Alden Biesen Castle - Belgium

Alden Biesen Castle
Originally uploaded by kden604.

The Alden (Old) Biesen Castle is a beautiful excursion for a few hours. Located about 15 km from Maastricht Holland near the community of Bilzen Belgium. The castle is wonderfully maintained and also has a quaint coffee shop located after the first castle wall near the entrance.

Alden Biesen Castle also has it's own tourist information centre, however most of the books and information are not geared towards english speaking visitors. Alden Biesen Castle is a popular tourist attraction for Belgians and those tourists from neighbouring countries.

Know as the Landcommanderij Alden Biesen (land commandership of Alden Biesen), it is said to be the largest castle between France's Loire River and the Rhine River.

In the 11th century land was granted by the Count of Loon to the German Order of Knights who were also known as the Teutonic Order. This was used as a staging ground for wounded soldiers and the ill during the crusades.

The modern brick buildings were created around 16th to 18th century which include a church, a gallery and fine French style gardens.

After the French revolution the castle came under private ownership and despite being devastated by fire in 1970, it has been masterfully restored and is now used as a Flemish cultural centre.

The grounds in and around the castle are really beautiful, but certainly one of the highlights of the Alden Biesen is the Chapel which is beautifully adorned and a magnificent site.

The castle has a nice courtyard to relax and enjoy the sun and sit down and chat with friends and family. Moats are throughout the castle complex with has picturesque brick bridges and water full of fish.

Alden Biesen Castle is definitely worth visiting if you are in the area. It's free to visit and walk around, with the exception of the French Style Gardens and the optional tours.

Adventure Bratislava Slovakia

Bratislava, Slovakia
Originally uploaded by kden604.

I arrived quite tired at the bus station in Bratislava Slovakia. As with most times I travel without a map, or I rip a crappy one out of a travel magazine. It was before noon when I arrived and the bus station was quite busy.

The money exchanger on the bottom floor of the bus terminal was closed for a break or lunch and I had to spend about 30 minutes waiting for them to return.

I walked out the front door of the bus station and had no idea which way I should be heading. I hate that first moment when you arrive in a new city and you are totally clueless. I walked across the street to the bus stop because it had a large map of the bus routes and I hoped it would shed some light on my location.

Really it just confused me more. I asked a 70 year old woman for help but she didn't speak a word of english but she did smile a lot. She recruited a younger gentleman to help me, but he didn't understand what I was talking about either. Oh well.

I decided to take a chance and walk down a street. For the record, should you ever find yourself walking out the main entrance of the Bratislava Bus Terminal, you want to turn left and look at that busy street. Walk to the street and turn right. Keep going for a while and you'll get to "down town."

Bratislava is quite a charming city and almost anyone under the age of 25 speaks reasonably good english. I had a bit of a bad feeling when I arrived in the country, I saw a guy running down the street chased by a shop keeper. I guess he ran out on a bill at a restaurant, a guy standing next to me on the sidewalk tapped me on the shoulder and said, "You know I've lived here all my life and I've never seen that before."

He seemed quite ashamed and wanted to make sure that I didn't get a bad impression of his city. He was on his way to an appointment downtown and was kind enough to go a few blocks out of his way to take me right to the tourism office. How great is that?

One thing I quite enjoyed about Bratislava is all the statues they have in the "old downtown" area. There is statues of people hiding around corners with their camera looking at you, statues leaning on park benches and realistic statues doing everyday things. There is also this really great laser beam that shoots over your head, goes around corners, and it just really neat to stare at after a few beers in the evenings.

One thing that you shouldn't be too disappointed at in Bratislava is the night scene. There are some great bars and nightclubs but and are at neat locations like an old submarine base. The party stops well after sunrise and stating there is an abundance of alcohol would be a drastic understatement.

For the day time tourist activities I found it a bit dull. My day normally started with breakfast and coffee at a local cafe, followed by a hike up to the Castle on the hill. After I got tired from walking up hills stairs it was to look around the Presidents Palace, shopping or heading across the river to where "real" people live.

I didn't check out most of the country, but I heard from other travelers that getting in to the mountains and smaller cities is really beautiful. There is several UNESCO world heritage sites worth checking out!

Adventure Croatia

I really only touched the edge of Croatia, seeing Dubrovnic in the south. I was traveling with an Aussie named Brian at the time and we ended up bumping in to some other guys from Vancouver and drinking too much. If Dubrovnic is any indication of the rest of the country then I can't wait to go back and see more.

Dubrovnic also was very special to me because I really missed seeing the ocean, when I saw the big crashing waves it really made me happy and I spent several hours taking photos and sitting with beer on the rocks.

• Dubrovnic, a beautiful city
  

Bosphorus Ferry Tour

Cute Mutt
Originally uploaded by kden604.

Today I went on the Bosphorus Ferry Tour around Istanbul and it was just beautiful, the weather was fine and sunny and the breeze off the water was only cool enough for a light sweater.

The Ferry stops at about 8 stops on the way to its final destination where it stops and leaves you for three hours. There is the ruins of an old castle and a small waterfront community.

I wandered up the hill to the castle and snapped a few pictures but really enjoyed coming back to the town where I bought some goat cheese and fresh bread... There were a lot of stray animals around and despite the fact its not a good idea to feed them I did.

How can you say no to a cute little guy like this? Sure I wouldn't touch him with a 10 foot pole, but I will throw him some bread and cheese. There was also a very sad looking cat, it had one eye extremely messed up. Either very infected or it was actually broken, like the eyeball itself had a wound. I warn you it is pretty gross, but you can see the poor kitten here.

The cruise is about 1.5-2 hours long, three hour layover, and the same return time. The cost for the return trip is 7.5 TYL or 4 Euro approx. It's a day trip for the most part but really wonderful day on the water.

After I got back I trucked it on up to Taksim area and of course uploaded my daily booty of photos. I think my photos are really coming along, I am really trying to take these nice pictures and this cute dog.... c'mon!

So on the way home I stopped by the Four Seasons to talk to my doorman friend Mehmet Ali and of course all the other staff come out to talk... They all are very friendly and really I only just go there to chat, they know I am not staying nor do I wish to, but they are still so friendly. Normally there are 3-4 people by the time I've stood there for a few minutes.

I did ask them a lot more questions about Islam and they gave me an English copy of the Qur'an they had behind the desk. They said they had it for about six months and were waiting to give it to someone that was interested.

I have to say I really enjoy my chats there, I'm sure if you are a guest there you would have a wonderful stay... but a little beyond my budget for now.

Tomorrow evening after Memhet is done his shift I told him I would come over to say goodbye because it is my last night that I will see him before I head on to Egypt. I also passed out Canadian lapel pins to each of them which they happily applied to their suits.

Good day, Good night when all is said and done.