If I suddenly become a missing person at the end of this trip, look in Turkey!

I had no idea what to expect in Turkey, but to say that my expectations were exceeded would be an understatement. ISTANBUL IS INCREDIBLE! I would have needed at least another few weeks to taste the hundreds of spices at the Spice Market, stop at every store in the Grand Bazaar, visit every Mosque, feed the birds…experience everything I wanted to experience, ahhh! I love love love it!

In Istanbul, I did lots of sightseeing. Upon arrival, we headed to the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and Istanbul’s underground Cisternes. The mosques were nothing less than an architectural phenomenon; with huge domed ceilings covered in exquisite murals, mosaics and marble paneling; they were spectacular. Istanbul’s Underground Cisternes make up an underground water system that was constructed in Turkey hundreds of years ago. Although it sounded incredibly uninteresting to me beforehand, it ended up being fascinating. Hopefully, I’ll be able to post pictures soon!

Although I have an immense appreciation for the historical buildings here, it was not until I entered the Grand Bazaar and Spice Market that I fell in love with Istanbul. The Grand Bazaar is home to several thousand shops. Here you can find a variety of scarves, fabulous and funky jewelry, all kinds of elaborate home décor (I’m sure you’ve all heard of Turkish rugs), belly dancing costumes, water pipes.. and everything else TURKEY. In the Spice Market, be prepared to sample Turkish Delight, Baklava, Apple Tea, and hundreds, maybe thousands of other teas coffees, spices and desserts. Although looking, tasting and smelling all the goodies is fun in itself, the best part of the whole experience is the game of haggling.

Haggling in Turkey usually goes like so:

1. Turkish man catches you looking at (for example) an embroidered pair of boots that are TO DIE for….

2. “Shoot!” he caught me… you think to yourself. “Lady, lady, I make good price for you. You like?” the man urges.

3. “Yes, they’re beautiful,” you say.. “How much?”

4. He replies “You see, these boots are handmade, good quality.. Would you like some apple tea?”

5. Your reply is, “ I would love some, thank you.. but how much did you say the boots were?”

6. “ahh yes, yes,” he replies 400 lyra,” which is approximately 350-ish US dollars.

7. “400 lyra! You proceed to tell him, he’ s out of his mind and you tell him you want them for half that. He then tells you that you are the crazy one.

8. “I’ll just have to find them somewhere else, “ you say sadly..

9. “No, lady sit sit.. Drink some Turkish coffee.”

10. As you drink your Turkish coffee AFTER your apple tea, you go back and forth with the man, taking turns begging each other for a deal. “You won’t do 200 lyra? Not even for meeeeee?”

11. Finally, he’s sweating and gets down to 215 lyra. You finish your Turkish coffee and tell him that 215 lyra is sounding better, but that 215 lyra is all you have and that you will have to starve for the next two days without those few extra lyra.

12. After much pain and caffeine, he agrees on 200 lyra and you’ve got yourself a pair of Turkish boots. Job well done!

13. Now walk to the Spice Market.. and REPEAT…

A Change of Pace..

Besides the “traveling/sight-seeing” aspect of this entire journey, I have learned a lot more than how to read a map or the history of many different civilizations. I have learned about communication, creativity, focus, responsibility.. the list goes on…

A crazy thing happened my last day in Italy. I actually met a fellow Horned Frog from TCU on the ferry from the Island of Capri back to Naples. What a small world! While sharing stories about our travels, we laughed about language barriers in restaurants and cabs and exchanged websites for the best hostels and what not. We joked about the difficult aspects of traveling that are always made worthwhile once you finally have the chance to stop and breathe, smell, taste, touch and hear everything around you…

It’s really funny you know…. I’ve never thought of traveling as being “work” or taking a lot of effort, but 70% of the time that you are exploring or getting from one place to the other, you are working your butt off! LOL! You’re staying focused so you don’t lose anything (like your debit card or cell phone). You’re lugging a thirty-pound backpack down cobblestone streets and UP stairs that are over a thousand years old. You’re asking for directions in a language most of the natives don’t understand...

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love every minute of it. It’s just that I’m now beginning to realize and appreciate how rewarding the experience of traveling is. Every time you go somewhere different and are immersed in a culture that doesn’t eat what you eat, speak what you speak, or that maybe doesn’t even like you because you’re American…you are gaining knowledge and understanding about the world around you. You are finding new ways to look at the old...My entrepreneurship professor always says, “it’s Vuja De NOT Déjà vu…. It’s human nature to jump to conclusions about the unknown.

I’m reading a book right now called ‘Conceptual Blockbusters’ that gives a great analogy about coming to conclusions, and solving problems. Herbert Simon says drawing a conclusion is like picking apart a haystack in order to find a needle. Most of the time, we stop after we find that first needle. It’s a quick solution that’s not necessarily bad…. BUT.. What if there were more needles? What if, instead of looking for the first needle, we look for the sharpest one? “Nothing is easier than to think, but nothing is harder than to think correctly.” Just a thought, more for me than anyone..haha! Hope this finds everyone well!!

Cliff Diving in Croatia..

Croatia couldn’t have come at a better time. This was by far the most beautiful and relaxing port we have been to. Imagine a pristine island scattered by white buildings with red terra cotta roofs, cliffs jutting into the sea, and huge city walls that make you feel like you’re in a fairy tale.

The first day in Croatia was spent touring the Old Town walls, but the rest of the time we spent on the beach and in our Villa. A lot of R & R in this port until the last day.

To make sure our trip ended with a bang (or splash in this case), we joined other SASers in cliff diving. I have to say that at no point in this trip had I intended on actually jumping off a cliff. I merely planned on watching the other “idiots” in my group do it. I would take pictures ONLY……Yeaaaah, well.. When in Croatia, do as the Croatians do right?? Lol Needless to say, I climbed about 25 feet up and jumped.. only ONCE!..25 feet might not sound like a lot, but it looks a lot higher up when looking down at the water below.. I think my cliff diving curiosity has been forever put to rest, but I’m glad I did it.

So long for now! See you again after Greece!

I swam where the Romans swam..

My last two days in Italy, I went on a Semester at Sea excursion to the Island of Capri. We rode a ferry from Naples, where our ship was ported at the time, over to the Island of Capri. As soon as we got to Capri, we rode a bus up an extremely steep, narrow, and winded road to Anna Capri, which means “upper Capri.” If my fear of heights hadn’t been tested enough, we then took chair lifts up to the highest peak of the Island. We were literally in the clouds! It was incredible!! After taking pictures and hearing a brief history on the Island we rode the chair lift down a few hundred feet, where we ate lunch and then went to our hotel. The rest of the day was spent relaxing in Anna Capri.

The next day, we woke up early to beat the crowd of tourists wanting to see the Blue Grotto. If you don’t know what this is, Google it! It’s stunning. Capri has several different “grottos”-I think the colors are red, green, white and blue. They each have different types of glowing algae that literally illuminate the caves. It was by far one of the most beautiful naturally occurring sights I have ever seen.

In order to tour the Blue Grotto, you first ride a large boat over to the cave with a big group. Then you jump in rowboats with about three other people and enter the cave. Luckily, we had a very entertaining rower. He gave us quite the tour with his singing, animated story telling and….mischievous nature. Once getting us into a corner of the cave, he told us we could actually get into the water. Of course, I jumped in! Little did I know, this is not really allowed, however, I wasn’t really upset about breaking this rule.. I swam where Romans once swam.. This was definitely up there on the Top 10 coolest experiences of my life. After leaving the Blue Grotto, we got a group together to rent an inflatable, motorized boat and went cruising around the island to find the other grottos or caves. Needless to say, it was a great day!

Italia!

Ciao!.. My adventures in Italy ensue! Our ship reached Civitavecchia, Italy this past Tuesday on a clear sunny, meaning HOT, day. After the ship was cleared, I joined many fellow SASers on a journey to ROME! Having been to Rome once before, I knew what to expect, but was excited to experience it college student style: no set plans, except to see EVERYTHING, eat as much pasta and gelato as possible, and make many connections with the native Italians. We saw all of the sites, stayed in a quaint bed and breakfast, (where we shared a bathroom with several other foreigners), and soaked up each other’s company during gatherings on the Spanish steps and big family style Italian dinners.

After one night in Rome, we took a train to Florence. Can I just say I LOVE FLORENCE! The moment we got off the train in Florence, we checked into our hostel on Borgo di Greci, which only pictures can describe haha!..It was one huge white room with brick floors, one huge bed (which was really two twins pushed together) and two other twins sized beds with stark white sheets that reminded me of old timey hospital beds that I’ve only seen in the movies. We did have a shower…that we did NOT have to share, and one large fan..SORRY.. no A/C included.. :-/. I complain more out of humor than anything. It actually ended up being pretty fun! Besides staying in a hostel, we did many other wonderful things. The first, I’m sort of embarrassed to admit, but here it goes… ECLIPSE.. Twilight saga.. J Very good! Yes, yes..I know, what were we thinking watching a movie in ITALY??! But, the movie was good and the theatre was absolutely stunning, being that it was formerly an old opera house. The next, day the real adventures continued. We walked miles looking at leather jackets, purses, and all other leather products Florence is so famous for. We also hit Ponte di Vecchio (sp) or the golden bridge, where you will find the most intriguing gold jewelry. FUN FACT! This bridge was actually at one time the meeting place for Hitler and Mussolini and was the only bridge in Florence not bombed during the war. Apart from shopping we took a bike tour of Florence. At first I was a little skeptical, but we ended up having a blast and learned a lot about the city, not to mention how to use bike breaks in oncoming traffic….Last night was our third and final night in Florence so we decided to go out with a bang and get a large SAS group together for a big Italian dinner!

If you haven’t experienced a family style Italian dinner, let me just say that it is quite an event and highly recommended! My favorite experience was at “Il Latini”. Il Latini is very well known in Florence, not to mention very hard to find..(It’s okay though, you’ll be glad you got the exercise after you’re done with your meal.) Okay, so to illustrate this epic event…..The group of twelve other SASers and I walk through the front door and are immediately given a big Italian greeting by a short and burley Italian man—who was the owner. It should come as no surprise that our dinner plans did not include a reservation, but NO PROBLEMA! Right away, tables and chairs are being shuffled around into a perfect setting for my group..We sit down and anxiously await dinner to be served. About two minutes after sitting down, our table is bombarded with plate after basket of bread, Italian ham and melon, Mozzarella cheese balls with tomatoes, sautéed tabouleh, white wine, red wine.. SHEESH! Family size portions are passed around until everyone gets their fill. Oh, but this is just the beginning, as soon as the eating begins to wind down, out comes roasted potatoes, ravioli, pasta, more wine. The eating picks back up and dwindles back down.. We’re all full, but can’t quit eating. The waiters notice our plates are getting emptier and immediately start bringing platters full of beef, veal, and chicken! OH MY! If only my stomach were as big as my eyes at this point!.. The same pattern incurs..the eating begins again, until the platters are empty and finally, dessert. Dessert consisted of custard and strawberries as well as mini biscotti, dessert wine..(not to be confused with desert wine, which is another story for another time) and limoncello!!! 35 Euros later, we had eaten to our hearts content, told crazy stories, and laughed till we cried. What a fun and UNFORGETTABLE night!

Well, I’m in Naples now, but not for long! Tomorrow I head off to the Island of Capri..