Basilica Cistern

                                                                                   Istanbul, Turkey
                                                                                June, 2015

The Basilica Cistern is a massive, underground water storage facility built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the 6th century. It is very close to Haghia Sophia and is undeniably the most unusual place I have ever visited. The Basilica Cistern is 105000 square feet in area with 336 marble columns supporting the 30 feet tall brick ceiling. Originally, water was brought in by aqueducts from a forest 19 kilometers away. 


How the Basilica Cistern was discovered: 
It is a fascinating story. After the Ottomans conquest of Constantinople (today's Istanbul), over a period of time, modern water systems got installed and  people forgot about the Basilica Cistern. Around 1544, P. Gyllius, a Dutch traveler researching Byzantine architecture, observed that people were getting water with buckets from well holes near Haghia Sophia. Some were even catching fish out of these holes. He decided to explore this massive under ground well and ended up discovering the Basilica Cistern.

From the entrance, walked down around 50 steps to reach the platform surrounding the Basilica Cistern.
Before these platforms were built, the only way to explore Basilica Cistern was to take boat rides.

Medusa's Head:
An interesting feature of the Basilica Cistern are two Medusa heads at the far end of the cistern. One of the heads is upside down and another is positioned sideways. It is believed these Medusa's heads were placed to guard the Basilica Cistern.

Medusa's Head

In Dan Brown's 2013 book,  Inferno , the climax happens in the Basilica Cistern. The Jame Bond movie, "From Russia With Love" has a scene shot in the Basilica Cistern. Search YouTube for "From Russia With Love Basilica Cistern". :)

Santorini Blues!

                                                                                    Santorini, Greece
                                                                                June, 2015

Blue is my favorite color! The sky is blue, the ocean is blue and now I have one more reason to love the color blue, Santorini. Santorini consists of 5 islands. It used to be a single big island until the Volcano in the middle blew up 3500 years ago. The dome of the volcano collapsed and the Aegean sea filled up the Caldera resulting in the 5 islands.

Santorini view from the Athens - Santorini flight.
In the C shaped big island, the town of Oia (pronounced as "Eeaa" ) is the right most white patch in this picture.
Fira is the town at the center with the airport and cruise ship terminal.

View of another small town, Imerovigli, as seen from Oia.
All the towns are built on the slopes of the volcanic Caldera!
The churches, hotels, houses and restaurants  seem to be hanging over the edge of the nearly vertical cliffs!

The Armeni Village was our home during our stay in Oia.

Our cave suite at the Armeni Village !!!

The view from our cave !

Oia is the most beautiful, enchanting and picturesque town and is located at the northern most tip of Santorini. 
This view has been forever etched in my mind :)

Oia

Oia

Most of the churches in Santorini and Oia (...there are many) have brilliant, bright blue domes.

The northern most point of Oia. A beautiful place to watch the Sunset.

Steps leading down the cliff. The hotels are pretty much stacked up one on another.
Some of the most beautiful views of Oia you see in this post are accessible only if you explore these hidden side lanes and steps.

Stunning view of Amoudi Bay, boats and Taverns from the cliffs of Oia.

Souvlaki Row

                                                                                    Athens, Greece
                                                                                June, 2015
                                                                                              
The year was 1988. I was settling down and getting used to life at The University of Oklahoma (OU) at Norman. One of the  first international food I was introduced to, was the Greek Gyro Pita sandwich. There was a small, family run Greek cafe, walking distance from the engineering building. I used to visit the place often for a Gyro sandwich. After graduating from OU, I never had such an authentic,  delicious Gyro sandwich, that is, until this trip to Greece!


Monastiraki Square
The Monastiraki Square is with in 10 minutes of walking from the Syntagma Square (  link  ). Monastiraki means "Little Monastery" and refers to the 12th-century Byzantine church located in the square. Monastiraki Square is the hub of a busy shopping center, always packed with tourists. From the square, one street leads to the Athens Flea Market, and another street is home to specialty stores, clothing boutiques and souvenir shops loaded with just the things tourists want to buy !!!  Yet another street leading from the square has the most appropriate name, "Souvlaki Row", for a very good reason. 

Do I need a caption for this photo? :)

Walking towards Monastiraki Sqaure. See the street lights hanging overhead at the middle of the street !
That is very unique; I have never seen like this in any other country we had visited!

Church of Panaghia Kapnikarea on Ermou street;  a 11th century, Byzantine, Greek Orthodox Church.

The Monastiraki Square.

Fruit vendors at Monastiraki Square. I wanted to buy just 2 Peaches. The man selling the fruit said,
" Sorry my friend, you need buy for at least 1 Euro". I said OK and was shocked to receive 5 fresh, juicy and
very yummy peaches just for 1 Euro.!!! The narrow street behind these fruit stalls lead to the
Athens Flea Market.

This street is full of boutique and souvenir shops!

Souvlaki Row
If you visit Athens and would like to enjoy really, authentic, mouth watering, finger-licking delicious Greek food like Gyros and Souvlaki's, for a very reasonable price, Souvlaki Row is not to be missed. Located in the Mitropoleos street, leading off from the Monastiraki sqaure, the "Souvlaki Row" is lined with excellent Greek Cafes and Restaurants.  

As you walk along Souvlaki Row, waiters on either side literally try to pull you inside their cafe!

Outdoor tables clog both sides of the already narrow street, providing an enjoyable, upclose and personal dining experience!

We selected a Cafe called Σαββαs (pronounced as "Sabbas") which was opened in 1925.

This is how my red wine arrived !!!

Appetizer: Eggplant with Yogurt !!!  Man, this was melting in my mouth and setup high expectation for the rest of the food! 

Fresh Greek Salad. The cheese square on the top was worth its weight in Gold !

The Gyro.  It was delicious and we all absolutely loved it. Each Gyro costs just 2.50 Euros.
Next day, we went back to the same place for lunch (:-P...

                                                                                                                     * * * * * 
 
After the trip, I searched for my Greek House Cafe in Norman, OK. It is still there and I was not surprised to read amazing, raving reviews in Yelp, Google and TripAdvisor.  I also read a story that the original owners were farm workers from Greece who had moved to USA and started this Cafe in February of 1979.

When I had my first Gyro at this Cafe in Norman, OK in 1988, there was
no Internet, no web browsers, no cell/smart phones, no Yelp and no Google!!!
I know, I am dating myself :)
Thanks to them, today I was able to pull a photo of this place from the Internet !

Church Bells of Santorini !!!

                                                                                    Santorini, Greece
                                                                                June, 2015
 
In my home town in India, almost every street has a Ganapati Temple. As a kid, standing outside my ancestral home,  I could see 2 Ganapati temples at the same time. :) Santorini, with only 35 square miles in area, boasts more than 250 churches. A rough calculation yields more than 7 churches per square mile. Most of the churches have a brilliant blue dome which strikingly contrasts the white buildings or complement the blue skies and the blue ocean. I had a hard time selecting the photos for this post since every church was very unique in its own way!

This church was close to where we were staying in Oia.

What a Wedding Photographer ;)

Church at Imerovigli.

 

Church at Imerovigli.

The same Imerovigli church from the front !!!.

Santorini Sunsets !!!

                                                                                    Santorini, Greece
                                                                                June, 2015


Astronomy Trivia Question: Is it possible to see a star in the sky during the day time?

Oia is at the northern tip of Santorini and the sunsets are best when viewed from Oia. All the tourists staying in other towns ( Fira, Firostefani and Imerovigli ) arrive at the northern most point in Oia to watch the sunset. The old castle in Oia is the gathering place for all the sunset watchers. To get an unobstructed view, one need to get there at least an hour before the sunset.


 

A good reference map of Santorini, from Fira's Bus station.

The old castle in Oia.
Since it is at a good elevation, you get amazing views of the buildings and the sunset.
This is the first place that gets filled up to watch the sunset.
On our first evening, we had to elbow our way to the castle ;)

Do you see the flag and the church bells near the right edge?
That is where we went the next day to watch the sunset (photos below).

Most folks leave the area right after the sun disappears. Hang around little longer.
Slowly, the building lights come up and create an enchanting view.

Trivia answer: Of course, we all can see a star during the day, the Sun. :)