Mustafa

Day 3

We awoke on Thursday and headed across the bridge to Asia for our flight to Cappadocia.  We arrived with not much fanfare to Nevishar airport and headed out to our Avis rental car.  There at the counter was a European gentleman trying to convince the car company to give him a car for free because of his airline miles even though he had no credit card.  The car company was willing to give him a car for a handwritten note and 100 euros (seemed like a good deal to me but they were still arguing when we left).  As we headed to the car park the Avis attendant reminded me that the Ford fiesta was a manual shift and a diesel vehicle (I though he said his name was Manuel, but I figured it out).  We loaded up and took off without much fanfare to Uchisar where our cave hotel was.  The landscape was insane, it looked like massive droplets of lava from the sky were there with gnomes living everywhere.  It was like Utah on acid.    We drove our car to the Uchisar castle, there we continued to go up and down the windy cobblestone streets looking for our accommodations but no luck.  An otopark guy (parking lot attendant) told us our hotel was up around the corner but it was just a similar name not our hotel.  We gave up and abandoned our hotel next to a spice peddler at the foot of the cave castle.  There were sat down to a panoramic view and a doner kebob hoping things would become easier after we ate.  The proprietor of the lunch spot was a cowboy hat man wearing a t shirt with a picture of himself in the outfit he was currently wearing upon it.  We fueled up and the cowboy took us around back of the castle and showed us our hotel which was just down the cliff.  Not sure how we were going to get the car there we decided to drive back down and around the cliff to the other side. A half hour later we were on the other side of the castle where we saw a sign for our hotel on a cobblestone street pointing basically straight up.  I put the car into first gear and gunned it up and around that curve and we slide into our beautiful mountain top cave resort!  There we watched the sun set off of the sandstone with a lovely bottle of white wine served by Mustafa.      

Day 4

Reunited!

We woke up and was served an amazing breakfast on the lawn overlooking the lava pillars!  Food just kept coming out; yogurt, honey, soft cooked eggs in bread, bread filled with feta, coffee and fresh squeezed juice.  After an indulgent breakfast we headed out to the Goreme Open Air Museum.  These lava pillars were inhabited by people in 3000 BC in 1200 AD priests fled to the Capadokia region and made churches complete with frescos in these caves.  There were churches upon churches in these hills.  After touring the underground churches we headed to a nearby town where they were having a Friday market.  We walked around the market looking at the goods and then grabbed a Turkish ice cream by the river.  We booked our balloon for the next morning, we were concerned about safety since there had been a crash that morning of a balloon.  Our balloon company assured us that the crash was just a, “technical problem” and not their company.  The “technical problem” involved the pilot catching on fire, but we were assured that it would not happen to us.  After securing our balloon ride we headed off to explore the Rose Valley and the Fairy Chimneys.  After getting out of the car and hiking around into various alcoves I heard my name being called.  I turned and look and saw a girlfriend of mine that I knew when I was a nanny in 2001, who currently lives in Lithuania with her husband and three children.  What a small world I haven’t seen her since 2003!!!  After hiking up to a fantastic view point we headed back to our hotel for another great dinner. 

Day 5

At 3:30 AM with the call of the Mosque we awoke and headed out for our balloon ride. We hopped in the basket with our 10 closest friends and took off into the sky.  Our pilot Mustafa (I know everyone right?) sent us soaring over the beautiful landscape.  There were 100s of other balloons floating about.  We watched the sun rise as we grazed across the world.  It was epically beautiful.  One and half hours later we landed and deflated the balloon and drank sparkling wine.   After our amazing trip above we went back to our hotel for another amazing breakfast.  We then headed into Goreme to do last minute souvenir shopping. Laden down by Turkish towels and lamps we headed back up the hill to eat another dinner. 

Day 6

Another breakfast and we headed out to the airport.  We drove to the airport and continued to drive and look for the airport and circle around it through the Turkish countryside.  We tried to return the rental car 40 min before the flight, which basically resulted in me ditching the car in the parking lot and running in.  The check in attendant was not worried and we handed them our luggage.  After a super bumpy flight we returned to Istanbul.  We grabbed a cab and headed to the Hilton by the airport, our cabby was extremely lost, chain smoking and Goggling as he careened across the highway.  We made it a little wind blown to our hotel and are settling in for dinner and our flight at 3 pm.           

Istanbul or Constantinople?

Michelle and I left terminal five O’hare after devouring a lovely plate of nachos at Bin 51.  On our plane was about 50 teenagers heading to Paris to study art, but it didn’t matter because we were in Economy Comfort on Air France which was a lovely little pod of luxury.  We were given wine, bread and movies as we flew over the ocean.  We had a layover in Paris were we enjoyed the accommodations of the Air France lounge where there was no shortage of chocolate croissants and cappuccinos.  A short three hour flight later we were in Istanbul!  We took a taxi over to the Beyoglu neighborhood where we found our apartment for the next few days and Liza! We enjoyed a bottle of wine and some Kefta in a crazy alleyway cafe. 

Istanbul is crawling with cats.  Everywhere you look are street cats.  When we headed out the next morning at the end of our steep street was a Julius Meinel sign and a small coffee shop.  The owner ousted the cats from the chairs and we were served up cappuccinos and delightful yogurt, honey and granola.  We were fueled for the day and we headed to Old Town to catch the sights.  When we arrived we were greeted by men who informed us that the Topkapi Palace was closed but they could take us to their carpet shops, we politely declined and made our way to the tombs of the Aya Sofya.  Aya Sofya is an old (like super old built in 537) church that was converted into a mosque, and later converted into a museum.  The tombs were buildings were all sorts of sultans, his wives and his children.  Each tomb was decorated in mosaics and the tombs were felt covered caskets that were arranged according to size, the largest the sultan, then his wives then his children in pecking order.  The boys’ tombs had turbans on them!  After hanging out in the beautiful tombs we went into the Aya Sofya, ay ya ay! Beautiful large ceiling and domes, incredible that it had been built so long ago!!!  It was awesome to see the frescos of Christians past with the art of 18^th century Muslims side by side.   

Blue Mosque view from Aya Sofia

After the church it was onto the Grand Bazar! Upon entering there were shops for as far as the eye could see.  We spent time wandering the winding rows haggling for lamps and Turkish bath towels. We were famished from our adventures so we hit up a Doner Kebob shop and had fresh lamb with pita bread.  Across the street we spied the famous Hafiz Mustafa bakery across the street, we strolled across to sample the Turkish Delight and coffee.  It was an experience, but the sticky, gelatinous, nutty “delight” was less than delightful and the coffee thick as tar; we came, we did, need not repeat!  The other items we sampled at Mustafa’s was AWESOME, such as the pudding and cakes.  Doner Kebob’s though, the JAM!!!

Turkish Coffee? Delight?

After stuffing our faces we headed to the spice market to grab some spices.  We sampled pomegranate tea and purchased loads of spices!  We then made our way on foot back to our apartment across the Ataturk bridge.  On the bridge were tons of fisherpeople spending their after work time casting giant deep sea fishing poles off of the bridge.  These fisherpeople were not just your aging old men with graying beards, oh no this was an after work happy hour with fashion similar to Logan Square hipsters, I expect after they catch their fish they’ll grab their fixies and ride home to fry it up with some PBR.  Pretty crazy scene.  We made it back to our hotel and headed to a wine bar to gossip about the day and drink some Turkish wine!!

Day Two

Our late evening at the wine bar made an early start on Wednesday not practical so we journeyed out we went back to the Topkapi Palace and it was open, we strolled through the grounds and pictured what it was like to live here in 15^th century 4,000 people deep.  It was rumored that the harem housed at least one woman for each day of the year and at one time a emperor had 112 children.  The palace people rarely left the grounds and were feasting on amazing food that ‘Merica would not see till at least the 1800s.  

Blue Mosque Selfie

After our palace aunt we ran into of course another carpet dealer.  He was a man in his mid 50s who lived in Sarasota Fl who of course would give us a good deal because you know we are from his country.  We headed to his warehouse which was a 200 year old skinny house that was seven stories high, with a crazy windy staircase with massive amounts of carpets and crazy old antiques.  There we learned about carpets, did you know you can light real wool on fire and it won’t burn?  One rug later we needed to check out the water source for the Aya which is the Basilica Cistrern which was a cistern that was into repurposing before it was cool.  There the Emperor Justinian in 532 went around and had his people grab columns from all over the Roman empire to hold up the cistern, he even hauled in two medusa heads that he installed upside down and sideways.  This creepy underground place now houses water and is home to tons of carp.  After our subterranean visit we finally made our way to the Blue Mosque, this beautiful holy place was pretty epic.  The Muezzin was chanting the whole time because of Ramadan, which created an amazing feel to this mosque.  Outside of the mosque 100s of people were gathering around with picnics awaiting the fast to end.  We headed back for our dinner of lamb shank and more delightful Turkish wine.

Life's a Beach

After making to Akumel, that evening we enjoyed beverages on the ocean at a funky little bar decorated with crazy skeletons that has tree houses and swings for seats.  On Wednesday we enjoyed some beach time, Laura swam with sea turtles and we got some reading in.  Today we are off to enjoy a lagoon and find some more cenotes.  

The lagoon was a beautiful preserved area where the water was crystal clear.  There were steps built in around the lagoon so you could enter at different points.  The water was so clear and there were so many fish that you didn’t even need to snorkel.  Marley and I rotated between the different sets of steps to get various views of the lagoon.  Marley really enjoyed kicking her feet in the cool water.  That afternoon we returned to the hotel and bummed around on the beach for the rest of the day.  Friday our final day of our trip we headed out to do some final souvenir shopping, we went back to Tolum because we had seen some items there we wanted to purchase.  We had lunch there and then set out to find another cenote.  The cenote we arrived at was built up like a pool with deck chairs around it and a zip line into it!  There were several families there and it was a fun and vibrate place to be.  After cooling off in the cenote we headed further down the road to bargain for some folding wooden chairs.   After going to two places we acquired two giant wooden chairs that were wrapped up in some twine and garbage bags.  We now were rolling with a car seat, two backpacks, two adults two wooden chairs in a tiny car that makes a VW bug look spacious. 

We then headed to the Tulum beaches to enjoy one last afternoon on the beach.  Marley loved putting her feet in the sand but wasn’t as excited with the waves as before.  We finished out the day with a wood burned pizza on the beach. 

Saturday was a epic travel day we woke up super early squished all of our possessions into our tiny car and headed to the airport.  Because we rented from such a super small car rental place we circle several times looking for it.  We finally got rid of the car and entered the airport which was wall to wall people.  Trying to navigate through the people with our stroller and our rolly cart with these giant chairs was insane.  We got our chairs saran wrapped and checked them and were off with our upgrade to the US.  Of course our crazy chairs got lost in ATL and were delivered the day after we returned.  

Temple and Shhhhhenote

The next morning we woke up and headed out immediately for the ruins of Tulum.  The Mayan’s had built these ruins on the edge of a cliff right next to the ocean, talk about a view.  We were the first people in the parking lot and we headed into the ruins.  We climbed through the walled city and walked around the ancient ruins.  It was pretty crazy to picture the Mayan’s here building this and living here and it is still standing!!!  Exploring was pretty hot so we jumped into the ocean and it was Marley’s first dip in the Atlantic.  All the other tourists really liked her swimming hat!  After our ruins exploration it was getting really warm so we headed to eat lunch on the beach at a hotel in Tulum.  The hotels in Tulum on the beach are situated between rock cliffs so you feel nestled in between giant rocks and white sand beach.  People had built small cairins along the rocky cliffs and they were really beautiful to look at with be background of the crashing ocean behind it.  After lunch Marley and I took another dip in the ocean, this time with much less people.  She LOVED the waves and watching the birds.  After two dips, a ruin and lunch we headed back to the hotel for naps.  That afternoon we hung by the pool and ended the day with a meal of AMAZING mole sauce. 

Tulum

The next morning we packed up the car and headed out to Chizen Itza.  To break up the car ride we decided to stop at a cenote on the way.  We saw several signs for “Mayan Cenote” and followed the signs there.  When we got there we found out that this cenote was $50 and included rappelling in.  Since no children under six were allowed we decided to continue our quest to find another cenote.  We saw signs for “Dolce Cenote” it wasn’t in the LP but we decided what the hell and continued down the road on our quest for cool and refreshing water.  When we pulled into the parking lot we were the only people there, we paid our $7 admission and headed into our private cenote.  It was EPIC, there were stalactites that were almost three stories long.  We headed into a massive pool of fresh water in a cave that was at least five stories tall.  We swam in the cool water and enjoyed the beauty of this natural wonder.  After our cooling dip we got back on the road to Chizen Itza.  We needed some lunch after all that swimming so we stopped at a roadside rest stop and ordered two of the chicken dishes.  When they arrived they were MASSIVE.  One was grilled chicken seasoned with adobo sauce and the other was like a country fried steak, both were served with beans and fresh tortillas.  Even after eating till we were full there was so much food left.  We then got back on the road and finally arrived at our destination.  When we pulled in a golf cart greeted us that wisked us away to the front desk.  The grounds were enormous with little bungalows that the windows were made of stained glass.  From the lobby you can see a view of the ruins.  We took a dip in the pool and ate a small dinner and headed to bed. 

Secret Cenote

We set an alarm and headed early into the ruins to beat the heat and the crowds.  These ruins were amazing  built so high in pyramid shapes.  The acoustics of the place were unreal, you can hear a whisper from one end of this large field to the other.  It is crazy to think that these ancient architects could design such an amazing structures when we have concerts halls that you can’t hear with speakers.  After exploring the ruins we headed to the Mayan cenote which was insanely crowded but still beautiful.  This cenote was completely open at the top and had vines and waterfalls coming down.  It was too deep for Marley to enjoy so we took turns and then headed back out.  After ordering too much for lunch the other day we learned our lesson and at this little road stop we ordered one dish of the signature Poc Phoc.  It was pork pounded thin and marinated in orange juice soooooo yummy and served with freshly ground corn tortillas.  After a near scare of running out of gas we made it back to the coast and settled in a new town of Akumel. 

Mexico or Bust

Since I last went on a out of country journey we have added a new family member to our pair of two.  So now I have married an Indian and had his baby!  Six months after Marley entered the world it was time for our baby girl to get a stamp in that blank passport of hers.  My traveling friend from before I had a baby Laura Mullkoff agreed to go on an international adventure with the Peanut and I.  After two hours of planning we headed to Mexico, the trip started out on a high note with an upgrade to first class!  We landed in Mexico and cleared immigration in record time.  The adventure really began in the car park of the car rental facility.  In order to rent a car we needed to have a credit card hold for the value of the card, neither of our credit card companies were willing to authorize a $7000 bill from Mexico.  As we were trying to figure out cellular service (yea we were renting a car from a place that didn’t have a phone) Marley blew out her diaper with an Epic brown movement.  Here was the moment I was waiting for having to change a diaper in a country that doesn’t have those fancy tables that come out of the wall in restrooms.  I quickly set up a changing area for Marley on the ground and used a pack of wipes to get fecal matter out of all of her rolls and every inch of her car seat.  We finally got a car (the size of a match box) and we loaded up and were off to Tulum.  Our lovely rental place also didn’t have a map so we were working off a Lonely Planet and a print off of google maps (half the ink because laura’s printer was out).  Once we set off down the road we realized that our car had no gas.  We pulled over to a gas station with an attendant, opps we have no Mexican Currency!!! They don’t have pay at the pump and only take cash.  The attendant said he would take US dollars (of course) but in our two hour planning session we didn’t look up the exchange rate.  We are extremely out of traveling shape and underestimated Mexico!  All gassed up ($30 USD with 15 M in change) we drove 150 km down the coast hoping to find our hotel.  Once we entered Tulum which is a happening little backpacking strip with lots of taco stands we looked for our hotel.  Well driving around randomly didn’t pan out too well and asking store owners didn’t work either.  The people who spoke Spanish we couldn’t understand and the people who spoke English didn’t know where they were.  One internet store, one taxi driver, two stops at hotels and one acquired bad map we made it to Villa H2O where we arrived in a lovely room.  We then headed out to a late night taco joint drank our Mexican sodas and enjoyed freshly made tortillas (all for the small amount of change from our gas station experience. 

The next morning we ate breakfast pool side and swam.  We walked into town and found an ATM and espresso.  We had a great lunch and headed off to Gran Cenote.  Cenotes are prevalent in this area and are basically large caves filled with fresh water.  It was an amazing escape from the warm weather where we could swim from cave to cave and look up and see the bats hanging over head and the fish swimming below in crystal clear water.  Marley was reluctant to get in the cold water but once in she was loving the cool water and all the amazing things to look at.  That evening we headed to the beach to dine on the rocks as the sun set.  We finally got our first margaritas of the trip and had a superb evening!

The Partels Do Barca

After a uneventful evening train at the border changeover we meet a family of five on their European vacation, we thought they were pretty hardcore traveling across Europe on trains and such with three kids!!! We arrived in Barcelona to a bright and sunshiny day were we made our way through the narrow streets, shopping, eating tapas, drinking sangria, and buying espadrilles.  Today after spending the morning at the laundry mat (clearly our Spanish/Catalan/Gujarati is not the best, and yes Sankat’s language is the default after trying Spanish and almost everyone in stores speaks it, crazy huh?) we headed to the Picasso museum which is in an old castle where each small room reveals another stage in his life through text and art.  Pretty impressive place.  Who knows what Barcelona will have in store for us over the next few days!!!   

Sagrada Famalia

Saturday morning we woke up to a downpour and decided that with the crummy weather we would hit Barcelona’s most popular tourist destination, La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s incomplete life work.  This amazing cathedral has been under construction for over 80 years.  Gaudi took his inspiration from nature and created modern art.  The church was super impressive and worth the 45 minute wait, while we were waiting the sun came out and the stained glass was unreal as the rays shown through into the chapel.  We decided to make it a Gaudi day and took the Metro across town to his park, which was a piece of land purchased by a count for Gaudi to make a miniature village.  The project was cut short and left unfinished but still impressive (I guess unfinished was his theme). 

Reggae Band in Gaudi's Park

From a hill in the park we could see the sparkling ocean we realized we had not set foot in it yet and we headed for the beach.  The beach seen was a complete shit show that makes North Ave beach look like amateur hour.  There were tons of bachelorette and bachelor parties going on, in the States girls usually are the ones dressed up and doing ridiculous challenges here in Barcelona the men are all about the theme party.  The big deal is for the bachelor to dress in some ridiculous outfit (usually like a woman) and the attendees would wear matching outfits of some sort.  We saw an entire Baywatch crew complete with rescue devices with the groom in a one piece and enormous fake boobs!!  After some people watching at the beach we headed back to the hotel for some tapas, sangria and bed. 

Hanging out on the Field

On Sunday we headed to Camp Nou where the Barcelona football (soccer) club plays.  The season is over so Sankat head to settle for a stadium tour instead of a live match.  We started in the museum where we saw the history of football then we saw the locker room, field, press box and the stands.  On our way back to the metro we stopped by a high school football match to watch for a bit. That evening we walked back to the beach to explore the boardwalk further.   It was Sunday so there was a little less of the drunken frat boy scene and more of the families enjoying their day at the beach.  We walked the full length of the beach and enjoyed time sitting out by the ocean. 

Cooking Nerds

On Monday, our last full day in the city, we enjoyed a lazy morning of hanging out grabbing coffee and last minute souvenirs.  That evening we took a Spanish cooking class.  We joined four other couples from the US in a intimate kitchen lead by our Chef Kim (a guy).  We learned to chop vegetables make sauce, soup, a dessert and of course paella.  Hopefully you guys can come over to our house and have a Spanish meal prepared by us!!!

On Tuesday morning we tried to navigate the Barcelona metro system to the airport, we got lost transferring from the metro to the suburban line but ended up in front of the Gaudi apartment that we had missed!!!  Of course our flight was delayed to Ireland due to a strike in France.  Once our flight finally took off it was an hour longer than usual due to the airspace restrictions over France and for only 8Euro we could buy Pringles, Sprite and a water!!!

Now onto Ireland!!!!

From Champagne to Paris to Barcelona in 24 hours!

Dunkers for my Champange

After our visit to the French open we hopped on the high speed train to Reims, in less than an hour later we jumped off the train and headed to our hotel.  Reims is a super cute little town with a great square and of course the token Notre Dame cathedral.  An extraordinary amount of WWII went down in Reims including the surrender of Nazi Germany in a small school across from our hotel.  There we visited the map room where Eisenhower planned many battles (the original maps are still on the wall) we saw the actual place where WWII came to a close.  As we wandered through the town in and out of amazingly restored buildings with great Art Deco architecture.  We also spent a few hours at the Mum champagne tour learning how champagne is made, and of course the difference between champagne and sparkling wine. 

On Wednesday we headed back to Paris and waded through the crowds of the Louve so that we could see with our very own eyes the La Joconde aka the Mona Lisa.  The Virgin and Child hall was pretty overwhelming with 100s of pictures of the Virgin Mary and naked chubby babies, the Mona Lisa was pretty creepy with her eyes never coming off of us as we moved around the room

Mona Photo Bombing Us

even though there were 1000s of tourist paparazzi snapping her picture, and the Winged Victory was gorgeous!!! That evening we met some of Sankat’s classmates for a quick supper before we grabbed our night train to Barcelona. 

The Front Yard our Barcelona Hotel!!!

After a uneventful evening train at the border changeover we meet a family of five on their European vacation, we thought they were pretty hardcore traveling across Europe on trains and such with three kids!!! We arrived in Barcelona to a bright and sunshiny day were we made our way through the narrow streets, shopping, eating tapas, drinking sangria, and buying espadrilles.  Today after spending the morning at the laundry mat (clearly our Spanish/Catalan/Gujarati is not the best, and yes Sankat’s language is the default after trying Spanish and almost everyone in stores speaks it, crazy huh?) we headed to the Picasso museum which is in an old castle where each small room reveals another stage in his life through text and art.  Pretty impressive place.  

Who knows what Barcelona will have in store for us over the next few days!!!

Oh Oui!!!!!

The Tower!

What a beautiful city, I hopped on the metro and met up with Sankat and my professors.  We quickly headed out to see Notre Dame and of course the most iconic sight the Eiffel Tower.  AMAZING, the Eiffel tower is even larger than I imagined it and the details of Notre Dame are incredible.  Notre Dame’s downspouts were gargoyles!  That evening we headed to the restaurant in our hotel that even Anthony Bourdane had trouble getting into.  It was an epic meal of foire gras, white asparagus and a cheese platter the size of the table. 

Before Dessert Cheese Tray!

The next few days were filled with magical sights all over Paris.  We roamed through small boutiques, ate at sidewalk cafes, and drank champagne at midnight.  I had a small run in with the metro security.  They thought I jumped the turnstyle,which of course I would do with my husband, my professors and her sister and husband aroundL  After much arguing and my complete and utter lack of French I was 30 euro poorer.  The evenings were filled with amazing dinners, gorgeous bottles of wine and good company. 

French Open 

Sankat found out that his cousin Reshma, her husband and kids were in Paris too for the French Open.  We were able to grab a quick breakfast with them one morning and Reshma generously got us tickets to the French Open where we were able to sit in the Players Box and hang out in the Players’ Lounge.  Sankat was in utter heaven.  On Monday afternoon we grabbed the train to the neighboring region of Champange to check out how the bubbly is made!!!!

Pub crawls and Curries

The next morning I woke up super early to grab a bus back to the airport of course the bus never came so I got in a cab and got to the airport in plenty of time.  Headed through security and located the lounge, I was the only person there so I settled myself in with some cheese, brown bread and cappuccino to facetime Sankat. I boarded my plane outside in the pouring rain and had a bumpy flight to London.  Steve sent a car to collect me and I headed to his house. 

It was a beautiful and sunny day in London perfect for sightseeing.  I dumped my stuff off and headed out to see Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament and much more.  We then grabbed some food and cocktails at a great French place.  Afterwards headed back to Steve’s place to grab a sweatshirt and surf the web for old friends.  After some goggle stalking we headed out on our two man pub crawl.  Steve showed me the full smear of pubs and bars by his house.  We began with a proper pint, then to another English pub called the Library, then onto a cocktail bar and finally ending the evening at an American whiskey bar (complete with bras on the ceiling).  And like every good English evening of drinking we grabbed kebabs for our walk home.   

Steve Training Ninjas

The next day Steve headed to work while I set out to find a coffee shop to get some work done.  My first stop was the Monmoth Coffee shop in the Covenant Garden area, what a great cappuccino (here they are served with a dusting of cocoa, ohhhhh yea).  I did have to move to another shop though because there was no wifi there.  I spent the day working and catching up on all the emails I had missed in bumming around Ireland.  That evening I meet Steve at a Buddhist cultural center to watch him train ninjas (yea you read right).  I was super impressed by Steve’s teaching skills and thoroughly enjoyed watching them leap over chairs with no noise and fighting with swords.  After training we hit the pubs till then closed, after many failed attempts at finding an open pub after 11 we ended up at a Indian restaurant that was complete with massive murals of the royal family and union jacks.  My personal favorite was the one of the boys with no shirts no.  The Indian place serves beer so we ordered a bunch of dishes and continued to have some pints. 

The next day Steve decided work was overrated and played hooky so we set out to see the other sites in London (Sherlock Holmes’ house, Kings Cross and the Rosetta Stone).  Next we hit up the hip new eatery called “Burger and Lobster” and it serves what the title is.  So of course we had one of each, it was delightful.  Steve has a membership to a private club in SoHo so we headed there next and had many drinks in the posh leather booths with crystal chandeliers. 

Baker Street Tube Stop

Couple of P'ville Kids in London

The next morning we headed out to Harrods, from the outside it looks like a medieval castle but the inside your average department, except the food area.  WOW!!!!  There are food counters everywhere all centered around themes (caviar, steak, sushi, burgers on and on), each counter has about 20 stools at it, and there were two massive rooms catering only to dining.  You can also do all of your grocery shopping at Harrods, they have everything up scale that your traditional supermarket does, of course you would need to take out a second mortgage on your home for one trip.  We then headed over to the financial district so I could see where Steve works and go on a walking tour entitled Crime and Punishment.  We met the tourguide at the tube stop and headed out to learn about how criminals were treated in the early days.  London proper is actually only one square mile, that used to be a walled city.  We saw where William Wallace was executed, the walk to the gallows from the jail and a church from 1130.  Pretty amazing and super nerdy.  That night we had another epic meal at Zuma, pretty freaking fantastic. 

The next day I headed back to Kings Cross to get on the high speed train to Paris.  Even though it was 6 am the place was packed.  It was pretty chaotic getting through customs and headed to the platform.  Ninety minutes later I was in Paris.

Castles and Cowpies

Exploring an abandoned castle

The next morning we woke up super early to hit the Ring of Kerry.  The guests last night convinced us that this sight was not to be missed and they were right.  The road was narrow and windy.  We stopped at a local fishery and bought some fish (couldn’t get any fresher), we explored a vacant castle from the 1300s, had lunch in a pub, and did some off road hiking to the top of a hill to get the whole view.  The burger I had at the pub was AMAZING local Irish beef stuffed with bri topped with a tomato and arugula, oohhhhhhhh yea.

That evening we arrived at Laura and Cory’s next job which was with a family where the mother was Irish and the father French.  They had two tweenage girls and they had made a cake to welcome us.  They gave us a tour of their amazing property complete with a hoop house and goats.  We talked over cake and tea about the problems that face youth in Ireland, US and France (alcohol was their largest concern). 

A cowpie surrounded castle

The next morning Maureen and I got up early to hit the road for Dublin (at this point our car smelled like mildew and we couldn’t figure out why).  As we drove north we stopped in Cashel to explore yet another ruined castle (this one from the 1100s).  In my excitement to explore the ruins I stepped in a MASSIVE cow patty (I should’ve been looking out because there were over a 30 cows in the field).  Maureen reacted with great laughter as I tried to remove the shit from my foot and flip flops (now the car would smell even worse)!!!!!  We carried on the road to Dublin and found our hostel dropped off our luggage and went to the rental car agency.  Of course being Sunday it was closed and we continued our adventure to the airport.  Several roundabouts later we arrived there and finally got rid of the car.  We arrived back at our hostel and the smell had followed us to our room (I promptly tossed my sneakers). 

Look who we ran into in Dublin

We then headed out to find dinner in Dublin.  Aside from the bombdiggity burger the food in Ireland had been very disappointing and we were craving a really good meal.  We walked to Grafton street, stopping in an amazing sprits store that sold mini bottles of whiskey from each of Ireland’s counties.  We then made a loop of the area restaurants wanting to make the best choice for dinner.  Boy did we choose well!  We shared a caprese salad with massive stacked tomatoes with generous portions of mozzarella, cured meat with arugula and Parmesan


 and an entree of lamb and hummus.  Amazing, plus they had wine and after endless pints of beer it was pretty awesome. 

Irish pubs and Cliffs

So after a night of sleeping in the mansion’s back yard on Achill Island, we got back in the car and continued to drive south.  We first stopped in the town of Keel out on the island to see the beach of course there were 100s of sheep, about 55 F and sand blowing like bullets.  I have now been on a beach with cows and a beach with sheep, who would’ve thunk. We jumped back in the car and headed south to Galway.  Once we got to Galway we parked the car and tried to find a place to stay.  We ended up at a small youth hostel were the manager agreed to do our laundry!!!! So with our clothes taken car of we headed out for the evening in pursuit of some live Irish music.  With a steak and Guinness

Music and a Beer

pie in our belly we headed to the oldest live music pub.  Where a bango player, a fiddler and a accordion player had just sat down to play.  Several people brought their instruments to the pub in hopes to join in on a jam session with them.  We bellied up to the bar for some pints of Guinness (or Murphy’s pick your poison) and enjoyed a listen.  An older gentleman grabbed our hands and we danced a jig or two.  The place began to fill up with listeners, another band member came late to join and the leader of the band urged him to make his way through the “foreigners” to get to the band.  Laura asked me how he knew that we were foreigners, I really didn’t know but I guess we don’t look Irish.

The next morning we went on a quest to find Cory and Maureen Irish sweaters, we combed the shops for the perfect hand knit Irish sweater.  After many shops and fashion shows we found the ideal fit and style and headed off down the coast to the Cliffs of Morh.  Wow want a magnificent sight, it wasn’t as deep as the Grand Canyon but with the blue ocean swirling below it was amazing.  After a long walk along the coast and a token ice cream cone we continued even further south. 

The View of the Cliffs

We had read about a Glamp ground (glamour camp ground, yea it’s real look it up) on the world wide web and wanted to check it out.  When we arrived  about five dogs and cats greeted us (there were not people)  they followed us around like the pide piper as we gave ourselves a self guided tour.  There was a peaceful wood heated yoga studio, pre erected tents with wood burning stoves and fancy beds, a wood heated sauna and an outdoor kitchen.  It was pretty cold outside and we were pretty far away from the “Ring of Kerry” we decided to continue further south.  An hour later we arrived at the car ferry and were alerted that the last sailing had occurred.  We drove back to the Glampground, stopping along the way to try and find closer accommodations to no avail. When we arrived back at the Glampground, Kevin the owner gave us a tour and even showed us where the fairies lived!!! We made dinner outside and visited with the other guests (who were super excited about Glamping arriving in Ireland).

Yeats, Giants, and Bloody Sundy

After spending a great weekend in Chicago celebrating my friend Dr. Bartos' graduation at the Lederman's house.  I set out on Euro trip 2013.  Recieving an  email the day of my departure that I should pick up our rental car at the airport in Dublin and meet my friends at the hostel they were staying in, in downtown Dublin.  I quickly looked their hostel on the world wide web and took at screen shot of how to get there. 
After a flight to Paris and a prop plane trip to Dublin, on the bumpy trip I scribbled the directions on the plane's barf bag and scoured the map from the LP.  After the plane landed I lined up for immigration.  After several questions I headed for the rental car line.  An hour and a half later I was in my VW right hand drive left hand shift headed to Dublin.  Of course right out of the car park there was a freaking roundabout, as if it isn't bad enough to be on the wrong side of the road driving stick!!!!!  I survived and didn't even stall.  As I exited the freeway I scoured for street signs (chanting in my head STAY LEFT)  that several minutes later I found were tiny small signs located up on the buildings.  After a hour search  I abandoned the car in an area that I knew was close to the hostel and headed out on foot.  I quickly found the hostel and meet my friends Laura and Cory who had been traveling the world for the past 10 months.  I had missed her soooooo much so it was great to see her.

Car Feery

After we reunited we packed up the car and headed up north to a former priest's bachelor pad.  Four hours later after a grocery store stop to grab a chocolate bar to bribe the neighbor to give us the keys.  We headed into a cute cottage with a view of the ocean and the sound of the cows mooing.  First on the order was a visit to the local pub where of course our barkeep

 knew our host. We talked about life in Ireland and then retired back to the cottage.

Signage near Bloody Sunday Memorial

Murder of young adults standing up for their counties rights.  We then walked around the walled city and retired to a pub to listen to some Irish tunes.  We headed back to our cottage (STAY LEFT) and went to sleep. 

Beverage of Bushmills

The next morning we headed to the west coast where the road ended on the beach we drove across the beach to the connecting road and drove along the cliffs in the shadows of abandoned castles and churches while sheep scampered across the road.  We had lunch at Yeats Memorial Building and then headed out to the largest rock grave (which is really a 1.5 km uphill that is an inspiration for some Yeats poem).
We are now at an old mansion on the island of Acell that has a full pub and tons of working wood fire places. 

Toasting in Tiawan

The small version of the Lazy Susan

After a short two days back in the US I headed back to a different part of Asia Taiwan with my work colleagues to teach a short two day seminar in incorporating technology in the classroom. So after another day plane trip half way around the world I was back in Asia.  But what a different world Taiwan is from it's sister Southeast Asia.  They might as well be distant cousins twice removed who don't even recognize each other at reunions, because Taiwan is significantly different from southeast Asia.  Taiwan is not nearly as westernized as Singapore, which is really just like visiting the Epcot version of Asia.   Taiwan has all the charms of southeast Asia and all the comforts of the westernized world.   This is really highlighted in the public restrooms where you can choose from the squat toilet, the western toilet or the western toilet with a remote that has a heated seat and a bidet. 

Kaoliang

My professors Norm and Judy a super celebrities in the Taiwan education world and everywhere we go they are greeted like royalty.  This results in about three hour lunches with a lazy Susan the size of a VW bug filled to the brim with every type of Taiwanese food imaginable.  If you just hint at the fact that you particularly enjoy a certain type of food you bet a NT that two more would appear on the table for the next meal.  During the meal you are served micro sized glasses of beer which you raise up with both hands and look another diner in the eye and say a personalized toast, it goes something like this . . .
Selina-  Judy thank you so much for taking me to Taiwan and for showing me the best shopping
Judy - you are most welcome

Taiwan Beer

Then we both raise our glasses, drink, look each other in the eyes again and toast again.  Then someone would promptly fill up your glass with beer, so you have no idea how much you have consumed.  To add a twist at dinner a bottle of Kaoliang (which is basically like rubbing alcohol) would be produced and you would drink that along side your small glass of beer.  I spent most of the meals trying not to make eye contact!!!!!  To even further complicate the toasting traditions.  After someone toasts you and you are getting ready to drink someone can shout out GAMBEE which means chug.  Then  you must drink your whole glass (which of course will be refilled immediately)!!!



After two hours of Gambeeing and being completely stuffed to the brim you have about an hour before dinner and the festivities begin again.  Stay thirsty my friends

Angkor What!!!

 Had talked up the border crossing so much I think Inhad built it up so much in Sankat's maybe scaring him out of him out of his mind. We packed up and started running errands before the border crossing grabbing Tylenol and changing money to US dollars. It was about 11:30 before we got on the bus headed to the border. Once we got to the border we got out and there was an "office" where some guys were trying to get us to go into. We avoided the office and walked straight for the border and bought our visas after we got our exit stamp from Thailand. On the Cambodian side we walked into the visa office and handed over $20 and $100 bhat (we weren't sure what the $100 baht was for but when I saw it disappear into the pocket of the officer).  Then we continued over the border. As we were walking a man was soliciting us to take a ride with him. We nogociated a ride price and then were corralled onto a bus, where a "greeting" officer wanted to school us in Cambodia way of life. After we grabbed another car to Siem Reap the greeting officer asked for tip, because he "rescued" us from the scam artist and the other guys would justb"sell" us to the tuk tuk drivers at the edge of Siem Reap, I replied that he didn't save us but took us to another cab. No tip for him!!!

We split a cab with a couple from the UK who did get caught by the fake visa "office" who charged them twice the amount of the visa. Two hours later we ended up just outside of Siem Reap
here we handed off to some tuk tuk drivers (of course exactly what our little friend who "rescued" us said wouldn't happen).  But we were able to strike up a deal with our tuk tuk driver to take us on an all day tour of the temples for $15!  Then we headed out to dinner, the food in Cambodia is divine because of the French influence and all of the downtown is set up much like New Orleans with the resturantnts as two floors with balcony dining everywhere where you can sit and look down on the sites and people below!

The next morning we headed off to the temples and saw five in one day. The temples were all built in different time periods so the architecture is unique with each one. We would pull up outside a temple  get out of our tuk tuk and weave through the vast amount of children selling everything from magnets to pieces of art. Once inside the temple you can walk around, climb up and make believe you are an in Tomb Raider!  The temples are massive in size and number you could be there for a week and still not see all the temples!  We met a young lady selling paintings and cold drinks outside one of the temples while we were sitting sipping our iced cafes we watched her work her magic, each group of tourists that would exit the temple she would look at and when they got within hearing distance she would greet them in their language and shout out the items she had for sale. She was brillant, "Bonjour," "Hola" and many more.  We asked her and she knows over eight languages and several sayings in each of them, I think Sankat wanted her to be on his sales team for the bank.

That night we went to the night market and shopped away, Sankat bartered away his best deal was getting a sale at 80% off the asking price while of course he's telling me all about how he learned these strategies at Booth, glad the moneys going towards something!  We also got some great foot massages in the market and looked at all the items you can make out of a rice bag (I got a great yoga bag).  The next day we lounged by the pool, drank on the balcony and pursued the night market again, gearing up for the reverse border crossing.

Passing through Bangkok

Airport Train

After saying goodbye to the Beaches of Bali we hopped a flight to Bangkok Thailand  We landed 4 hours later and were in the city of 12 million.  We grabbed an ice coffee and some noodles at the airport to gear us up for the trip into town.  We road the brand new sky train into the city and headed into the city for the neighborhood of Sukumvit which is the banking district and most poshy place in Bangkok.  After checking into our hotel which looked like a Asian Cartoon on Steroids but had a tremendous city view.  We then headed out to a non profit restaurant called Condoms and Cabbages (Jen and I went here when we were in Bangkok).  This restaurants’ proceeds go towards sex education in Thailand, which is a worthy cause in a country where the population is growing 3% every year.  The whole place is decked out in prophylactics everything from the entrance way to the light fixtures!!!!  Greeting you when you walk in the door is a sculpture of Tiger Woods made completely out of condoms and birth control pills (with a sign stating I hope you used these)!  After dining and drinking for the cause we strolled past 100s of street stalls selling everything from pants to CDs and bottle openers to J Lo T’shirts.  Every few feet a street bar was set one of them set up in a converted VW van with an entire bar set up inside.  Sankat then wanted to pay a visit to Soi Cowboy (Soi means streets, Cowboy American) this street was featured in Hangover II where he gets a tattoo and they visit a strip club.  This street was started by an American solider who frequented Bangkok on leave and wanted to set up some entertainment for him and his compadres.  This street is all that you imagine, strip club after another, each with a theme from cheetah print bathrobes to southern plaid theme.  In between the clubs are woman firing up woks to make fresh pad thai.  After seeing it all we grabbed a Tuk Tuk and headed back home. 

Getting to the Balimoon is Half the Battle

Sankat enjoying a Sail

After a tear-full goodbye I sent Lindsey off in a cab towards the airport and I headed to Sanur to meet up with Sankat.  We had booked a sweet little boutique hotel close to the beach and I was hoping it would turn out better than my latest lodging debacles.  I grabbed a cab and headed off after much discussion about price (he wanted $15, I wanted him to run the meter) we settled on the meter and off we went.  20 minutes later he dropped off on the side of the highway in front of a highrise with a similar name as my hotel.   I knew from the internet pictures (which at times can be deceiving but not this deceiving) that we were not at the right place.  I walked in and the door guy looked at me like I was crazy, it was basically as if a dirty backpacker walked into a highrise in Chicago and asked the door guy for a room J.  We bantered back and forth me in English and him in Balinese and it was clear that I was not in the right place and we couldn’t communicate with each other.  Luckily there was a coffee shop next door that I wandered into where business people were having lunch, getting the same dirty backpacker look I asked for WiFi and a menu.  The server informed me that I would have to pay for WiFi and food to stay there I convinced her that I would and $7 later I had a latte, chocolate cake and internet.  I realized that the cab had taken me to a place about a half a mile from my hotel (easy I can totally walk there).  I finished up my goods and waited out almost all my internet time, didn’t want to waste any money, and headed off down the road.  About four minutes into walking down the side of the highway listening to cars honking and praying that no one would come onto the side of the road and hit me I flagged down a cab.  I had the usual banter of meter vs $10 settled on meter and off we went.  I was able to maintain internet signal and quickly realized this guy didn’t know where he was going, but through the miracle of  google maps and my demands we pulled up outside of the hotel resembling the one I booked on the internet.  Hooray they had my booking the room was amazing and I settled in next to the pool to wait for Sankat.  The hostess even brought me fresh sorbet while I lounged HEAVEN!!!!

Watching the Sunset

I had a glass of wine waited for Sankat and he arrived  So awesome to see him after 5 weeks of us traveling, we stayed up late exchanging stories about Singapore, London, Malaysia and Indonesia.    We spent the next four days living it up in Bali, snorkeling, catamaran cruises to other islands, lounging on the beach and eating brick oven pizza at the Italian ex pat;s place. 

Now we are headed off for one night in Bangkok.  

Beachin Part Duex

After reluctantly leaving Ubud Lindsey and I ventured to spend our last two days on the south coast beaches. We wanted to find the perfect place to eat, drink, and relax on the beach.  We spent hours scouring the internet to find the perfect guest house.  The only affordable hotel we could find on the beach was in a shopping mall which we quickly discarded So we booked this sweet little guest house just north of the beach and grabbed a cab and headed there.  The cab just kept driving up and down the road and could not find the small guest house.  He ended up dumping us at a small restaurant where we consumed another plate of fried noodles in exchange for internet.  Not wanting to back down and book the mall hotel we settled on another hotel across from the mall and the beach.  We hailed a cab and off we went again. When the cab pulled up outside the hotel it was on a busy highway with the nearest restaurant a pizza hut.  When we went to the check in we asked where the beach was and she looked at us very confused, as it turns out we were nowhere near the beach and basically staying at a hotel on a highway that looked like Orlando minus Disney.  On the positive side it was super clean place with movie channels and an awesome shower.  So we settled in and spent the evening watching reality dog grooming show on Animal Planet and getting caught up on BBC news.  We ordered some crummy room service Indonesian pizza and when we were able to tear ourselves away from the final sheering and poodle fashion show we went to turn off the lights where of course we couldn’t figure out.  We had to call the front desk at midnight with three men who came up (hotel worker, repair man, and security) after removing the light plate and determining it broken we were moved to another room.  Which was great because I split hot sauce all over my pillow J

The morning we decided to try to find the beach one last time we surrendered our pride and booked the mall hotel and off we went.  We spent the rest of the day lounging by the ocean and watching the sun set with cocktails.  It was a nice way to end the trip even if there was a Starbucks, Burger King, Pizza Hut and a Nike Town in our hotel.  

Eat Shop Yoga

I guess Julia (Roberts that is) did know something when she took up residence for her last place in Ubud, Bali This is the setting for the Love portion of Eat Pray Love.  Although we didn't find love here in Ubud we did fall in love with Ubud.  Upon arrival I though I had died and went to yuppie girl heaven.  After an hour ride through the country side on windy roads through rice fields we ended up in the city of Ubud, to take a break from our beach vaca.
Before searching for a place to stay we stopped at a cafe to grab a latte and discuss our game plan.  Finding a cafe in Ubud is not hard there is one about every 50 meters with many of them overlooking rice paddies.  After re caffeinating we put our backpacks back on and headed down the streets. Walking the Bali sidewalks is a risky endeavor where several of the panels could shatter sending you into the sewer systems below, so walking around is much like an Indiana Jones obstacle trying to stay on the firm panels and only hop out on the street when a scooter won't come bolting out.
We found a small homestay in a clean guest house where our host had her four month old gorgeous little baby on her hip.  The hotels and guesthouses in Ubud are though little temple entrances where various gods welcome you with the scent of incense fills your nose as you wander up the stairs where every little nook could reveal children playing, a small temple, laundry, a dog sleeping or some grandpas engaged in an intense game of chess.
We then set out to visit the shopping.  The shopping there was yoga stores, handicrafts, clothing, markets, music stores and on and on.  We learned to play the Tibetan singing bowls and many other instruments where the proprietors took the time out to play with us and for us.
We went to this incredible coffee shop where each drink is prepared individually for you served on a paddle with a glass of water and a small pastry.  The array of contraptions to brew coffee was mind boggling.  Each cup was meticulously brewed that even my dad would've been shocked.
We visited the Monkey Sanctuary, now when I read about the Monkey Sanctuary I guess I thought there would be a few monkeys living in a nice preserved area but OMG it was a Monkey Commune.  This place had over 600 monkeys roaming around freely interacting with the human visitors.  These monkeys are of the species where they look like they have a faux hawk soooooooo cute.  And they are everywhere behind tombstones in the graveyard, gallivanting through the temples, running through the crematorium, and swinging from vines. If someone sat down to drink water or tie their shoe a monkey would sneak up behind them an try to climb into their lap, it was unreal and Lindsey and I seemed to be the only ones who thought this super close interaction with wildlife was ill advised.  Although we did try to get our pictures with a monkey which resulted in me snapping a photo of Lindsey running away as a monkey hissed at her:)
After we had bought, ate, drank and yogaed all we could we had to head to the beach again for our final R and R.

Life's a Beach

So after leaving the island of Java we traveled overnight by train to the edge of the island to the ferry for Bali.  We arrived just before dawn and as the ferry traveled towards Bali we watched the sun rise over Bali.  We pre booked a last minute deal on Hotels.com for a resort in Candidassa where we spent a few blissed out days laying by the pool and reading.

The Hotdog Stand

When our two nights at the resort ended we weren't ready to leave this sweet little town so we found a sweet homestay where a Java woman was married to an Aussie man (who shall remain annonomous for tax purposes).  They had opened a clean place across from the beach complete with a hot dog stand.  Where they served AMAZING burgers with proper buns and chips (french fries)  These suckers were $2.60 a steal we ate lunch and dinner there!!!  As the day passed other ex pats gathered in the garage and bull shitted the day away over cold Bin Tangs and burgers.  The next day we headed off after a proper Aussie breakfast and  a sad goodbye to our hosts.
We headed out on the local ferry (which was supposed to take 4 hours but really took 6 when all was said and done).  We then meet a German family whose dad was oringally from Lombock (the island we were on) and shared a cab with them the remainder of our two hour travel.  We were then in the beach town of Sengigi which must've had its hey day in the 60s.  The next morning we got out of dodge and headed to the Gili Islands.  We selected Gili Air because the vibe was supposed to be half way between the party island and the deserted island.
We arrived there after another mini bus ride and a very jam packed ferry ride where we were sitting between about a month's worth of produce and chickens wedged inbetween back packers and breast feeding mothers.  After wading ashore we finally made it!!!! And boy was it worth the journey this island was a slice of paradise.  It looked out over the volcanic range of Lombock and was surrounded by the bluest water I've seen since the Maldives.

The View at Low Tide

We circumnavigated the island seeing all the guest houses and looking for good eats.  Every resturant looks out over the ocean with lounge tables.  Where every bar seves popcorn popped on the stove and happy hours run till 8 pm.  We found some Italian ex pats who made us fresh gnoochi and wood fired pizzas.  IN the center of Gili Air is an open air Yoga studio where we practiced each morning a whole new experience to hear roosters crowing while doing our sun salutations.  We booked one night at a scuba hotel which gave us free snorkeling.  And the snorkeling was AMAZING we swam with at least 4 sea turtles.  And our scuba joint rocked, each bungulow looked like a Dutch barn that was spotless inside and had UNREAL outdoor bathrooms where when the light was just right in the morning rainbows shown through the water.

Bungalow at the Dive Hotel

On the way back to Bali we took the fast boat which only took us 1.5 hours to get back as opposed to the 6 of the public boat (although it was 10x the price).  Now we are in the cute town of Ubud in the center of Bali.