For Spring Break my travels took me to exotic Turkey. We flew in to Istanbul and checked into a hostel called Chambers of the Boheme, where the beds felt like sleeping on a flying carpet in a night sky full of clouds. We were right off the famous Istikal street, which is bustling with people day and night, looking for treasures in the many retail stores or bookshops or grabbing a bite to eat at a kebab restaurant or one of the street vendors selling roasted corn and chestnuts. At night the place lights up like a festival and music can be heard pumping out of various doorways, as well as the shouts of waiters standing outside hooka (nargalay) lounges where patrons get lost in a cloud of apple or melon flavored smoke and drink Turkish ... read more

2/10/08 Dobry den! I left you all having just discovered the wonders of Prague, but a whole new array of delights awaits the one who ventures out of the city into the colorful and quaint countryside. Last Sunday was Masopust, which is the Czech version of Carnival before lent. We arrived Sunday at a little village square to an onslaught of colorful tents, smoking stands with toasted nuts, and bright pagan costumes: paper mach storks, cherubs guzzling sausages, and every other beast you could think of. Whole families got into the spirit by dressing alike. I adored the little fox family and house family who each wore little red roof hats. We Americanka even got into the spirit, donning capes, hats, masks, and painting our faces with wild designs. There were sausages and beer all day ... read more