for my sister Edie, a laundry picture (she collects them):

I'm a bit annoyed at the cruise line (Seabourn), but except for the issues we had with the cruise, the trip really was magical.  I ended up taking close to a thousand pictures, of which we're likely to print up and frame a dozen or so.

The reason there are so many Venice pictures here was simply because the city is so unbelievably photogenic.  I really was blown away by it - the color palate there is different than any other city to which I've been.

 

 

Anyway, after we got back and I recovered from jet lag, I got dropped into an insanely high priority project that only finished up on Tuesday, I spent today recovering from that project.

But I'm back, and ready to resume blogging.  For real this time :)

Comments

  • Anonymous
    July 19, 2006
    Nice to have you back (online).

    The island in Croatia is Korcula not Korkula. And the sea around it is Adriatic sea.

    Marko (European from Slovenia :)

  • Anonymous
    July 19, 2006
    Welcome back Larry. I've missed your blogging. Good to here you had a great trip. Thanks for sharing some of the moments with us.  You may have just missed the heatwave we are now having - I am in Germany near Heidelberg and it was 37 C yesterday.
  • Anonymous
    July 19, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 19, 2006
    Good to know you're back safe. And to know that the Osterman Several Weeks' Vacation wasn't some Peckinpah sequel. Nice eye candy, btw.
    ;-)
  • Anonymous
    July 19, 2006
    Nice pics! :)

    I'd like to recommend you do a cruise in Norway the next time! You take the "Hurtigruten" from Bergen and all the way up north to "Nordkapp" (Northcape). It's absolutly wonderful!
    (http://www.hurtigruten.com/en/default.aspx)

    Or you can join one of the many cruiseliners that stop by in Norwegian Fjords!
    (http://www.cruisenorway.com/index.html)
    (http://www.scantours.com/norwegian_cruise.htm)

    I'd personally like to go on a roadtrip to the US... Or back down-under on a "Walkabout". :)
  • Anonymous
    July 19, 2006
    > Sofia

    When I was there, they were doing repair work on the inside of the dome.

    Counting the stairs... 11 stories up.

    And this in a ~1500 year old building.

    Incredable.
  • Anonymous
    July 19, 2006
    Those are some pretty nicely shot photos. I have a feeling you took a Photography 101 class at some stage.
  • Anonymous
    July 20, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 20, 2006
    Larry-- I notice that you put the laundry shot in the prominant last place (star of the show) position... laundry beats bougainvillea every time :)  The pics here are just great.

    And, I'd like a copy when you get a chance. I'm off to see Andrew in an hour.
    Edie
  • Anonymous
    July 20, 2006
    Larry-- I notice that you put the laundry shot in the prominant last place (star of the show) position... laundry beats bougainvillea every time :)  The pics here are just great.

    And, I'd like a copy when you get a chance. I'm off to see Andrew in an hour.
    Edie
  • Anonymous
    July 21, 2006
    Woo-hoo!  Over there on the far left of the first photo, vertically around the center: is that Larry cloud-surfing?  I think it is!
  • Anonymous
    July 25, 2006
    Hi Larry and welcome back.

    Question though on the one shot of the Venice Taxi (3rd picture from the bottom) I notice just a couple small hands there? You throw one of the siblings overboard? ;-)

    Also why did the bowling at the Casino suprise you? They have bowling at several Casino's in Las Vegas.
  • Anonymous
    July 25, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 25, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    August 02, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 17, 2009
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