Europe 2015

We're headed to Bergen (yellow) and Oslo (green) in Norway, and then over to Amsterdam (blue). Flights are shown in the calendar. In the next couple weeks, I hope to add sites we might try to see and things we might try to do.

Click to enlarge

Where we'll be staying:

• Bergen
• Oslo
• Haarlem (outside Amsterdam, 2 days)
• Amsterdam: Hotel Casa 400 and Hotel Mövenpick

Trusted Travelers

That's me and my wonderful wife.  Officially!

Yesterday morning we drove out to Dulles Airport for our Global Entry interview with US Customs and Border Protection; we received email notification of our approval a few hours later.

If it works as advertised, Global Entry will allow us to bypass the long lines at customs when we return from overseas.  And it will allow us to do this because, you know, we are trusted travelers.  Officially!

Still in the works is our application to TSA's Pre-check program, which -- if it works as advertised -- will make it easier to get through the security line when leaving this country.  Our Pre-check interview is scheduled for a few weeks from now.

Iceland? Are you kidding me?!

Our friend, S., visited Iceland for a few days last year and loved it.  When she spotted another cheap trip this year, I encouraged The Wonderful Wife to go along.

TWW and S went back and forth.  Back and forth. With TWW getting keener and keener on the idea all the while.  By the time they finally agreed to do it, however, the bargain rate was no longer available.  Bummer!

But TWW looked and looked and found a comparable deal!  They were going to do it after all!  But no, S. had a prior commitment for those days! (Sad face)

I'll spare you the excruciating negotiations that followed.  The upshot is that TWW will be taking me to Iceland in May.

"Iceland!"  The very name scares me.

But . . .

• We found airline tickets that didn't require we relinquish either of our grandchildren
• We found an inexpensive tiny apartment (why would anyone stay in a hotel room when they could have an entire apartment -- even a small one -- for less?)
• Car rental is cheaper than I expected (and would be a lot cheaper if I felt comfortable with a manual transmission) 

So . . .

• We expect to see some lovely scenery (geysers, waterfalls)
• We -- maybe I should say "I"? -- hope to sip Scotch while lazing in a geothermal spa (the whole idea of "geothermal" anything blows my mind)
• We may take a tour on horseback (though I don't like horses, and they sure as hell don't like me)
• We hope to walk on a glacier
• We hope to see an iceberg or two . . . or more
• We have tickets for Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Iceland Symphony and also for "How to become Icelandic in 60 minutes"

Ireland, part 5 (Final!!!!!!)

Friday. We left Galway around 9:00 a.m. to drive due east, back to the Royal Marine Hotel in Dublin. I dropped the wonderful wife off at the hotel and then returned our car to the rental agency. I expected the agent to say something like “This dent under the front bumper wasn't there when you took the car so you owe us 76,000 euros,” but he didn't say a thing, so maybe it really was there when I picked the car up! I took a cab back to the hotel, and . . . and . . . and. . . I don't have any idea what we did the rest of the day.

 Saturday. We left the Royal Marine on a shuttle bus to the airport around 10 a.m. and switched to a cab at the airport to take us the rest of the way to Airport Orchard B&B. The bus cost us less than 20 euros, and the cab about the same. A cab all the way from Royal Marine would have cost us at least twice as much.

 When we arrived at the airport, the German (Austrian?) bus driver was gruff, and he declined the tip I offered when he dug out luggage out of the baggage compartment. He then climbed back into the bus, but came right back out to suggest which cab stand to go to ("You might save a little money.") When we arrived at Airport Orchard, we were way to early to check in, of course, but we were able to leave our bags, and our host, John, drove us to a nearby city bus stop where we were able to catch a bus into town.

Our bus dropped us off at the O'Connell Street bus headquarters, and we decided to walk to Kilmainham Gaol, thinking it might take 30 or 40 minutes. 75 minutes later, however, we still hadn't reached it, and I was ready for a drink. Actually, I was long past the point where I was ready for a drink, so we stopped in a pub. Guinness never tasted so good. A few guys at the bar were watching The World Cup of 9 Ball. They didn't really understand the rules of 9 ball, and they asked me to explain the game to them. I pretended I knew what I was talking about.

 Once we finally reached the jail, we waited in line for 20 minutes or so, then wandered through the museum for another 15 minutes while waiting for our 2:30 tour to begin. It lasted an hour and was very interesting; our guide Kevin gave us a lot of late 19th and early 20th century Irish history. Not wanting to try to walk all the way back to where we started, we caught a city bus back up to O'Connell St. (20 minutes, as opposed to an hour and a half walking) and wandered around that area's busy pedestrian shopping mall. Another city bus, with a most helpful driver, took us to the Coachman's Inn near the airport that our host, John, had recommended for supper. A wonderful "early bird" 3 course meal with coffee for 19.95 -- me, two big potato/salmon croquettes with tomato sauce, a big rib eye steak, and apple pie; the wonderful wife, Caesar salad, sole, ice cream. When we finished, the manager phoned “John,” who came, picked us up, and took us back to the B&B, where we spent a frustrating evening in which we couldn't get access to the internet. 6:30 next morning, John drove us to the airport.

 And so endeth our Irish adventure.

Ireland, part 4

Tuesday: The rainiest day of our trip – and windy to boot. We left Friars Glen and drove to Bunratty (just 2 hours away) in the rain. A bit of confusion, but no more than 5 minutes or so, trying to find our B&B ("Bunratty Castle Mews," which we had booked a couple days before when we realized that we had lost our voucher for a free night at Bunratty Castle). Bunratty was, by far, the least attractive area we visited on our trip; it's basically an excuse for a medieval theme park featuring what I assume to be amateurish performances. We didn't have any trouble deciding to skip it all and just drive to some nearby towns which, admittedly, didn't have much to offer, but at least they looked a lot less like tourist traps.

After dropping off our bags at the B&B, we drove another 25 km or so to the village of Quin; ate lunch (BLT and soup) at The Abbey Tavern (I think), and then walked across the street to tour the abbey ruins. Drove 10 km to the town of Ennis, toured the Clare County museum (not bad), and wandered the streets for an hour or so, before heading back to our B&B to have a drink in the the cramped little bar area.

Actually, the bar was a perfect match for our room, which was tiny (barely 9 feet by 9 feet), with twin beds, one not very comfortable chair, and a long, exceptionally narrow bathroom. As you may have guessed, not much about the B&B was good. One thing was, however: The manager, Delores O'Toole. Short, loud, wiry, hard working, full of life and good humor, and a very good cook, to judge from breakfast the next morning; I'm glad we met her and I wish I could say better things about her establishment.

Anyway, after our drinks, it was dinner (Irish stew for both of us) at the nearby Creamery , which I expected to be another tourist trap but which turned out to be pretty good, followed by an episode of Boardwalk Empire in our room. (Did I mention that we had put a season of Boardwalk Empire and a season of Pie in the Sky on our latop?) And so to bed. 

Wednesday. Clear skies for the wonderful wife's birthday. Drove to the Cliffs of Moher, where it was fabulously windy and cold. 

From there, to Lisdoonvarna for the Matchmaking Festival, but – it being the middle of the day in the middle of the week -- nothing was going on there. Thence to Ballyvaughan in hopes of finding the nearby stone fort.  But first, a couple good bowls of mussels for lunch at Monk's Restaurant, and then a drive up the coast to the lighthouse at Black Head. (I can't find a link for the lighthouse – Google offers me links to something in Northern Ireland, but we were still in County Clare.) Then back down through Ballyvaughan to the stone fort and the Dolmen. Both were moderately interesting.

Then an hour or so drive to Clayton Hotel on the outskirts of Galway. About 10 km of the drive was on a twisty, windy, up-and-down road barely wide enough for our tiny car. We didn't have any trouble, though – until we had gone about 9 ½ km, at which time we met a car coming the opposite way. What to do? I drove through brambles and bushes up onto the side of the hill and he managed to squeeze past (half off the road on the other side in equally thick brambles and bushes). Talk about tight quarters! No sooner did that encounter end, than we met another car coming at us. This time he yielded, and let us squeeze past. And then, thankfully, we were back on a normal, two-lane road. (A normal, two-lane Irish road, mind you, is a lot narrower than its American counterpart, but this one felt like I-95 after what we had been driving on for the previous 20 minutes.)

Clayton Hotel was wonderful; we had lucked into a mini suite, actually, with two queen beds on one side of the room and a couple straight backed chairs and a table in the other and a big TV that could be pointed to either side. Supper at Trappers Inn and Jacksons Restaurant; shank of lamb for the wonderful wife and bangers and mash for me. Both good. Our appetizer was potato skins with cheese and bacon bits.
Thursday. Drove into town, visited the interesting Galway City Museum and the Eyre Square shopping area. Back at the hotel, we finally got some information about the Aer Lingus international hurling festival, which we were hoping to attend. Opening ceremonies were to be held in a small town 30 KM away. We drove out there, but when we arrived, traffic in town was dreadful and we would have had to park miles from the venue, so we turned around and came back. Dinner again at Trapper's Inn. And so to bed.

Ireland, part 3

We didn't go into Cork for mass Sunday morning despite the fact that two churches were only about 15 minutes away from the hotel; one didn't off-street parking (and I didn't want to mess around trying to parallel park the rental) and the other looked sort of hard to get to. So after breakfast we drove through rain / mist / sprinkle to another lovely B&B, Friars Glen, in Killarney. We arrived around noon and were quite surprised that our room was ready for us. Hosts John and Mary and their assistant, Brigid, were all friendly and helpful. John spent 20 minutes or more explaining what was nearby and suggesting things for us to see and do. After relaxing for a bit -- and enjoying the warmth of a turf fire! -- we walked the half mile or so to the entrance to Killarney National Park. We had intended to continue walking in the park, but changed our mind when we were approached by jaunty car driver Neeley, who talked us into riding with him and his horse, Roger. Pretty scenery, including a waterfall and the gardens at Muckross House.

We suppered at Molly Darcy's Pub, a 10 or 15 minute walk from the B&B. A delicious BLT for me and an ordinary seafood chowder for TWW; for dessert we shared a wonderful bread and butter pudding with brown bread ice cream.

Monday: Breakfast was enormous, as usual, but this one featured porridge, which we were both curious to try. Not very good, even with Bailey's to pour over it. If I eat it again I'll use a whole bowl of sugar on it. A small van picked us up at 9:45 and took us to a shuttle bus that, in turn, took us to a tour bus that took us on an all-day drive around the ring of Kerry. I was expecting a lot of beautiful, dramatic scenery like the Pacific Coast Highway. No such luck.  Maybe we would have enjoyed it more if we'd done some research and had known what to expect. And maybe too if we'd driven ourselves and been free to stop wherever we wanted and veer off the main highway to explore a little bit. As it was, the highlights of the trip were:

• a shepherd / dog trainer demonstrating how border collies herd sheep, and
• the Kerry Bog Village (six dwellings with thatch roofing, restored to their original condition).

Supper at Molly Darcy's again (Dan cheeseburger, which he ate with a knife and fork; MLE, half a chicken) and then, surprisingly – because it was unadvertised – an hour or more of irish music , mostly sad and soulful except when the dancer(s) came on, at which time it got very lively indeed.

Ireland, part 2

We took a long cab ride from DT Dublin to Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire [pron. Doon Leery] , a suburb on the coast southeast of the city, arriving around 3:00 but we didn't get into our tiny, tiny room until 4:00 or 4:30. While waiting for the room, we wandered around the marina area and then went back to have a drink in a clubby-feeling part of the lobby. After a while, a man came in and started playing the piano; a little later I went to the front desk to ask if our room was ready yet (“No”) and while there, I asked the young woman behind the desk the name of the song the pianist was playing. I was curious to see whether she would say “Danny Boy” or “Londonderry Air.” Her answer: “I'm sorry, sir; I don't know what that is.”

“For God's sake,” I shouted, "It's Danny Boy, you twit!”

For supper, we walked up to Rasam, a highly rated Indian Restaurant about a mile or so away. Our tiny appetizers were Chicken Tikki for TWW and aloo chole for me; entrees were Lamb Something-or-other for TTW and Chicken Tikki for me.

Friday morning, after eating and packing our bags, I walked a couple miles to Sixt Rental Car, arriving at noon. It took a while before anyone was available to help me. Filling out the paperwork took some time and then I had to wait for someone to bring our Toyota Yaris around, so I didn't get back to the hotel until around 1:00. TWW was waiting for me in the driveway, so we tossed the bags in the car (two in the “boot” and two in the back seat) and headed off to Newlands Lodge, arriving around 3:00. Much of the way, we were on divided highways, and even when we weren't, the roads were relatively wide, with well-marked lanes. Until we were 20 minutes or so from the lodge, that is.  At which time the roads narrowed, the lane markings disappeared, and 7-foot high hedgerows (or, sometimes, 4 foot high stone walls) sprang up next to the asphalt. TWW had been nervous before, but now she was a wreck!  And I can't say I blame her.

After checking in to Newlands and relaxing for a few minutes we were back in the car, driving the 15 minutes into Kilkenny. We walked along the River Nore and its canal, around the Castle and its walled park, looked through some shops in the nearby tourist area, and ate supper and enjoyed an hour or so of some jiggy Irish music (3 guys, 2 guitars, 1 harmonica, 1 drum, and 1 fiddle) at Kyteker's Inn, which our hostess at Newlands had recommended. TWW had soup and lamb stew; I settled for fish and chips. The food was OK; the music was a real treat.

Back to Newlands, which was was beautiful, clean, and spacious. Hosts, Jimmy and Mairead (we never did figure out how to pronounce her name), were nice, though she talked nonstop.*  Our large, comfortable room had three mismatched chairs (one of which, a wicker, was close to falling apart). I showered that first afternoon with no problem, but when TWW tried it in the morning, she had no hot water, presumably because someone in the room above us was using the shower at the same time.

After breakfast the next day, we checked out and drove to nearby Kells Priory to wander around a bit before heading out to the Rock of Cashel and then on to Cork. We arrived at the Rock just as a tour was about to start. James was our guide -- a nice young man who spoke very well. You can follow the link to read about the Rock if you have any interest. What struck me most about the place was the view of Tipperary in “the Golden Vale”; I'd been reading a wonderful book about the horror that was World War I. Those god-forsaken trenches in France sure as hell were “a long, long, way from Tipperary.”

Thence to Cork International Airoport Hotel. Five stars! Wonderful room -- the size of two normal hotel rooms. After securing our room, we drove to Kinsale, 25 minutes away, walked the town, strolled around the castle, and had another of those early bird, fixed-price dinner at Hoby's: me, stuffed mushrooms and stuffed sole; TWW, breaded mussels and grilled cod.

================

* Mairead had been a banker before the crash.

Ireland, part 1

We landed at Dublin approximately on schedule (11 September at 11 a.m.), picked up our bags without any trouble — which surprised us a little because they, like us, had had to change planes several times and we had some trepidation that they might not have made that last switch in London — and headed off in search of the guy who was supposed to drive us to the hotel.*  Not finding anyone holding a sign with our name on it in the crowd near the exit from the baggage claim, I made to go into a tourist information office to see if I could use their phone — and that's where I spotted  him, leaning casually against the wall with a cup of coffee in one hand and a "Larkins" sign in the other.

The half-hour drive to our hotel was uneventful, but heavy traffic, riding on the wrong side of the road, and going the wrong direction at the many traffic circles made me wonder whether our plan to rent a car in a couple days was — what's the word? — stupid beyond belief.

We arrived at our hotel, DT (i.e.,DoubleTree) Dublin, around 1:00 — too early to get into our room, of course.  The lobby was in the process of being renovated, and each workman's tool of choice appeared to be a jackhammer,** so we left our bags and walked up Leeson Street, crossing the Grand Canal (which, we didn't know at the time but have since learned, cuts the country in two), and then along the eastern edge of St.Stephen's Green and wound up at Foley's Pub on Merrion Row for lunch. We sat at the bar, shared an order of fish and chips and drank Guinness while enjoying the chatter and activity of the friendly, witty, busy bar man and the friendly, pretty, busy waitress. Then back to the hotel to check into our room and rest a bit. At suppertime, we asked Google to find some restaurants nearby and we wound up choosing The Lobster Pot, which had received a lot of good reviews and which was a very pleasant mile's walk from the hotel and, it turned out, just a couple blocks from the U.S. embassy. Good dinner (appetizers: mussels for me and soup for The Wonderful Wife; entrees: chicken in mustard and cream sauce for me, salmon with Bernaise for TWW).***

The next day started — as all our days on this trip were to start — with a "full Irish breakfast," consisting of fruit, cereal, yogurt, potatoes, sausage, bacon (more like Canadian bacon than Oscar Meyer, and very good), blood pudding, eggs, assorted breads, coffee, tea, several kinds of juice, and god only knows what all else.  All the people over there should weigh 300 pounds!  Afterwards, we walked back up to St. Stephen's Green, actually going through it this time, and then wandered up Grafton Street (buying some Butlers (no apostrophe!) chocolate for gifts), made a half-hearted attempt to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College Dublin, but the line was long, so we walked over to the wonderful national museum of archaeology instead; highlights for me were the "bog bodies"  — fabulously well-preserved remains of people who died before Christ was born — and an exhibit on the Viking settlements around Dublin.

==============
* Before our trip to Turkey, we had arranged for an "airport transfer" only once.  After using the service a lot in Turkey, we'll always use it.  What a convenience!

** Fortunately, the noise did not carry.  We didn't hear a thing when we finally got to our room.

*** Most, maybe all, of the restaurants we ate in offered fixed-price, "early bird" dinner menus that include an appetizer and an entree for about the same price as the entree alone on the a la carte menu.  Hours vary from restaurant to restaurant, but at The Lobster Pot, "early bird" dinner is from 6:00 to 7:30, just the time we normally eat.  At Jackson's Restaurant in Galway, "early bird" runs until 8:30, if I remember correctly.  Who the heck wants to eat any later than that?

922 km on the wrong side of the road

A somewhat zoomable version is here.

More to come . . .

Update:  After checking the rental agreement for the car, I see that we actually drove 1172 km, not the 922 that Google Maps told me when I used it to reconstruct our road trip.

IDP

Walk into the AAA office on Old Courthouse Road with your passport photos, driver's license, and application form already filled out and you can get you International  Driving Permit in less than 5 minutes.

Five minutes, that is, if you don't count the wait.

Count the wait and it's a full sixty minutes.

Turkey leftovers

Our "Confirmed Turkey Travel Itinerary," which our travel agent gave us when we paid the balance of our bill a day or two before heading out on our adventure, is here.

Our answers to his request for comments on his service are here.

There's nothing interesting in either.

And we're back . . .

The best thing about Turkey, of course, was the company I was keeping.

Other memories, I find, are not so much about the mountains and caves and farms and other-worldy landscapes and temple ruins and water pipes . . . but rather (in no particular order):

• Sitting on the patio at the B&B in Şirince (pronounced, I think, sher-IN-ja) listening to the muezzin chant the call to prayer.  I'd heard that call a good number of times and it always sounded foreign and exotic, but this time it also sounded beautiful.  What a wonderful voice that guy had!
• The young guy who worked at the Şirince B&B.  He had modest skills English skills, but my wonderful wife's question "Do you take care of the goats or does someone else do it?" was rather beyond his abilities.  I tried to help by doing my best goat impersonation.  He laughed and laughed and couldn't say anything for at least a minute.
• The old guy at the Şirince B&B.  He didn't speak any English and I didn't speak any Turkish, but I tried a couple "Thank you's" and his three-tooth smile was blinding.
• A fabulous (and insanely cheap!) dinner at Mevlevi Sofrasi Restaurant in Konya, on the balcony overlooking the fabulously picturesque Mevlana Cultural Center and mosque.  This was the wonderful wife's When-Harry-Met-Sally meal:  An "Uunnnhh!" following each bite.
• The whirling dervishes' ceremony at the Galata Mevlevihanesi on our first Sunday afternoon in Istanbul.  I loved the movement.  I loved the music.  I loved the seriousness -- the spirituality -- of the entire ceremony.
• The night manager(?) at our apartment on Istanbul's Asian side.  Like the old guy at Şirince, he didn't speak a lick of English.  But what a sweet guy!  When we checked out, I did that Turkish thing that shows affection and respect -- touching my temples to his (first the left, then the right).
• This was the first trip we took where we used a travel agent and arranged for "transfers" between airports (or bus stations) and hotels.  Gosh, what a  convenience!
• A good, inexpensive restaurant in Kadiköy -- the name of which, unfortunately, I can't recall.  After a good meal, the waiter told me that the dessert I wanted wasn't available that evening.  He suggested another.  I was reluctant -- who wants a dessert with mozzarella cheese in it?  I gave in.  He brought out something that looked like burnt shredded wheat and yes, it had mozzarella inside.  And it was one of the best things I've ever tasted!  This was my When-Harry-Met-Sally moment.  [Update:  The restaurant was Niyazibeh; the dessert, künefe.]
• Back to Şirince.  We took the minibus into Selçuk 15 minutes away at the bottom of the mountain, and then another minibus to Tire (pron. TEER-eh) to see its market.  I don't know if it's the biggest one in Turkey, but if there's one bigger, I don't want to see it.  This thing was enormous!  I can't count how many times we got lost.
• The people were almost without exception spectacularly friendly and helpful.  I like to think that I'm pretty willing to help people who need it, but the Turks put me to shame.  Stop someone on the street and ask for help -- Where's the Mevlana Restaurant?  Where do I get the bus to Selçuk?  Where's the ferry to Beşiktaş? If he knows he'll tell you or show you or take you there.  And if he doesn't know he'll ask other people until he finds out . . . and then he'll tell you or show you or take you there.
• Istanbul is enormous.  No, make that eeennnooorrrmmmooouuusss! And crowded! And traffic, both the pedestrian and the motor vehicle variety, is insane!  And I never -- not once -- saw anyone lose his temper or even appear frustrated by congested sidewalk and streets.
• I had been looking forward to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul in the expectation that it would remind me of the souks in Riyadh 35 years ago.  Wrong.  A lot of junk with English speaking touts standing in front of almost every shop telling us that they have a cousin, nephew, brother in America and wouldn't we like to come in to take a look at their rugs, clothes, jewelry.
• On arriving at our hotel in the Asian part to Istanbul (10:30 on a Sunday night), I went out looking to buy water and beer.  I'll leave it to you to guess which was for me and which for the wonderful wife.  Lots of people out walking around or standing in small groups on street corners -- and I felt perfectly safe.  While I was buying my beer and water at a little hole in the wall shop on a side street, the police came in, checked the clerk's documents (business license, maybe, and driver's license) and then arrested him -- after kicking me out of the store.  I think we saw the police arrest, or at least hassle, someone every night we were on the Asian side.  
• I should mention that after being rousted by the cops that first night on the Asian side, I almost couldn't find my way back to our apartment. Not a comfortable feeling.

 And before I forget I should give a shout out to Turkish Airlines, which is -- what's the word I'm looking for? -- fabulous!

• Leg room!
• Restaurant-quality food!
• Real knives and forks!
• Free beer and wine and soft drinks and snacks!
• Affordable fares!

Who you calling a turkey?

We head to Turkey late tomorrow night.  Here's where we'll be staying and how to reach us in an emergency if you don't want to use email.

Note:  All the phone numbers begin with "+90."  The "+" indicates that you have to insert the code of the country you're calling from.  For the U.S., that would be "011."  Thus, to call Hotel Barceló Saray, dial 011 90 212 458 98. 

April 4 - 8

Hotel:  Barceló Saray
Address: Yeniceriler Caddesi 77. Beyazit | 34126 Istanbul
Telephone number: +90 212 458 98 00
Fax: +90 212458 9830
Email: saray@barcelo.com

April 8 - 11

Hotel:  Markiz Konaklari
Address : 6. Sokak, No:20/1 Sirince-Izmir / Turkey
Tel : +90 232 898 32 82/83
Fax : +90 232 898 32 84
E-mail : info@markizkonaklari.com

April 11 - 13

Hotel:  Melrose Hotel
Telephone : +90 258 272 22 50
Fax : +90 258 272 31 20
Reservation : sales@melroseresidence.com
Address : Vali Vekfi Ertürk Cad. No:8 Pamukkale /Denizli / Turkey

April 13 - 14

Hotel:  Pasapark Hotel
Address:  Sems-i Tebrizi Mh / Sultan veled Cd No:3 / PK: 42030 /
Karatay, Konya, Türkiye
Phone: +90.332 305 00 00
Fax : +90.332 305 00 10

April 14 - 16

Hotel:  Esbelli Evi
Address:  Esbelli Sokak, 8 (P.K. 2) 50400 / Ürgüp, Cappadocia, Turkey
Phone: +90 (384) 341-3395
Fax: +90 (384) 341-8848
E-Mail: esbelli@esbelli.com

April 16 - 21

Hotel:  Akin Suites
Address:  Rasimpasa Mahallesi Kirmizi Kusak Sokak No:24 / Kadiköy
Istanbul, Turkey
Email: info@akinsuites.com
Tel:      (+90) 216 4051370
Mobile: (+90) 533 6514254

Turkey, April 2013

April
03	Depart Washington at 2325 (Turkish Air 0008).
04	Arrive in Istanbul at 1640. Stay at Hotel Barcelo-Saray in old town.
05	Hotel Barcelo-Saray
06	Hotel Barcelo-Saray
07	Hotel Barcelo-Saray
08	Fly to Izmir at 1100. Stay at Markiz Konaklari in Serince.
09	Sightsee in Tire (not yet arranged) and Serince. Stay at Markiz Konaklari.
10	Tour Ephesus. Stay at Markiz Konaklari.
11	Sightsee in Serince. Bus to Pamukkale at 1600. Stay at Melrose Hotel.
12	Sightsee in and around Pamukkale. Stay at Melrose Hotel.
13	Bus to Konya. Stay at Pasapark Hotel.
14	Tour Konya and bus to Cappadocia. Stay at Esbelli Evi.
15	Hot-air Balloon Flight at dawn. Tour Cappadocia from 0930 to 1730. Stay at Esbelli Evi.
16	Another tour of Cappadocia. Fly to Istanbul at 2000. Stay at Akin Suites.
17	Akin Suites (on the Asian side of Bosphorus.)
18	Akin Suites
19	Akin Suites
20	Akin Suites
21	Depart Istanbul at 1310. Arrive in Washington at 1745 (Turkish Air 0007).

MKZ-ing

Suppose you're planning a trip to Turkey that's going to entail a couple 10+ hour flights.  And suppose you want to take some DVDs with you to watch on the plane.  And suppose you want to watch them on the Nexus 7 tablet that your wonderful son-in-law gave you recently rather than on an enormous, heavy laptop.

Problem:  The Nexus doesn't have a DVD drive.

Solution: In the weeks leading up to departure, install "Freemake Video Converter" on your PC and use it to convert that stack of DVD's into .MKZ files.  Then transfer the MKZ files from you PC to the Nexus.  

Voila!   Problem solved (as long as you remember to also install a "VLC media player" on the Nexus).

What a turkey!

We didn't go out of the country last year and my wonderful wife is desperate to get away -- so desperate, that she's even willing to go to Turkey for goodness sake! The itinerary so far:

• April 3:  Leave Dulles on Turkish Airlines 0008 at 23:25 for the 10-hour flight to Istanbul
• April 4:  Arrive Istanbul at 16:40.  collect baggage and head into town, checking in at Hotel Barceló-Saray at, what, 18:00?
• April 5-7:  Kick around the Sultanahmet district, "the heart of historic Old Istanbul" -- Grand Bazaar, Topkapi Palace, Grand Bazaar, Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar, Hagia Sophia, Grand Bazaar, etc.
• April 8:  Fly to Ismir, arrive at Markiz Konaklari in Şirince at 12:30(?).  Explore Şirince.
• April 9:  Vist Tire for it's weekly market -- "the biggest in Turkey" -- and/or taxi into Selçuk. Return to Markiz Konaklari.
• April 10:  Tour Ephesus. Return to Markiz Konaklari.
• April 11:  Kick around Şirince and/or Selçuk.  Board bus at 16:00 for trip to Pamukkale, arriving at Melrose Hotel at 20:30(?).
• April 12:  Tour Pamukkale and Hieropolis.  Return to Melrose Hotel.
• April 13:  Bus to Konya (Pasapark Hotel).
• April 14:  Tour Konya.  Bus to Cappadocia (Esbelli Evi).
• April 15:  Hot air balloon ride and tour of Cappadocia.  Return to Esbelli Evi.
• April 16:  More Cappadocia touring, including hike through Rose Valley.  Board plane for flight to Istanbul at 20:00.  Transfer to Akin Suites on the Asian side of the Bosphorus.
• April 17-19:  Chill out.  Visit some of the less touristy neighborhoods (at least Kadiköy and Beşiktaş), ride the ferry a few times, maybe take a cruise on the Bosporus.
• April 20:  Leave Ataturk Airport on Turkish Airlines 0007 at 13:10 for flight home.

Now that I look at it again, I wonder if it's a terrible allocation of time: Days and days in and around Ephesus, and maybe less time in Istanbul than we should have.  I guess we'll find out.

NYC, October 9-11, 2012

Highlights:

• The Cloisters, especially Campin's Annunciation Tryptich
• The Metropolitan Museum, especially de la Tour's The Penitent Magdelen
• Dinner at the Tavern on Jane -- Lillian's Cobb Salad: grilled chicken, gorgonzola, bacon, red peppers, bacon, tomato & egg 
• Dinner at L'Ecole -- Braised Octopus (sic) with herbed crispy polenta, tomato chutney, olives, squid ink (sic) foam; Mustard Crusted Lamb Loin with sautéed mushrooms, cabbage ragoût, pearl onions, garlic mashed potatoes; Warm donut with handmade espresso ice cream.

Low lights:

• A traffic jam on I-95 that turned our 4 1/2 hour trip north into a 7+ hour trip
• A.R. Gurney's new play, Heresy, at the Flea Theater.  A bad play, badly performed. 
• I had hoped to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge one morning and to visit the Tenement Museum at some point.  I wasn't able to do either.  Next time.

On the road, highlights

The highlights of our 13-day, 1840-mile trip:

• The company.  After 42 years, it's still a treat to be alone for a long, long time with my wonderful wife.  I'm blessed.

• The mountains.  Those peaks and ranges and basins and mesas and hoodoos and canyons and valleys and cliffs just don't quit.  We spotted peaks as we neared Las Vegas and never lost sight of them until we were flying home.  I'd always thought of the Rockies as a narrow band running from Canada to Mexico.  (And, who knows, maybe they are.)  But there are lots of other mountains out there besides the Rockies.  A whole "American cordillera," in fact. I guess that's why so much of the west looks crumpled up on a topographical map. Anyway, I had no idea how extensive the mountains are.  We drove a long, long way, and the scenery made every mile exciting.

• One day, the thrill of driving through that spectacular scenery was doubled when we cranked up  the choral symphony on the CD player. The whole piece is great, of course, but when the soprano climbed into nosebleed territory near the end, the wonderful wife and I both said, "Oh, wow!"  (You can listen to a little of the symphony here; Jessye Norman starts climbing higher and higher and gets stronger and stronger from about the 5:20 mark.  I should note that the recording we listened to is not the one shown on YouTube; rather, we listened to this one -- which also has Solti conducting and Norman singing.)

• An evening spent huddling in front of the fireplace in Eric Dunbar's courtyard in Las Vegas.

• A late afternoon sitting on lawn chairs at Zion Canyon B&B, talking and sipping some wine and smoking a cigar and looking up at the cliffs.

• The whole airbnb experience.  Very positive! 

• Leaving Zion. The narrow road twists and turns, with a long, steep drop waiting for you if you drift a little too far to the right; it takes you to a mile-long (no exaggeration) narrow (no exaggeration) pitch-black (no exaggeration) tunnel.  The wonderful wife almost had a heart attack.

• The wedding reception -- especially when Karen came over to our table and seemed to be comfortable visiting for half an hour or so.

• The carriage ride with Katie.

• Dinner at Karen and Kevin's with most of the clan.

• Twisty, curvey, bendy Colorado Route 114.

• How easy the driving was.  I have a hard time staying awake on a drive to Philadelphia, but out west I could drive all day without any difficulty at all.

On the road, continued

When you rent a car, the clerk does his damnedest to scare you into buying insurance:

• "Yes, you have other insurance, but you could still have to pay hundreds of dollars just to meet your deductible."
• "If you make a claim on your own insurance policy, you may see your premiums go up."
• "California is a no-fault state, so even if you're not responsible for an accident, you'll still be getting a bill for it."
• "Check the car very carefully before you leave the lot; if you return it with any scratches or dings, you'll be responsible for them."

But when you return the car, you usually get someone like we did, Billy, who pretty much said "What's the mileage, and how much gas is in the tank?" As long as a bumper wasn't dragging on the ground, Billy didn't seem to care what the car looked like.

So, returning the car was easy. Getting on the plane? Not so much.

We were at the airport several hours before our flight, but we needed all that time because when we presented ourselves to the American Airlines counter to check in our bag we were told that our flight had been canceled. (It might have been nice of them to phone us or send an email, don't you think?) Anyway, long story short, they booked us on a United flight to Denver and another to Dulles, getting us back to the Washington area within minutes of the time our American flight had been scheduled to arrive, so no great harm done.

On the road, continued

What did we do our first evening in Albuquerque?

• Saw "Salmon fishing in the Yemen" at the Century 14; only about three other people in the theater. It's very good! Hard to believe that it only scores 70 - 75 at Rotten Tomatoes.
• Supped après que le film at Standard Diner (my fish and chips were good; the wonderful wife reports that her beet salad and soup was great). An unplanned bonus: Bottles of wine are half-price ($12) on Mondays; we each drank a glass with our meal and took the rest back to the hotel (another La Quinta).

Next day,we woke to a snow storm, but temperatures were such that there was no accumulation. Santa Fe was not so lucky, getting "about 4 inches of very heavy wet snow" that closed schools and screwed up traffic much of the day. Good thing we got out when we did. Though we didn't see any accumulation, the day was still cold enough and wet enough that a lot of the businesses in Old Town didn't bother to open. Nevertheless, we

• Strolled through the area for an hour or so,
• Toured Albuquerque Museum of Art and History,
• Lunched at Church St. Cafe,
• Visited Loretto chapel, with its miraculous spiral staircase,
• Went to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, with a lovely statue of its patron out front,
• Drove to and walked around the Nob Hill neighborhood, and
• And then relocated to the Sheraton Uptown.

The Sheraton was under the mistaken impression that we were special -- they threw in wifi for free and invited us to their 8th floor lounge, with a lovely view of the mountains, at supper time for free appetizers and soft drinks. The wonderful wife made a meal of the appetizers, but I wasn't tempted by anything; after we left, I went out to a supermarket and bought a sandwich.

Early to bed. Next morning we were to turn in the rental car and fly home.

Maybe the Sheraton realized that they had made a mistake by treating us so well at check-in. They more than made up for it by giving us a wake up call at 4:30 next morning, and then mangling our bill so that it took 20 minutes to check out.

But check out we did and head for the airport.