This Can't be Real, I Must be Dreaming ...

We have certainly been to some outstanding spots on our trip, but nothing beats this ...

    We are back in Italy, with a stopover on our way from Malta to Poland ...

    

    I don't know that I have ever been to anywhere as nice as Lake Como, in the Italian Alps.  This place is outstanding, to the point where you wonder - Is this for real?  Am I dreaming?  The Painting above is representative of what this place is like.

    First off, you have to take a train into the Alps to get there, with lots of tunnels.  Then you need a Ferry Boat to get around everywhere else on the lake, it's really fun, with constant views in all directions. 

    When we arrived at our location ... we were a little speechless.

    In fact ... we are staying in Bellagio, Italy, the real Bellagio - not the one in Las Vegas.  It's on the shores of beautiful Lake Como.  

    Our room is at the genuine Bellagio Hotel, and it is truly one of a kind.

    Fiona went out of her way to find a nice place, and she hit a total home run.  We overlook the lake, with the top floor corner room, and the views are priceless.

     And the view out the window is remarkable! 

We took a boat ride and went to several places.

    We visited a park (actually an historical garden) and it was amazing!

    The park was a 200 year old botanical garden right on the lake.

There were views upon views of the lakeside.

And classic Italian houses and dwellings.

    Everywhere you look are fascinating views and grand vistas. 

    Almost too many pictures to post ...

    The Alps run right down to the lake, and frame all the views with dramatic cliffs and snowy mountain tops. 

    Of course, some of the ferry boats are real classic Italian style designs, and they run on time (somewhat unusual for Italy) so you can go wherever you want and it's super mellow on the lake and very relaxing. 

    And what day is complete without a sunset picture?

No, we didn't see George Clooney ...

    Unbeknownst to me, apparently George Clooney spends a bunch of time around here.   I guess he got married here?

    I have always wanted to come to see this Lake, and I had no idea that George was hanging around here on a regular basis.  We didn't run into him on our travels. 

    So, two weeks in a row, we missed the Pope, and now George Clooney (draw your own conclusions), but we travel on and hope to find someone else famous. 

    

The Maltese Falcon! ... and other Mysteries - On the Island of Malta

The Movie, "The Maltese Falcon", based on a novel by Dashiell Hammett, is one of the Greatest Movies of all Time

    The movie was made in 1941, starring Humphrey Bogart, based on the 1929 Novel.  It's a mystery/detective movie with the main character Sam Spade, trying to solve an ancient enigma.

    It is the long ago tale of intrigue and pirates, originating here in Malta, about a missing diamond & jewel incrusted figurine sent from the Knights of Malta to the King of Spain in 1539.

    Only - it never made it there, and has been an enduring mystery for almost five hundred years ... 

The Maltese Cross, from the Knights of Malta

    

       
    Sounds like a plot from an Indiana Jones movie, but the story is real.  And the mystery, and history, of this island nation live on into this current day. 

Malta is at the crossroads of civilization 

    Since dang near the beginning of recorded time, Malta has been in the mix.  How's that for an academic statement?  But it's true.  You find out stuff when you spend time in a place, and this is one of those places. Some of the oldest structures in the world are in Malta, google it ... when you finish reading this article!

    Pretty much every empire centered around the Mediterranean had a stake in Malta at one point, the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Ottoman Turks, Napoleon, etc. on and on. 

    There is so much to see in Malta.  The unfortunate thing is that we came here after visiting Rome and Istanbul, and we've talked about adjusting ... this place is a totally different vibe.  But upon further review, it's really wonderful.

Our Day in Pictures ... Sunshine and Sea Breezes

    After a lot of time in big cities, we were ready to spend some time in the countryside.  We planned a long hike in the rural area of Malta, anticipating new views and good scenery.

    We weren't disappointed.  We took a bus to the village of Mdina (pronounced Em-dina) and began our hike.  The day was especially clear and sunny after the heavy rains of yesterday.  Check out the flowers ...

     So we hiked down obscure but historic roads and trails, with viewpoints of special interest.  It was very enjoyable, and the fresh air and exercise were welcome, although we have done A LOT of walking on this journey.  We found a historic tiny church ;

And the scenery and the hills were compelling to look at ...

    We went over hill and dale and eventually found our way to the coast, at some considerable distance.

    The coastline is composed of spectacular cliffs, and we were rewarded for our hiking efforts with some awesome views.  
    Wow, this takes your breath away, with the sun and the view and the sea breeze and the history and just trying to absorb all this ...

    And there were churches along the way.  This is the Mary Magdalene church on the south coast of Malta, simple, but very aesthetic, right on the cliffs ...

Back in the City, time for a ferry ride!

    We eventually found our way back to town, and being the intrepid travelers - and time is short - we went on a ferry ride, can you tell we're happy?

     We crossed the bay to another part of the city, famous for boating and restaurants.

This side of the city had some beautiful pretty sailboats and things, along with historic churches and forts ...

On the way home, we passed by the cafe where we had the birthday party and spoke to the owner and he explained that his building was over 400 hundred years old.  

We had late lunch at a sidewalk bistro, famous for it's handmade pizza.  

It's hard to imagine a better day than this while traveling.  Finished off with a beautiful sunset.  You set out with optimistic expectations, and you exceed them.  Wow!

All in a Day's Travel - invited to a Birthday Party

Late Afternoon Picture of Ruins from the Forum in Rome

You Never Know What You're Going to Run Into

    So we are in Malta now, Rome went quickly (see below) and today we have encountered our first bad weather of the trip.  We have been blessed with sunshine and warm temperatures most places we've been.   

    But it's raining here in Malta, although it's not cold.  And since we're Oregonians, we don't mind a little rain, we just keep going. 

   Where is Malta, anyway?  (Where's Waldo?)  It's an island nation in the south Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Tunisia.  

A couple stories from this afternoon ...

    We are sitting in a sidewalk cafe having an afternoon lunch, the rain hadn't started yet.  So this old guy comes and sits beside us, and orders a coffee.  Eventually a younger guys comes along and sits at the next table, on the other side of the older guy, and also orders a coffee. 

    So presently the old guy pulls out this old school big radio.  Not a boom box but the old transistor radio like from the 1950's.  He pulls it out of a cheap plastic grocery bag starts to tune it, not having much luck.  Just a scratchy bunch of poor quality static.  Sounds like opera, I think to myself.

    The younger guy watches him, you can see him in the photo above (I snapped these pictures very discreetly).  The sound was real funky and pretty bad and eventually the younger guy, a hipster, says to the old guy: "why don't you get yourself a phone, man, you can get any music you want out of a good phone." 

    And the old guy looks at him like he is from Mars. He doesn't get the connection: "I don't need a phone ... I don't need to call anyone"

    Young hipster: "No man, phones do everything now.  You can get music, any kind you want, better than that ... contraption"

   Old guy staring at young guy, not quite understanding: "Why would you use a phone to play music?"   

   Hipster stares back, realizing that this conversation will not bear fruit, and shakes his head: "Geez man ... never mind."  He finishes his coffee, picks up his phone, and walks off, still shaking his head. 

   Old guy, still staring at the hipster, whispers: "why don't you mind your own business ..."

    The old guy gives up on the static, and carefully places the seriously old school radio back in the plastic bag, finishes his coffee, and leaves.  

Not many people here in Malta?

    We are driving in from the airport to our hotel with another guest from some other country, and the shuttle car driver.  This is a small island and seems rather peaceful and subdued compared to Istanbul and Rome, which are both very crowded, intense, and noisy.

    We are driving through the outskirts of the city and as we get downtown, Fiona notices a decided lack of people around.  Like I said, radical difference from where we've been the last couple weeks.  

    Fiona finally says, "where are all the people?"

    Driver: "People, ma'am?  What people?"

    Fiona: " I don't see any people, there is no one around."

    Driver: "Oh, we have people here on Malta"

    Fiona: "I don't see anyone.  There is nobody out walking around"

    Driver, getting defensive: "Yes there are people here in Malta, lots of people"

    Fiona:  "I can't see anybody, where are they?"

    Driver:  "I can assure you we have people here ... "  He looks around and suddenly points, "Look, over there!  There is a person right over there!"  

    HAHAHA - Maybe you had to be there, but it was pretty funny. 

Invited to a Birthday Party 

    You meet the nicest folks when you travel.

    So we are out walking around this evening and it's pretty wet.  But we press on as intrepid travelers ... until we can't take it anymore and we slip into this tiny cafe, out of the weather.  

    Inside, we are met with a friendly dog and greeted by a couple of patrons.  Immediately this young couple next to us starts talking and asking us where we're from.  

    We tell them we're Americans and they ask what state, and we say Oregon.  I think I have mentioned before that most people in other countries don't know much about Oregon.  But these guys know Portland and they say they want to go there someday - "It's the craft beer capital of the world, and they have a wonderful bike riding culture."  Cool, these guys know their stuff.

    So we are chatting with them and the other patrons, and the owner, and they all know each other.  They all seem to be from different countries, Holland, Belgium, Italy, England, Malta, etc.      

    The dogs are friendly and the atmosphere is very warm and relaxed and cosy in this tiny spot.  

    So all of them are talking about this one guy who is there and it's his birthday.  So after being there a while, we are getting ready to leave and this woman from another table says, "please, you must stay, we are going to have birthday cake!"

    And Fiona is halfway out the door, and the woman says, "no, please stay, we're going to have cake, join us!"  

    So in less than five minutes she produces a cake from the back room (turns out she baked it) and we stay and visit with the birthday guy and he was very friendly and delighted to have us there.  The cake was toffee, chocolate, and banana, and it was delicious.  We sing happy birthday, and the dogs are barking with excitment and it's a rather special moment ... great fun. 

A quick recap of Rome ... if that's possible

    

    We didn't really have enough time to share and talk about our visit in Rome.  It went way too fast.  What happens is - we go long and hard visiting the city and you kind of run out of time and next thing you know you're on an airplane heading to the next destination. 

    Rome was almost ... overwhelming.  It is so grand and packed with spectacular buildings and sites, that it's hard to absorb it all and take it all in.  Everytime you turn a corner there is some phenomenal structure that makes your eyes pop out of your head. 

    The history in Rome is vast and the city seems to drip with profound relects of the distant past, along side currently relevant things.  

    For example, first thing on our second day there, we set out for the Vatican.  It's actually a separate country technically, and our first time there. But there are a few thousand other people who want to visit there too.  The current Pope is pretty popular.  He was home, but too busy to see us.  (just kidding!) 

    The line to get into St Peter's Basilica was well over three hours long, and with a limited amount of time to spend, we had to pass on that and keep moving.  

    We visited several "landmarks" and at least did a walk by visit to most of the top spots.  In fact, I use a FitBit everyday to track my steps, and yesterday was a banner day with over 30,000 steps covering almost 17 miles.  Exhausting.  

    Thanks to our good friend Riccardo Callender, who knows Rome well and gave us key advice on where to go and how to get there, we accomplished a lot and really enjoyed the experience. 

    Rome has a great vibe, and the people were fun and you really need to spend a week here if you can - but we couldn't.  

    One of our favorite things was visiting the ruins of the Roman Forums, pictured above.  This is where Caesar walked and the scale of these ruins is stunning.  They go on forever, and the quality of workmanship is still evident today, over 2,000 years later.  We would have enjoyed a lot more time there. 

    You have to make trade offs when you're heading around the world, and unfortunately the Rome visit was a bit short.  Maybe someday we can come back.  

How Italy Changed My Life

I've Never Really Been To Rome Before

    We arrived in Rome yesterday on our Around the World trip.   It's a bit strange to me that with all of our travels, we've never really been to Rome.  I set out there a long time ago and never made it, and my life changed (for the good) forever. 

    So I will tell you the story with some of our pictures of Rome tossed in for good measure  ...

Okay so we're going back in time a little bit here -----

    A True Story:  I have always liked to travel.  It kind of runs in my family and is part of my DNA, and I have passed along the gene to my own children.  I also married into a soul mate who also loves to travel. 

    A long time ago, I was a young man with an adventurous spirit who set out to see the world.  I was nineteen.  I went to Europe with a great friend Paul Whitlock, and we visited a bunch of places on (and off) the beaten path.  We were backpacking in the days of hippies and counter culture and the Vietnam war and revolution.  

We grew up in the 60's, and this was 1972.  

    At one point on our trip, we were making our way from (somewhere in) France to Rome.  The strategic thing to do at that time, was to take an overnight train and sleep on the train, thereby avoiding hotel or hostel fees, and you wake up and voila! there you are in Rome or whatever your destination.  

    So that was the plan.  However, upon entering Italy on the train, we were awakened by an Italian border train guard.  It was real early in the morning.  I was kind of groggy and not completely awake.  

    The border agent / train conductor asked me for my ticket and passport.  I reached into my pocket where I kept my wallet ... and no wallet.  I patted myself down like someone looking for something in his pocket, but no wallet.  The guard demanded to see my ticket.  

    When I looked down to see my pocket, it had obviously been cut open, like with scissors, and my wallet was gone!  Not good.  I showed the train border guard my pocket and said, hey! look, somebody stole my wallet and my ticket (among other things).

    He was unsympathetic.  If you don't have a ticket, you have to get off the train.  "but I had a ticket!  can't you see that someone stole it?  gimme a break, I've been robbed!"   

    Apparently someone with a degree of skill had come into our train car while we were dead asleep, and cut my pocket and stolen my documents.  At least I still had my passport ... which brings up another story for another day altogether.

    So at the next stop, I get thrown off the train.  It was in Genoa Italy.  Genoa is a long way from Rome.  Paul still had his stuff (I was the lucky one) and he got off the train with me.  

    We talked it over and decided he should go on to Madrid Spain, and we would meet up later, at a pre-arranged time and place.  This was 1972 and there was no internet or cell phone or email.  Just blind luck, as it turned out. 

    So here I was stuck in Genoa Italy, on my own, no money and barely nineteen years old.  I slept in a burned out car, got pretty grimy, and tried to hitchhike, but only got about five miles before I gave up.  

Intermission - some pictures from today

    This picture is from the Pantheon, an amazing and relatively unknown landmark in Rome.

This picture shows the Circus Maximus, the original stadium in Rome, now in ruins. 

Sunset over the Tiber River, which runs through the heart of Rome.

Rome is incredibly spectacular.  Everywhere. 

The Colosseum - after 2000 years.

Amazing scenes that never seem to end.

Rainbow over Rome at Sunset

Okay, so back to the story ...

   Long story short, I was able to get some money, and bought a used car from a ancient Spaniard seaman in Genoa, whose name was Juan Allegria (Allegria means happy in Spanish, I'm not making this up). I assumed he had the right papers. 

    I drove to Madrid Spain, and again, by completely blind luck, was able to find Paul, basically walking down the street in Madrid.  No way!  By this time he was also broke and said he had talked to a guy on on the train who said they were hiring on the Oil Rigs up in Scotland. 

    Sounds good to me!  Let's go.

    So we drove to Scotland (it's a long way from Madrid) and made our way to the town of Aberdeen, where we got jobs pretty quick on the oil rigs out in the North Sea.  

    So I met a young girl there and we kind of hit it off.  She was a lovely college student at the University in Aberdeen, and her name was Fiona Kennedy, and she eventually became my wife. 

    Okay, so for those of you who have been patient enough to read this story, Fiona and I are in Rome, catching up on lost time.  My life changed since I first set foot in Italy.  Now we have finally made it to Rome ...

    

    More soon on our current trip. 

    P.S. Turns out the car I bought was stolen from somewhere in Germany.  How was I gonna know that?  At least I didn't get busted for auto theft ...

    P.S. Believe it or not, I actually got my wallet back with everything (except the money) about a year later.  There was a theft ring on the train involving the conductor.  Life can throw you a few curves ... 

Hey Mustache! And other Funny Stories

Sometimes the little things are the funniest

Stories are the best way to explain things ...

    There have been some big stories resulting from our trip, and events sometimes take on a life of their own.  But also, there are the little moments that make things special or at least funny.  

    As an example, I was in a elevator in Cape Town and a couple of Asian guys get in.  They smile and look friendly.  

    So I say to them:  "Hello, how are you?"  

    And the one guys answers back ... "Chinese"

    Okay, so I follow up with another comment "So are you here on vacation/holiday, or are you here for work?"

    And he answers ... "I don't know"

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    Another time, we were at the Pyramids in Egypt, and everybody is trying to hustle you to make a buck, they want you to buy their stuff, and they can be very aggressive.  The best option is to try to ignore them, if you engage them in conversation, you can't escape.

    So we just keep looking straight ahead when they ask us to buy stuff or whatever.  It feels rude to do that, but you cannot get drawn into their schemes.  They are accomplished con artists and they won't let up until you buy something.  And there were no other tourists around, so we are serious targets for everyone. 

    So this guy comes riding by on a camel and he wants us to pay for a ride on his camel.  Not gonna do it.  We ignore him.

    He finally shouts out "Hey Mustache!"

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    Since I have a rather obvious and prominent mustache, it seems to be a target of hecklers or admirers, take your choice.  We had just been laughing about how the locals seem to notice the mustache.  

    Here in Turkey, a mustache is a proud masculine badge of manhood.

   So we are walking down the street and they are really after you to come into their restaurant or buy their goods, and low and behold, another guy shouts - "Mister Mustache!  Come and see my rugs!"

Do you know where Oregon is?   

    Here's another anecdote - Everyone wants to know where you're from.  They always ask us:  "Where you from?  Are you German, Australian, English, Canadian, American, French?  you name it.  In fact, today some guy walked up and said "Hey Scottish!"

   So at our Hotel, the guy working the front desk here in Istanbul says, "where are you from?"

    I answer "I'm American" (it's easier to say than I'm from the United States)

    And he says - "what part?" 

    Here's a tip for any potential travelers:  Nobody knows where Oregon is.  They might know New York, or California, or maybe Texas, but nobody knows about Oregon. 

    So I tell this guy:  "We come from a state called Oregon ... (and I always ask them) Do you know where it is?"  And nine times out of ten they have no idea. 

   And he answers "Oregon, cool, I know where that is"

   And I'm thinking bull hockey "You know where Oregon is?

   And he says, "Yeah Oregon, like the Oregon trail, like a bunch of Indians and sh*t"  HA HA HA!

Be careful When you pay people 

   So we were in Senegal and trying to find a restaurant in a town we were not familiar with.  We drove around and got lost.  We knew the name but had no address.  

    By the way:  People in foreign countries are not big on addresses.  They don't use maps.  They just say, turn left at the cow and turn right at the tree and then turn right again at the brown goat. (I'm serious, you get these kind of directions)

   So we finally give up.  We offer to pay some young dudes on a motocycle taxi (they have motorcycle taxis everywhere) to lead us to the place, and they say "talk to Abdul" and he finally shows up and says "of course I know where this restaurant is", and I pay him like a dollar to direct us and we will follow him. 

    Fiona and BouBou say, "you shouldn't have paid him in advance" but I'm thinking in a rather naive way, he said he would take us there.  How hard can his be?  So we drive around in circles and this looks bad and we finally come to a bogus cafe and he points and says this is it.

   Only this is not it.  What, are you making this up?  Do you really know where you are going?  And BouBou starts giving this guy a hard time, like "You moron!  This is not the right place!  You are just guessing!  Take us to the correct place!  Right now!"

    And the guy is totally intimidated, and says, "yes I know the way, follow me" ... and takes off at a high rate of speed.  We try to follow him, but he is moving fast, and we cannot keep up with his morotcycle, and ... he gives us the slip ... he vanishes!

    And Fiona and BouBou say, "we should have never paid him in advance!  This is a rip off!"  And I'm thinking, I was the fool who paid him ... Oops!

    So we had to struggle and drive around to find the place, and once we did ... the meal was actually pretty good!

One final story - Mayhem on the airplane

    So we are on the way from Dakar Senegal to Istanbul.  It's a long overnight flight we finally land the plane.  They have to taxi a long way to the gate.  It takes a while. 

    Passengers on the plane begin to stand up and take their bags out of the overhead bin, and we are still moving!  We have to taxi a long way, and everyone is standing up and moving around and it is crazy!

   The flight attendant tells them to sit down and remain in their seats, but they are not hearing this, it is bumpy and chaotic.  

   There are bags and people jostling around everywhere.  We hear the captian come on the intercom "Flight attendants please prepare for landing and cross check"

    And Fiona says, "I don't what cross checking is, but it ain't gonna happen with this bunch!"  It was hilarious!  When they finally stopped the plane at the gate, half the people almost fell down.  I was amazed nobody got hurt!

 

  

Cultural Icons - Take a Guess - In Turkey and ... Elsewhere!

Why are some countries known for certain things?

The definition of icon is: a person or thing regarded as a representative or symbol of something.

    When we think of different countries and places, it often brings to mind specific symbols or iconic stereotypes that make us think of the place, even if we've never been there. 

    As an example, when you think of Scotland (the land where Fiona was born and raised), it brings to mind bagpipes, kilts, and Scotch whisky.  Or when you think of Australia you think of kangaroos or beaches or barbecues.  "put another shrimp on the barbie"

    So Fiona and I set off today to discover and experience the iconic things that Turkey is known for.  Not by design, we just had a few things we wanted to do and see, and they turned out to be Turkey Icons.  Maybe that could be a good name for a rock band, the Icons of Turkey ... 

    Anyway, we kind of overslept this morning, and that hasn't happened very much on this trip.  Normally we wake up early because of time changes, but we got a slow start today. 

If you are not familiar with Turkey, we will supply the iconic references

    One of the things that certainly comes to mind for Istanbul is the incredible Mosques they have here.  The Blue Mosque is very famous around the world and rightfully so.  

    And then we went around the city and had a late lunch with - Turkish Coffee - surely you've heard of this.  It is served in a very small cup and is thick and very strong.  In fact, I was in a funk, lacking energy for no good reason, and with a shot of Turkish coffee, I got back in the game big time.  

    It gets it's name from the way it is brewed.  Kind of like tea, they just put the rich coffee grounds in the pot and leave them to brew.  It comes out very strong, and they put in sugar or honey, and it's served thick with the coffee grounds settling at the bottom.  Major caffiene rush.

    This picture was taken with a view of the Bosphorus Straits in the background where we had lunch.  They serve a glass of water with the coffee, because you need to rinse the coffee grounds out of your mouth when you're done with the coffee.

  

    *** Note: By the way, maintaining energy with constant traveling is sometimes a challenge.  We tend to hit it hard every day.  We did not undertake this journey to lay around by the pool. We usually head out first thing in the morning and don't get back to the hotel until 10:00 at night - and then get up the next day and do it again.  And we were a bit worn out from Senegal, it was a lot like work there.  

    And throw in constant plane trips and airport delays and not eating right half the time and sleep deprived, and well, you get the picture.  And let's face it, we're not getting any younger ... 

Another cultural icon of Turkey is smoking strong cigarettes

    This is not my favorite thing.  Everybody smokes here, and they smoke in restaurants, on the Metro, pretty much everywhere.  Doesn't matter if other people are around, or kids, they're smoking.  Strong stuff too.  

    We used to call the Turkish cigarettes Balkan Sobranie.  A cup of their coffee and one of their cigarettes and your head will explode!  

And you can't ever forget Turkish Delight and especially Baklava

    These guys know how to do sweets.  Baklava is a wonderful concoction of light and delicate pastry mixed with nuts and honey.  

    We found a special local place tonight to engage in this ritual and it was out of this world!  Absolutely amazing flavor, mixed with pistachios and walnuts and dripping with honey and delicate pastry, Fiona rightly described it as heavenly.

  

     I'll include the picture just because I raved about it, but the pic is rather inadequate to match the experience.  I was sorely tempted to lick the plate ... but I maintained my limited dignity. 

East meets West, and Old meets New

    Istanbul, and Turkey in general, is an important crossroads between Europe and the West, and Asia and the East.  This place is dripping in history.  These are some pictures we took on a boat trip this evening as the sun was going down, on the Bosphorus Straits, the body of water that separates the two continents.  This really is a special place. 

    And this last picture shows a castle built in the 12th century up against the backdrop of the new modern bridge built in 1970.      

    Wow!  And to think at this point we were at the mouth of the Black Sea, which borders Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, and former Soviet Georgia.  

One Final Note 

    All countries have their cultural icons, including America.  In fact America has a bunch, and we export them around the world. 

    And guess which cultural icon we saw heaps of today?  

     Marilyn Monroe!  She was in the shops - on t-shirts, hand bags, you name it.  Very popular here.

     An interesting world we live in ...  

What A Difference A Day Makes ... Istanbul, Turkey!

(Lots of pictures follow below!)

    So we are trying to shift back into Travel mode, after a busy time in Senegal

    Our Around The World trip has gone in several phases, or rather distinct portions.  Asia was amazing and unique, and the Middle East and Africa were a lot different and interesting and at times a little dangerous. 

    Then we spent an intense time in Senegal with our Andando Foundation, working hard and in very difficult conditions and carrying out many intiatives and projects. 

    So now we are in Istanbul, Turkey, and just arrived this morning after an over night flight.  (note: sleeping on planes, sucks)  

    An Essay ... and a little review ...

    This is day 54 in our trip, which will conclude at day 80 ... you know, around the world in 80 days, eh?  

    We have been moving along, with fourteen countries so far and seven more to go. 

    There have been what seems like endless currency changes, language has been a challenge, with new time zones, borders to cross, etc.  Communication has been a challenge from day one with no phone service and often no internet.

    One of the biggest adjustments has been to acclimatize to the weather. 

    For example, most places we've been (with the exception of Beijing China) have been warm or downright hot.  But coming to Turkey from West Africa (Senegal) has been a huge temperature change - from 102F to 52F - a change of 50 degrees!   That is pretty hard to get used to in basically one day.

    When we landed in Istanbul, it was cool and windy, and the day was filled with rain.  We're used to that coming from Oregon, but we're not used to that on this trip.  We had to dig out our jackets and sweaters to prepare for the day.  

    We've been blessed with extraordinarily good weather on this trip and it's been sunny and hot pretty much the whole time.   I guess we've been spoiled, but that may change now that we're back in the Northern Hemisphere and will finish the trip in the north part of Europe.

    It's a bit like having Attitudinal Whiplash

    I thought I might describe this rapid change as emotional whiplash, but that would not be as relevant as the required change in attitude.  To explain further: when you have a radical physical change, it's like you get whiplash (like the injury when your head gets snapped around).

    Having to change your attitude in a nano-second to adjust to a new reality is, well ... let's just say it's like attitudinal whiplash.  Okay, so I over explained that ...

    Anyway ... one minute you are in the desert heat in Africa teaching ladies a class on business, and the next moment you are in Istanbul, and you have to shift back into Travel mode and leave behind your recent conditions and embrace a new day. 

    Or another example: One minute you are in Egypt, with a broken country, terrible conditions, and bombs going off, and the next minute you are in spectacular Mount Kilimanjaro, with amazing wild animals and views that take your breath away. 

    This is not a bad thing.  This is why we travel, and we enjoy the adventure.  But it's important to be resilient, and flexible, and ready for whatever comes next.  We love this, but it sure keeps you on your toes!

Istanbul, where East meets West ... and Old meets New

   I wish everyone could come to Istanbul some day, this place is totally fascinating.  

   The best way to tell this story is to show pictures - A pictorial recap:

This is one of the numerous public transport methods in Istanbul, a tram dating back 70 years.

    This picture shows the variety of night time shops they have, with a very wide range of produce and spices - and best of all - olives of every variety!

    This amazing book store occupies a building that is probably three hundred years old.

Another view of the bookstore, with a narrow winding stairway up to the loft, with amazing books and maps.

    Another View - this is literally the bridge between Asia and Europe, across the Golden Horn.  You can see the impressive Hagia Sofia mosque in the background.  

     Another View - these guys love their music!  We discovered a really cool neighborhood section of town with tons of musical instrument stores.  Anyplace that appreciates music is a place I like.  

    Another View - There is a lot of water in and around Istanbul and they have floating restaurants, like the one below. 

    Another View - even with marginal weather, the people of Turkey are out and about, in big numbers.  The street life is fun and colorful.