Day Trip to the Black Sea!

Involving: 1 Ferry Boat. 1 Christy. 1 Bosphorus. 1 Sea of Marmara. 1 Black Sea. 1 Yogurt treat. & Loads of fun.

 Walking toward the ferry terminal in Eminonou. Eminonou was probably my favorite Turkish word to say. Eh-Mee-No-New. Isnt' it fun?

My ride for the afternoon.

Packed ferry full of people just out to enjoy the day.

On the tip of the Bosphorus. Aya Sofia nearest to the boats. Blue Mosque behind to the left.

The vendor food being peddled on the ferry all afternoon included: Pretzels, Ice Cream, Candy and these cups of plain yogurt + a sugar packet. Pretty tasty actually.

Dolmabahce Palace. It was finished in 1856. It replaced Topkapi Palace as the royal residence.

 

A couple of sisters out for a day excursion. They were lovely! They really reminded me of me and my sister. Smelly, let's always do fun things together, okay?

Sea of Marmara leading to the Black Sea

Ewwwww. My least favorite type of toilet ever. Squatter.

Very cool old graveyard I found while hiking around in the hills. The tombstones are engraved in the old Turkish language.

Christmas 2011

This year my version of Christmas was sublime.
It was sandy, salty, sunny and warm. It was filled with good friends and family phone calls and laughter and naps and book reading in a cottage by the sea.

How was your Christmas?

SADS

Okay people.
You should know.
I get the SADS in the wintertime. 

Yes, even here, in the area that everyone thinks is warm and sunny all year long, (California) which is a fallacy. This time of year nights hit the freezing temps (32F) and our days range between 40-60 degrees F, yes, that's not bad for winter, but it's also no fun. The sun sets by 5pm (which means I don't have time to hike after work) and even when it is out, the sun is weak and wussy. And I get pasty white and start to feel a bit like the pillsbury dough girl. Even my makeup stops matching my skin. That's when I know it's going to hit. Bad.

Today it hit. And I feel listless. And I just want to curl up in my crazy comfy down-covered bed and go to sleep for the rest of December. Or at least, that's what the SADS are telling me to do. What I REALLLLY crave is some daylight hiking time in the Northern California hills. It's been too long, my old friends. Winter keeps us apart!

SAD = Seasonal Affective Disorder.
That's fancy talk for: Needs to move to the Caribbean to get more sunshine and outdoorsiness. STAT.

So you can probably guess that I'm not a winter-loving kinda girl. Give me the hot days in June, July, August, September and I'm a happy camper.

Do you get the SADS? What's your favorite time of year?

Istanbul: Sultanhemet Walkabout

 1. Impromptu Ramadan Street Market in the Hippodrome

2. Amazing honey-drenched donuts from Ramadan Street Fair 

in the Hippodrome

3. People watching in the open spaces between the Blue Mosque 

and Aya Sofia

 4. Gorgeous buildings found on the way to the Grand Bazaar

5. Inside the Grand Bazaar

 6. Live, in-person demonstration on how to make a meat popsicle Kebab

7. Contemplating utilizing the Oldest Hamam in Istanbul 

(over 300 years old!)... 

 8. Sunset over the Blue Mosque. (Check out the guys walking across the roof of the little bazaar)

You Know Travel Has Become a Lifestyle When...

Hi, my name is Christy and I'm an addict. A travel addict.


Telltale signs that you are too:

-Your favorite websites include BBC travel, Lonely planet, G Adventures, and several travel blogs.

-You have mileage accounts with every major airline alliance.

-You have more than one airline mileage credit card, from which you've garnered multiple flights.

-You purchase everything with mileage credit cards to accrue miles.

-You're waiting to plan your next trip until you get those last few mileage miles credited to your account.

-You feel the need to plan a trip because you're running out of things you usually get from Duty Free stores in International Terminals. (Yes, I'm talking about buying makeup. And Galaxy chocolate bars.)

-You know when the booking windows open for which dates.

-You know exactly which tiny airline to look up for flights to your remote destination.

-You speak Airport code fluently. Maybe better than some airline employees.

-Your year doesn't revolve around school breaks anymore. You don't even know when school breaks are. Your year revolves around your travel schedule. (Except possibly for spring break. You know when that is and avoid traveling then like it's the source of the plague.)

-You only buy clothing that travels well (lightweight, linen for hot places, stretchy, non-wrinkle pants)

-You buy appliances based on adaptable voltage (110~250, not just 110 for us Americans).

-You have an App for converting measurements and currency on your phone.

-Your phone always has time and weather listings for your favorite destinations and upcoming trips (I've currently got:Home, Napa, Stinson Beach, King's Beach [Tahoe], Newport Beach, Utah, North Idaho, Virginia, San Juan ([PR], London, Rome, Istanbul, Santorini)

-Your travel backpack/suitcase is always ready for a last-minute trip and has in it: Headlamp, first-aid kit (complete with antibiotics for stomach maladies), sunblock, insect repellent and to-go Tide packets.

-You go to stores like REI just to peruse from time to time and garner ideas about a new system for packing things or what to wear or about making your trip easier. (I love REI!)



What did I miss?

Istanbul: Basilica Cistern

One of my favorite spots in Istanbul is the Basilica Cistern. It's one of several hundred cisterns that lays beneath the city. It's the largest in the city. And it's gorgeous!

Fun Facts: (As always, gleaned from Wiki)
-It's name comes from the fact that it was built in a spot that once held a Basilica. The Basilica burnt down and the Emperor Constantine (from which Old Constantinople derives it's name) ordered a Cistern built. Constantine's cistern was demolished later on when the city was destroyed by the Nika Riots in 532. The Emperor Justinian ordered the Basilica Cistern rebuilt after that, and it was accomplished by over 7,000 slaves!

-The interior of the cistern is supported by a collection of arches and columns that are a hodgepodge of styles - from Corinthian, Doric and Ionian to nothing classical at all and Columns with carved Medusa heads at the bottom! (There are three Medusa columns in the Basilica cistern, two are oriented on their sides, one is upside down. They are purposefully not right-side-up in order to negate the stare of the Gorgon [which, legend has it, turns those who look upon it to stone!]) The mismatching is due to the fact that most of the columns were repurposed from other buildings/ruins in the city.

-The Cistern can store 100,000 tons of water, but is mostly empty today. (Which is why we can tour it.)

-Until 1985 tours of the Cistern were accomplished by boat! In 1985 a series of wooden walkways were built to replace the boats.

 One of the Medusa Pillars

W Christmas Photos

While up in the frozen wasteland of Northern Idaho for Thanksgiving with my parents, my little sister asked me to take some photos of her cute little (hugely tall) family. I was only too happy to oblige.

Kelly, (Sister) is also a creative-type and did all of her own photo editing. She did a great job with the color! (She has a design-y type blog, found here: http://kellywestover.blogspot.com/)

PS: My Nephew is freaking awesome. Dontcha think?

Istanbul: Topkapi Harem

Once inside of Topkapi Palace you'll eventually come across the Harem, or Women's Palace. To tour the Harem, it will cost an additional 15TL (on top of the 20 TL you paid to get into Topkapi in the first place...) but in my opinion, the Harem is the most fascinating place in the compound and feels like the heart and soul of the palace.

Trusty Wiki says this:

Layout of the Harem and the Sultan's Private Apartments. (click on image for details)

The Gate of Carts entrance

The Imperial Harem (Harem-i Hümayûn) occupied one of the sections of the private apartments of the sultan; it contained more than 400 rooms.^[74] The harem was home to the sultan's mother, the Valide Sultan; the concubines^[75] The harem consists of a series of buildings and structures, connected through hallways and courtyards. Every service team and hierarchical group residing in the harem had its own living space clustered around a courtyard. The number of rooms is not determined, with probably over 100,^[76] of which only a few are open to the public. These apartments ( and wives of the sultan; and the rest of his family, including children; and their servants.Daires) were occupied respectively by the harem eunuchs, the Chief Harem Eunuch (Darüssaade Ağası), the concubines, the queen mother, the sultan's consorts, the princes and the favourites. There was no trespassing beyond the gates of the harem, except for the sultan, the queen mother, the sultan's consorts and favourites, the princes and the concubines as well as the eunuchs guarding the harem. The harem wing was only added at the end of the 16th century. Many of the rooms and features in the Harem were designed by Mimar Sinan. The harem section opens into the Second Courtyard (Divan Meydanı), which the Gate of Carriages (Arabalar Kapısı) also opens to. The structures expanded over time towards the Golden Horn side and evolved into a huge complex. The buildings added to this complex from its initial date of construction in the 15th century until the early 19th century capture the stylistic development of palace design and decoration. Parts of the harem were redecorated under the sultans Mahmud I and Osman III in an Italian-inspired Ottoman Baroque style. These decorations contrast with those of the Ottoman classical age.


--

I entered the Harem with mixed feelings. The history of the place fascinated me. But what it stands for in contrast to modern Women's rights is a downright nightmare. Put simply: I'm really happy to have been a tourist here. I would not like to have been a woman living here.

This table is where meals were served in the Harem. It's a sort of buffet. 

The women were served according to rank/hierarchy.

 Courtyard of the Favorites

 It's just a drain. But I like the textures.

This plain hallway is called the Golden Road. It led from the Sultan's chambers to the Harem. It is believed by some to be called the Golden Road because the Sultan was said to throw golden coins to the residents of the Harem here on festival days.