Saturday in Melbourne

 When Jeff and I first married he told me that he hated to travel.  He hated the time in the airport, the packing and unpacking and the being tired, waiting, all of it.  He didn't see himself as someone who wanted to spend a lot of time traveling, he told me, in our future.

He was the one who pulled hardest for this trip across the world.  It started a few years ago, when he told me that for Christmas we should go to Australia.  I drug my feet, I hemmed and hawed.  I LOVE to travel, I had whet my appetite for travel when I was in tenth grade on a family trip to Germany, I always knew I wanted more...but, Australia:  it was too far, too hard to do with children, too expensive, and--it turned out after I read some travel books--too hot in December.

I told him, "Let's wait a few years and go after the kids leave."  I imagined a month of wandering with packs on our backs and leisurely dinners.

"No," he said, "let's go now."

We have been in Melbourne now going on our third day (it is morning on Sunday here, by the way. If you are wondering how Sunday will be all you who are still stuck on Saturday, it's pretty good so far) and I am publicly announcing that Jeff was right.

This is an awesome place to visit, maybe in my top three of all time, and even better, an awesome place to bring children.

We got up yesterday and while Jeff blogged I ran gleefully around the hotel room and found a Nespresso maker (!) and a washing machine (!!!) in our room (which it turns out is not that uncommon, many hotels have standard small kitchens (ours does) and amenities for long visits).  So hooray for those things.

Meanwhile, Shelby looked on Urban Spoon on my phone and announced from her perch on her pull-out bed (the other three girls are in the room next door) that she had found a spot for breakfast for us all.

"Uh huh," I told her and stood at the sink and stirred my second cup of Nespresso.  I can see the city from our room and saw the modern architecture that dominates the skyline, so clean looking and modern.  The sky was brilliant blue yesterday (and is still this morning); the sun was up by 5:45 am.

Gilly Rocks the Go Pro

We got ready and headed out the door by 8:15 am.  We stopped at the front desk to ask how far away Shelby's breakfast spot find was and they said it was pretty far, but we could walk.  At that point, we were losing some kids, they weren't sure they wanted to walk so far but we all rallied and commenced our journey.  Gillian and I did run back quickly to the room to grab her new Go Pro (a camera that you wear strapped to your chest--it takes both video and still photos, mostly it is used for action shots--Gillian had saved up for it) and met up with our gang on a bridge just outside our hotel that spans the Yarra River and is loaded with locks like the bridge in Paris (can't remember the name)  it is pretty and is decorated with a huge mistletoe that hangs from the apex of the bridge.

And then we walked and walked and walked all the way to South Melbourne, really nearly a suburb of the CBD (central business district)  and by the time we got to the restaurant, just up a little street in a cute neighborhood that almost looked like downtown Edina, we weren't sure if it would be worth it.

But, Shelby actually found the best restaurant of the day.

Breakfast

Called St. Ali, it was a ramped up version of The Good Earth, wholesome superfood breakfast offerings that were almost works of art to look at.  Aubrey ordered the coconut yogurt with apricots and some kind of grain, Gillian and Shelby got some pancakes that looked almost like english muffins with macerated berries and chia seeds, and it went on like that.  Delicious food and healthy, too.

We decided to stay down in the area and walk it over and eventually land in a open air market to sample some dim sum for lunch which our hotel front desk had recommended.

We walked and all the girls hit 10,000 steps on their little fitbits (given by their grandma for Christmas) by 10 am.

We wandered over past adorable row houses, many with ironwork facades that looked almost colonial British, even like being in Charleston, SC.  We hit a park called the Albert Park Lake and Reserve and just laid on the grass and soaked up some sun until we got restless again and then walked over to the Melbourne Sport and Aquatic Center:  a huge complex with pools and squash, tennis, basketball courts.

Black Swan??

Then, we made our way over to the outdoor South Melbourne Market but stopped at a couple of shops while Jeff waited outside on a bench with his new friend, Carol.  Carol was in her sixties and chatted with Jeff about a half hour updating him on the area and some history.  Jeff can talk up a storm with anyone, and it turns out, Carol could, too.  She said that in January and February, Melbourne is unbearably hot.  Best time to visit is in the fall (March through May)...good to know for the next time we will surely be coming back.

Melbourne for the most part has been clean, busy and friendly.  There are lots of streets that are packed with people, especially near our hotel in the CBD, but it is a jovial friendly place, people are smiling and warm and ready to talk and ask questions.  Many people asked us where we were from (we said just south of Canada and when they prodded more, told them Minnesota...they pretended to know where that was, so kind, they were).

One thing I have noticed is the plethora of tshirts that advertise a United States sports team or city...probably 60% of the shirts I saw yesterday were sporting US logos of some kind.  The gal at one of the shops told us that everyone watched so much US television, and that is why she had heard of Minnesota (from what?  the polar vortex coverage from last year?--we didn't ask).

Shrine of Rememberence

We grabbed some pretty good street food from the Melbourne market and then headed up to the Royal Botanical gardens by way of the Shrine of Rememberence.  Mind you, Gillian was videoing much of our journeys by Go Pro and people were pointing and talking a lot about the kids who was walking around with the camera strapped to her, but we will have some rocking videos when we get home.

The Shrine of Rememberence is a memorial to the slain (69,000) from World War I who were New Zealanders or Aussies.  It is a lovely place and has a beautiful view from the balcony...which is where I noticed that we didn't have Shelby with us.  No one had to announce our name over a PA system, though, because I ran back down the stairs from the balcony and found her crying on the bottom stair and tried to cheer her up by joking with her that she is the only kid who has been lost in two hemispheres and continents.  Lucky girl.

We entered the Royal Botanical Gardens and took in the beauty there.  The plants are beautiful and most unrecognizable...I read in a book that Lisa Lindborg recommended to me by Bill Bryson...that 80% of the plants and animals in Australia exist nowhere else.  We have seen vibrant green birds fly by and ducks, swans and all of them never seen before in the wild by us...plus the plants in the gardens.  It was beautiful there.  We had probably walked ten miles by then, so we took it slow and sat down on a grassy hill with other groups of Aussies and watched the world go by.

Australians love parties so far it seems, there are big groups everywhere gathering having picnics, at the pubs that line the streets and generally having a good time.  It lends to an atmosphere that is distinctly un-Minnesotan...everyone is your friend, no one a stranger.

After our long walk, we went back to the hotel to rest a half hour and then we decided to walk more to get dinner.  Only ten more blocks, we said to the kids, and they didn't complain...there is so much to look at, musicians in the streets, shops to gaze in through the window and interesting architecture and people...I'm proud of them.  Quinn and Aubrey walked nearly the whole night arm in arm.  The best.

We had a mediocre dinner in a tourist trap, and we were all a little bummed about it but rallied and found a gelato place near the hotel and ended the day on a sweet note.  We walked about fifteen miles by fitbit calculation yesterday.  Our feet were sore but we'd do it all again.

Today we head to see some penguins and a beach...more to come.

Janna's notes on getting to Australia

Melbourne:  Janna's notes.

Jeff is writing now a great blog for this beginning of our trip, but I wanted to put in a cent or two while he is trying to upload his pictures.

First of all, we are here, it is summer, the days are long and while in Melbourne I wouldn't say it is hot, it is not cold.  The sun is shining, oh joy.  OH JOY!

Catching some rays in Federation Square Melbourne.  Vitamin D never felt so good!

The flight over didn't live up to the horrific expectations we had.  It was actually pleasant and I am considering offering myself up for marketing a product I've stumbled across called No Jet Lag.  I found it at AAA after I heard someone who travels overseas a lot recommended it.

This stuff works.  We were a little tired after 25 hours of travel yesterday but managed to explore the city and eat a late late lunch and then walk some more (Jeff will fill in the details about our adventures)...I did fall asleep at 7:00 pm Melbourne time, but we all woke up at 6 am this morning, Melbourne time.  Voilà.

We can't believe we are in Australia.  To travel all this way and get off a plane and see landscape that is familiar (so far) and hear our own language is a little confusing.  I mean, we just spent a lot of time in a plane to get to a place that feels like Florida...weird.

We are here now and excited to tackle this new continent.  We are so blessed.

Planes, Trams, and Automobile

28.5 hours.  31, if you count from the time we left our house in Edina - that's how long it took to get to Melbourne, Australia.

This is Jeff.  It's 5am Saturday morning - which means two things: 1. It's Noon yesterday in Minneapolis (still don't really understand that), and 2. Team Northrup has done a pretty good job of getting on Aussie time already.

Janna has been adamant about us taking these little pills she got at AAA called No Jet Lag.  I am impressed.  Every two hours since we got on the first plane, she placed a pill in the palm of our hand and we chewed them until they dissolved.  I have no idea what is in them.  Maybe Janna is a drug dealer and has gotten us all addicted to some kind of narcotic?  I don't know.  But I never really felt all-nighter tired like I have on other overseas trips.

So here is the Edina to Melbourne trip in spark-notes style: SUV to MSP (Thanks Stu), Plane to LAX, Shuttle to different terminal, shuttle to plane, Plane to Sydney, Customs, Shuttle to different terminal, Plane to Melbourne, Bus to transfer station, Bus to Quay West hotel.

We left Minneapolis at 5:15pm and arrived in Melbourne at 11:45am.  Apparently, and even tho I we didn't see a sunrise and sunset during that time, we lost an entire day of our life.  We fought, we cried, we ran, we slept, we hugged, we laughed.  A normal Northrup day.

Once at the hotel, we did one of the most glorious things a human being can do: bathe.  Janna drew a hot bath.  I showered.  I am telling you, when you have lost an entire day of your life over the Pacific Ocean, a hot shower never felt so good.

But enough about that - Melbourne.

Sandridge Bridge

Our hotel is close to the center or Melbourne.  Like most cities in the world, it is on a river that quickly leads to the ocean.  We haven't seen the ocean yet, but the river is nice.  The city has a modern, European feel to it.  Kind of like some of the Swiss cites we visited - but without the cathedrals or centuries-old architecture/hot spots.  More like Toronto.

We started walking the city as soon as we were cleaned up.  And knowing full well that our sleep cycles were likely still thinking it was 7 hours later in a (the) day, we wanted to get out an walk the city - in 70 degree sunshine.  Friday afternoon in Melbourne has a cool vibe to it.  Not sure it is always like this here, but it feels European.  The people are less fat than in the US.  There are a lot of Asians here and fewer blacks.  The white people are mostly fit.  The men were predominantly sporting Euro-cut suits with no ties, black wing-tips, and and nice dress shirt with two buttons undone.  The women often wearing little dresses that, if you asked me - a guy - appeared to be dinner party casual, but I think most of the women we saw were working.  There are more people smoking than in the US, but not quite as much as Paris.

+39 Pizzeria

There seem to be an oddly high percentage of restaurants here.  Maybe we just walked the perfect storm of places to eat, but maybe Aussies in Melbourne are like Parisians - they appreciate food and prefer to have someone else make it for them?  Not sure, but we saw hundreds of clubs, cafes, diners, restaurants, pubs, bars.  The sharp looking, business professionals all taking in beer or wine.  Long lunches.  Late lunches.  People were eating inside, outside on the sidewalk, upstairs on roof-tops or mezzanines, open air cafe's, basement walk-down restaurants.  I mean, it just seems like everywhere you turn there is a restaurant.



We found a Punch-style pizza place with real Italians working the floor.  Everything was delicious.  We  love food, and Janna's simple rule has never failed us - find a place where lots of other people are eating.  It seemed like weeks since we had had something that tasted like it was real - not packaged or cooked up in a plane microwave.  Yum.

Federation Square

We walked a good percentage of the river near our hotel, the City Centre, and Chinatown before we ended up on some lawn chairs that were set up in a modern-archticture place called Federation Square.  Weird but kinda cool, the chairs were set up on the brick ground all facing a stage with a huge jumbo-tron screen above it that had trippy lava-lamp-style images flowing thru it while a red-bearded, Euro-suited, could-date-my-sister-looking hipster was spinning vinyl records.  The images on the screen were run by a woman seated at a table next to the DJ with three Mac laptops and a big monitor facing her.  I can only guess that she is some kind of "artist" and that is her medium.  Quinn and I were mesmerized.  The music was like jazz, soul, nina-simone, deep-track-ray-charles, smooth rap, lounge, mo-town, all wrapped up into a soothing, psychedelic, sound bath that washed over us while we sat in these chairs that faced the sun and the stage.  I don't have any idea why someone would stop and sit in those chairs, but we did.  I don't know what kind of visual and sound art they were offering, but we were all locked in.

I knew we had to leave when I started to feel tired - sitting there in lava-lamp heaven listening to vinyls that are sold in only the hippest of retro music shops.

We went back to the hotel.  Aubrey, Shelby and Gillian wanted to swim in the hotel's indoor pool.  I brought my kindle, but found myself dozing off.  The clock said 6:30pm.  No dinner for us tonight due to the late lunch.  My sleep-fighting got worse.  I tried to text Janna back at the room, but got no response.  She was a victim for sure.  Quinn was up there too - a goner.  I was so envious - my body wanted to sleep.  I sat there following a simple patter: watch girls in the pool, thoughts drift off, head bobs up, watch girls in the pool, etc.

Finally at 7, I told them we should go.

By 8 we were all asleep.  Day 1 (or is it Day 2?) in the books.

Cruising the Aegean

Okay, trying to recap the last three nights will be a challenge since there is sort of a jumble to time and place and events going on in my head.

On Tuesday morning we visited Ephesus, Turkey.  Totally worth it.  Best site I have seen yet.  Again, someone stole the important stuff, but it doesn’t matter.  It is the most well preserved historic site we have seen.  It is vast and expansive and amazing.  I would go back. 

Home

That’s the thing.  Those of us who talk about this keep saying either they would or would not go back somewhere.  There are so many places I still need to visit, so re-visiting a place requires a different level of special-ness.  Ephesus has got it.  Istanbul, too.  Before those places, I was happy seeing it all one time and tucking the memories away in my brain.

We only had about 20 minutes back to the port in Kusadasi and it was a relief to get off the prison, I mean bus.  We boarded a ship and set sail for the Greek islands.

Our first stop was Patmos that very afternoon.  Patmos is obviously not too far from Turkey, but is a Greecian island, of the Apostle John fame and the book of the Revelation.  We saw the cave John is purported to have written his visions in, which reminded me of trudging through the Orthodox Church in Bethlehem.  We also visited a monastery.  The island is charming and remote (8 hours by ferry from Athens) and our sweet guide told us we should pick up some Patmos cheese pie in the village.  I found some and took it with me to dinner and shared it with our Australian and Argentinian table mates.  It was good (it stands to reason that all the food we have found for ourselves is gigantically better than the tourist stop slop we have been forced to choose from), really yummy.

Lindos, overlooking the Port Paul where Paul likely arrived

We sailed further south and stopped at Rhodes the next morning for the day.  We went to Lindos on Rhodes saw some more ruins and it was the tipping point for me.  I made it through the guide’s lecture but then, couldn’t make it down the steep hill fast enough.  It was a beautiful town, it was an awesome site, but I think I can’t listen anymore.  I just can’t.

We moved on down to the ancient city of Rhodes and walked around a bit there because it was closest to the port and we could go back and forth from the ship.  It was a cool city in which people still actually live. You have to have a special permit to have a car there, and even then can only have it if you live within the city walls.  Bonnie and I grabbed some tea at a little spot for the free wifi and watched different members of our group strolling by happy with packages in hand.

Map of the Ancient City of Rhodes

Yesterday it was Crete in the morning.  We visited the very very ancient Minoan Palace of Knossos.  But, I was D.O.N.E.  The progression of my symptoms were thus:  I first had the hand wringing, then I moved on to the swaying of the body back and forth, then I began the pacing.  I lasted an hour.  I would be terrible in a hostage situation.  I think, upon reflection, that what I was experiencing was withdrawal.  At first, I thought I had just discovered over the course of this trip that I am a really bad listener.  This was not exactly a new idea, but I didn’t think I was that bad that I couldn’t stand around for an hour and listen to the history of the Minoan’s.  Come on, that civilization rocks.  They pretty much started everything, it turns out.  Or at least, a lot of things.  Anyway, they are old…actually, I wouldn’t know, I wasn’t listening.  On a normal day in my normal life, this experience on the island of Crete would have blown me away.  But, missing my family took priority.  On the cruise ship, there was no wifi.  I take that back.  There was wifi if you wanted to pay something like 1.90 euro a minute.  A minute.  I can barely formulate a text in that time.  So, I had a burning yearning in my soul to touch base with Jeff and the girls, hear from my sister and so on.  I ditched the group and they are way smarter than me now and I am automatically disqualified from the Jeopardy Minoan Daily Double because I found an awesome cup of coffee and even awesome-er free wifi at the museum café for about 20 beautiful minutes.  The jitters totally subsided and even though no one was awake when I was on, I got to read the notes that had been sent the night before and send some new ones.

at the Knossos Palace

Back on the boat.  I haven’t said much about the cruise ship because there is not much to say.  It was a great way to get around the far flung islands.  Our leader on this trip mentioned that we should have been thinking of the ship as an upgrade from a ferry boat.  That explains a lot and enough.  The best part of the ship was meeting people from all over the globe who were on the same mission as us…see this part of the world. 

After Crete, I must not neglect to say that we arrived in Santorini.  The arrival was beautiful, because of the turquoise blue waters and the steep cliffs of the volcanic island.  From a distance, it looks like there is snow on the top of the cliffs, but as we approached we saw it was crisp white houses perched like birds on the rims.  We took a shuttle to Oie (pronounced eee-ah) and wandered this photogenic town gasping at the blue roofs and white homes that cling to the side of the cliff.  Couldn't be a prettier town in Greece, I think.  We grabbed a quick coffee in a little spot overlooking the water and reveled in our good fortune of being in Greece together with new friends.  I would go back to this place, for sure.

Santorini

Santorini

We have docked now and are on our last leg at Athens.  There is so much more to say and think about, but I am ready to get home and my mind has turned to that.  I will try to blog again the last day of this journey, but we will see. 

What can I say but I am grateful.  Each night as I have fallen asleep on this trip I have been reciting a prayer:  Lord, you who have given me so much, give me one thing more:  a grateful heart.  That is where I want to land every night as I drift off to sleep.  There is so much to be grateful for and the inconveniences only seem trifling and sometimes even a reminder of the good things I am missing.  What a gift. 

Until later.  

Touching base

Hello!  We are now on our cruise ship for a couple days and I will post again later.

Ephesus rocked. Greek islands so far are just what the dr ordered. Sitting at a little cafe now in Rhodes utilizing free wifi.

I'll be back soon.

Things Fall Apart

Things fall apart here in Turkey.  First of all, it has rained most of our trip.  It is cold, too.  I realize that this is not Minnesota and it is not the famed polar vortex but at day 7 of this trip the ugly starts to come out in all of us after long long bus tours and being dropped at ancient sites to tromp through in the rain.  Okay, I take it back, it really isn't the ugly that comes out, it is just at this point in our travels, some of us just don't have as much patience anymore with anything.  Me, for instance, I hate the food situation.  There, I said it.  I can't really complain because I am in Turkey, this is a trip of a life time and it is all good, but the food totally stinks.  I've eaten better at gas stations in Duquette, MN.  Our tour guide expounds on the olives, the fruit trees (peaches, apples, lemons, apricots), the fertile ground everywhere and yet, apparently it is kept from us.  We are sticking to the truck stops along the way, so what should I expect?  I am not in charge of this trip which has its bonuses, but also its downsides.  Food #1 downside.

Some of the group can't stand treks any more on slippery uneven stone (I guess what might they expect, there have been a few things that have happened in the past 3000 or so years that wear on your average ancient site) in the cold and rain.  Those women are sick and tired of being tourists.  There's also a gal or two who might just drop a complaint or two about the wonky shower situation, or the fact that mostly we cannot throw toilet paper into the toilet.  They should rename it little wastebasket next to the toilet paper, but that's gross.

Travel is romanticized, I think, as some grand adventure in which the eager traveler encounters the world, embraces it and returns home laden with souvenirs.  What really is happening, and likely happens during any type of travel, is that like childbirth, some of this stuff is painful and uncomfortable, but will be forgotten when the weary worn out traveler returns.  

But, I do think there are bright small moments in which going somewhere far away and pushing the limits of comfort rises to the surface and makes all the inconvenience worth it.  I have had many of those moments on this trip.  One today was standing in a shop outside of Troy and chatting with a 80 year old man who has lived his whole life in Turkey yet his favorite thing is the movie Tarzan.  We talked Tarzan and John Wayne, it was cool.  When I said goodbye, he patted his chest over his heart and said, "We all, we all are one in this world, we belong together."  I couldn't agree more.

Tomorrow we set sail on a ship for three nights around the Mediterranean Greek Islands, so today is our last day in Turkey.  Right now, we are driving through Ancient Smyrna.  It is huge and vast and like the many many other cities and villages we have seen the only pretty building is the mosque.  People really only live in apartments here, according to our tour guide.  The concrete block apartment buildings are everywhere and ubiquitous all throughout the many miles we have driven.  They remind me of pictures I've seen of the Siberean skyline, which is in Siberia.  It's weird, not pretty at all.  The mountains and the sea have no competition with the architecture around this country.

Troy was on our agenda today and then later Pergamum.  Troy is famous for a love affair and battle, both mythological.  Pergamum/Bergama has wonderful ruins as well.  The ruins at these sites are beautiful and huge, but at both places, our guide has told the same story:  A German came along and stole the important artifacts.  They found the stuff that was stolen from Troy in Moscow, and you can see parts of Pergamum in Berlin...actually a whole temple to Zeus.  Not sure if these treasures were stolen under cover (although I don't think the best magician could even pull off stealing a whole temple) or right under the open eyes of the country folk who led the men right to the spot of the ruins.  The whole story has left me wondering if what happened was that Turkey was wrapped up in other matters and simply didn't realize, recognize or care at that moment what happened to their ruins.  Both sites are very important, but are not very organized nor do they seem exceptionally important to anyone but us tourists.  Troy especially was a little underwhelming.  It was pretty there, and there was a cool Trojan horse parked at the gates in which to snap a quick photo, but I wish there had been more...maybe even a museum store?  Maybe I ask too much.  Maybe I am too disney-fied.  Which is possible.

Pergamum/Bergama is gorgeous (except for the apartment buildings, of course).  The acropolis is what drew us there as well as the fact that it is mentioned in the Bible.  An acropolis is a fortification that sits atop the highest point of a city in ancient times and houses the important stuff.  So, we got on the most modern thing I have seen on our journeys so far...a gondola.  We took it to the top, it was raining and our hearts were sinking but we muscled our way over the rocky path and saw the breathtaking ruins.  For sure the most extensive we've seen.  It is clear that they don't waste time with wrongful death lawsuits here or negligence or OSHA or some such modern inventions.  

On that note, let me tell you about Joyce.  There is this sweet lady in our group who told us today (when we asked) that she is 78 and a half years old.  First of all, that might just be all you need to about her right there.  Until I hit my teens I designated my age in quarters and halves.  Then, I grew up and got too serious, I guess.  Joyce is still excited about being a half.  She was in a bad car accident in 1990 and was in a full body cast for a month.  The doctors told her she wouldn't walk again.

I don't think a gold medal athlete has anything on Joyce.  This sweet gal has never said she can't since we got here.  Five women turned back down the mountain when we got to the top at Pergamum today and Joyce, she stayed.  Someone commented that surely Joyce had been one that turned back when we heard a little voice saying, "No, I'm here!" When we turned around, we saw her with a mischievous smile on her face.

We walked on some of the most treacherous terrain in Pergamum.  Steep stairs through narrow little tunnels and overlooking high cliffs.  A false move seriously could be fatal...seriously.  Joyce just grabbed on to whomever was nearby and without a complaint, put us all to shame, she made it.  We cheered for her at the bottom, she was a superstar.

And, it was worth it.

Finally, I keep meaning to mention the millions of dogs and cats that are roaming free everywhere.  I have only seen one or two dogs on a leash, the other 999,998 are free to go where they please.  They all look fed and our Greek guide told me that they are all immunized and sterilized, which can't be true, because we saw a little litter of puppies guarding part of the ruins at Pergamum today.  Our guide keeps bending over to scratch the dogs and cats, but I wouldn't touch them for anything, and I am mentally noting not shaking hands with our guide.  They are dirty at the very least.  Not one dog seems aggressive and both dogs and cats dart in and out of crowds of people and traffic.  It is a melting pot here of animals and people, you might say.

We are heading down to our last night in Turkey now, one more hour to go on this blasted bus.  It is so inconvenient that they didn't put the ancient sites closer together.  I suppose they didn't think ahead much.  I will be sad to leave this Turkey behind in many ways, I don't know that I feel I really got to experience it all yet.  I know I will come home with a longing to return, especially Istanbul.

P.S.  We arrived at our last hotel in Kusadasi until we get on a boat to sail around for a few days and this town is a beautiful resort town.  Bonnie, my roommate and I wanted to stretch our legs and as soon as we dropped off our bags and passports (one of the many things about Turkey, they need copies of our Passports at each hotel...weird, feels like we are handing over our passwords to our life somehow, but we have no choice) we headed out the door, down a steep hill and made our way to the sea.  We made five dog friends two who followed us faithfully for a while and only went after each others' throat once, destroying my theory that they are passive.  But they soon learned we had no food to offer them and went on their way.   Beautiful Aegean Sea view, totally worth fearing our lives for a moment with the dogs.  We made it back to our hotel in time for dinner and now I am sitting in the internet cafe listening to some guy strumming a guitar playing some Van Morrison, then three men with fire and broken glass showing off and for the final entertainment tonight we have us a DJ.  Funny, the cafe has cleared out.

I can't upload photos now, will tomorrow.

Half Day of Rest

Any where you want to go. 

Right now, outside my hotel window in Çanakkale, Turkey (look it up, it is in Asia across the Dardenelles) there have been horns blowing and lights flashing and lots of noise for a couple of hours.  It is loud and maybe we won't be sleeping so soundly tonight if it doesn't let up.  Apparently, a soccer team has won something important...man, I wish I knew more about Turkish soccer teams.  The people outside are pretty happy, maybe one day I will say that I was there in Çanakkale the day such and such a soccer team won.  Except, I still won't know what to say except...I heard the soccer team won.  If someone finds out what happened, let me know.

Blue Mosque

Anyway, our morning was filled up to the brim with more Istanbul.  We visited the famous Blue Mosque of the Sultan Ahmed (built 1617).  Beautiful.  We had to take off our shoes outside and carry them in a little baggie and as we walked in there were people evaluating if you were dressed appropriately or not.  I was not and had to wear a blue one size fits all wrap around skirt. that didn't fit me.  We also all had to wear scarves over our heads.  Walking barefooted into the mosque you step onto pretty carpets into a large place of worship with nearly no furniture and low hanging chandeliers.  The color turquoise is the color of Turkey (#2 after the red on the flag) and there are lots of blue turquoise mosaics in the mosque.

Inside the Haggia Sophia

We moved just across the street to the Haggia Sophia which was built by Constantine in 560-532 BC making the blue mosque completely modern by comparison.  It served as a mosque for 500 years and surprisingly the Ottoman's didn't destroy all the iconography, but covered lots of it up instead, unusual.  Now, Haggia Sophia is a museum and has a few items on display, but also is mostly about the architecture and beautiful decoration of the place.  The marble on the floor is worn into a deep trough from years of use and it is pretty awe inspiring to walk in a place that is over 2400 years old.  There was a display of Arabic Calligraphy on the outskirts and the artistry was beautiful, totally beautiful.

Haggia Sophia

Both the mosque and Haggia Sophia are humongeous.  That is probably what struck me most.  Huge.

There was a marathon apparently in town so we had to walk more today (hallelujah) and made our way to a rug shop and watched a demonstration on Turkish rug making.  Totally cool.  It was almost like watching a ballet the way the men at the shop unfolded the rugs with such flair and drama.  They showed us hundreds of rugs and had a woman come in with a rug she was working on and we got to watch her tie about 50 knots in about 10 seconds.  We learned about colors and styles and they buttered  us all up with tea, coffee or even ouzo if we wanted it (it was 10 in the morning, no takers) and a turkish pretzel.  It was actually perfect to have tea, eat our pretzel and watch the rug show.  Actually, maybe the best meal I've had in Turkey.

The performers

As for the food, it is totally a non-issue at this point.  I'm so over it.  We are getting tourist food at its mediocre-ist, and we are not even complaining about it any more.  Sometimes, actually mostly, I don't even know what I am eating.  Something vegetable-y.  A little meat, some rice.  Whatever.

We also went to the spice market.  We bought teas (apple tea is one of the more popular ones and is so good, so there is some food for you), and spices, of course.  The sales people at these places have the best lines.  They totally pour it on thick, it is cheesy and sort of adorable at the same time.  I wonder how many times a day they mention to someone how clever and intelligent they can sense they are.  Clearly, it has worked for hundreds of years, the spice market is booming.

Screen shot of mystery food from dinner.  Some were saying this is carrots
others claimed it was wienies.  The nice water called them sausages.   

The boring stuff:  after we left the spice market we ate what some might call lunch but I am choosing not to remember and then we hopped on our second home and drove 4 or 5 hours to Çanakkale.  We are here now and have a long day tomorrow.

Until then...