Bisbee, Arizona

Bisbee is an interesting eclectic town southwest of Tombstone.  This was a copper mining community and the old town is located in a canyon.  The temperature during the day averages around 75 F with cooler evenings.

There is a vibrant arts community and the town shops reflects this influence.  Shopping in town would be an interesting afternoon experience.  There are several good restaurants available.  On Monday there is less choice as several establishments were closed when we visited.  We ended up eating at the Table Restaurant located near the Bisbee Coffee Company.  The menu had an excellent variety of American cuisine. Bill had French onion soup and pork ribs, I choose a hamburger.  We both enjoyed our meals and the service was excellent.

If you come to Bisbee you need to visit the Queen Mine.  This copper mine has been closed for several years but now provides tours for visitors.  The guides are former mine employees and are very knowledgeable.  Before entering the mine visitors are dressed in yellow rain coats, hard hats and miners lamps.  Then straddling a narrow gage train car to descend into the mine.  During the tour you learn about the different methods used over the years to mine copper.  You also get an understanding of what it would have been like to work in the mine and how different tasks were completed, like thee use of dynamite to blast rock.  The tour is an excellent introduction to coal mining.  Just around the corner from the Queen Mine you can see the Lavender open pit mine.  This is a huge area that was dug to access the copper.  The pit mine is closed and there has been no restoration. 

If you are interested in birding you can drive southeast to Douglas where there is the San Bernadino National Wildlife Refuge,where the white cranes winter.  To the west is Sierra Vista with numerous canyons that provide excellent bird viewing.  If you are in the area March to June you will be able to see up to 15 species of Hummingbirds in Ramsey Canyon and don't forget to visit the conservatory.

Did you know that Arizona has a growing wine industry?   You can find vineyards located around Elgin and Wilcox.  Most wineries are open for wine tasting on Friday and Saturdays.  Make sure that you have picked up a Sierra Vista Official Visitors Guide to assist in finding the wineries.  Some wineries require reservations.

This area is easily accessed by driving south from Phoenix on the I-10 for about 2-3 hours.  We choose to stay in a charming bed and breakfast called the School House in old town Bisbee.  Check out the reviews on Trip Advisory.  We stayed in the Reading Room and found the accommodation very quiet.  The host is an interesting character and has been doing this for over nine years.

Pheonix Arizona 2015

Winter Break In Arizona

January is a great time to leave the snow and visit the desert.  This year we checked out the Phoenix area to see what would be a good choice for us if we decided to become snow birds in the future.

We want to be able to ballroom and Latin dance, lap swim, hike, golf for a reasonable price, and be close enough to sporting events as well as accessing cultural events.

The following information is what we investigated during our 2015 visit staying in the Buckeye area which is west of Phoenix :

Fitness options if staying for an extended period of time.  We wanted to work out or swim frequently during our stay.  There are only a few outdoor swimming pools heated during the winter months and open. 

• The Valley of the Sun YMCA at Litchfield Road and Thomas Road is a wonderful choice as it offers swimming and exercise classes.  You can purchase a week pass for two people $40.00.  They also have a month pass available, if you are over 60 years of age for two people a month pass costs $72.00.  They have multiple classes at various levels, exercise equipment and either 50 meter or 25 yard lap swimming.  http://valleyymca.org/

Cultural activities experienced this visit:

• Heard Museum Indian Art and History 2301 North Central Avenue Phoenix,  AZ:   This museum was excellent, the displays are beautifully arranged and very informative.  The information presented is about the aboriginal people in Arizona.  The displays represent the past showing clothing, baskets, cooking equipment, musical instruments, game and other items.  There are room displays that represent boarding school life.  You can also learn about aboriginal athletes and their accomplishments. http://heard.org/

•  Desert Botanical Gardens general admission is $25.00 per adult and the gardens are open daily from 8 am to 8 pm at 1201 N. Galvin Parkway,  Phoenix.  You can access more information at http://www.dbg.org/.

• Phoenix Zoo general admission is $20.00 for adults and is open from 9am to 5pm.  For more information check out their website at http://phoenixzoo.org/.

Hiking and Walking options:
There are multiple hiking areas that you can pick to enjoy a hike in the desert.  Maricopa County is the surrounding area around Buckeye.  This includes Estrella Mountain Regional Park, Buckeye Hills Regional Park and White Tank Mountain Regional Park.





Hole in the Rock

• Papago Park,  is located east of Downtown Phoenix  in Tempe where you can find the Phoenix Zoo and the Desert Botanical Gardens.  There are several trails to hike.  A very popular hike is the hole in the rock trail which is only 1/10 of a mile.

https://www.phoenix.gov/parks/trails/locations/papago-park

• South West of Phoenix is the Estrella Mountain Regional Park.  Access to the park is off of the Estrella Parkway south of the I-10.  Information can be accessed from the following website www.maricopa.gov/parks/estrella .  Entrance fee is $6.00 per vehicle.  The park offers programs, hiking trails, picnic area, horse back riding, biking and camping.  Just outside the park is the Tres Riss Golf  Course with reduced fees after 3:00 pm and before 8:00 am.  We spent a couple of hours hiking trails in the hills.  Stop by the Nature Centre for detailed map, information and check out the displays.  They also have information on the plants in the area.  This park offers interpretive programs and guided walks.

• Buckeye Hills Regional Park is a rustic area without many services and no designated trails.  We drove to the last picnic/camping area and just walked into the dessert and up a hill.  The hiking is easy but you need to be careful of your footing and the cactus.  There were several large Saguaro Cactus in the area.  To access this park drive south from Buckeye on highway 85 about 10.5 miles south of the I-10 mile post 144.  Right beside this area is the Robbins Butte Wildlife Area.  A map of the area can be picked up at the Visitors Information Centre in the town of Buckeye.

• Off of the 303 west of Phoenix you can access White Tank Mountain Regional Park.  This park was the busiest of all the parks but it was also on the weekend after two days of rain when we went to the park.  There is a visitors centre with displays and with the entrance fee of $6.00 you get a map of the park.  Facilities include numerous picnic areas, flush toilets and several areas with interpretive signs.  The trails are well marked and some are disability accessible.  We choose to walk to the waterfall and this was very busy trail.  There was hardly any water but the rocks were wet where water had been flowing after the rain.  The park accommodates hiking, biking and horses.  This is a great park to spend the day and it is not too far out of the city.  This park also offers interpretive programs and guided hikes.

One of the things that we noticed is that if you stay in the area that you are located in there is less stress regarding driving in traffic.  During rush hour you are crawling along the freeways and it gets worse closer to downtown of course.

We did visit Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe, Goodyear, Sun City, Chandler and drove to Tuscan to visit friends and see what they had purchased on the golf course.  There is lots of choice if you wish to purchase property.  From an independent house, villa, condo, park model trailer, doublewide in a 55+ community or just in an area that you would like to spend time.  It's important to decide what you really want as you can certainly get caught up in the emotion of owning something.

Residents may not pay taxes the same as Canadians but everything that we looked at had some taxes and a HOA fee.  The Home Owners Association pays for the landscaping in the community and services.  These fees can be quite high depending on what facilities are included.

If you decide to purchase property make sure that you know the taxation rules that apply to Canadians in the United States.  If the value of your property is over a certain level you will be taxed on your income in Canada.  Buyer Beware!

Kusadasi, Turkey

On September 30 we were at sea the whole day as we cruised through the Bosphorus past Istanbul.  Then into the Dardanelles which is  61 km strait that is only 1.2 to 6 km wide.  Water in the strait flows in both directions.  The upper current flows from the sea of Miramar to the Aegean Sea and the opposite direction via an undercurrent.  The Bosphorus and Dardanelles connect the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. 








This is the location were we pick up the pilot to help guide the ship through  the Dardanelles.

Sunset in the Dardanelles.










Docking at Kusadasi allows passengers to see the local sites quicker than from Izmir, Turkey. The disadvantage is that there were four cruise ships in port at the same time.  Too many people in the town at one time.

Highly recommend that you take a tour in this port and limit the shopping.   The best time to return to the ship is later in the day.  At noon when all the tours are returning the line up to get on to the pier through security took 30 minutes so plan accordingly.




Milettus Ruins 

We have been to Ephesus which is a fantastic Roman site and well worth a visit.  We choose to visit Milettus Antique Site and Didyma Aollo Temple which are also located close to the port.

The Milettus ruins have an impressive coliseum and a good example of roman baths.






Upper Level Tunnels in Coliseum



Roman Baths main Pool



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Temple from a distance

Didyma Aollo Temple 



Looking up from the base of the main stairs.





Column laying down. 

 

Notice that the column is in sections.

Columns are built by placing sections together.

Example of decoration on walls inside the temple.

Constanta, Romania

Constanta is a important shipping port in Europe and has the potential to become the second largest after Rotterdam. Currently there is a lot of money being spent in the old town fixing up the streets and building exteriors.  The area will be beautiful when completed.

During the communist regime the wounderful buildings in the old town were taken from the owners and have been inhabited by gypsies and poor people.  It has been a difficult task removing people from the historic buildings and returning the buildings to the original owners.  The government has built apartment to relocate people.  The new apartments' cost as little as 3 Euro per month with subsidized utilities.

In Ovidiu Plaza you will find the Museum of Archeology which has a very interesting display that was discovered in 1962 during construction in this area.  The pieces discovered are from when the Roman era.

Fertility Snake

There is also an excellent collection of gold coins and an interesting glass vessel collection.

Baby drinking cup made from blown glass.

In the Roman Mosaics Museum you will find more than 2,000 square meters
 of mosaic from the 4th century.  This was the major trading area for the Romans as the sea came up to this area and good were traded in this area.  This is the largest area that I have seen of a continuous mosaic.  This are was covered during an earthquake so was only discovered in the 60's and is therefore in fairly good shape.

Up the street is the Folk Art Museum.  They have an excellent collection of costumes from the different areas in Romania.  The dress is very similar to the designs from the Ukraine.  Most of the embroidery is raised and either satin stitch, cross stitch or braid sewn in patterns.  I found it very interesting to see embroidered vests made of leather with the inside still having the fur attached.  I can't imagine how hard it is to embroider detailed designs on white leather.



St. Peter and St. Paul's Orthodox Cathedral

 After the visit of the Constanta highlights we were off for tasting.  Romania has very good wine but does not export a lot to Canada.  We could see that in the fields people were picking red grapes and loading them into wooden wagons.  We did not get to see an actual winery during this tour but were located in the middle of a vineyard.  After the wine tasting we saw some traditional dancing.  The steps are very basic for these folk dances.

Romanian folk dance.

Nessebur, Bulgaria

St. John the Baptist Church

Nessebur old town became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983 because of it rich history.  The town  located on the Black Sea was originally Thracian and became Greek in the 6th century BC.  The Romans and the Byzantines both settled in Nessebur for a period of time.  The first Bulgarian Empire started in 812.  The Bulgarians and the Byzantines lived together in the area until the Crusaders conquered the area in 1366.   During this time remarkable churches were built.

The town was captured by the Turks in 1453 and the start of its decline.  During the 19th century the half stone and half wooden houses were built.  This style of construction is typical of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast.  The stone construction allowed for the storage of produce and other food supplies as this area of the house was cooler.  The wooden area was used as the living quarters.  If you look at the picture you will notice that the wooden area extends out over the street below to give the family a larger living area.


The cobblestones in the old town are actual rocks which makes walking challenging.  Nessebur is one of the main seaside resort areas for Bulgaria.  Many of the newer hotels are owned and cater to  Russians or Germans seeking the sunny coast.  Unfortunately the day we visited was one of their few rainy days.  We have noticed a lot of fairly large jelly fish from the ship and am not sure if we would swim in the sea.

These barrels are made of Bulgarian Oak.
The first barrel holds 7232 liters of wine.

This area is also a very well known for it wine production.  They do not produce a large quantity of wine but a new plant has just opened and signed a contract to provide a large quantity of wine We started with a Chardonnay that was light and not heavy oaked.  They use large Bulgarian oak barrels that have been used multiply times therefore the oak presence is minimal.  We tried a Sauvignon Blanc, a dry rose made from Cabernet Sauvignon, a dry Muskat, Merlot and Pinot Noir.  Elaine purchased a bottle of the Pinot Noir for 5 Euros and we enjoyed this on the cruise.

Trabzon, Turkey

This remote Turkish port is along the north coast of Turkey on the black sea.  Not too many cruise ships come into this port so when we arrived we were the talk of the town.

We went to the Sumela Monastery which is 28 miles from the cruise port.  This monastery is located high up on the side  of the mountain.  The monastery was started in the 6th century.




Sumela Monastery

It took about three hours of walking to reach the monastery from the end of the switchback road which we rode up to the top in mini vans from the main entrance.


Interior Buildings of Monastery

Paintings in the interior of the monastery.

 Returning to Trabzon the tour visited  Gulbahar Hatun Mosque. 

We also visited Atatuk Country Home and gardens.

Sinop, Turkey

We were tired of tours when we arrived in Sinop. The town is very close to the port so we decided to tour the town on our own.

From the pier we had a great picture of the M/S Riviera an Oceania Cruise ship.

Prison Gate

Sinop is located on a narrow strip of land.  It is easy to walk from one side to the other.


Walking around town we had the opportunity to see the shops and mingle with the people.  We decided to find the Sinop Fortress Prison which is where the movie Midnight Express was filmed.  The prison is no longer used. 

















The walls of the prison fortress are made up of ruins from Greek and Roman ruins.  In this picture you can see sections of columns cut and used in the base of the wall.

 

Sinop Turkey