istanbul

Besides returning to Santa Margherita, Istanbul was probably the city to which we'd both most looked forward.  Enigmatic, extravagant and exotic, Istanbul lived up to our expectations and more.  I only regret that  we had but two days, and we'd made the huge mistake of spending them on a tour bus.  We'd opted to take one of the cruise line's shore excursions to maximize our time, thinking that Istanbul would be difficult to navigate with the differences in not only language, but alphabet too.  We couldn't have been more wrong: Istanbul is as clean, modern and cosmopolitan as any other European city we've visited.  At least the tour was informative and took us to almost all of the city's main attractions.

We started at the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque or "new" mosque, since it was only built 400 years ago.  The largest mosque in Turkey, the Blue Mosque is an extravagant amalgamation of domes and minarets and tiles and colors and lights.  The cavernous blue and red and green tiled sanctuary is even more fantastical than its imposing exterior.  

We put back on our shoes and strolled across the Hippodrome to the Basilica Cistern, which dates back to the 6th century, and is definitely the coolest water storage facility I've ever seen.  We descended a large stone staircase and entered a dark and chilly underground chamber punctuated by a network of ancient stone columns and arches.  Astounding.

We ascended to the street, where we squinted from the glare of the intense sun.  We boarded the tour bus to the Spice Bazaar.  All of our senses were instantaneously bombarded with the aromatic fusion of cumin and cinnamon and cardamom and jasmine; the rainbow of mounds of spices, jellies, dried apples and dates; the calls of the storekeepers and the haggling of customers; the soft and sweet, marshmallowy Turkish Delight that we sampled at every stall; amidst the flurry of people swarming the 400 year-old gallery.    Suddenly starving, we inhaled a mouthwateringly flaky Napoleon of feta and spinach before the tour guide announced we were heading to lunch.

For some reason, either Celebrity Cruise or the tour company, we're not sure which, decided an "authentic Turkish lunch" was best held in some creepy Renaissance Fair-esque auditorium of the Best Western Hotel. At least the mezze was pleasing.

Our next stop was the famous Grand Bazaar, which is like the Spice Bazaar on ecstasy.  Enamored by the kaleidoscope of mosaiced lanterns, it didn't take much convincing to get Joey to bargain for one.  One lantern, one silver tea set and one new suitcase later, we darted through the crowd to catch the tour bus.  The tour guide was kind enough to call us honeymooners (I suppose the length of our union compared to that of most of the people on the bus would be relatively short), which seemingly excused our tardiness to the rest of the group.

Joey holding our tea set

The bus took us to a boat on the Bosphorus, for an afternoon cruise to the Black Sea.  Then we headed back to the ship for what was supposed to be a nap.  Exhausted from the sensory assault of the day, we ended up only seeing Istanbul at night from the deck of the ship.

The Hagia Sophia facing the Sultan Ahmed Mosque  

The following morning we reboarded the tour bus for the hard sell an "informational session" on Turkish rugs.  We learned why we should buy one hand-woven rugs are so expensive valuable.  Our next stop was Topkapi Palace, home to the sultans of the Ottoman Empire for 400 years.  The Palace allegedly holds the rod of Moses, the footprint of Mohammed and the sword of David, in addition to an impressive collection of jewels and an emerald dagger made famous in a 1960's movie.

From there we drove to our final destination, the Hagia Sophia.  First built in 537, the Hagia Sophia was initially a church, then a mosque, and now serves as a museum.  I'd always wanted to visit this mammoth beauty and the green and gold mosaics, massive iron chandeliers and elaborate carved stone did not disappoint.  As trite as it sounds, they really did save the best for last.

Click here to see the rest of my pictures from Istanbul.

athens

Before we head back to Italy later next month, I figured I should probably finish writing about our trip there, for R&R, in July.  I left off in Santorini, and we had five more stops on our cruise before returning to Rome.  First stop: Athens.

The ship actually docked in Piraeus, Athens' port.  We'd run into this on cruises before, so I'm not sure why I found it so frustrating at the time, but I thought it exceptionally difficult to figure out how to get to the city. Maybe because the taxis were on strike, maybe because it was scorching hot and I was again sweating like a whore in church, but probably because I'm just spoiled and moody; nonetheless, we eventually made it to the train station.

After an hour in the hot, crowded train car, we arrived in what was the epicenter of the austerity riots held a few weeks earlier.  Their toll was astounding: neither Joey nor I could believe how dirty and full of litter and graffiti we found Athens' Parliamentary Square.  But once we left the seat of government and proceeded through the city, past the Byzantine Greek Orthodox cathedrals, the Plakka and its shops toward the Acropolis, we found the rest of Athens to be significantly nicer.

We settled into a cafe where I devoured the fresh tomatoes, kalamata olives and crumbly feta of my Greek salad and more than a few bites of Joey's juicy gyro.  Then we climbed yet another massive hill, only this time there was no poop and the Parthenon waited on top.  Standing next to the ancient temple that stood as witness to thousands of years of history was awe-inspiring, and the view of the city was expansive.  Athens seemed to go on for miles in every direction.

Hundreds of photos later, we clambered down the other side of the Acropolis and around more of the city.  We cooled off in the shade with a plate of baklava before boarding the train back to port.

Click here for all of my photos from Athens.

the (cumpulsory) year (and two days) in review

367 days ago we landed in Abuja.  It was our first day in Africa and we were excited, anxious, bewildered, overwhelmed and exhausted.  366 days ago Joey's colleague took us to Mogadishu Barracks to eat spicy whole fish with our hands.  In a dark enclave outside the city, suddenly immersed in African culture, the experience so surreal I felt the space spinning around me.  Half-terrified, half-exhilarated, Joey and I exchanged looks that said, "Are we really here right now?!" 365 days ago Mogadishu Barracks was bombed.

And so began 2011.

I could describe our year in terms of violence.  The BBC reports election violence in April and May killed somewhere around 800 people in Nigeria.  Summer was book-ended by bombs; first the Police Headquarters in June, then the UN in August.  At least 20 people died.  Then in November reports of credible threats to the Hilton and Sheraton flooded Abuja radio airwaves.  All Americans were warned to avoid those hotels and the Marine Ball was canceled.  Christmas Day brought more bombs close to Abuja, in churches no less.

We didn't realize the stress of living in such a volatile place until we left.  And once we discerned how much better we coped with everyday life upon our return, we left every chance we could get.  In 2011 we traveled to Stockholm, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, the US, Ghana, and South Africa.  We hit four continents, the Southern Hemisphere, and the Indian Ocean.

It's been an extraordinary year.  It's been hard.  It's challenged me in ways I never could have imagined.  It's been truly scary, and some days I really didn't know if I could handle it.  Another EFM I met here told me it would get easier.  She said, "when I first got here I thought, 'If I can handle this, I can handle anything,'"  and she was right.  It has gotten easier and I'm proud of myself for living somewhere I never thought I would and many days never thought I could.  I've come a long way from bawling under the covers of our townhouse in DC.

This year put a lot in perspective.  The value of family and friends and safety; clean water, personal space, and deodorant; cheeseburgers and the United States of America.

God Bless the USA.

christmas

We celebrated Christmas a day early.  Saturday morning M., her daughter, O., and her husband, G., came over for breakfast and presents.  We devoured cheesy scrambled eggs, thick bacon and soft, gooey, Cinnabon-style cinnamon rolls that Joey and M. made from scratch with cappuccino and fresh-squeezed soursop juice.  Bellies full, we moved to the family room to open presents.

M. and O. loved their new outfits from Old Navy, and M. almost cried when she opened her new cookbooks.  She kept saying to G., "Do you know how expensive these are here?  I could open my own restaurant!"  G. was super excited about the movie tickets we bought him since he's never been to a movie before!  They wouldn't stop thanking us and repeating "God bless you."  It was pretty sweet, and truly our pleasure.

Not to be outdone, M. and G. and O. had presents for us too!  They had a dress made for me and a shirt from the same fabric for Joey.  Here we are modeling our new gifts.

I didn't want to post any photos of M., O. and G., just in case, so click here to see the rest of my Christmas photos.

Christmas Eve we went to Mass at the Embassy of the Holy See.  We've been avoiding churches all year because of this, so it felt really special to celebrate Mass for Christmas, even with the very loud, Nigerian baritone belting out carols from the pew behind us.

Sadly, many Nigerians did not share the same privilege on Christmas.  It certainly put a lot in perspective for me, as I moped around the house on Christmas, utterly depressed until I got a very close reminder how truly  lucky I am that the only cross I had to bear on Christmas was celebrating without my family.  It's a damn shame what happened here yesterday, and my heart goes out to all those families who lost loved ones.

cape town concluded

Our last day in Cape Town we did something we've never done before: we took the double-decker bus.  Yep, we bought tickets on the red, hop-on, hop-off tourist trap, and we loved it!  It took us all around the city, through the City Bowl, District Six, Camps Bay, and even up to the base of Table Mountain, and did so with super-cute African music and an actually interesting narration of the city and its history buzzing through my very own pair of red earbuds.  It was great!

Unfortunately we were unable to take the cable car to the top of Table Mountain because of the exceptionally strong wind blustering in from the ocean; the locals call it the "Cape Doctor" because it clears all the pollution from the city.  The view of Cape Town from the base of Table Mountain was stunning nonetheless.

After the tour, we walked over to Green Point Stadium, built for the World Cup in 2010, hoping to catch the tail end of a beer festival.  Unfortunately it had ended earlier in the day, probably while we were enjoying $3 mango martinis and ricotta-stuffed calamari at a cafe overlooking the beach promenade.  Darn.

We walked back to our hotel to get our bags then drove to the airport for the beginning of our lengthy journey back to Abuja.  Thankfully, the return included enough time to catch at least a little shut-eye at an airport hotel in Johannesburg Sunday night before the long flight back to Lagos and even longer wait in the crappy, old domestic terminal that had "The Ten Commandments" playing on a tiny TV in the corner.  As the sun set on our travels, we boarded the plane to Abuja, already counting down the days to our next sojourn.

The sunset from the Lagos airport.

Click here to see the rest of my photos from our trip.  I managed to narrow down the 1023 I took to 247.  Enjoy!

merry christmas?

I didn't feel like writing much about Christmas before this happened.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/25/world/africa/nigeria-church-bombing/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Anyway, we as safe as can be reasonably expected.  Just want to thank my good old husband's employers for recognizing the danger here.  Oh wait... I hope you're enjoying a safe and happy Christmas with your family back in Washington.  We'll hold down the fort until you figure it out.

cape winelands

On Saturday we explored the Cape Winelands.  We tasted fresh-roasted coffee and chocolate truffles and homemade cheese while we drank our way through Sommerset West, Stellenbosch, Franschoek and back.  The wine and the weather and the views of the mountains and valleys and vineyards made for an incredible day, even if I didn't realize that in an olive oil tasting you actually sip it (I don't care how tacky it is, next time I'm asking for bread).

That night we had dinner reservations at La Colombe (French, not Spanish, pronunciation), ranked #12 on the 2010 San Pellegrino list of best restaurants in the world.  Our reservations were for 8:00, and GoogleMaps quoted the trip to the restaurant from the hotel at half an hour.  We left at 7:00, figuring we'd get a drink at the bar before our meal.

And GoogleMaps wins again.  I swear to God they write directions just to mess with people.  We got so freaking lost.  While much of Cape Town is fabulous, there are parts of town one shouldn't visit, and I'm pretty sure we found those parts.  So of course I freaked out on Joey because he wasn't freaking out.  An hour later, barely speaking to each other, we found a gas station that seemed safe and went inside for directions.

We got back on track and made it to Constantia, the town of the winery/restaurant, and got lost again.  We drove around and around and around, literally in circles through the same strip mall complex parking lot, until we could finally get a hold of the restaurant (via our hotel, who was incredibly helpful during this ordeal.  Truly, if you visit Cape Town, I'd highly recommend Villa Zest), who finally directed us to our seat by the fireplace at the romantic, French-country themed restaurant.

After a glass of sparkling wine, Joey and I were back on speaking terms.  We splurged on the six-course tasting menu with wine pairings, and because I saw the tray of goodies served to the table next of us, we ordered espresso for the sole purpose of tasting the petits fours.  Everything was divine.  Truly one of the best meals I've ever eaten.



L'amuse bouche: I don't remember what was on either side, but the middle was a Tom Ka Gai shooter out of an egg and it was ah. may. zing.



First Course: Alaskan king crab, yuzu dressing, miso orange crema dusted with a coriander and black forest ham crumble, daikon mousse and mirin dashy jelly (I stole a menu).  Paired with 2010 Reyneke Sauvingnon Blanc.



Second Course: Pan fried foie gras, seared quail breast, confit quail leg, rhubarb puree, parsnip crisps, quail and rhubarb jus.  Paired with 2011 Cederberg Bukettraube.




Third Course: Scallops and confit pork belly, smoked parsnip puree, black forest ham veloute, crisp pork crackling, lemon and pea dressing.  Paired with 2010 Sequillo White.




Fourth course: Grannysmith granite, warm Calvados foam.  O. M. G.




Fifth course: Sous vide of veal, warm ballotine of morel mushrooms and sweet breads, steamed langoustine, buttered pomme puree, pea and black forest ham salad, mustard beurre blanc.  Paired with 2006 Vriesenhof Pinotage.



Sixth course: Rose and coconut panna cotta, lime syllabub, cashew pebbles and a basil seed and orange blossom dressing.  Paired with Constantia Uitsig Muscat D'Alexandrie



And of course, the petit fours, from left: coconut marshmallows, chocolate truffles, lemon cookies, meringe and rose Turkish delight. 

 Don't worry - we got directions from the waiter for the drive back.