Saturday, July 28, 2012

La Ville-Lumière

On the backside of our trip, we are returning to familiar and much-loved ground.  We exit Europe via the City of Light.  Paris. 
On this trip, we visited a temporary exhibition in the Tuileries Gardens by South Korean businessman, entrepreneur, inventor and budding 71 year old photographer, Ahae.  The exhibit, called, Through My Window, distilled from 2.6 million photographs taken over the course of four years from Ahae's studio window.  They are beautiful -- some of the photos are more than 12 feet tall and you feel like you walked right into the scene.  

Because we could not wait one more minute, we satisfied our need for Asian food by finding a hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurant which served excellent pho.


Then we visited the legendary Shakespeare & Co., a favorite site for Grandpa Wong who once met its owner, George Whitman.  According to Whitman, Shakespeare & Co. was "a socialist utopia masquerading as a bookstore."  That sounds like a place Grandpa would love, and all it's missing is a bar that serves Coors Light.

To round out the trip, we visited the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle for the first time.  When Sophie was a baby, Mom brought her a book from Paris about Siam the Elephant.  

Kind of a longish book and all in French, but the gist of it was that Siam was brought over from Thailand to France, did some time in a circus, became famous and had his own TV show and ultimately was lovingly cared for at the National Zoo until his death.  Now here's the important part:  when Siam died (so explained the book) he was stuffed and displayed at the MNHN for future generations to admire and love!  (I know it's a weird kid's story.  It's French.)

This is a long wind-up to say that we saw him!  Siam!  In all his taxidermied wonderfulness.  A childhood story turned reality (albeit real in a stuffed kind of way).  We would not have been surprised to turn the corner and find a stuffed Lorax.


We found one more must-do Paris activity: climb the Eiffel Tower.  Sure, it's 279.1 meters of stairs, but that's better than waiting in the mile-long line for the elevator.  La Tour Eiffel is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.  It was erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair.  Eiffel actually had an apartment at the top where he entertained guests!  The views are, indeed, spectacular.  

We are looking forward to our next return to Paris.  Our goal is make it a city where we feel like locals and not tourists.  Anna declares she may live there one day -- as either a fashion designer or chef.  So, we all need to start working on our French!

Friday, July 27, 2012

Life without a cell phone


Warning: This is a geeky diversion.  Feel free to move on if you're not obsessed with your devices.

Is the cell phone a blessing or a curse?  Well, both of course.  In planning for this trip, I assumed that I would just get a local SIM card in each country so that we didn't have to ransom a child to pay for roaming fees.  I would not, of course, go naked sans cell phone.

As it turns out, local SIMS are not so easy to get - deciding on a local carrier, finding a retail store where the staff speaks English, reconfiguring the phone without breaking it.  For 3-5 days of stay?  Once on the ground, it didn't seem worth it.  Ok, fine, I'm lazy.  And ransoming a child started to look more reasonable.

So here are a few notes for the lazy American cell phone addict:

* In London, we used OneFineStay which, in addition to setting us up in a lovely Notting Hill flat, provided a complimentary iPhone.  Exactly what we needed for the basics of making local calls and using the maps and search features.  (Yes, MAPS - the Google-powered ones.  Take note, Mr. Cook.)  Why don't more hotels/apartments with international clientele do this?

* In Istanbul, there is a sheaf of paperwork involved in getting a SIM card and bunches of personal information, including your passport number, given to TurkCell.  Ick.  Overcome with paranoia, I decided to just eat the roaming fees and use the phone for emergencies only.  Well, the "emergencies" (defined as urgent needs) are surprisingly frequent.  Phone use to find our landlord and straighten out transport to our apartment.  Maps and texts to find my friends on the other side of the Bospherous.  Search to find the correct ferry terminal.  Suffice it to say, emergencies are not rare and not cheap.

* It is critically important to have wifi access where you're staying if you don't have the local phone.  You might be able to get wifi access on your phone, but I found that to be more difficult than it should have been.  We traveled with a laptop, iPad, 3 Kindles AND the phone.  Without wifi at our place of rest, there would have been no outlet for the pent-up cravings for email, Tweets, video entertainment and photos.  And, of course, you have to blog.

* So, bottom line and in order of importance when traveling abroad without a local cell phone: clock (no connection needed), maps, phone/txt, local search.  If you can find a good replacement for those functions (e.g., a watch), then you might get to keep your first-born.

Ok, but here's the important discovery: I really only needed those 4 functions from the phone.  On the go, it's all about those real-time, location specific needs.  My random grazing on new Tweets and emails that I usually do at home isn't actually necessary and wasn't really missed.  When it's not available, the girls and the local scenery get my full attention.

But don't ask me about my T-Mobile bill.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

La belle mer

The mediterranean sun is strong and gorgeous in La Croix-Valmer.  We spent the week with our dear friends, the Merlin family.  Sun, sand and surf accompanied by good friends, food and laughs?  What's not to love?

Beautiful markets in La Croix-Valmer
Capitaine Merlin
A day on the water
(And back safely!)
Pizza on the beach
Saint-Tropez w/out a tourist in sight
The remarkable view from Chez Merlin
More photos here.  Thanks and love to the Merlin clan.  We hope we'll be back soon.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

The hamam

While in Cappadocia, all the grown-ups took advantage of the hamam, or Turkish bath.  This is an ancient sauna meets shower and massage experience, and it is awesome after a day of being dusty and hot.  No wonder the Ottomans perfected the art.

You start in a sauna (as if the desert outside weren't enough) to relax, then move to the hamam.
This beautiful marble room has a large running basin of water and an enormous low marble table, which is gently heated.  This is where you are washed, soaped, exfoliated and massaged.  (There are well-run public baths throughout Turkey, but the hotels tend to offer a more private, attentive experience.)
The hamam remains an active part of life in Turkey and locals often reserve a day in the week to go and enjoy the relaxing and social atmosphere of their neighborhood hamam.  Something to think about when we re-enter our American lifestyles....

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The world's a nicer place in my beautiful balloon

Definitely one of the coolest things on our trip was a hot air balloon ride over the Goreme Valley.  Wow!  It's not easy: we had to get up before the sun and I hate getting up early.  But after a bumpy van ride and fast breakfast (that I wasn't hungry for), we got to the field just as five balloons were filling up with air.  If we got up early, think how early the balloon guys have to get up!  The balloons are really big - we had 12 people in our balloon but some balloons fit 30 people!
Our pilot was a guy from Australia who has done this a bajillion times.  He said that Goreme has the most hot air balloon flights in the world on any day, except for a festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

We were the last balloon to take off, so when we got up the whole sky was filled with balloons! 
It's noisy in the balloon when the pilot tugs on a chain for gas and fire.  But once you're up in the air, it's very quiet and you just drift wherever the wind goes.
This is Anna and me hiding from the gas flame.
We got really close to some of the pigeon houses that were carved into the mountains: 
A long time ago, people used pigeons to make fertilizer for growing crops.  That's disgusting.  Glad I don't have that job.

This is one of those cave houses, like our hotel, but old and not taken care of:
We were the last balloon in the air and the last one to come down, which was kind of cool.
Our silhouette
The pilot lowered us so close to the treetops that we could pick apricots off the tree!  And they were tasty!
We had champagne at the end, but it was nasty (not like the apricots).  Anna and I just had orange juice.  And we got medals for riding in the clouds!  Bye bye balloon!  That was super fun!
~ Sophie

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Land of the Beautiful Horses

Cappadocia is one of those places that not only is old - it's early history dating back to around 1800 BC and the Hittites - it looks old in an ancient, dinosaurs-may-have-walked-here kind of way.
Fairy Chimney rock formations populate the desert valley
Cappadocia means "land of the beautiful horses" in Persian and the region has a long history for horse breeding.  This arid landscape inhabits the center of Turkey and, while it's only a short plane flight, it feels like a century's distance from Istanbul.  (Of course, if we had gone a little farther southeast, we would have been able to watch the Turkish jets scramble to the Syrian border.)

The Göreme valley was once a blanket of thick volcanic ash, but hundreds of years of erosion have left a landscape of soft rock pillars, mushrooms and chimneys.  Humans have also carved away at the rock, leaving behind cave dwellings and entire underground cities (where early persecuted Christians would hide).  We all slept in cave rooms during our stay!  (No, not air conditioned, but surprisingly cool given the hundred degree temperatures outside).

Aside from the overall setting, here are a few things we particularly recommend:

* Üçhisar Castle
This rock castle once a place for stabling animals and storing food and wine, so it has a series of interconnected rooms carved into the mountain.  The summit is the highest point in the Göreme valley and has an excellent 360 degree view.

* Kaymakli Underground City
This is just one of several cities carved underground the soft rock.  Kaymakli housed as many as 3,000 Christians for several months at a time as they sought to escape persecution by the Hittites.  While the dwelling actually goes several stories down, only the first 4 floors are open to the public.  That's enough though to get a feeling for how incredibly dark and claustrophic it must have been back in the day, even with the well-engineered ventilation shafts and large stores for food and wine.

* Göreme Open Air Museum
This is a UNESCO World Heritage site, notable for its well-preserved Byzantine cave church frescoes.  It is, indeed, amazing how crisp and vibrant the paintings appear.  Medieval orthodox Christian monks created this community as a place for religious education.

* Apricot picking and eating
Of course, you know about Turkish apricots, but how many people get to pick them off the tree!  We pulled off the road to visit with an apricot farmer who let us pick and sample!

Even when the apricots are small and slightly green, they are so so sweet.  There are apricot groves all around and lots of people ready to sell you bags of dried apricots and apricot seeds.


Well, and then there are the hot air balloon rides.  But I will leave that to Sophie.
How about a little Turkish delight?

Sunday, July 15, 2012

The measure of a journey

Outside Magazine founder Tim Cahill wrote "A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles." We have been asked a few times how we chose the meandering path from Europe's upper northwest end to its far southeastern reaches.  The answer is that we enjoy traveling to and with our friends, and every city has brought us not just new sights (and foods!), but experiences through the eyes and wisdom of our friends.  They enriched our journey, for which we are immeasurably grateful.

At the hump of this 6-week journey, the girls declared that they were not homesick yet.  Along the way, we had Skyped with the Dad and kept in email-touch with our friend Susanne who is caring for our house and Noodle the Turtle.  Sophie even had a cross-continental video chat with her friend Simone - an Istanbul to Orcas Island connection!  (Whatever happened to vacation postcards?)  Technology plus friends and family in our company have kept the comforts of home close.

In Istanbul, we were lucky to hang out with two local friends.  Ed met Kaan at a venture conference back home.  Kaan has been dedicating his time, energy and creativity to Atdaa (www.atdaa.com), a crowd-sourced guide to Istanbul.  Check it out!  With all his expertise, Kaan was the perfect and perfectly fun guide through locals' Istanbul.

We LOVED the art exhibition at Borusan Music House called "Revolution Revelation."  The temporary exhibit was created by musician/DJ Arkin and painter Carlito Dalceggio.  It is six floors of exuberant craziness, including a 4 meter statue of Buddha!
Free spirit children
Free spirit artists




To help visitors get in touch with their spiritual side, the artists set up a groovy couch with a direct line to Rumi, the 13th century Persian poet, jurist, theologian and Sufi mystic.  We tried calling, but couldn't understand the wisdom coming through the receiver.
Calling Rumi
It's hard to put everything we did with Kaan into one post, but suffice it to say that it was an awesome day and ended with a beautiful dinner right on the Bospherous River with fireworks!  Here are more pics from the day.  Thanks, Kaan!
Gangsta Istanbul
We also spent an afternoon with Yucel, a fabulous CS professor in Istanbul, who walked us through his neighborhood in the very hip Cíhangír district filled with cool cafés and tantalizing antique stores.  But Yucel really honored us by taking  us to his friend's restaurant - she opened just for us! - and treating us to the most delicious and authentic Turkish meal.  We enjoyed making new friends and hope to visit again soon.
Special lunch with Yucel and his friends
Of course, we would be lying if we didn't say that sometimes we missed our friends from home...and air conditioning...and pools.  That's why it was an extra special treat to spend the last couple of nights in a luxurious hotel with a/c and a pool and hamburgers on the menu.  Daphne and Molly came over to revel in the pool, too, which made it extra fun.  What's not to love?
If we measure our journey by the old and new friends around us, we can already declare it a success. And we're only half way through!

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Cooking Alaturka

I like cooking.  So, I was really excited that we were taking a cooking class in Istanbul to learn about traditional Turkish cooking.  We made five dishes!  Here's our menu (they told us the Turkish names - I didn't know them):

* Ezogelin Çorbasi: lentil and bulgur soup with dried mint and red pepper.  It was really good and Daddy made it (and ate it).
* Ímam Bayildi: braised eggplant stuffed with onions, tomatoes, garlic and herbs.  It was really hard to hollow the eggplants out, but the grownups did that.  Sophie and I put them on plates and made them look pretty.
* Kabak Mücveri: zucchini pancakes with white cheese and herbs.  These are like latkes but with zucchini (Grandma used a big knife to cut them all up), and they are really good with garlic yogurt.
* Etli Yaprak Dolmasi: grape leaves stuffed with rice, meat and tomatoes. I mushed the lamb and beef together with onions and lots of things I don't remember.  We had to stuff each leaf and roll it tightly so they made cute little packets!
* Sekerpare: semolina sponge cakes soaked in syrup with hazelnuts.  Mommy made the dough.  We rolled them into balls and threw them onto a tray.  When they were baked, we made a syrup of lemon, sugar and water and put it in the tray to soak up.  Then Sophie and I topped them with hazelnuts and put them on a plate.
Yum!

Thanks to Feyzi and Goiz at Cooking Alaturka for being so nice and patient.  We learned lots and lots about cooking and eating well.

Anna offline and out.

~ Anna

Royalty just entered the Basilica Cistern

or someone is messing with the camera editing functions.