Two Days in Turkey (Or, What Happens When You Travel On a Whim)

Last fall when I was traveling in Bulgaria, my friend and I decided to go to Istanbul for two days on a whim. It's only an 8 hour overnight bus ride from Varna so we could easily spend a couple days in Istanbul without losing too many in Bulgaria, either. Plus I had a friend who was studying there at the time. She could show us the ropes, nothing to worry about! At least, that was the plan.

Unfortunately, due to spotty internet connections, we weren't able to sync up. That wasn't going to stop us from going though. I booked a hotel for one night before we left and off we went! The ride was long, but the buses in Bulgaria are definitely the way to travel. Free wifi on board and snacks/drinks were served. But no matter which mode of transportation you choose, there's always those people on board. You know the ones. They talk loudly, listen to their music, kick the back of your seat. They made sleeping very difficult.

When we got to the border crossing, we had to all get off the bus into the freezing cold night, stand in line to buy a visa (as the only two American passport holders, we were the only ones required to get visas and we were grossly overcharged for this) and get our passports stamped, grab our bags, walk through a security set up, and finally get back on the bus.

We arrived in Istanbul around 6am and found a cab to take us to our hotel, which was in Sultanahmet. Because we were so early, we weren't able to check in, so we sat in the lobby for a half hour until they could look up our reservations. Turns out there is more than one of our hotel in the area and we were at the wrong one! I knew it was too nice for what we were paying. Fortunately our real hotel was a short walk away and we found it easily.

The Spice Market at 8am...no crowds!

After dropping our stuff off  with the hotel staff (still too early to check in) and eating a quick breakfast with phenomenal views of the Bosphorus, we headed over to the Spice Market before the crowds showed up. There was so much to see and buy! We walked up and down the isles, checking out the spices, buying gifts for people back home (and ourselves, of course!). Most stalls sell virtually the same things so it's just a matter of finding the best price for the exact object you want.

Once we'd finished at the Spice Market, we walked to the Grand Bazaar. This place is huge! It's very easy to get lost in. And while it caters more to tourists these days than the locals of yesterday, you still feel like you're stepping back in time when you walk through this maze of shops and restaurants. It was still early so we were able to navigate the halls with relative ease. We wanted to buy everything!

Colorful lanterns in the Grand Bazaar

Next was a tour of the Haggia Sofia. All I can say is WOW! It really is gorgeous. I don't have the words to describe it so do yourself a favor and just go there (and look for the Viking grafiti!).

After a well earned a rest and some lunch, we headed over to the Blue Mosque. From the outside, this is the building most people think is the Haggia Sofia. It's definitely more impressive looking. However, while the Haggie Sofia is a museum of both Christian and Muslim art and architecture, the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque) is still a working mosque and appropriate dress is required for entry. Apparently my pants were too tight and I was required to put on a long skirt. They were provided for free. It doesn't take long to get through the mosque. It's beautiful inside, but you're mostly looking at all the tile work (which is blue, of course) on the columns and ceiling. There's also a steady stream of people coming in to worship, so it's best to stay out of their way.

Inside the Blue Mosque

Finally we went to the Topkapi Palace. The grounds were beautiful, the harem was stunning, and all the buildings were impressive. We saw an old library and collections of clothes, jewels and weapons worn and used by the Sultans who used to live here. We made it out to the area overlooking the Bosphorus, all the while listening to our audio guides.

By this point, we were exhausted down to our bones. We'd seen so much in one day, walked over most of Sultanahmet, slept little on the bus and were just ready to be done. We somehow made our way back to the hotel (shopping along the way, of course) and checked in. We were too tired to even eat, so we did our best American impressions and had pizza delivered to our room. But since this is not a normal concept for the Turks; when my friend asked about a menu at the front desk, they walked her over to the place itself to order. To our credit, it was Turkish pizza, and to the hotel's credit, they brought it up to us when it was ready. We ate and passed out.

The second day was the day where our lack of planning began to show. Another friend had recently visited Turkey on a much longer trip and had given us some tips of things to do while in Istanbul. One of them was a lunch place on the Asian side. Our instructions were very clear, we had to take the ferry across. We found the ferry dock and boarded, thinking we could just as easily walk across the bridge. But we didn't want to get lost. When the ferry left, it didn't go the way we expected it to. In fact, where were we going? The Asian side is back there! I guess a map would have been helpful here.

Since we were convinced we were in the wrong place, we stayed on the ferry thinking maybe it would stop on the "Asian side"...but it didn't. When we got back to where we started, we realized that what we had thought was the Asian side, wasn't. After looking it up on the phone, we discovered that the Asian side was where we had originally gone, so we rode the ferry back again! This time, we got off and tried to find the road to the lunch place. We wandered all over the hill looking for any signs of life, trying to ask the locals where we needed to go. They kept telling us it was 3k away. That can't be right, it's supposed to be just up the street! Turns out, we took the wrong ferry. Uuuuuuuunnnnhhhhhhhh.

So we walked the 3k to the right part of town, which was evident by the steady thrum of tourists and finally made our way to the restaurant, Ciya Sofrasi. Let me tell you, it was so worth it! The Turkish meatballs were delicious, as was the "salad bar". We ordered a little bit of almost everything and shared it. After lunch, we wandered around the side streets for awhile, stopped for a Turkish coffee before heading back to the right ferry dock to the European side.

Turkish coffee makes you do weird things

On the other side, we took a walk across the Galata Bridge, then went back to the Grand Bazaar for some last minute shopping before we had to leave to go back to Bulgaria. Little did we know just how bad the traffic in Istanbul can be! Fortunately we had the scariest cab driver ever who raced through traffic to get us to the bus station with seconds to spare! Except he dropped us off at the wrong terminal! One of the workers for the bus company ran us over to the right one and after getting us there, followed us on to the bus to demand payment. Such is how it works in Turkey, I guess! The border crossing was much easier on the way back, and we both slept a lot more, from pure exhaustion I think. But we made it and had a great whirlwind tour of Istanbul that has only whet the appetite! Next time I'll make sure to look at a map first though. 

Birthday Fun in Tanzania

I'm lucky enough to have many friends that love to travel as much as I do. Some of these friends I have met on my travels and some through other friends who love to travel. But I still have friends I've never traveled with. One of these friends will be celebrating a big birthday next year (I won't say what it is, but it rhymes with shmorty). She's my former boss from my lifeguarding days and current hiking/mountain climbing buddy. Like me, she has the mindset of not wanting to do it, but wanting to have done it. At least when it comes to climbing mountains. But for that special birthday of hers next year, we've decided to celebrate in a way we're both very much looking forward to. Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro.

Yikes! I can't think of too many more difficult ways to spend a birthday! Kilimanjaro is one of the Seven Summits, the tallest mountain in Africa and the tallest free standing mountain in the world. And it will be one trip neither of us will forget. On top of the mountain climbing, we plan to go on a few safaris, volunteer with the locals either building schools or working at hospitals, or whatever we find that works with our schedule/budget, and possibly a few days on the beaches of Zanzibar. You could do a lot worse.

After much research, we've chosen to do the Lemosho route to the top. It's less traveled but just as scenic (if not more so) as the very popular Machame (Whiskey) route. It does take an extra day and therefore cost more, but that means another day to acclimatize, so it's worth it. Plus it has one of the best success rates of all the routes on the mountain. The hike travels through 5 climate zones, from dense jungle to moorlands to alpine desert and more. You summit at sunrise on the 6th day, followed by a quick day and a half descent. Several years ago, Comic Relief in the UK sent 9 celebrities to climb this route for charity and I figured if they could do it, so can I! The documentary can be found on YouTube under Big Red Nose Climb, in seven parts. I haven't been able to find it all in one piece.

I'm also really excited about going on a safari or 3. Both the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater are located near Kilimanjaro, as is Lake Manyara where you can see the flamingos! January through July is the great migration in the Serengeti so we're hoping to catch the tail end of it before we start our climb. Elephants are my favorite animal and nothing would give me greater joy than the opportunity to see them in the wild.

The last part of this trip, though probably the first thing we'll do, is volunteering. Tanzania is a beautiful country with so much to offer, but they are very poor. Tourism from people wanting to climb Kilimanjaro has injected the country with much needed cash flow, but it still has a long way to go. We haven't settled on which program we want to go with but we have many options. The two front runners as of right now are a 16 day program in Zanzibar building schools and Cradle of Love. The safaris, trips around the island and beach/dive time are included in the time and cost of the Zanzibar program, but Cradle of Love allows you to work directly with the children. We'll also be asking our friends and families if they want to donate any school supplies, climbing gear or sports equipment that we could take over and give to the kids and porters.

This trip is still a year away, but the planning and saving has already begun. It's definitely going to be the most expensive trip I've ever taken, but I think it will also be one of the most fulfilling.

Photo credit: Mr. Google

Vacations Gone Wrong!

Recently I went to the Dominican Republic with a close friend and her family. They have had timeshares for many years but had decided to get rid of them and were using the last couple weeks. We flew down Friday night, landing mid-day on Saturday. Upon arrival, we spent much time checking in, purchasing water, planning our week, etc. We decided to eat lunch at the hotel as we were all starving and exhausted from traveling. During the meal, a guy from the hotel came out to sell us a meal plan for the week. All your breakfast and all your dinners for the low, low price of $200! But wait! They'll also throw in a show Sunday night and a show Thursday night. All drinks are included for those two nights only! I would have laughed, but everyone else thought this was a great deal. I debated not purchasing it, but didn't feel I could if everyone was going to these shows.

Sunday morning we wake up to be told that breakfast wasn't going to be served at our hotel, they were shuttling us to a place nearby. Another timeshare, of course. Breakfast was fine, but as soon as we were done, they packed us into a golf cart and we started off on a tour of the hotels grounds. Of course it was very beautiful and made the place we were staying seem sub-par. But I kept thinking, "Aren't you supposed to get your meals for free when you do a timeshare thing?" After a couple hours of touring (and some margarita's which were probably non-alcoholic), we came to the negotiating part. Since neither my friend or I were going to be purchasing anything, we found the pool and started ordering drinks. We even ordered lunch to make sure we got something out of the tour. Finally another hour later, her parents came back having not purchased anything, and we made our way back to the hotel.

That night was the first of our shows, and it just so happened to be back at the big timeshare. In my mind, I envisioned something akin to a hula show in Hawaii. It's touristy, but part of the culture and fun to experience at least once. I was hoping for a similar cultural experience here. When we arrived, we were told we weren't allowed to enter and a big to do was made about letting us in. After we had that sorted, we found ourselves amongts 4,000 Americans fighting over food at the buffet. Our table was so far away from the stage we had to watch on a screen set up for the people at the back. And when the show finally started, it was two singers singing covers of American pop songs and more of the timeshare sales pitch. Really? We came all this way for this?

The Monument to Heroes of the Restoration and famous Dominican baseball players

Monday was Labor Day observed in DR. Nothing was open and every Dominican was at the beach by our hotel. Imagine that postcard you've seen of a beach packed with more people than you humanly thought possible, and that's what it was like. Instead, we decided to drive to Santiago and see what we could see, knowing little would be open. After admiring the Monument to Heroes of the Restoration, we found a place to eat lunch before walking around a bit, then heading back to Puerto Plata. It rained much of the afternoon, so we stayed indoors reading and watching TV.

When everyone decided it was time for dinner, I wasn't very hungry, but knowing the service at the hotel, decided I probably would be by the time it arrived. When my food was served, I took one bite and knew I couldn't take another. I really wasn't feeling well and decided to head back to the hotel to lie down. Approximately 5 minutes later, I found myself in the bathroom, quite sick indeed. Sparing you the gory details, I spent most of the rest of the night in the bathroom, feeling like I was going to die. I slept little and didn't really feel like I could go back to bed until morning.

Tuesday I spent most of the day alternating between sleeping and trying to eat a bit of toast or rice. I felt somewhat better and was OK to leave the bathroom for longer periods of time. But I was exhausted from the night before and had no desire to do much else.

By Wednesday I was feeling mostly human, but still not eating much. It rained in the morning so I was able to rest more, but the sun came out a bit in the afternoon, so we all went down to the now deserted beach to finally do some real vacationing. After several hours of relaxing, we headed back in for dinner. My friend and her mom weren't really hungry, but decided to join us anyway, though they ended up not really being able to eat much. Sure enough, a short time later, they were both in the bathroom being very sick with the same food poisoning I had, though not quite as violent. As I had just gone through that, I really felt for them.

Finally, the beach!

Thursday was nice, but since we had two more sick people trying to recover, I ended up going to the beach by myself for the day. The rest of the crew couldn't roam that far away from the bathroom. It was a relaxing day for me, but not quite what I had in mind when envisioning a vacation in the Caribbean. This was also supposed to be our second night of shows, but knowing it was at the big timeshare again, and since most of the group was not well, we skipped it and went to a nice Italian place just up the road. Really wish we could have eaten there more instead of at the hotel.

Friday was my last day on the island and my flight home was at 1pm. It was a nice morning and my friend and her mom were feeling just well enough to walk around Puerto Plata for a bit on the way to the airport. We saw the Amber Museum, which has ties to the movie Jurassic Park, and walked around the town square. It is really small and there isn't much to see, but it was better than being sick in a hotel room! I finally made it to the airport for my flight home, realizing that this was one of the few times I actually couldn't wait to leave a vacation spot. It had been one of the worst trips I have ever been on and I probably would have been better off staying home and saving the money. But on the positive side, I got to spend time with my friend and her family, who have always been like a second family to me. And as my own mom quickly reminded me when I told her about it, I'm lucky with all the traveling I do, and all the countries I've been to, that I don't get sick more often. Touche Mom. Touche.

Seahawks Win the Super Bowl!!

The Lombardi Trophy!

I know this isn't really travel related, and I know I'm a little late to the party, but it's my blog and I get to do what I want. I also needed some time to really let this settle in. One of my favorite teams in the entire world, the Seattle Seahawks won their first ever Super Bowl on Sunday! It's the first major championship the city of Seattle has won in my life time (not to discredit the two WNBA championships the Seattle Storm have won because I think women's sports should be far more prevalent than they are, but the fact remains it's still not considered a major championship. Boo). My point is, I've never really had a chance to experience something like this before. And boy, what an experience it is!

My dad and brother at the game!

Growing up, I was always a big Mariners fan, playing softball myself. Ken Griffey Jr was my hero. I remember when they made the playoffs for the first time in 1995 and what a big deal it was! My classes would stop to watch the games, knowing it wasn't worth trying to teach us. It was incredible! But sadly, they didn't make it far, and they've only had 1 great season since then. I knew about the Seahawks, too, and my dad claims he took me to games, but I have no recollection of this. It wasn't until high school that I really started paying attention to football and my love increased over the years. In 2005/06, the Seahawks went to their first ever Super Bowl. Everyone knows what happened. It was so disappointing.

But here we are, 8 years later, and the trophy is finally ours! After we won, people went out to the streets to celebrate, throwing Skittles in honor of Marshawn Lynch and generally having a wonderful time. There was a parade today through the streets of downtown. 700,000+ people turned up to see the players, coaches and more bring the Lombardi trophy to its new home. I've never seen anything bring a city, state and region together as much as this has. Everyone was in a good mood, happy to be there, living a moment we'll forget.

Russell Wilson!

Oktoberfest (Wiesn) Like A Bavarian

Going to Oktoberfest in Munich where it all began, is one of the funnest things I've ever done while traveling. I'm fortunate enough to have a friend who lives there and let us stay with her. She was able to give us insider tips on how to do Wiesn like a local, right down to how you should hold your beer and tie your apron.

First of all, if you want to stand out as a tourist, call it Oktoberfest. To Bavarians it's Wiesn (Veesin). Not that you will find anything that says Wiesn on it. You just have to know. Another way to show you're tourist is to not wear the traditional Bavarian clothing. Dirndl's for women, leaderhosen for men. Every store in the city sells these approaching and during the festival. You have no excuse. For ladies, how you tie your apron determines your marital status. Bow on the left means you're single, bow on the right means you're taken.

We're single!

Opening weekend is always the most traditional. There are parades and speeches and they don't tap the kegs on the first day until noon, though the tents open at 9. If you want to get a seat in a tent (which you do, trust me), get there early. We're talking 7am. Get in line and wait until the tents open, then rush in and grab a table. It's a mad house free-for-all. You won't be served unless you're at a table and once they're taken, nobody leaves. You can sit at an outside beer garden, but you'll miss out on the fun inside.

See how they hold their beers?

Once you've got your table, plan to stay the whole day. As more and more beer is consumed, the atmosphere becomes louder and more jovial. Everyone is standing on the benches (but never the tables), singing loudly and having a wonderful time. Make sure to hold your stein not by the handle, but with the palm on the stein itself, handle over your hand. Eat. You'll consume so much alcohol over the day, you don't want to get sick (the Germans never do). This ain't no sissy Bud Light you're drinking, and you're expected to keep up. There are plenty other people who will take your spot if you don't. By the end of the night, you'll be singing right along with your new best friends to all the Bavarian drinking songs, never mind that you don't know the words, or even speak German.

Put a camera up to your face and this happens a lot.

The tents close around 11, but the festival outside goes all night. You'll definitely want to walk around this for a little while, even if it's just to watch the drunk Germans attempt the rides. They are a hilarious lot. I also recommend taking the Ferris wheel. You get a birds eye view of the entire festival all lit up that you really can't get anywhere else, and it's beautiful.

This is the largest festival in the world. Have fun with it! Who knows when you'll have a chance to come back?

Losing Your Luggage Is Lame

Having your luggage lost doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it can disrupt your entire vacation. I've had my luggage go missing twice now, most recently on my trip to Vegas for a bachelorette party. As mentioned in my previous post, I was in Chicago for work and was supposed to fly from Chicago to Portland to Vegas. Of course since O'Hare is O'Hare, my flight was delayed. Fortunately, Alaska Airlines was able to book me on another flight, directly to Las Vegas. I had to wait another two hours to depart, but since my flight was now direct, I arrived two hours earlier than planned. Great! When I asked about my luggage, they told me that Alaska was responsible for getting it to Vegas, but American (my new flight provider) was in charge of delivering it to me. It sounded so easy! But it never is.

After my flight arrived, I checked in with the baggage service counter for American Airlines. The girl at the office was trying to do 17 things at once, running out to check on a jammed conveyor belt, calming down a guy looking for a missing passenger, etc. When she was finally able to return her attention to finding my luggage, she told me she didn't know where was and filed a claim for it. She said once it was located, they would deliver it to my hotel. I was so tired, I didn't care. I just wanted to leave.

The next morning it hadn't been found. I wasn't too worried about it, but I did need to supplement my now smelly clothes with something a little fresher. And possibly a swim suit. This meant a trip to the mall after breakfast. Two hours later, I had most of what I needed, but still no luggage. We went on with our day, hanging out at the pool, getting ready for our evening out, eating dinner and finally, seeing the Thunder From Down Under (side note: SO WORTH IT!). 

Anyhoo, by the time we had to leave for the airport the next day, my bag was still missing. Now I'm pissed. The most frustrating part was that no one could tell me anything about my bags. How does that even happen? These things are tagged and scanned fifteen thousand times every time someone looks in its general direction! But all I could do was give them my home address and ask that if they ever found it, they would send it there (I didn't even get shout-y or stomp-y, though I really wanted to).

As I was sitting at the gate, waiting to board the plane home, I got a phone call. They found my suitcase and it was in Las Vegas, could I come pick it up? Um no. I'm getting out of this crazy town. But yay!! So instead they were able to put it on another flight to Seattle and would deliver it to my house after that. Two phone calls and a day later, it finally arrived. Turns out airlines don't like talking to each other very much and require constant monitoring to get anything done. But it all ended well. I got my stuff back, the airline is going to reimburse me for the things I had to buy, and I didn't have to pay a checked bag fee! Sometimes it really is the little things!

A Weary Traveler's Update

I know, I know! It's been too long! I had grand plans of updating my blog while I was in Europe so I could share my experiences as they happened, but actual computers are rather hard to find these days. All I had was my cell phone and spotty wifi that lasted just long enough to upload a few pics to Facebook here and there so my mom wouldn't call the local authorities. Speaking of phones, TMobile just announced that they are going to offer unlimited data world wide now. Would have loved to have that 4 weeks ago! I am smartphone illiterate which may or may not have led to a $200 roaming bill. Ugh.

Anyway, I'm back from Europe now (and in Chicago for work) and will be writing a few posts about my trip. Never fear, I wrote while I was there! You'll be able to read them as if you were following along with my trip! Am I clever or what? But since I left them all at home, you're going to have to wait a bit longer.

A note about Chicago though: pretty cool city! I've never been here before and I only had a day and a half of site seeing before I had to buckle down and work, but what I saw was awesome. It's a lot like Seattle, but bigger. And flatter. Which is weird. But so nice to walk on! I had 3 days at home before flying here Saturday morning (which probably contributed to this horrendous cold I have now). My boss picked me up and took me to my first NHL game, the Blackhawks vs the Sabres. We even got our seats upgraded to the front row of the second level! And they definitely made sure I had enough to drink (which also may have added to this stupid cold).

Sunday, we went up the Sears Tower and out onto the SkyDeck ledges. Then we walked the Magnificent Mile (where we narrowly avoided spending way too much money) before dashing off to do a Segway Tour of the city. Because we are that cool. Seriously. I even got to keep my yellow reflector vest. I'm telling you, this city really rolled out the red carpet for me. Anyhoo, the Segway Tour was a lot of fun and I didn't eat pavement like I thought was inevitable. It was a great way to see the city without having to burn off all the calories I consumed. We ended the day with a big Chicago pizza, because any trip to Chicago that doesn't include pizza is a failure.

Now I'm in St Charles at a massive compound for my training, which feels a bit like going to university. Except we can all legally drink. I'm here until Friday when I fly to Vegas for the bachelorette party of a good friend! We have at least 4 gallons of alcohol for the 5 of us and 36 hours in which to consume it. I'm pretty sure I'm never getting over this cold.