November 19. Reuniting with Mark and going to Tbilisi

It was long (but good) day today. It is now 11pm in Tbilisi. We got up at 7:30am in Istanbul. Packed and went upstairs for breakfast. The view of the Blue Mosque and the river in the morning mist was awesome. Breakfast was pretty basic, no meat but very fresh. Dan did see some six legged friends in the kitchen where he was searching for coffee. I did not go there so I am operating under assumption it was something else and eating is as usual :).

We walked towards the river to see the old city wall. On the way we encountered a very pretty neighborhood of the typical Turkish homes with extended second floor balconies. There were some wood homes there as well. They now house boutique stores and hotels. All are unique and very interesting. We took many pictures but I left the cable to transfer these to computer so these would have to wait until we are back. Near the river there is a promenade with lots of runners.

By 9 am came up to Hagia Sophia. Unfortunately it was closed on Mondays!!!

So for the remaining hour we walked around the site encountering a group on beautifully dressed Turkish men apparently participating as extras in a historical movie near the row of old wooded buildings above the Hagia Sophia site. These buildings used to house important official, now they are as historical hotel (the queen of Spain stayed there recently according to a plaque).

Finally we came inside the studio of a painter of Uzbeki and Georgian heritage. His range is similar to that of the cellar guy in Tallinn. Except he stopped trying to paint years ago, and now is just trying to sell. One had to live too. But you can tell there is no love in most of these paintings anymore.

We took the reverse route of tram followed by metro to come back. After some long lines for the passport check we finally joined Mark in the boarding lounge.

He shared his adventures. Apparently we just missed each other at the cistern yesterday. He got a lot done in his extra day in Istanbul. Saw Topkapi palace, took Bosphorus cruise, and explored Taxim nightlife.

The flight was short and comfortable. We enjoyed a selection of meals (Turkish airlines have something like 10 food choices for the hour and 50 minute flight.)

At the airport, passport check was almost instantaneous and we each got a present - a bottle of red wine. Seriously For the first time in our lives we get a present for visiting a country. Amazing!!! The person who was meeting us was late. I was told to look for the bald/close cut guy - almost all of them looked like that. I asked a few if they were him, but they were not. We thought he forgot, waited around, and eventually took the (old, clickety Soviet) bus to the city.

Mark demonstrated his great communication abilities by getting locals to advise us where to get off. We thought that locals would not be friendly if we spoke Russian and so tried to communicate in English, which hardly anyone speaks. We looked like a bunch of alien freaks - big eyes, sitting on a bus, trying to communicate in some weird language, it was dark outside. Ultimately we heard someone speak Russian and talked to them. Turns out most of the people around us spoke Russian and we were told that Russian is very welcome too. Everyone around was very friendly.

At Mariott Courtyard in the center the very helpful staff directed us to our hotel. Since most of the street signs are in Georgian we took a very scenic road there that showed there is much to do to get the city to where it needs to be. Our hotel is very nice but at the edge of niceness so we contemplated going elsewhere but ultimately came back there and stuck to our guns.

There are three separate beds in the room. Really cute!!

 

We went for dinner to the nice restaurant with green letters. Cannot tell the name. That's where hotel staff sent us. In a middle of us having a great time and working hard on life-taxidermying ourselves the guy who was supposed to pick us up walked in!!! It was amazing how he was able to track us down.

Mark loves cable cars in the dark

After dinner we took the cable car - at 10pm up the mountain on left bank of the river. It is a pretty cool experience after dark. Then we walked down and walked around a bit before deciding to call it a day. Very very cool!!!

The wishing bush

November 18. Excursion to Istanbul and Tbilisi

 We decided to go to Istanbul and Tbilisi during Thanksgiving week this year. Turkey was a halfway point on the way to Georgia where we planned to do our scouting for the summer of 2013. The whole trip was actually driven by Mark who wanted to go somewhere with us this week. What's weird is that with all our planning we are now staying in different neighborhoods in Istanbul and will meet at the airport tomorrow.

We landed at a little after 1pm. First, there was one line for a multiple entry Turkish visa. The actual process of getting the stamp in our passports took a few seconds. Then there was a long wait for the passport control. There was the same number of agents processing practically no Turkish citizens as a large number of foreigners and so the process was pretty slow. The funny thing we get the reverse in US - there is about the same number of US citizens traveling yet they get much fewer agents to process them. So you wait both ways.

The trip to town was very easy. There is a clearly marked subway with maps and after getting to the city we switched over to a very modern tram - equally nice. Mark took bus to get to Taxim square where he is staying and that was simple too. There are multiple ATMs outside the luggage claims area.

We took some time to find Hali hotel, predominantly because we did not notice the street sign and kept going and going. All the sights and sounds made it hard to concentrate. Ultimately we found it. It is clean and well-positioned, there is free Internet. Excellent value for 55 Euro. We get the view of Blue Mosque from our window.

Since it was already 4pm by the time we checked in we rushed to get into the basilica cistern. It was just as we remembered - awesome!! Next we tried Hagia Sophia but it was already closed. They were still letting people into the Blue Mosque. So we went there.

Outside there were photos from Syria. Many wounded children. Horrible!!! There was a sign outside instructing women to dress modestly and cover their heads. I was worried but then we saw plenty of women without the headgear and ventured inside. Again, it was even better than what we remembered. There were signs inviting visitors to visit the information office to learn about Islam. Great positive warm signs. A great example of tolerance.

At that moment I thought of our most recent experiences near the wailing wall in Jerusalem. There, religious fundamentalists who are running the place had turned in it from the location for contemplation, medication, and for some, prayer, into one of intolerance and frustration. I would be lynched by the ladies if I tried to approach without the headgear. And Dan got scammed out of his money by the bearded crook who butted in when Dan was thinking, claimed he was praying for our family, and demanded the money. You are really not in a kind of mood to start the argument when you are in a place like that. To be fair we would not be welcome in the Dome of the Rock at all. So, fundamentalist intolerance goes both ways. Back to Istanbul... :)

We walked to the bridge consuming the street fare along the way - fried buns with nuts, fried fresh fish.. It was a feast for all the senses. The city is amazingly beautiful. The mixture of old buildings, tile and rug stores, and many restaurants. There were smells of fried chestnuts, raw fish, fried fish, spices, doner kebabs. It is also very clean.

Scores and scores of Russians. You practically hear as much of that as Turkish. Most Turkish women in Sultanahmet wear bright headscarves. Some had beautiful designer "modest ware" - outer trench coat like clothing made from attractive fabrics, tight belts and such. Some wore black burqas with a triangular opening for the eyes and nose.

There is a walkway level of the bridge filled with restaurants. On top, there were fishers fishing. So as you sit in the restaurant on the bridge, with Bosphorus flowing below, you can see fishing lines slide past your line of vision into the water and emerge with dangling herrings (?) on the hook. Not to forget the other views - ancient Byzantium churches turned into mosques with their minarets lit up. The exciting thing is that this view must have been the same for at least several hundreds of years. And the fishermen had came and gone satisfying their hunting instinct. One of the major highlights of our travels.

We were too full for the formal dinner and so just went to Mado for dessert. Supposedly they have a unique process of making ice-cream from goats milk. It was very good and one could not smell any goat in it. The menu with pictures is enormous. I wanted everything. Fortunately the waiter only understood the vanilla ice-cream and coffee part.

We sat in the square near the Blue Mosque at night. Dan did not sleep much on the plane and we headed home early. Looking forward to seeing Mark tomorrow.

August 10. The Last Day in Portugal

After thirty takes to maneuver the car in the tight space between four columns in the underground parking garage we got on our way. Highways are very good. At halfway point we stopped to let the kids out. There was a rest area with a fenced-in playground. The gate was locked. Dan lowered the kids in and they ran around a bit and then get go on our way.

We were staying at Avenida apartment hotel. We checked in our car and left our bags in storage and took the train to Cascais. There was a huge line to refill the green tickets. Dan ran downstairs for the other set of machines. We still missed the train but the next one was express, so it was very nice. 

The water was still cold. But better than a month ago. Kids enjoed playing the water again. There was a group of special needs adults and their supporting staff. They rolled a lady on a special stroller straight into the water cheering and screaming along the way. She screamed very loud in the water but seemed to be enjoying herself. In general it looked like they were taking care of them very nicely and everyone was having a great time. It is nice that they do such things for them.

We did a similar route as before next – Indian, then park, then playground. After about 5 hours of driving adults were pretty tired and we headed back to the city. Checked into our hotel. Found out that it had a pool on the roof and kids did another swim. That was so awesome!!! The view was amazing. It looks like anyone can just show up at the hotel and go to upstairs go swimming. Good to know.

 Next we walked around a bit more. Everyone had ice-cream at Amorino.

Then we headed to Chiado and listed to Thoth one last time. Then I spoke a bit to the homeless guy with two dogs who sells pictures on the street. His name is... I already forgot his name :( He is originally from Goa but now is Portuguese. He said that he sells the pictures he likes. No one wants to rent him a room with two dogs. He spoke very good English. Seemed eager to continue talking.

Isabella is confused about where her home is. In the last few days we switched a few hotels. She keeps asking where is her home. She thought it is where our apartment was and asked whether we will go there. She is also asking for Irina.

It is very sad to leave Lisbon. We had a great time. It was way too short. Hopefully we will get to do it again next year. 

August 9. Malaga

Made another two hour trip South today to Malaga – the central town for Spanish Costa De Sol . We really liked it. Way different from Gibraltar.

The link above describes general features of the town. We covered some of them. The most important one we wanted to visit was Alcazaba, 1000 year old  palace and fortress. It was one of the prettiest we saw. The palace unfortunately does not have most of elaborate decorations it must have had but overall structure is preserved in a very nice very nice condition.

In general, we liked it that Christian rulers who took over from Moors did not destroy all the beautiful architectural marvels left over from past rulers. I am sure there was some destruction but what remains it often amazingly beautiful. And it looks that occasionally they’ve added to it as well. One interesting example is the royal palace in Seville. Christian kings stripped some of mosaics and replaced them with royal coats of arms – possibly painted on. With time, these had faded away almost entirely. However the original mosaics remain, some of them even featuring elaborate calligraphy. Poems? Verses from the Koran?

We wandered the streets taking in the distinct smell of the town and enjoying it. Seville smells like dust and old wood. Malaga has some spices added into the mix. It is also more humid in Malaga and 44 degrees Celsius felt hotter there than in Seville. We visited a number of resort towns during our trip. This one was different. It felt independent and cosmopolitan. It did not wear its resort town status in your face.

For lunch we had tapas in a place I do not remember the name of. They had warm and cold tapas in the bar counter and you can just point to the dishes that interest you. Very good food. Then the owner stopped by and we chatted for a while. He is Irish and spent 14 years in NYC where his parents still own an Irish Music bar Paddy Reilly. We got to try that now. And after that he lived for extensive periods of time in Poland, France, Columbia, Italy. It looks like he has a talent for opening and running Irish bars. And now he also has family here too. He speaks five languages fluently. He even tried to dabble with me in Ukrainian. So cool!

After lunch we went to the beach. The bad thing is that after days of encountering ice cold water and deciding “no way” today was finally the day I did not bring our bathing suits. And the water was perfect. We are much deeper into Mediterranean and also in a bay. At least Georgia had her swimming trunks and Isabella just wore her panties. They did not clash with other swimming ladies. On the other hand Dan and I looked like a couple of bikini hotties on some extreme UAE beach. We got the looks :)

The ride back was sooo boring. Beautiful scenery but very monotonous - fields, fields, fields. In the evening we walked into Seville cathedral one last time.

Back to Lisbon tomorrow!!

August 8. Gibraltar Walk with a Stroller

Today marks a month since we came here. The time goes by so fast. In two days we will be going home. Wish these summer getaways could last longer.

As the title states, we walked into Gibraltar today. We did not walk all the way from Seville. But when we drove into the neighboring town San Roque we saw that traffic in the direction of Gibraltar was pretty bad so we parked and walked 3.5km. It is the first country we entered on foot.

Gibraltar  is a large rock that projects from Iberian peninsula far into Mediterranean sea. On a good day you can see Morocco from it. It is also a nice entry point to monitor sea traffic in and out of the Mediterranean. This location resulted in much hand changing throughout its history. It was been a British territory for about 250 years.

The town consists of the very populated lower town and national park/fortress on the rock. The main street is Main Street, as one would expect. Almost everything you see is stores. It is like a souvenir shopping center of the worlds. Crowds of people squeeze by to get from one point to the next. Brits are the predominant representative here. And if us Americans tend to be on a plumper side, Brits we saw seemed way ahead of us.

There is clearly very interesting history here. There are tunnels everywhere, some protective walls, and other military structures but even though maps are available at every step, it is one single kind of map, poorly drawn and not to scale. There are no street signs to guide you in any way. You probably would have to be walked around by a local to make any sense of it.

We stopped by for lunch at Angry Friar. The food was OK but if you check out the bathroom or try to get your check from a waitress you would know why he was angry. :)

The most important site was the fortress on the rock. We headed down to the cable car and waited for almost an hour and a half for our turn. There were guys who were offering van rides to the people in line claiming that cable car tickets are 20 pounds and you have to wait in line, while they will take you around right now for only 22. Actually cablecar ride alone was about 10 pounds roundtrip so they were lying. If you want to add other sites to it like St. Michael’s cave, Moorish castle, tunnels, and fortifications that they clearly cannot take you to, then, yes, it would be 20.

So we finally got up the mountain. The views were pretty cool. Today was overcast so we could not see Africa, but it was still very neat. The top is pretty narrow so in some places you are able to see the sea on both sides.

Gibraltar’s special attraction are Barbary monkeys. They are everywhere and are very cute. They are used to being fed by, at this point mostly by van drivers (because everyone else gets plenty of warnings) so they are starting to become more of the pests.

There are remains of fortifications everywhere on the top of the mountain and if you enjoy this kind on scenery in conjunction with pretty scary heights and broken staircases or stone paths along the edge this place is for you. It was exciting and Georgia really liked it. Probably would not get enough liability insurance to operate in US though. However it is very tough to negotiate with the stroller.

We could only get to St. Michael’s cave and then had to take turns going inside because Isabella went to sleep and there are lots of stairs inside. Inside they had a very impressive multi-row natural theater with a central stalagmite column. One of the prettiest I saw. In addition, there was a cross section of a stalactite on display that showed two ice age periods. That was very impressive.

The other attractions we would not be able to even reach from the mountain – we would have to walk back to town and then walk up from the different side of the mountain.

The map of the walk between these locations just shows kilometers – and even those are not correct. So they basically fleece tourists. They could have mentioned that when they sold the ticket to us because I asked if it is OK to go with the stroller. It is frustrating that after 250 years of running the place they could not install decent ramps and clean up broken pieces of military action. But this place is designed for the people who want their check mark – not for any who are interested in coming back. And so check mark we got!

Interesting Variation

 

On the positive side, :) here is another food item coming, we saw pastries in a window that resembled kibinai. We got one. It is a local specialty – it stuffed with lamb, potatoes, onions, and carrots. The dough is bit different – it is more chewy. Very nice!!

Before we drove back we stopped on the beach on the Spanish side and kids got the chance to splash around a bit. Even though it is definitely Mediterranean and bay at that, the water was still pretty cold.

Back in town kids declared that they are hungry and so we headed out to get them something to eat at 9:30pm. I guess they’ve  made their switch to Spanish time already :)

August 7. Excuse me!!!

I could only load a few pictures for August 7th - connection is way too slow.

We had a nice day in Seville. Kids woke up before we did and spent some time playing nicely together. That was pleasant and rare. So we pretended to be asleep a while longer to enjoy some of it.

We walked outside and stopped by at the beautiful tiny St. Jose's chapel. It is like a gem with richly carved and decorated altar. I am sure that Cathedral has many more like that but they are all in one place.

After having our breakfast at one of four Starbucks in town and a bit of walking around the area near the Cathedral we headed out to Seville Antiquarium, interesting modern construction on top of the ancient city. We wandered around the beautifully restored foundations of buildings and workshops that covered over 1000 years of history starting from Phoenicians, to Romans, to Visigoths, to Moors,  to early Spanish rulers. Some of the mosaics were startingly clear and color rich.

Next we took the elevator up to the viewing platform and had lunch at a coffee shop there. The bartender was very friendly. He offered drinks but I’ve asked for food. So he got out of one counter and showed me the options at the other station – potato salad, salsa with shrimp, and gazpacho with pieces of jambon. We got them all and they were all great – especially combined with the views. When we were done he brought out the final dish – thinly sliced pieces of smoked ham from the contraption that contained the entire leg of the animal including the hoof. It was even better than the rest.

After lunch we walked around pathways winding through the viewing platform like the rails of the roller coaster. It was not as high as the Cathedral tower but had plenty of interesting points to look over.

Next we did the Macarena walk. Not the slow version of the dance J but rather a walk around of the neighborhood by the same name that is to the west of Santa Cruz we visited yesterday. It is an interesting area that also showed strong Muslim presence.

Unfortunately the churches and monasteries we passed were operating on the old Spanish time line and were all closed, or at best under repairs. There was one spot we wished a bit more luck in – at the monastery of Saint Ines monks sell sweets through the ancient rotating window. Someone forgot to lock the door of the monastery when the lunch “hour” started and we were able to get in and see the rotating window but monks never showed up to work even after we came back later.

We found an area where all local alcoholics aggregate. We did not see any today outside of that area. So it seems to be a stick to that, unless they were having a special convention. We also figured the reason why they all aggregate there. See the pic.

It was a day Isabella made us laugh. We took a break near St. Mark’s church and were eating some peaches. All of the sudden Isabella switched all over. We looked at her in alarm and she explained “flies.” And then did it again. I guess you kind of have to be there and see it. But watching it after the explanation got a whole lot funnier. 

When we came back to “town center” Isabella went to sleep. We spent a comfortable hour at the air-conditioned Starbucks. Georgia did her math. It was hotter than yesterday but what’s interesting is that when you are in shade it is very comfortable and you can walk for hours if that , and when you are not, it is noticeable very quickly. What’s missing is a cool Lisbon breeze J

After she woke up, we transferred over to the Tapas place on the street facing the Cathedral tower. We don’t remember the name – Tapas restaurants line the entire street. This one had bull torsos mounted upon the walls with accompanying plaques on when that each particular one was dispatched and by whom.

 The waiter was very friendly again. And by the time we washed our hands the food  had arrived. There are real advantages in having tapas instead of formal dinner when eating out with kids. First off dishes are very small and inexpensive so you can try several different things. Secondly as an “appetizer” kind of meal it is designed to be prepared fast (or parts of it are) so the service is fast.

In the evening we walked around Triana neighborhood across the river. It is pleasant and quiet but is not that interesting.

As we walked back to our hotel, rollerblader passed us and screamed “Hey” for us to clear the way. It felt a bit rude especially considering that you could roller blade out of the way. Then an old guy walking ahead of us started to wander into our path. Dan tried to warn him but nothing in Spanish came out – his brain went through “Excuse me,” “Disculpe,” and ended up with “Hey” that was ultimately what helped to prevent the collision. It is harder to move stroller loaded with two girls and stuff and weighing over a hundred pounds we still did felt bad. Next time we will try to remember “perdoneme” or “permiso, for favor.” It is hard to keep some basis phases separated between Spanish and Portuguese.

We thought that people get so used to the “excuse me” phrase in their language that they respond to it automatically and do not respond to it being screamed behind their back in another language. As a clinical experiment we waited to one of two girls walking and talking ahead of us to start wandering into our path and then screamed “Excuse me.” She did not respond. Bicycle bell should work generally everywhere. Don’t know if we will be traveling with the stroller again but would be a helpful addition.   

Onto Gibraltar tomorrow!!

August 6. Seville

The ride was very nice. We covered over 300km is less than three hours. The girls were practically perfect.

We had pretty low expectations considering Spain’s poor economic state. We also did not build up huge hopes for Best Western. AS they say in SNL “lowered expectations.” So far everything was great. Hotel is maybe a few blocks away for the busy town life. We parked in the underground elevator garage of the hotel. We did not get into the room until late in the evening but once we did we saw that room is very large, it is actually a triple, and clean.

The city is much cleaner then Lisbon. We saw only one alcoholic and one snorter (at the playground). And the smell is incomparably better. There are fewer run down buildings, and generally everything seems to be in better shape. Finally, the food is much much better.

We wondered whether it would make sense to stay here for the summer rather than in Lisbon and the answer is still no. Even though some roofs in the old town streets are covered with sheets to give the streets below some shade, it is still very hot as soon as you get out of shade even at 8pm. And we got the sense that today was a relatively cool day with barely a few digits above 30 Celsius.

First girls and I unwound from the trip at the local bakery shop with some pastries and cappuccino. Dan unwound in his favorite way as well.

Next we went into Cathedral, the third largest Christian church in the world. It has a multitude of chapels. A feast for the eyes though after a while you slow down on digesting of the information. Some of the particularly memorable areas are the central chapel with virgin statue and some five year old wooden carving with facial expressions like they’ve come from today. In some ways the humankind really did not get that far in that time. There is also a tomb of Christopher Columbus. Georgia said it is was a bad thing because he caused deaths of all those Indians. Indirectly yes. But if not for him, five, ten, fifty years later there would be someone else. Possibly with even better weapons and more deadly diseases. Discovery of something new sometimes goes through the horrible abuse process until people figure out what to make of this new knowledge.

Anyway, there was also beautiful oval Renaissance chapel with some parts copied over from Michelangelo’s. Spatially it was a weird place to be – it felt somehow wrong. Finally, we really enjoyed the climb up the tower. It was the first tower that had inclined walkways suitable for a stroller. But we did not want to wake up Georgia and so we took turns. Georgia up with both Dan and I. 

Next we went to the royal palace and garden. Both are great. Other than Dan being knocked off the stairs with the stroller by the girl who was running down, there was no particular incidents. Dan scraped his elbow but otherwise he and Isabella were OK.

Kids got so used to the portable potty that they hardly ever think about declaring that they have to go – right now, whenever the moment strikes. Yesterday we spoke with Georgia and asked her to give us a little warning. It is one thing to set up the potty in a middle of the street for a two year old, doing that for a six year old can be a bit uncomfortable. So today, in the garden she said, very calmly that she has to go. And it is number two. We asked when. She said in a minute. I know the king does not come here a lot but I was not ready to set up the potty in the royal garden surrounded by the tourists. It was kind of funny after the mad rash through the park to find the bathroom. 

Another funny moment was when we got inside the maze made out of some tall bushes and got stuck with the stroller. We tried to find the exit this way and that, and kids started to get nervous. So we had to get out using some brute force, entertaining the people around.

Next we took a stroll around Santa Cruz neighborhood. The clean, well lit buildings, even in the narrowest of passageways are a treat. We saw the famous backyard that inspired Washington Irving. Only it was locked up. Dan took a picture by sticking the camera through the bars above the gate. Did not inspire us. Maybe they invited him in for a drink and that did the trick.

After a passable tapas and paella dinner (Georgia tried everything, Isabella bit into every bread bun on the table) we walked along Paseo De Las Delicias along the river to Parque Maria Louisa and took some many pictures near the beautiful Palace there.

After that we walked home via excellent Avenue de Constitution along the way. It was wide and filled with people. Families were strolling with strollers, people were having dinner, rollerbladers and so on. In addition, there were services going on at the Cathedral and they were allowing people in for free. We glanced inside and saw some tourists taking advantage of the opportunity. 

We saw not one, not two, but three Starbucks stores and a Dunkin Donuts all within the sight distance of each other. Nothing can beat coffee served in twelve once cup.  

Spain used to be famous for its four-five hour lunch. Stores would just suddenly close at noon or 1pm until the dinner time. Streets would go dead and only bewildered looking tourists would be walking around in heat and asking why. That’s how it was in 1999. Nowadays it looks like Spain has started the shift toward the global standard of the working hours. So far it looks like there is completely random pattern of opening and closing stores, not in any way resembling the posted hours. But in the end you get some stores open throughout the day and others in the morning and evening. That means so far, it is the best of all worlds.

Almost forgot. Garbage cans are very modern – they look like mini-incinerators. You put your garbage in, close the door and turn the handle, and then when you open it again – the chamber is empty. Very cool! We tried a few times to make sure.