Greencaviar Travel

The following morning I woke up to the sound of the prayer chant . The sound of prayer coming from the mosque near the hotel drowned the noises of cars and the sound of calls made by arriving or departing boats . It made me realize that I was in a place of my daydream . I then joined a tour group to visit the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia. We first visited the Blue Mosque, a 17th century Ottoman Mosque famous for its six minarets and magnificent interior with blue tiles . It was a good thing that we visited early in the morning ; we had a perfect light for taking pictures . Our tour group seemed to be the only tourist in town that early morning so that I was able to experience a sepulchral silence and calm inside the Blue Mosque.  The Hagia Sophia was across the street from the Blue Mosque. Originally built as a cathedral in the sixth century AD , it has served as a cathedr...

It started as a daydream, inspired by a Chanel perfume commercial where Audrey Tautou, a French actress, was traveling solo on the Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul.  A handsome young man fell under her spell and looked as if he had fallen head over heels in love with her. Somehow, she ended up arriving solo in Istanbul, running towards the Bosphorus Sea, amid flying seagulls, with a big camera in tow. Of course, what the ad wanted us to remember was the image in her camera, of a handsome young man who fell under her spell/perfume. However, I was more captivated by the scene at the end of her trip; the city of Istanbul. It was unforgettable. The black and dark images with effects of light evoke a feeling of mystery and left a curious impression of Istanbul. Istanbul is a large city with 14 million people and one of the most visited cities in the world. The city straddles two continents – Europe and Asia, and one of the world’s busiest waterways, the Bosphorus, betw...

It's spring awright!!!

The sound of peace

Date:  03-24-2014 Distance Completed:  Not Far Hiking Condition:  Excellent Distraction from Hiking:  Sea Foam Today , I decided to revisit the hike I did a week ago , along the edge of the Marin Headlands Coastal Trail where the cliffs tumbled down into the Pacific Ocean. But instead of turning right from Rodeo Beach, I turned left and hiked a steep climb towards Battery Wallace. Few minutes later , I was close to a jutting promontory where cormorants abound . The scenery was insanely beautiful that I did not get that far . Of course , there was the view of Rodeo Beach in living color . I had posted pictures of Marine Headlands in my previous blogs, but I saw something amazing that I have not seen before - sea foam . The wind carried the sea foam into the air to form a spectacular display of bubbles . I felt like a kid seeing something magical for the first time , it gave me ...

Date:  3-19-2014 Distance Completed:  6 Miles Trail Condition:  Excellent Beautiful Distraction:  A Sea and Land in Motion [1] There's no better place to hike on a beautiful day such today than the trails at the Marin Headlands. It was great to start along the Rodeo Beach and end there to soak my tired feet in the chilly waters and dig my toes in the gray , green and red pebbles while watching the birds and the surfers. I parked in front of the lagoon and crossed the Nature Bridge where I saw a bunch of birds , including plenty of colorful mallards. They always seemed to come in three (why 2 males and 1 female, I wondered). I then turned away from the beach to the path that ran along the 'DANGEROUS CLIFFS' sign to the trail marker.  I ascended the narrow paths, patches of wild spring flowers were hard to ignore. When I reached the top of the hill , a beautiful view , the blue oce...

Date:  03-16-2014 Distance Completed:  4 miles Date: 03-19-2014 Distance Completed: 3 miles Trail Condition:  Excellent Beautiful Distraction from Hiking:  Birds Bird  It was passed from one bird to another, the whole gift of the day. The day went from flute to flute, went dressed in vegetation, in flights which opened a tunnel through the wind would pass to where birds were breaking open the dense blue air - and there, night came in. Red-winged Blackbird When I returned from so many journeys, I stayed suspended and green between sun and geography - I saw how wings worked, how perfumes are transmitted by feathery telegraph, and from above I saw the path, the springs and the roof tiles, the fishermen at their trades, the trousers of the foam; I saw it all from my green sky. I had no more alphabet than the swallows in their courses, the tiny, shining water of the small bird on fire which d...