Boats

We were on boats for a good bit of our trip - at least 25% of the time if not 30%. Let's recount:

Boat Trip #1 - a 4 hour trip down the Bosphorus. The Boshporus is a straight between the European and Asian sides of Turkey.



Boat Trip #2 - a week long blue cruise on a Turkish gulet. So many stories from the boat.










Boat Trip #3 - a 2 hour hydrofoil ride from Fethiye to Rhodes. No pictures here. It was REALLY early in the morning, so we just slept.

Boat Trip #4 - an overnight ferry from Rhodes to Santorini (7 hours). We stayed up late at the bar. We managed to meet someone who talked more than Hallie.



Boat Trip #5 - a ferry from Santorini to Athens (4 hours). No pictures. There may have been a few hangovers and it was a rough ride. Here is a shot of us crammed into the car on the way to the ferry.



Boat Trip #6 - a soothing sailboat ride in Barcelona (2 hours)

Miller Lite and I will have a joyous reunion

Six people from the MidWest on vacation in Europe for 29 days drink a lot of beer. How much I miss my daily half liter...

Efes is the beer in Turkey. Apparently the only beer. We managed to find Efes light one day, but never again. Not only is Efes the only beer in Turkey, but it seems to be in short supply everywhere...but that's another story.


It did seem to taste better poured from our own personal tower of beer.


In Greece, there was a little more of a selection. Not only Mythos and Alfa, but we were also able to partake of other European varieties like Heinekin and Amstel. It was always served at least chilled - but it's best served ice cold in a liter mug on a balcony overlooking the city.


In Barcelona, it was Estrella. Damm! To be honest, by now they all taste the same and I can't really tell the difference. I could really use a Spotted Cow.


We wouldn't have actually known what we were drinking most of the time had it not been for the labeled glasses that seem to accompany all drinks in Europe. Most of the time we just said "beer" and got liters or half liters of whatever they chose to bring us. Cheers!

When we weren't drinking beer, we were drinking Raki, the Turkish version of Ouzo. When we weren't drinking Raki, we were drinking Ouzo, the Greek version of Raki.


In Barcelona, it was Cava, a Catalan sparkling wine. YUMMY! I could drink it all day long. Move over half liter of beer, bring on the Cava!

Retelling of the stories

Sorry we didn't blog much while we were away...it's much more difficult than you think it will be. Stayed tuned...I'll be sure to retell the tales right here over the next few weeks.

Let's start with a recap of fabulous self portraits, mostly because you know you love looking at me wearing large sunglasses (on a boat, Rhodes, Santorini, Santorini, Athens, Barcelona, Barcelona, Barcelona, Barcelona, Barcelona):

Dining Out

They may be slow to seat you, slow to take your order, slow to serve your food, and PAINFULLY slow to bring you the check, but they do have some darn good food here in Barcelona.