Sunday, May 29, 2011

Just strap a diaper on me & call me Super Girl

The curse is not broken. Linda had to put our dog Blossom down while we were gone. Apparently, Blossom had cancer and tumors began to erupt after we left. There is, of course, more to the story, but that is not mine to tell. We were hoping she'd make it under palliative care until Friday morning, but that did not happen. She collapsed again on Friday.

And while I'm not hospitalized, the hacking cough my sinusitis turned into is about to take my head off. I'm headed (as usual?) to the non-emergency clinic today for a prescription. None of the items we picked up at the pharmacy in Istanbul really helped. The 8 hour medications worked 6 and then only 4. On the flight from Istanbul to London, we even had a run in with some lovely Americans while I was hacking up a lung that tic'd Dave off so much he was ready to take out an 80 year old biddy in my defense. We even got a "You people..." out of them. Ahhh, the post-SARS world. At least the child crying next to them was less distracting to her evil-eye.

Where we were in Istanbul was perfect. We were downhill from Taksim square and so spent the final day just in the area. I wasn't up for much more than strolling action. We did take in a hammam, but let me get this out there right now. We're spoiled here in Seattle with the Olympus Women's Spas in either Lynnwood or Tacoma. The hammam had nothing on them. Those bath houses & scrubs (especially) set a hard to be standard. That said, the Galatasary Hammam the hotel recommended was a disaster. Sure they got a lot of suds going - using a straight soap which made my skin itch afterwards. Sure, they washed my hair, and it stuck out like Bozo the Clown after it dried it had so much "body". The dressing rooms were dingy, dirty dingy, not charming dingy. It wasn't used by locals. Why should they pay 100 Turkish Lira when they can get a good scrub for 30? Glatasaray was more expensive than the bath houses here in Seattle & with a lot fewer amenities and a lot more black mold.

Istiklal Caddesi (Street) is amazing the way Khaosan Road is amazing, but in a cleaner, chic-ier way. There are still dreadlocks to be found, I heard something like 400 night clubs, buskers, coffee houses, kebap restaurants and pedestrian streets filled with everything from burkas to stilettos. I still loved the little shops in my Galata Kulesi (tower) area.

The piazza around the Galata Kulesi housed filming crews at least twice while we were there. One of the films took place at the bar where we'd made friends with the owners & the help. Every night there were some busker wanna-bees practicing their juggling, guitars, and existential philosophy. One night a group of them set up a little balloon with a lighted sterno pot to lift it. Once it finally took off over the trees, it flew out over the buildings with lots of wood in them. I left my hotel windows open at night for the fresh air and the sounds of life. Below us was the corner store which sold a sultan's wealth of the EFS Beer each night, bottle-by-bottle.

The trash collectors & the street people work together to keep the city clean. The trash collectors collect & the street people sort through, pulling out recyclables. Istanbul actually has a lot of walking streets in the few districts Dave & I were in and they were clean. Even with all the tamed wild city dogs and cats around. The Turks tag the "wild" dogs here to show that they've been given their shots & neutered. We saw a large number of Anatolian Shepherds lolling around in Cappadocia with the blue tags in their ears. In Istanbul, same thing, but not so many Anatolians as much as general shepherd mixes.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Perfect spot

We're sitting on the deck of the Ritim Galata Bistro. The Galata tower rises in front of me. This deck is at the corner of the one-way street, the only one, down which cars can turn. Some of the drivers look to take out the upper edge of this tiny deck. One truck had 3 people in the front seat. The middle man started laughing when he saw my face pursed like a Gucci.

This piazza had a swing trio playing in it last night. Couples danced in the warm May air. I would have made Dave, except I've acquired a nasty cold complete with hacking cough & lost voice. This little corner of Istanbul is manageable for the number of people in the street, the lack of touts (hawkers), the beauty of the streets, the sounds. Lovely corner. Great recommendation from our travel agent, Kadir. He was re

On the other hand, no one explains that the Hagia Sophia and The Blue Mosque face each other across a courtyard. Too bad it is filled with buses. But those monuments were built for tens of thousands.

Monday, May 23, 2011

The 7 hills of Istanbul

Turns out we're near / at the top of one of them. The Goleta tower was built in 1455 and is the center of a lovely little piazza where everything is downhill. 3 steps off the center of the piazza and you will need to have trained 3 months on the stair-master for the return trip. We walked a couple of side trips.

Jim, this counts as mountain climbing with shoe shops & cafes. David comments that I am out of shape - that's just because I've made him stop at four cafes in six hours. Okay, we stayed at two of those for over an hour each, but for God's sake, I climbed the freakin' 7 Hills of Istanbul in ONE walking tour. I swear. (Okay, there were also two potty breaks...and then I stopped at 3 stores selling shoes...)

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Small World

We moved on to Agva, atown built at the estuary to the Black Sea. Driving out of Istanbul seemed to take hours, but apparently we are still in Istanbul. The city is a province. We're ataying at Piccolo Mondo - a 20 room resort on the river. This place is worth returning to Turkey for. Both breakfast & dinner are included in the price. It has tables on the two layered terraces jutting out over the river, but more importantly, there are hammocks and swings under the trees. We're here at the end of May. It is considered cold, but we find the sun intense. We,ve napped, swing, drink wine & listened to the call to prayer three times today.

The sand is soft here. You sink past your ankles. The Black Sea is cold, but clear.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Istanbul touchdown

Currently caught in a Turkish traffic jam. We're trying to cross the Bosphorus. We've just paid the toll. There are men who are standing in the lane dividers selling pretzels from a pole. Earlier, in another slow down, there was a man begging, holding his daughter in his arms. For the most part though, all we've seen are men selling bananas & water - until the pretzels that is.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

David did not get arrested

We are now situated at the Argos in the Pigeon Valley of Cappodakya. We hung out in the barren Bucharest airport where the anti-terrorist machine gun toting people look so good you'd think they were movie extras on Battlestar Galactica, we stood in line to enter Turkey. The lines were short on people, but long on the thorough discussions the border guards were having with the entering people. They opened new stands up, the one devoted to Turkish nationals, and we rushed over. We made it to the front only to find we needed a visa - yes, somehow I missed this requirement, but no big deal. We rushed over to the buy a visa section, charged our need, and headed back to the shorter lines.

Two old women straight out of a Russian fairy tale cut in front of us, as well as a gentleman wearing a long something-or-other, as did yet a 4th person. This is when we learned how lines are formed. There is not one central line feeding all other lines. The shoert lines to the right of us were really short & required people. We hopped over.

The two babushkas with their rose-covered scarves, black skirts, & checkered blouses moved over to the empty stand labelled, "Turkish Nationals". Dave & I waited. That's when I began to notice the deliberation with which people were allowed to pass through. Two minutes per person. We were 8th in line. I didn't notice the guy with the long dress thing in front of me carrying a bag stamped "duty free Irak".

We finally made it through with 30 minutes to spare before boarding our next flight.

Turkish Air is an amazing airline. They seem to have wider & deeper seats, they still serve food on a 3 hour flight. I was able to fall asleep without Medical assistance. We landed in Kayseri (pronounced like "kaiser"). No baggage - no joke. Just joking. Apparently it had arrived on a different flight. Both pieces ( we made it out of Romania without unpacking bag #3), in a different part of the terminal. We weren't the only ones, so there were a trail of little touristlings following the Momma airline employee across the tarmac, around to the next building. I guess we'd been quarrantined for some reason. Ha!

Our driver met us and everything started to go right. Yea! Kadir!

Uchishar makes me speechless...


The Argos hotel is one of the few hotels worth paying extra for. More on this later. I've been indulging in a very dry muscat and it's late.

We're well and i made it out of the tomb.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Bucharest

Romania is not the crumbling, grey city of Bucharest. We got here in the early afternoon only to realize that we had left our passports in the safe box at Sinaia. A traveller's worst nightmare - okay, not the only one. We seem to be going down some kind of list beginning with the infamous incident post-Vatican visit in 2000. We've always been able to say, "Well, we didn't lose our passport." Today we're saying, "At least my back didn't go out, I wasn't hospitalized, the car didn't stop running while on the freeway, the driver didn't fall asleep at the wheel, there was nothing which required the use of anti-biotics, the taxi drivers actualy dropped us off at our requested destinations & didn't win the argument for 25 more Lei." So the trip was only an hour and a half back and the once more again (all together now). The weather was fine and the military convoys light - or actually, maybe that was the same one we passed three times.

In the mountains it was in the 70s, in Bucharest it passed 80'. We finally made it into the old town near 7pm. The place is Art Nouveau and crumbling into metal hair nets swagging the windows and pediments. It is a lovely bit, but only in the beginnings of revival. The old town isn't as large as even Vicenza. Our waiter was happy to know we had a chance to see the real "Romania" - Sinaia, Brasov, Sighiosoara.

Frankly, we plan to come back. There's too much to see: the dense forests, the shy people, the exuberance of their pickled beets and cucumbers. It's a country wearing black dresses and a red headscarf.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Nothing diastrous happened today

Just enjoyed the extraordinary beauty of the mountains. If you want to go to Peles castle, park for free on the road outside of the monastery of Sinaia and walk the tree-lined road past the tzachki sellers and the gypsies. You'll capture a moment where a man's beautiful voice will rise up from the ravine and pass the old women selling their complexly knotted handwork. Otherwise, pay the 9 lei to park up close to the castle and avoid the incline on the road.

No, the road branching off from the tzachki sellers is not a short cut to the upper level parking. There is no bridge.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

The second car goes down and Andrea discovers she has one modest bone left in her body.

Thank gawd for six-year olds. We're back at the Rowa Dany, parked since 11am when, at 6pm - oh whoopsey - Dave gets a call from the front desk. Yes, front lights this time. Luckily, the strapping masseur and his father were having a beer at the bar were able to push start us.

And how, you might ask, did I know the strapping young man at the bar was a masseur? Oh because I found I was too shy to fully strip in front of him. yes, me, Miss What-the-Hell-Do-I-Care, Vive la France, Carpe-Something found that while I don't have a problem getting a full body massage while nekkid under the blanket, I actually jumped on the massage table FULLY dressed. He looked at me as though I was nuts & made some sounds & motions related to "Clothes". He was lucky I'd just had a pedicure & so felt secure enough to remove my sandals in front of him.

All the sins and bald spots of my middle-aged self flashed in front of me like a revelation from gawd. I was exposed to youth, and it was too much to bear. It was the stripping that got to me. I compromised at my bloomers, but heartily regretted my lack of gumption during the leg rub down. Dave's been insisting on miminum times for volksmarching WITHOUT cafe stops. Like NONE.

Also got the world's best manicure & pedicure here at the salon next to the Rowa Dany. Ask for Anna at Salon Daniela.

The origin of hamburger buns

We're back in Sinaia. We won't begoing to Sibiu. The mountains here are too beautiful, the villages too interesting for the drive thru we gave them the other day. Sinaia is a resort town for the romanians - quick train ride from Bucharest. The houses here are painted onto the side of the mountain. The houses are villas and the villas designed with extravagant romanticism. There r houses rotting here, falling away into the streams and ravines. The new build looks the same as you'd find in any Italian / Tirol resort. The grey rectangles from the Ceaucescu regime are abandoned except by the cats. It's an amalgm of horrible and beauty. Please don't wear stilettos and big hair here - it's like showing up to a Bluegrss festival in Versace. That kind of facade is about fifteen years off in the future.

The white rolls they serve at Terasa Bucegi have soft brown tops and a tender crust. The brined carp is a burst of green peppers and a light broth sweetened with tomato.

Friday, May 13, 2011

The dogs run wild here. Scattered packs, burned mangy from feral night hunts. The domesticted ones are fenced in for their own protection. The wild ones bark all night.

Then there are the peacock screams.

This is what it means to leave the windows open; to breathe fresh air.
I found the road from Brasov to Sighisoara to be less interesting than the mountain road between Ploiesti and Brasov. I really want to see the way between Sinaia & Ploiesti in the daylight. All I have are flashes of images.

It was a beautiful morning whenwe left Brasov, but we were then quickly surrounded by mid-morning rising mist. We left romantic Romania behind for awhile, but eventually began to hit countryside again. The hills roll in gentle spring here. They're much further into the season this side of the mountain than the other. The houses are plaster with round tile roofs. The churches are fortified. Not only did we see horse drawn carts actually hauling manure, hay, and other inidentiable but farming related somethings, but we saw people (as in humans) hoeing (no, not whoreing, but using a garden instrument, not body parts) hoeing in fields. One farmer walked behind a horse pulling a plow. We saw gypsies outside of their covered wagons, and women as old as dirt with their thumbs out to catch a ride from one of the cars speeding through their bisected town. The women wear headscarves with roses printed on them. The older they are, the more black they wear. I love that this country still has women who lose their beauty and men lose their teeth.

In the mountains, the houses there were soft; carved or formed from wood. Here, the surfaces repel even as they're colored turquoise or pink, or umber. In the mountains, a graveyard picked with white crosses struck through the trees. Here, on this side of the mountain, they stand clustered white against the green hill. The hills are tors capped with dead fortresses. The cappuccino is topped with sweetened cream and spiked with cinnamon. I wonder how many people with white-blue eyes live onthis side of the mountain.

The return trip was amazing. This time we faced the mountain range.

When we arrived back in Brasov the whole city was moving into the old center for a concert (pop/rock) and all the cafes had their chairs out and they were filled. The town square was filled. The sky was blue and the setting sun deepened the fading color of the arte nouveau buildings. Beautiful night.

Friday May 13th

Looks like blogger ate my earlier entries. Oh well. Do not ask if I made backups, i jist got an alarm clock & a telephone yesterday for god's sake.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

The art is so fresh here you should slap it.

We made it to Brasov. I don't think I'm having a stroke. All the streets spread out from the old center like the friggin' provebial spokes on a wheel. We walked down the end of one & crossed the piazza there to get to the post office before 'it closed' (a figment created by our own mind b/c the real closing time is 19:30 and this is only 16:30 i'm talking about.). We got our postage, mailed the cards, but then it was time to feed the parking meter...which was on the other side of the wheel we didn't know was a wheel.

Can one hear the sound of one blood vessel bursting. I waved David on, "Go on! Go on without me.". I was quite heroic as i collapsed on the wooden bench in the park. When he got back to me, i revived sufficiently to purchase 3 hand-painted icons, one work oil on glass, one etching, and 10 hand-decorated Romanian eggs. I've collapsed here in the cafe. I can go no further until the mojito revives me.

Yes, we bought a phone today. It has an alarm clock function as well.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

If this is wine country, I must be in Romania

It was dark by the time the car rental guy came to pick up Dave & I. Of course, the car started right up for him & he drove off. But it wasn't so dark that i couldn't read the "vinoteca" sogns along the way. Besides that i caught glimmers of rooftops and woodworked building facades of a type I've never seen before. We drove to Sinaia in the dark and I think I'm grateful as the curves were tight and the climb was steep. That means I couldn't see forever, and so the trip was made more pleasant for the fact that I was able to reduce my 'deal with phobia' count by at least two: fear of heights & fear of plunging off the cliff-side road into oblivion and exploding like a marshmallow tossed into the flames.

I really wantto get out of the hotel room and see where we've landed.

Amazing first dinner & wine on the road to Brasov

Hanul Calatorului & Casa Vinului Sarica Niculitel. Will post pictures later, but besides the amazing wine (local vineyards) is the sour cream sauce atop thebaked potato & the brined green tomatoes.

we ain't in Britain anymore.

Anyway, when I asked to buy some wine (i figure the better to drink with, my dear)', they naturally asked how much. I thought two bottles would be enough to lst for awhile. She showed up with a big empty 2L coke bottle. Yes, I drink coke now and it doesn't fizz.

Broke down on the side of the road 7km out of Ploiesti, Romania

I'm drinking a glass of wine. Trying to communicate via email b/c no, we didn't bring our phones. We walked the highway to get here. Abandoned our luggage. Oh excitement. We're on the E60. A very nice woman at this restaurant speaks Italian.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

This used to be Tuesday

We had a wonderful day in London. We left the countryside Tuesday morning & made it into London. Dinner at the Laughing Gravy was stunning, it had been sunny & breezy all day long. We found a wonderful pub across the street from the Parliament buildings. We were tired.

We got back to our hotel, Tunes, the hotel where everything (like towels, security box, and yes, even a window) are add'l charge. Except, they'd completely forgotten one item people would be willing to pay for, nay, if required would absolutely need more than their luggage space- a wake up call. Yes, Dave & I neglect to carry an alarm clock with us and as the ipad doesn't hold a charge & (for more than ten hours (ahem, yes, we didn't get the UK prongs for our transformer, we only have continental prongs), we were out of gas. And Tunes Hotel doesn't have a wake up call. Not good when the plan is for a 5am wakeup.

We checked out at 10:30pm. Yes. Just in time before the subway quit running. Then we wandered Bath Road (the loop around Heathrow) like Joseph & Mary, except I'm not pregnant and Dave was cranky. The mule was the Hyndai rental car with a slipping reverse gear. Yes, wrong-sided road driving in the dark with a slipping gear was a mandatory part of this experience.

So, 1:30am, we're finally in a room we would have paid for if we hadn't been trying to save a buck or two in London. Saving money in London isn't worth it. Spend it. Believe me. It'll get you in the end. There will be a pound removed from your flesh, so just part with it in comfort.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Who let the riff-raff in?

So it's David who has the friend. Everyone I know was glad I was leaving work. They just wanted me out of the door, off the corporate wan, get the hell out of here, quit killing my email. But David has a friend who has a wife. And that wife upgraded us. Yes, I am sitting in a real live, no no one sits on the floor here, airport lounge. And I think we're getting seats my thighs will fit in. THANK YOU DAVE'S FRIEND'S WIFE! You've turned this into a lottery moment.

We actually had had to turn the cab around about thee miles away from the house. There was that one terrible moment which finally happened to us where Dave turned paler than his white sheet pale he normally is. We'd ridden away without or money. Mr. might be a wee bit too careful had put the money "some place" safe. Things were not going the way he expected when he got home, there were distractions... At least he remembered. And we left early for the airport. Our trip has started. The adventure has begun. Things will go wrong. Things will turn out. Surprise happens.

Later!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

We leave Friday

Linda will be taking care of Blossom for us. The studio trashed as it's where we're laying everything out to prep. Okay, it's filled with the medical kit. We seem to have locked our last med kit in the travel trailer & can't find the key. So we're recreating the Betadine-Iodine- 3- way-antibiotic- twelve-types of gauze-5 rolls of tape- medsurge scissors- don't forget the hydrogen peroxide and four types of BandAids First Aid kit.

We fly out Friday night and arrive London about 3am Seattle time (11am London). I stick Dave behind the wheel of a British car & have him drive on the road for 200 or so miles until we get to our first destination, Lacock.

Anyways, our planned itinerary looks complicated, but is actually pretty simple. Hopefully there will be enough time to spare in any one place for hospitalizations (if necessary).