Summer Holiday in Turkey

This summer's holiday we have spent in the "Gateway of the mystical east, Turkey".

We spent a few unforgettable days in Turkey's economical and cultural (but not political!) capital, Istanbul, probably the only large city that lies on two continents. This is probably one of the reasons Istanbul has a great atmosphere, filled with a flavour of mixture of different cultures.
We have visited here a great deal of mosques form the world renowned Ayasofya and Blue mosque to the less known, but nonetheless interesting Fatih, or Suleymanye. We also enjoyed a beautiful sunset, from the Galata tower, that provided a magnificent view of the inner city. We have also visited the two best known palaces, the older, Topkapi and the newer (the eighteen hundreds) Dolmabahce palace.


A mayor economical link (even nowadays) between the black sea and the Mediterranean see is the Bosporus, which is a splendid boat trip too:


After Istanbul we traveled to Kusadasi to have a few days of seaside-relaxation. The panorama below is taken from our hotel's balcony. Honestly not too much to say about this city other than it can offer some nice beaches, restaurants and that some of the biggest cruise ships anchor its harbor.


One trip we made from Kusadasi was to Pamukkale a mountain that due to calcium deposits of its springs is covered with a white layer that forms basins and other beautiful formations.


A great day we spent aboard a fishing boat that took us to a few less crowded beaches nearby and offered a great meal too.


Last but not least, a trip to Turkey would not be complete without a traditional Turkish night with all that such a night should offer (great food and drinks, belly dancers, etc)


So, in conclusion, we had a wonderful time in Turkey, and we came back with a lot of memories....
All pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/zoli.gyenge/ASIATURKEY

Arosa: "Just another day in paradise"

This Saturday we made a trip to Arosa, a small resort in the Alps at about 1800m. We were stunned, it is just amazing, as U can see we made probably our best photos ever!!! (make sure you click on the panorama pictures to view them full size).

A view of the lake at Arosa with the Alps in the background:


The panorama from 2800m:


and the water show (actually the initial reason we went to Arosa):

more our photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/gulliver.gyenge/Arosa

Why is the 31st of July my favorite day?

Simply because that's my birthday and I love getting presents (who doesn't?). In Switzerland I am especially lucky to having it right before the Swiss National Day, thus I get an extra holiday to fully enjoy it!

My birthday started with a huge surprise: a wonderful bowl of flowers was waiting for me at the reception, when I arrive to the office – and no sign about the sender ! (Later on, I figured out that my brother surprised me with that, but the note attached fell down by mistake) Afterwards I received congratulations, birthday cards and small presents from my colleagues’ side.
In the evening, we celebrated with a nice dinner, a bottle of champagne and my favorite blackberry cake:

I could hardly wait to open my presents! Zoli surprised me with a beautiful watch and a ticket for a real adventure: paragliding in Interlaken, the most beautiful region in Switzerland! I was looking forward super excited to the next day ... luckily it’s been a wonderful summer day, sunshine and clear weather, just perfect to admire the landscape from a height of about 1000 meters. We’ve been flying in tandem, with a professional pilot, for about 15-20 minutes … it’s been reeaaally amazing, one of the greatest experiences of my life!!!

Feel free to enjoy all our photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/gulliver.gyenge/Interlaken… and I’ll try to be patient, since there are still 363 days to go until my next birthday :-)