Last stop... Barcelona

The last stop on our tour of Spain & Portugal (not to mention our last big city adventure sans baby) was Barcelona. Unfortunately it started out less than ideal...

We were hoping to get a solid half day of sightseeing in as we arrived early afternoon from Lisbon, but that idea quickly got wiped out. After what seemed like forever to get out of the airport and to the train that would take us to the city center, we safely secured two seats on a very crowded train. Perhaps that was our first mistake. Upon arriving at what we thought was our stop and trying to push our way through the crowded train I was able to get off the train, but Steve was not. A few people tried to help keep the door open so Steve could get out but were unsuccessful and there I was left standing on the platform as Steve and the train kept going to the next stop! To my surprise I was incredibly calm about the entire situation and lucky for us both of us had working cell phones (although mine charges ridiculous roaming fees outside of Switzlerand). After a few texts and calls we managed to meet up at the next station after we realized the one I had gotten off at was actually not the one we wanted. We were happy to be together again but that was not our only mishap on the day as we entered the subway and somehow managed to get on the wrong line. I really believe that to date on our adventures we have done a great job navigating public transportation across many different cities and kind of pride ourselves on what a good job we do. As a result I like to blame our troubles of that first day in Barcelona on their train & subway system. It is definitely one of the larger, more elaborate systems we have been in, but it was also one of the more poorly marked systems with many short disjointed lines. And everytime we had to change lines it seemed that we walked just as far as we actually rode on the subway. Oh well, we survived and still managed to go everywhere we wanted to, but needless to say when we had to go back to the airport the day we left we opted to take the slow bus that went direct from our hotel to the airport!

After all of our troubles we decided to call it an early night and get a fresh start early the following day. Our first stop was one of almost every other Barcelona tourist as well, the Sagrada Familia. Although we got there well before the doors opened we were still met by a long line, but one that was well worth the wait. This enormous Catholic church is still not complete, although construction was started in 1882 it is projected to not be finished until 2025. It was primarily designed by the famous architect Antoni Gaudi who worked on it for 35 years until he died. Although I did not know much about Gaudi prior to traveling to Barcelona I now have a profound appreciation for the amazing work he did. Aside from visiting the Sagrada Familia we also visited Casa Battlo and walked by several other buildings that Gaudi designed, each one extremely fascinating. But without a doubt the Sagrada Familia topped our visit and is worth a visit for anyone in the near area. It is difficult to capture the beauty and enormity of this church in photos so here is also a link to a video we took in addition to photos:  http://youtu.be/CLzyj9z9uWs

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Ceiling of the Sagrada Familia

 

 

 

 

 

As it did happen to be Good Friday we also visited several other churches and cathedrals in the area. It was very interesting that none of these churches closed their doors to tourists even during their services. We may have stayed for mass, but not knowing Latin nor Catalonian Spanish (which Steve informed me is actually a distinctly different version of Spanish then the one that most Americans are taught in school), we decided to just have a quick peek inside each one.

We also saw Barcelona's smaller version of the Arc de Triomf. It was nice, but certainly lacked the grandeur and splendor of the larger more famous one in Paris.

Our first day also included a trip down the famous Ramblas, which is known for its historic buildings, street vendors, artists, and eateries. In addition we saw the magic fountains (think Bellagio fountains), which draws crowds of people every Friday and Saturday night to watch this 10 minute performance in front of the National Palace.

View of the towering Sagrada Familia from afar

On our second day we spent more time enjoying the perfect weather and strolling through several beautiful parks in the city as well as visiting some of Barcelona's Olympic venues. It was a relaxing way to spend the last day of our week's vacation. Not to mention we did some good eating. As I mentioned before we tasted a few tapas when we were in Madrid, but the best tapas were definitely found in Barcelona. We enjoyed trying many different things like fried and stuffed peppers, more squid, and more varieties of finger sandwiches than we thought possible. One of my favorites was a restaurant where you just walked up to the bar lined with these little sandwiches and took whatever you liked, when you were finished the waiter simply counted up the number of toothpicks on your plate (each sandwich had one in it) to determine how much to charge you!

Finally, to end the stories of our travels to Spain and Portugal I'll highlight a few more good and bad moments...

• Good - I concluded that if you are pregnant in Spain they considered you handicapped.  Normally I wouldn't appreciate this designation, but let's just say on their often crowded and hectic subway systems there was never a time that I was without a seat. Every time there wasn't one available someone would stand up for me to the point where I would try to say no if we were only on it for one or two stops, but they would not accept no for an answer!
• Bad - Their often crowded subways meant that for the first time we believe someone honestly attempted to pickpocket our camera bag. Lucky for us the one pocket that was easily accessible we never put anything inside of it. However, it definitely reminded us to be on the look out and it can happen to anyone no matter how careful you are!
• Good - We found 10 Euros on the sidewalk in Barcelona! It's not very often we have such good luck and last time Steve thought he found money somewhere on the sidewalk it was a prank as someone pulled it away on a string as he tried to pick it up!



Perfect last day in Barcelona!

Are we in San Francisco?

Upon arrival and learning more about Lisbon we were immediately confused as to where we really were - San Francisco or Lisbon? Lisbon has ridiculously steep and narrow streets as it is built upon seven hills just like San Francisco, it has both street cars and cable cars, and it even has the Ponte 25 de Abril suspension bridge, which is just a slightly smaller version of the Golden Gate bridge! These are just a few of the similarities, which makes it is easy to see why so many people fall in love with the city just like they do San Francisco. And although the weather while we were there was not filled with as much of the Portuguese sun as we had hoped, the city and surrounding quaint towns still managed to have a mesmerizing, charming effect on us.

Our first full day started a little slower than we had hoped (we had after all just arrived at 2 am after our delayed flight the night before - see Madrid post), but we still managed to get some solid sightseeing in. We first ventured into the Alfama neighborhood and rather than hopping on one of the street cars for a ride up the steep hill we decided to go for a hike so we could take in some of the spectacular views on our way to see St. George's Castle, which is positioned almost perfectly for vantage points of the entire city and the water. The castle was beautiful, but I think we most enjoyed the charming streets of Alfama and the miradouros in the neighborhood (look out points). No doubt the hiking was tough, but it was well worth the end result.

View from St. George's Castle

St. George's Castle and Ponte 25 de Abril

View from a Miradouro over the entire city

Later in the evening we were fortunate enough to be introduced to a friend of a friend that has spent most of his life in Lisbon. He went out of his way to give us a private tour of the center of Lisbon in Chiado, share a drink in the Bairro Alto neighborhood, and we enjoyed dinner with his family at a rodizio which is a Brazilian steakhouse that serves you endless cuts of meat (pretty much heaven for Steve)!

Palace in Sintra

The second day we ventured 40 minutes outside of Lisbon to the town of Sintra. Sintra is a UNESCO World Heritage site (1 of 2 we saw that day) and is absolutely beautiful. It is a small town surrounded with lush vegetation, two fairy-tale palaces and a castle with beautiful views of the Atlantic ocean. After wandering through the town filled with small shops and restaurants we decided to make the hike some 1400 ft up to the Castelo dos Mouros - call us crazy but with several breaks for this pregnant lady we made it up to the top and it was more than worth it. The Moorish castle's walls resembled that of the Great Wall. At dizzying heights and and intense winds it was hard to imagine what it was like for the people who were up there day after day standing guard.

At the very top of the castle!

The second half of the day led us back closer to Belem, which is another neighborhood of Lisbon. It is home to the Jeronimous monastery, the Padrao dos Descobrimentos (which is a celebration of many famous naval explorers), the Belem Tower (also a UNESCO site), and a magical pastry shop that reportedly makes the best Pasteis around. Good thing we did a lot of walking that day - I don't think those small flaky pastries filled with a heavenly cream had only a few calories!

Padrao dos Descobrimentos

Tower of Belem

All in all I don't think either of us knew what to expect when we decided to include Lisbon in our trip, but I'm pretty sure we both found that we enjoyed it and everything the surrounding neighborhoods and towns had to offer. From good food, intriguing architecture and monuments, and stunning views (that left our quads burning once we reached them) - Lisbon and Portugal were well worth the trip!

Futbol, flamenco dancing, and bullfighting!

The first week of April we ventured to Spain & Portugal and hit the three largest cities - Madrid, Barcelona, & Lisbon. Our first stop was Madrid, so here's the first of three posts.

We made the decision after looking at flight prices vs train prices that we were going to fly from Switzerland as well as between each of the three cities as EasyJet, which is a European discount airline, was considerably less expensive. We knew it wasn't going to be five star service, and our experiences weren't as bad as they could have been, but let's just say I'll probably carefully think about my decision to fly EasyJet next time.  On every one of our flights we ended up standing and waiting in line at the gate for a good 30 minutes before we boarded as seats are unassigned and are pretty much just a mad dash to see who can get on first (unfortunately it was not until our last flight that we found out if you are pregnant that you can get priority boarding!). When we arrived in Madrid we waited 40 minutes for our luggage. But the kicker was our flight to Lisbon that got delayed for 3.5 hours which unfortunately meant we didn't arrive until 2 am. However, I was told that was legitimately not EasyJet's fault and was due to a strike - either way when all the restaurants and shops closed in the airport by about 9 pm it made for a very long unhappy wait for a pregnant lady... oh well we made it eventually!

Plaza de Toros (bullfighting stadium)

Anyways, enough about our transportation experiences and more about Madrid. As the title refers to in our 2.5 days in the city we packed in a lot, but it was higlighted by futbol (soccer that is), flamenco dancing, and bullfighting.

On our first day after taking in some of the city's sights with a walking tour, visiting the Prado Museum which is home to many pieces of famous artwork, and having our first taste of tapas (however the really good tapas are in Barcelona) we took in a flamenco dancing performance. It was reported to be one of the best little authentic "theaters" around, just a small stage in the back of a restaurant, with seating for maybe 70 or 80 people. We were lucky to get in without reservations and when we saw their performance we knew why - they were incredible! And to my surprise not what I envisioned for flamenco dancers, especially the female dancer who was easily in her 60's and had more energy than most 20 year olds than I know. One of the most memorable parts of the performance for everyone there was certainly when the inseam of the male dancer's pants started to come undone. However, he just kept going as it was during his 10 minute highlighted solo dance and he did an amazing job - by the end of his solo almost his entire pant leg had come undone - but he kept dancing to the audience's standing ovation until the very end!

On our second day we ventured to a huge local market that filled many city blocks. It had everything ranging from typical souvenirs, to handmade arts and crafts, to several stands filled with more personal items of clothing.... Steve took a few minutes to check one of them out!

Really? Underwear shopping at the market?!

Next up on our list was a visit to Real Madrid's stadium. Unfortunately somehow we had managed to plan a trip to three cities famous for their love of soccer only to have their teams playing out of town during each of our visits. As a result we made sure to stop at the most decorated team's stadium instead for a tour. Although the facility itself was nothing extraordinary (other than being quite large - seating around 80,000), it had a more than impressive trophy collection that seemed to be neverending. We also got to visit the players' bench and tour the locker room, which I did not expect to get access to during a normal public tour. However, I quickly realized we were going into the visitors locker room and our tour guide said the visitor and home team locker room were the same. But when I asked her about it she said no. Of course, I wouldn't expect that the world's best soccer players get anything short of royal treatment when they are playing at home.

Sitting on the players bench!

Our second day ended with probably the highlight of our time in Madrid - an authentic bullfight! I'm not quite sure what I was thinking or envisioning when I bought the tickets, other than it seemed like the thing to do when in Spain. I'm happy to say it was not as gory as it could have been, likely and thankfully due in part to only buying mid-tier tickets. Steve on the other hand got a closer up look at it all as I realized later when I looked at our photos and realized he used the extra zoom lense almost the entire time - I will share some of what I consider the "best" photos with you and spare you the rest! Regardless it was a fun and authentic experience to share and amazing to see just how large the bulls were, the last was one was 630 kg (well over 1300 lbs)!





Steve practicing as a palace guard

On our last day in Madrid we took some time to visit yet another beautiful European palace (we need to start keeping track of the number of palaces and castles we visit) and made our rounds just walking and seeing the rest of main parts of the city. One of our favorite areas was the bustling Plaza Mayor, which had numerous outdoor cafes and in general was just a hub of action and entertainment as many street performers made this their home base. My favorite performer was the man dressed up as Spiderman. He was a riot and although we didn't capture any photos of him, just envision a man dressed up in a spandex bodysuit (who has drank perhaps a few too many beers in his lifetime and the suit is slightly less than flattering on) who is not afraid to try all the classic spiderman moves and poses to attract attention - at least he seemed to be enjoying himself!

Finally no blog post about our travels is complete without sharing our eating adventures as well. In Madrid we had just a sampling of tapas as the really authentic stuff was in Barcelona. I ate more than my fair share of squid as I found out to my surprise Madrid has very good squid (even though it is in the center of the country). And while I ate more than my fair share of that Steve drank more than his fair share of sangria (as one of my favorite alcoholic drinks during warm weather I told him he had to make up for me). And we also found out the importance of knowing what color asparagus we order. We are both big fans of green asparagus, but in Europe white asparagus is quite popular as well but they like to serve it cold and slightly soggy - which is not to either of our liking!

Beautiful church

And for those of you that are curious out there as I know you are here are the links to a few videos from the bullfighting... just a warning, if you are squeamish I wouldn't recommend watching!

http://youtu.be/Y7OyA1GF2Uo

http://youtu.be/A-zHuk7IzBI

The Heart of Switzerland

In mid-March we ventured to Interlaken for the weekend, which is probably as close as you can get to the heart of Switzerland. It's home to the biggest mountains in the Alps, crazy adventure sports, waterfalls, cliffs and scenery like no where else. Of course, if you're a fan of the Bachelor then you're already familar with Interlaken :)

Although there were no adventure sports for us this go around (supposedly they're not recommended for pregnant women), and the weather was not the most ideal, it's difficult to go to Interlaken and not enjoy it. We spent time hiking through several of the small mountain villages that are perched on ledges with tremendous views of the valleys belows and daunting Alpine peaks above. We saw half frozen over waterfalls and skiers taking advantage of sloppy sky runs. This was my third trip to Interlaken, but it's without a doubt that going to this magical place will never become boring as there is always somewhere new to explore. I look forward to many more trips here that include visiting the top of Jungfrau (otherwise known as the Top of Europe - see my previous post), skiing one of a kind slopes, going to the Piz Gloria at the top of Mt. Schiltorn (famous for providing the setting for a James Bond movie - don't ask me which one), and maybe even running the Jungfrau marathon in 2013 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungfrau_Marathon - call me crazy)!

Here are a few of our photos...

View from our hotel over the town of Interlaken.

View looking back on the Lauterbrunnen Valley.

View from the village of Murren overlooking some of the largest Alpine peaks.

Our first visitor!

Our first visitor was almost two months ago! How time flies - well I figured it was time to recap before our second visitors come this week!

My friend Carolyne from grad school was able to make a quick trip out and we tried to pack in as much as possible into the four days she was here. Lucky for us the timing was perfect to take in some Swiss festivities. Aside from showing off the highlights of Zurich (which really just takes a day), we were able to hit St. Moritz, Luzern, and Interlaken.

St. Moritz is about a 3 hour train ride from Zurich and is in the heart of the Alps. If it sounds familiar to you it's probably because it has been host to the winter Olympics twice and is now more often known for being one of the ritziest ski communities in the Alps. Supposedly if you can afford to go there for a New Year's Eve celebration you're bound to run into a few celebrities. Anyways, we went there to watch White Turf - which is a horse racing competition held for three Sundays in February every year. Yet, it's not just any horse racing track they compete on, it's a track built on a frozen and snowed over lake. And if horse racing on a frozen lake wasn't interesting enough they do different styles of races - some like normal with the jockey riding on the horse, another where the jockeys ride behind the horses in chariots, and even one where the jockeys are being pulled behind the horses on skis!

It was definitely interesting to say the least. Next time we go we will need to figure out how to become a rich Russian horse owner so we can wear our full length fur coats and have a warm fully catered tent to go to in between races!

Second stop during Carolyne's time was Luzern, which is about an hour outside of Zurich. Luzern is a quintessential Swiss town, the true "Heidi Country," sitting on a nice lake with mountains just outside of the city and to top it off Europe's longest covered wooden bridge. Anyways, we went there specifically to take part in Fasnacht - Switzerland's version of Mardi Gras. Well perhaps I should rephrase and say we did not so much "take part" as we just watched the festivities. For the most part Fasnacht involves several large parades (some as early as 5 am) and then music and parties in the street. Perhaps the best part is that not only do the people in the parade get dressed up but the majority of the spectators get dressed up as well, and rumor has it that they work on their costumes for much of the year leading up to the event and it certainly shows!

Finally, we hit Interlaken, about two hours away from Zurich. Interlaken is probably one of the best known places in Switzerland. A starting point for many different ski routes and outdoor activities in some of the highest Alps in Europe. Not to mention many quaint little villages carved into the sides of the mountains. We had an absolutely beautiful day and Carolyne was fortunate enough to be able to venture to the "Top of Europe" the Jungfrau mountain. I'll save that trip for my post-pregnancy days, but even from part of the way to the top I was able to capture some beautiful photos. I was also amazed at how warm it can get when you are 7 or 8 thousand feet high - some people go up there just to sun bathe! Maybe I should have done that instead of having lunch, where I had the luxury of a bird pooping on me, but luckily it missed my lunch and only hit me!

Needless to say we had a great time while Carolyne visited and we hope that down the road we can have just as good of time when all of you come visit!

Better in the U.S. or in Switzerland?

So after living here exactly four months I have accumulated quite a few opinions as to what is better in the U.S. versus what is better in Switzerland. Although my list might lean in favor of the U.S. in terms of size, I might say the quality of things on the list in Switzerland is better... take a look for yourself and then come visit and decide for yourself!

Switzerland

• Outdoor Lifestyle: It simply cannot be beat - mountains, lakes, rivers, and adventure sports abound in this country of the Alps. Not to mention I think I can say that the weather is more reliable. I'm not saying that the weather is always better, but I can guarantee you that the temperature will not range 40 degrees in one 24 hour time span.
• Public Transportation: One word, amazing! It runs on time to just about everywhere you could want across the country. If it is late (which is very rare), there is usually a notification to tell you when it will arrive. The down side - you better learn how to be on time to your stop because the tram or bus won't wait for you!
• Proximity to the rest of Europe: Switzerland is pretty much smack dab in the middle of the continent, which gives it amazing access to every other country. Although Switzerland doesn't have the history of some other countries, you can reach another country that does in any direction within just a few hours. It is the perfect jumping point for exploring so many diverse cultures, histories, and traditions - something the U.S. simply cannot compete with.
• Food: I'm not about to claim that Switzerland has the best food, because I don't think that they do. Especially in Zurich where there is a heavy German influence of meat and potato based foods. However, what I will say is that when the Swiss choose to focus on a certain food they certainly do it well. Here are my favorites:

Cheese - seriously was there any doubt? They have more varieties and ways to prepare it than I ever thought possible. However, they could work on adding a good cheddar cheese to the line-up.

Chocolate - once again, a no-brainer. Good thing I'm pregnant and have a good excuse to eat it.

Bread - many different possibilities here, but butter bread and pretzel bread top my list.

Rosti - you probably haven't heard of this before, but let's just say hashbrowns were never something I would eat regularly before, but the Swiss have found the secret to making this form of potatoes taste better than ever!

United States

• Deodorant: It really is a simple concept - people in the U.S. understand how to wear it and they also sell good brands. I know I'm in for a royal treat come summer and the temperatures get a little warmer, but I've already gotten more than a whiff (or rather lack of it) at the gym.
• Super Target: Or just a regular Target, Walmart, grocery store - you name it. Simply a place that you can buy several things at the same time. Not to mention the ability to drive a car there and buy as much as you want in one trip.
• Trash & Recycling: Trash really isn't too bad in our apartment, but at some apartments you're not allowed to take the trash to the dumpster until the pick-up day, talk about smelly! However, I could do without the $3 garbage bags I have to buy. Also, I miss the good ole American recycling process where I could just put all recyclable materials in one bin and push it to the end of my driveway once a week. Instead I sort it meticulously (which isn't a big deal), and then take glass and plastics to two different drop-off points in my neighborhood, or I wait for the designated paper pick-up day (every other week) or cardboard pick-up (once a month). And let me just say when you're moving into a new place waiting a month to recycle your cardboard it can certainly pile up!
• Gym Attire & Opening Times: In the U.S. for the most part you can wear what you want at the gym. I like this concept - wear what you are comfortable in. At my gym in Switzerland there are two main regulations (although luckily I've noticed they're not as enforced as they could be, just strongly recommended). First, no tank tops and second, wearing pants or shorts that are knee-length. Really? I never even made an attempt at following the shorts rule. And as I've noticed as the temperatures rise (and there is no a/c in most buildings here), I think I will abandon the tank top rule. Oh how I miss wearing what I wanted at 24 hour fitness, and not receiving a dirty look if I went to the gym in my workout attire, not to mention going at any time of the day I wanted. Only two days of the week here does the gym open before 9 am. Oh and finally, why do the Swiss have rules on what you can wear to workout in if before and after they are just going to walk around naked in the locker room for as long as they feel like anyways?
• Owning a house: This one probably isn't fair because I could own a house here, but I'd have to be a millionaire first. So in that respect I'll say that owning a house in the U.S. is better. I miss a good walk-in closet (enough of these wardrobes). And I miss not having "quiet hours," so that I might be allowed to do laundry, run the dishwasher, or my flush my toilet and shower whenever I pleased without being worried that I would "in trouble" with my neighbors.
• Speaking English:What can I say I like being able to understand what people are saying to me? And don't get me wrong I'm learning German, but the problem here is that there are countless numbers of Swiss German dialects and it's more than just having a southern drawl, words and phrases are completely different. And it is just about guaranteed that for every different city or town you go to the language will be slightly different. It's no wonder the Swiss are quiet people - they can't understand one another!
• The Dollar Store: Funny thing is I never really shopped there. However, I miss knowing there is somewhere I could go to shop where prices would be dirt cheap - this simply doesn't exist in Switzerland. In case you missed it, the newest rankings came out a couple months ago and Zurich topped the list of most expensive cities to live in the world!

"Hello, yes please!?"

If you visit Istanbul I can guarantee you that "Hello, yes please?!" is something you will hear more than once on the street corner. Don't get me wrong I was extremely impressed with the amount of English that was spoken, but it quickly became clear that those must be the first three words that are taught in their English classes. And they used that phrase over and over again to try and get you into their store. In other words I think the Turkish are born and bred to be salesmen. It was difficult to walk past a store and not have the store owner step outside and call out to you... this of course was most prominent in the Grand Bazaar, home to over 4,000 vendors of carpets, clothing, leather, jewlery, and other traditional Turkish crafts. Aside from the most common, "Hello, yes please?!" here are perhaps a few of my favorite quotes from our afternoon in the Bazaar:

"It's free!"

"It's almost free!"

"You look American..."

"You can't tell me you don't have money to spend."

But let me take a step back and tell you about our weekend trip from the start.

Istanbul is incredible, and is likely the most interesting and cultural city I have ever visited. As a melting pot of 20 million people it bridges the gap between Europe and Asia as we could sit and have lunch in Europe while looking out over the water and seeing Asia just a short distance away (see the photo with Asia on Steve's left and Europe on his right!). But first of all let me say if you go to Turkey, fly Turkish Airlines. Ok, so maybe both of our flights were a slight bit delayed and the seats seemed a little tighter than on other airlines, but during our 2.5 hour flight we got perhaps the best airplane food that I have ever ate and perhaps better than many restaurants! I would fly it again needless to say.

In our two full days we had in the city we tried to pack in as much as possible. Aside from the first day being rainy and a little cold (we seem to have a theme on our trips so far), the second day was beautiful and we got to visit many incredible sites. Istanbul is a fascinating melting pot of cultures and religions that outdates most of the rest of Europe. We toured the Blue Mosque (also known as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque), which was built in the early 1600's. It is famous for it's 6 minarates (like steeples, or pillars), 9 domes, and an interior designed with over 20,000 handmade ceramic blue tiles. It still is open for prayer and even to enter the mosque you must take off your shoes, and those going in for prayer wash their feet as well (see photo). Here's a look inside the mosque:

We visited the Hagia Sofia (also called the Aya Sophia), which was originally built in 360 A.D. as a Greek Cathedral and then in the 1400's it was converted to a mosque, but today only serves as a museum. It is a spectacular display of Byzantine architecture and was used as a model for many other mosques. It was difficult to distinguish whether the Hagia Sofia or the Blue Mosque was more impressive as both the interiors and exteriors of these buildings were immaculate in size and architectural detail. Here's a look from the inside, which reveals just how massive the Hagia Sofia really is...

Although these two structures topped the list during our visit - we also enjoyed visits to the Basilica Cistern and the Topkapi Palace. The Basilica Cistern is the largest of several hundred ancient underground cisterns in Istanbul. Prior to becoming a cistern a large Basilica sat atop of the grounds but later burned down around 400 A.D. The cistern was reportedly built by more than 7,000 slaves with the purpose of being used as a water filtration system as it has the capacity to store 100,000 tons of water for many nearby structures.

The Topkapi Palace sits on the edge of the Bosphorus Strait and has some of the most specatular views of all of Istanbul, spanning both Europe and Asia. It served as the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans and has many fascinating artifacts of the Muslim world. Perhaps one of my favorites was the 86 carat diamond... reportedly one of the largest in the world. However, we both found some of the clothing and garments worn by the emperors and sultans very fascinating as they all appeared to be about triple the size of normal clothes. We still cannot understand why they were so very large. It was here when looking at what was reportedly children's clothes that the security guard called me out for being pregnant and laughing was trying to compare my belly to the baby's clothes in Turkish... still not sure what he was trying to say, but I think he was being nice. Guess that means I'm really starting to look pregnant now when a stranger calls me out...

Aside from visiting these four historic sites and spending 3 or 4 hours getting lost in the Grand Bazaar we enjoyed just walking the city and taking in the architecture and culture. At first I was intimated by how quickly the Turkish people approached us trying to sell anything and everything possible, but once I adjusted to it we actually found everyone to be extremely friendly and helpful. One man approached us just outside the Blue Mosque and after telling us several times over that he was not a tour guide he basically gave us a tour and answered many questions about the mosque... the catch? On our way into the mosque he said he was not going in but hoped to see us after we came out and would tell us where his family's carpet store was at just around the corner from the mosque in case we had time to visit. We thought surely we won't run into him again, but there he was waiting for us on the other side as we exited the mosque! And no he wasn't just going to point us in the direction of the store, he walked us there and then we were sat down to a full presentation about rugs! They were beautiful and we found ourselves genuinely being interested, which we did not expect, but then we heard the prices and our mind quickly changed... for a few minutes I was worried they would hold us hostage if we didn't buy one, but instead they just wished us well as we left the store when we told them no.

I also was approached by several 10 or 12 year old students who were anxiously working on improving their english. They asked me a list of questions they had written out in English and took a photo of their interview. Steve was busy taking photos and when he came back and watched me being interviewed he was convinced it was a joke and they were actually videotaping and now I'm probably out there somewhere on the internet as the dumb American trying to help them "learn english."

After these experiences and shopping in the Grand Bazaar we quickly learned that you don't so much even stop to pause and look at something unless you want to be interrogated about buying something or eating at their restaurant. Yet, it wasn't just when walking by stores and restaurants that you had to be prepared, it was also around every tourist site as people tried to sell several items that we noticed were indicative of the weather. On the first rainy day on every street corner people were selling umbrellas. On our second day with good weather the men sold tour books and the women sold scarves. We expected them to be selling sunglasses, but maybe that was on another street corner... regardless if you forget an item when visiting I'm sure you can find someone selling it...

And of course no trip would be complete without trying the local food. We both enjoyed kebaps several times (basically kebab meat served on or with bread, sometimes served with grilled vegetables) and we tried Turkish Delight, which I must say was a bit disappointing and not as "delightful" as I was hoping it would be. Steve tried the one local beer and now knows why Turkey is not famous for their beer. I also tried (with no success) to talk him into trying a local favorite, a Narghile (also called a water pipe or Hookah), which is an instrument for smoking flavored tobacco through a water basin. Instead we settled for just sitting in a coffee shop watching the locals enjoy it and trying to understand how it worked.

Finally, a few last things we learned in Istanbul.

1. There are "evil eyes" everywhere - hanging in shops, restaurants, our hotel, and even the airport where we saw this one! However, these are not in fact evil, but they are actually good luck charms!
2. Feral cats run the city. They are on every street corner like squirrels are in the midwest. It did get very exciting as we saw several cat fights, and we watched as they were a constant nuisance for restaurants with an outdoor patio.
3. Don't be surprised by who you might see in the Grand Bazaar, like Pamela Anderson. Evidently she was in Istanbul for a photo shoot and was just stopping in to do some quick, cheap shopping there like the rest of us.
4. Finally, make sure you are carrying exact change if you know what you want to buy. Although street vendors will take many different forms of currency (Turkish Lira, Euros, and even sometimes US Dollars), they many times will tell you they don't have change in a method to get more money out of you. For us it happened the one time we decided to take a cab instead of the $1 train ride from the city. Steve tried to reason it out with our cab driver (who supposedly didn't speak much English) but after almost 10 minutes we gave up and just gave him more money then we wanted to. Oh well, it just emphasizes why we almost always take public transportation everywhere we go!