Travel Blog Posts
December 31st 2011
I read that one of the best museums in Istanbul is the Chora Church. It is tucked away in the western section of the city that has few other sites to motivate tourists to go there. However, it is has the best examples of Byzantine frescos and mosaics in Istanbul, and that convinced John and I to find our way there. We decided to take the Golden Horn ferry up the Golden Horn, then cab it the rest of the way. We weren’t disappointed. The church is small but well preserved. It, like all other churches in Istanbul, was converted into a mosque when the Ottomans took over. They plastered over the frescos and mosaics, which actually helped preserve them from being damage.The church is an empty building; due to its dual life, but the art ... read more
Hookahs and History
Published: December 29th 2011Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul » Sultanahmet
December 29th 2011
John We got a pretty early start this morning and made our way over to the complex that houses the Topkapi Palace and Istanbul’s three archeological museums. Martina has a yet unrealized dream of visiting the Topkapi Palace, we have tried to go there several times including this morning and this afternoon but there is always a tremendous line. Topkapi was the “royal” palace and governmental center during most of the Ottoman years. One of the highlights is supposed to be the harem. According to what I’ve read there were so many women around, that the Ottoman emperors employed only Eunuchs to work in the harem. I guess one way to ensure your four wives and few hundred concubines remain faithful is to be the only man in the palace with a penis, me personally I ... read more
Churches, Mosques...or both and the Bazaar
Published: December 29th 2011Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul » Sultanahmet
December 29th 2011
Yesterday we actually went inside the Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque. Both are breathtaking for sure. We had a lot of fun with the carpet merchants who patrol the outside of the both holy buildings. Since Martina and I have made a firm decision that a possible trip this summer outweighs our desire for a Turkish carpet, I started to tell them that I was from New York but I recently moved to Istanbul to be a carpet merchant. I would then ask them if they wanted to see my shop. Some thought it was funny others got pissed, but I had fun. Some of them remembered me to today when we passed back through and attempted sarcasm, but sarcasm is pretty ineffective in a third or fourth language. As for the church and the ... read more
December 26th 2011
Our first day in Istanbul was quiet. We arrived in the morning after a 10 hour flight and since our room wasn't ready, we decided to take a walk and explore the area. We are staying minutes away from Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque. John and I walked over to the plaza where these two impressive buildings stand, almost side by side. You can stand in the middle of the plaza, sip freshly squeezed pomagranate juice, and look from left to right comparing the two buildings they are a perfect example of cultural competition. When the Ottomans took over the city during the 17th century, after nearly 700 years of trying, the mosque was built next to Aya Sofia to illustrate to the people that Islam was as great a religion as Christianity. Our first ... read more
April 20th 2011
I spent five perfect days in San Juan. Old San Juan is absolutely beautiful. I could have spent days just wondering all the cobblestone streets and exploring the stores and art galleries. Here are my Old San Juan highlights: Snorkeling with Owen on a beach in San Juan. It was Owen's first time. He got his mask and snorkel on and took off before we could get our owYunqun equipment. We saw lots of cool little fish. Owen's favorite was the skinny long pipe fish we saw eating. Hiking El Yunque rainforest. We saw beautiful trees, birds and insects. Owen walked two of the three miles. He lead our group to a beautiful waterfall where we got to jump in and swim. Our wedding at El Convento. We had a perfect night. We were so overwhelmed ... read more
August 27th 2010
Believe it or not, we decided to take a brake from our dives and take the "not to be missed" trip to Hol Chan Marine Park. The park is simply a protected part of the reef reserved for snorkeling trips. We booked a half day trip with 8 other snorkelers. Our first stop was Hol Chan. We jumped into the crystal clear water that had to be at least 80 degrees. We saw all kinds of colorful fish and coral of all shapes and sizes. The treat of the swim was the three beautiful Green sea turtles we watched munching sea grass, pausing only to swim up for a quck breath of air. Our next stop was Shark Ray Alley. Our guide stopped the boat and began throwing pieces of fish in the water. A group ... read more
August 26th 2010
We arrived in Tikal on Friday afternoon. We checked into the Jungle Lodge, an eco hotel that only runs electricity for a few hours in the morning, again in the afternoon and for a few hours in the evening. The hotel was originally the lodgings for archeologists that excavated the ruins in the sixties. With no electricity, we had nothing else to do but take a late afternoon hike in the jungle. When you first walk in to Tikal park you are immediately surrounded by the sounds of birds and howler monkeys (that sound more like roaring monkeys!) You see thick green leaves, you feel the humidity, you smell the earth and hear the sounds of life around you. Quite a sensory experience. We spotted some colorful turkeys, some species of deer we don't have in ... read more
August 25th 2010
When all is said and done, Martina and I will have done 13 dives on this trip, provided none of our upcoming trips get cancelled in the next few days. The diving here is AMAZING. It is a close second to Utila. Martina is becoming and experienced diver as the days progress. Her skills are really improving and she is going to do her first night dive tomorrow night! The people that work on the dive boats are laid back but are very concientious when it comes to safety, and have a great respect for the sport. We are using Belize Diving Services and the cabin we are renting is like a block away. The cabin is awesome, its a living room/bedroom/dining room/ combo with a decent bathroom on stilts. Its very similar in construction to ... read more
August 19th 2010
After a bumpy bus ride from the over-touristed Antigua we arrived where we wish we had budgeted more time for, in the lakeside town of Panachjachal. This small town is the largest of the towns that surround Lake Atitlan. We paid for a 3/4 day long lake tour that took us by small motor boat (lancha) to three other towns. All the towns were named for saints San Pedro, Santiago, and San Miguel. One outstanding feature of this region in Guatemala, is that the people in these villages still speak thier native Mayan dialects (different ones in each of the towns, there are 24 spoken in total throughout Guatemala.) San Pedro was great, we paid a local (Pedro) the equivalent of 8 dollars to walk us around for about an hour and give a tour in ... read more
August 18th 2010
We decided to lay low today and spend the day in Antigua. Our day began with a hunt for Fernandos, which was supposed to have the best coffee in town. After a few wrong turns we found the little cafe. Not only was the coffee good, so was the granola. On the way back we came upon an old convent, Capichinas. We were surprised to find a small museum housed in the cloisters and beautiful gardens and ruins of the original church. Antigua fell victim to three earthquakes in the past 300 years and the remains of those quakes are scattered all over the city. We enjoyed exploring all the twists and turns. Becuase it is the rainy season we have rain showers every day. This doesn't make good weather for exploring, but it does make ... read more
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