Interrail Trail 2023

A 81-day adventure by Interrail Trail 2023 Read more

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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Sailing The Bosphorus
October 23, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
Istanbul: The only city to have a footprint on two continents, which I didn't know?!

The Bosphorus Strait lies between them, the different economic approaches evident in the architecture 🏘
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Hammam Heaven
October 24, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Turkish Bathing 🛁

The best spa experience ever, physically and mentally, wonderful! I have already been looking if there are any 🇬🇧 .... London only 😔
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Weaving Wonders
October 24, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
A visit to a live demonstration of a Turkish carpet being woven🧵

Woven from Wool, Cotton, or Silk, the time and cost increases in this order. Women are salaried $600 per month, with looms and materials provided to rural areas. The thought crossed my mind: Is this skilled work being undervalued at the women's expense?Knowing the # of months it took to make a carpet multipled by salary at least gives you an idea if paying a few $$$$ for one.

The art started with the Seljuks in Anatolia in the 13th century. The province of Usak had an essential place in the Ottoman carpet business and the Classical Period began with the carpets of Usak, with some examples housed in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art. In the following periods, some carpets also were weaved in regions such as Gördes...

www.gordesrug.com/Read more
TravelerDid they try to sell you one? That’s usually the culmination of weaving demonstrations.
10/26/23Reply
TravelerNo, they didn't. It was really comfortable and well done 🥰 of course gave us their details if we wanted to purchase but no pressure at all!
10/26/23Reply
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Islamic Istanbul
October 25, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
A walking tour aimed at improving visitors' understanding of Islam 🕋, an Arabic word for peace and submission, practising in line with 5 pillars:

(1) Shahadah (Testimony), which is the declaration of faith; that there is no God but Allah.

(2) Salah (five daily prayers), the timings of which are calculated by the movement of the sun. The Muazzin calls Muslims to Prayer from the Minaret.

(3) Sawm (fasting) at Ramadan to teach a sound social conscience, patience, and unselfishness. It helps the wealthy understand the difficulties of those who suffer from hunger.

(4) Zakat (purification of wealth), an annual payment of 2.5% of net savings to be spent directly on poorer sections of the community to reduce inequality.

(5) Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), all prayers are made towards the Ka'bah 🕋 and if you are able, you are expected to make the pilgrimage once in a lifetime.

We stopped at the Centre for Crosscultural Communication, aiming to unite cultures through Islamic teachings 🕌🕍⛪️🛕

www.crossculturalcenter.org/Read more
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Journeying by Night
October 26, 2023 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
Night 🚆 #1

Sadly leaving Istanbul, taking with me an itinerary for my future visit, I caught the sleeper train to make my way to Bulgaria 🇧🇬 on route through to Romania 🇷🇴

I have arrived safely, managed to get some 😴 and met more lovely people so a win all round 😊Read more
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Walking Plovdiv
October 27, 2023 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Plovdiv Pitstop

Kapana District was the most enjoyable with the shops, galleries café restaurants 😋
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Training Day
October 28, 2023 in Romania ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
🚉 # 18

It's official, I have started the journey home! Travelled from Varna to 🇷🇴... Transylvania 🧛‍♂️ during Halloween 🎃

The hostel was in full swing, so it would be rude not to join in 😁
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Walking Bucharest
October 29, 2023 in Romania ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
Known as the City of Contrast, and you really can see why when you walk the streets... bringing week 8 to a close!

👣 138, 398....

Interesting Fact: They moved whole buildings to accommodate Communist plans protecting history, amazing

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/dec/14/…Read more
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Ceaușescu Communism
October 30, 2023 in Romania ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Romania became a Communist Country in 1947, shortly afterwards establishing a concentration camp system in 1949.

The experiment of Pitești took place in the maximum-security prison
created to re-educate prisoners through physical terror and
psychological torture. Two or more prisoners who knew each other or had friendly relationships were imprisoned
together in the same cell, assuming different roles: some were
executioners, while others were victims.

In power from 1965 until the revolution in 1989, Nicolae Ceaușescu implemented his communist regime with brutality, controlling all aspects of life. Timisoara, here I come...Read more
TravelerIt’ll be interesting to compare to the GDR museum in Berlin.
10/31/23Reply
TravelerGDR Museum? What's that short for? I will be sure to go!
11/1/23Reply
TravelerGDR / DDR - it’s a museum for the old East Germany (German Democratic Republic/ Deutsche Demokratische Republik) - it’s by the river behind the cathedral in Berlin.
11/1/23Reply
Traveler👍Thank you!
11/1/23Reply
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Carol Park
October 30, 2023 in Romania ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
First, lunch before heading to Carol Park! Warm enough to have the legs out in October! ☀️
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
2
Not Dracula's Castle
October 31, 2023 in Romania ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Bran Castle is NOT Dracula's 🏰

In 1897, the Irish writer Bram Stoker gave the world an imaginary character that even today fascinates audiences from all over the world.

Dracula 🧛‍♂️ an immortal Transylvanian count, thirsty for innocent blood. The legend created by Stoker is based on the fictional image of the 15th century Wallachian prince, Vlad Tepes, who was famous at the time by his severe punishment of the law breakers. Bran Castle, described in literature as a great fortress difficult to conquer, located in a mysterious place in the midst of the Carpathians Mountains. Vlads real home is located in Poenari Citadel.

Hungry after being a typical tourist for the day, I headed out for traditional Romanian food (fully clothed for the first time during my trip)!Read more
Traveler Oo-er!
10/31/23ReplyTranslate
TravelerTrust you to look at it that way 😆
10/31/23Reply
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Sibiu Stop
November 1, 2023 in Romania
🚉 # 19

Sibiu was planned over as only a pitstop. However, the city was so beautiful 😍

After laundry, I went out for a wander and to eat more yummy traditional Romanian food 😋
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Timişoara Train
November 2, 2023 in Romania ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
🚉 # 20

Finally, after a very slow journey, I arrived in Timişoara. Can't wait to explore the city by day!

But first, change then Gin🍸
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Walking Timişoara
November 3, 2023 in Romania ⋅ 🌬 18 °C
Self guided, I walked to understand the city sites. The rain did hold off🙏 but it was very windy!
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Romanian Revolt
November 3, 2023 in Romania ⋅ 🌬 20 °C
In 1989, the beginning of the end for Communism began in Timişoara.

Trying to hold on to power, Ceaușescu ordered the army to fire on protestors... It did not stop the movement: other cities followed until the regime fell! 1006 people died, with 2988 injured during the revolution. No justice ⚖️

A section of the Berlin wall was here too, serving as a reminder of division and reunification, of conflict and resolution, of constraint and liberty ✊️Chocolate Crepe to lighten up 😋Read more
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Budapest Bound
November 4, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
🚉 # 21

Budapest... It was: find the hostel, food, and a quick turnaround to make a 3.30pm walking tour. It became too dark for 📸 😔

Ruin Bars! Once the site of the Jewish ghetto, the historic Jewish Quarter became dilapidated in the decades following World War II, after the deportation of 10,000s Jews. Szimpla began as a small experiment, a bar set up in an abandoned building, offering affordable drinks for the young and creative crowd.

An evening out there with other hostel guests turned out to be fun! 🍸Read more
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
House of Terror
November 5, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ 🌧 11 °C
Szimpla transformed into a food market on Sunday morning, as if by magic after the chaos of a Saturday Night 🪄 I stopped in for a cuppa and a pastry with a new friend before heading for the House of Terror.

The building used to be the Arrow Cross Party HQ, the Hungarian National Socialist Movement who first collaborated with, before being occupied by Nazi Germany during WWII. The 'liberators', the Soviet Union, occupied Hungry from 1945 to until the fall of the USSR in 1989, with the last soldier leaving in 1991 🪖

This was the place where members of the Arrow Cross tortured and killed hundreds of people before it was continued under the Soviet Regime; first in persecution of Jews then in forcing Communism under Starlin ☭Read more
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Jewish Quarter
November 5, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
In the afternoon, it was a visit to the Great Synagogue and Jewish Museum 🕍

Synagogues are places of worship, study, and community; for the living! Typically, burials are not permitted on the grounds. However, it was necessary to bury 2281 people in mass graves due to the volume of deaths in the Ghetto.

The Tree of Life is sculpted with 6000 leafs to represent the 6 million Jews who lost their lives in WWII. Leaves are inscripted with the names of Jews who lost their lives in the Budapest Ghetto 😔Read more
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
St Stephen's Catherdral
November 5, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ 🌙 11 °C
Last stop, the Catherdral ⛪️

It was Sunday Mass... 'Our greatness lies in being little.' I certainly felt little from the platform at the top of the Catherdral Dome 🤏
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Szimpla
November 5, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ 🌙 8 °C
A random trip back to the Ruin Bar after being recommended the Jam night 🎸

Bringing Week 9 to an end, 105,761 👣
TravelerI didn’t miss bonfire night at all - guess you didn’t either!
11/7/23Reply
TravelerNope, not at all! 🤭
11/7/23Reply
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Walking Pest
November 6, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
Divided by the Danube, I completed exploring Pest👣 with Soviet and WWII monuments (as it was too dark, for me at least, to 📸 on the walking tour), before heading to the Central Market for food 😋

Fed, it was time to cross the river and start exploring the Buda side!Read more
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Spa Sleeping
November 6, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
First stop, Gellert Baths 💦

Thermal bath in Budapest since 1918 in Art Nouveau style. My favourite part was the 40⁰ pool and a snooze 😴

I made up for it with a walk up to the Soviet Liberty Statue... views across to Pest were lovely! I spotted a balloon 🥰Read more
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Memento Park
November 7, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
The ideological battle; the process of turning communist concepts
into practical reality and the events involved in creating and building
a proletariat state, presents a difficult task that very often has conflicting points of view. This makes interpretation difficult, leaving aside for a moment the challenges of implementation without resorting to totalitarianism.Read more
TravelerI would love to visit this place!!
11/8/23Reply
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Walking Buda
November 7, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
Funicular fun to get to the Castle, now a museum, before exploring the Bastion and admiring Matthias Church...⛪️

The view over the river was lovely... even on a cloudy day ⛅️
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Interrail Trail 2023 Traveler
Danube Drifting
November 7, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
It was very dark and wet 🌧 but floating the Danube was still a pretty sight 😍

I realised that I need to learn how to use my actual camera 📷 better to take pictures at night 🤭
TravelerFor those type of photos you need to 1. Increase the ISO to around 3200 2. Stop down by about 2/3 of a stop and expose for the (high)lights. You can do both those things in “P” mode. That will leave the images a bit dark overall, but the highlights won’t be blown out. You can then raise the shadows in software.
11/8/23Reply
TravelerYou need to give me a lesson!
11/8/23Reply
Traveler👍
11/9/23Reply
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