Iznik/Bursa

"Every last one, route one, rural heart's got a story to tell/Every grandma, in law, ex girlfriend/Maybe knows you just a little too well/Whether you're late for church or you're stuck in jail/Hey words gonna get around/Everybody dies famous in a small town."

During our Istanbul trip, I met up with a friend who is studying nearby for a little weekend trip to Iznik & Bursa.

Before I left, everyone told me I would not enjoy Bursa. "There's not much to see and it's not a pretty town," they said. I thought I would enjoy it anyway, but it turns out, they were right. For a city, Bursa was somewhat lacking for me. It was very complicated to get around --- I felt like we were always lost! & there wasn't a ton of stuff to see. The picture pretty much sums up how we felt about Bursa. The only great part of Bursa were the scarves - we all bought gorgeous ones that were pretty cheap!

After being frustrated by the day, we headed to Iznik in a bus. Is there anywhere besides Turkey where you can take a bus for $4.50 where you are served tea & snacks for 2 hours? If there is, please take me there. You barely even get that on airplanes anymore! I was impressed.

Iznik made our weekend trip worthwhile. It was a small town, made famous by it's tile-making, and little else. It was small-town Turkey, and I'm glad I got a chance to experience it. Our hostel even had what I lovingly call a "hovercraft with self- flush," which was definitely an experience.

While there, everyone wanted to speak English with us - there was a local judge and another business man who talked with us during our dinner, and after, this boy who ran into us on the street. He asked us to tea, and being spontaneous, we said yes! It was fun to talk, even though he couldn't understand that much. I love random experiences with locals! In my opinion, they make a trip. We also got two invitations to the Robin Hood Club, the newest bar in Iznik. As exciting as that prospect sounded, we declined.

Although Lonely Planet says 2 hours in Iznik will suffice, there is lots to explore. The city walls are gorgeous and a good place to start. There is also the lake, which is beautiful, and lots of ruins and tombs to explore. We had to cut our adventure short to catch the last ferry back to Istanbul, but it was a beautiful town and a great place to pass at least one day.

In short, it was a great side trip with great company! I'm so glad I got to visit with my friend & see another side of Turkey!

Istanbul (not Constantinople)

“Throughout history, by going to far places and seeing strange sights, men have prodded their imagination. They have found amazement and delight and have reflected that life back home need not be what it has been. They have learned that…there is more than one way to skin a cat, that there are more things in heaven and earth than was dreamt of in their philosophy, that the possibilities of life are not exhausted on Main Street…Travel has been the universal catalyst. It has made men think faster, imagine larger, want more passionately.”

Right when we got to Istanbul, at two o' clock in the morning mind you, with all our luggage, our Couchsurfing host Kemal took us to a club, and you'll never guess what song was playing. Summer Nights, from Grease! And, so we obviously, threw our luggage on the ground and started singing and dancing like crazy, with all our new-found Turkish friends. That was the moment I knew it was going to be one incredible trip. And Istanbul did not disappoint me!

Anything you want in Istanbul, chances are you can find it. There is a Starbucks on every corner (for me, CIVILIZATION!), McDonalds delivers, and you can take water taxis to get to another continent. Not to mention, you can buy incredible jewelry and scarves and ceramics, and food is delicious and super cheap. Basically, it's heaven on earth.


Not to mention, Istanbul was the center of civilization back in the day. Every single place we went to was at least 1000 years old and incredibly gorgeous. There is lots to do in Istanbul: the New Mosque & the Blue Mosque, Topaki Palace, Dolmabace Palace, the Grand, Egyptian, & Spice Bazars, the ancient cistern, the Archeological Museum, the AyaSofia, Prince's Island, and the Maiden Tower, all of which I could expound upon for hours if given the chance. If you're really interested, I'd be more than happy to regale you with stories from each of them, or if you're mildly interested, there's always Google. =)

There's a tie for my favorite place in Istanbul. The first is the Bosphorous Gardens - one of the few green spaces in Istanbul (which is actually a huge city of over 15 million people, and felt like it had more traffic than NYC!). But in this park, you can completely forget all of that and find yourself lost in beauty.
My pictures hardly do it justice. There were tulips everywhere, for the International Tulip Festival, and fountains, and sun, and I felt completely at peace there. It was one of the places you just have to experience for yourself. In reality, a lot Istanbul is like that: it's so beautiful that it doesn't photograph well. Therefore, I absolutely advocate that everyone get there as soon as possible. My other favorite place, is on the Asian side of the city, where you can sit by the water and see all the landmarks on the European side. It has no name that I know, but we went there at night and saw the city all lit up at night. Again, just incredibly beautiful.

It's hard to sum up two wonderful weeks of exploring so succinctly, but Istanbul is a wonderful place, full of incredibly generous people, that is hard to leave.

A few things I'll never forget: the hordes of pigeons, our new Turkish friends (Kaan, Kemal, & Kasim), the Turkish rock concert we went to, Turkish raki, kebap, and baklava, and most importantly, TEA!

Amsterdam

“Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey.”

On our way to Istanbul, we were lucky enough to have a LONG layover in Amsterdam. Therefore, we thought, why not explore another city?

So, from my, allbeit, short, trip to Amsterdam, my judgement is positive! It's a very dualistic city.


On the one hand, there are lots of cultural things to do there. We went to the Anne Frank house, which is historical and moving, and definitely worth seeing. There's also the Van Gogh museum, which we unfortunately didn't have the time to see. The canals are gorgeous, and of course, the tulips. There's definitely a lot of touristic things for the culturally minded. And bikes, there was a three floor parking garage for bikes...I have never seen so many bikes in my life.


And on the other hand, there are those things that you can only find in Amsterdam. For example, metal canisters to pee in on the street. And of course, the red light district. You're forbidden from taking pictures there, but really? And here's what my Amsterdam tourist pamphlet says about coffee shops: "Any place that classifies itself a coffee shop is saying three things: 1. I have pot and hash for you to buy. 2. For the price of a coffee, you may sit here and smoke your own as well. 3. You may smoke on my outdoor terrace, even in front of the police." This obviously, make Amsterdam and interesting place, and attractive to some different types of tourists.

What surprises me most about all of this, is how peacefully these two parts of Amsterdam interact and coexist. It's just all a part of life there, the cops and the prostitutes, the gays and the straights, the history and all the rest. The city has its own unique vibe.

If all these things can coexist in one city, why can't we all coexist just as peacefully?

Volcanoes can't stop me...or can they?

"A journey is like a marriage. The only certain way to be wrong is to think you can control it."

Surprise!* I am still in Istanbul!

*Unless you live under a rock, you have probably heard about the volcanic eruption in Iceland that is the largest travel disruption in history in Europe. (On a tangent...I still can not get over the fact that Iceland is really green & Greenlandis really icy. Who was doing naming that day?) Of course, our flight was cancelled along with thousands of others, leaving people stranded around the globe.

While I have experienced many travel delays in my life (most of you probably know about my horrific travel luck by now), most have been for one or two days max. Unfortunately, this time the earliest available flight leaves April 26th, a whole week after we thought we would be back! I was planning a trip to the South of France this week and I am incredible bummed I will not be able to travel with my crazy Danish friend Victoria, but I am incredible lucky.

Everyone here has shown us the greatest hospitality. When we had to stay, our host was absolutely willing to have us for a longer time. Everyone is always cooking for us or taking us to cool local places or trying to speak English with us and I love it! It has been a wonderful trip, which I will recount in subsequent posts.

However, Istanbul is a far cry from Europe. I miss having people understand me & being in a place where I can at least semi-understand the language. & I am sad about missing my trip! Still...I am looking at this as just another adventure & another crazy story about my study abroad!

After all, I am safe & in a beautiful city & ready to enjoy the extra week of exploring!

Grazie Mille (or What I Learned in Torino)

10. Italian pizza wins. Hands down.

9. There are metal-coffee pot looking contraptions that magically move water from the bottom to the top to create coffee!

8. English-English & American-English are not always the same thing (hence the difference between pits and stones, and seeds and pips)

7. Always name the people/places you encounter. (prime examples - Obama man was the guy we met in the train station who enthusiastically greeted me, as an American, with an OBAMA! YAH! exclamation, or the Roman Statue Attacus that we so christened after we saw an English mother chastizing her young boy who was (you guessed it!) unfourtuantely, named Attacus.)

6. Walking everywhere has it's perks - but also its disadvantages. Sometimes it's good to take a bus.

5. Rain may not stop you in your tracks, but it can definitely dampen your spirits. (although coincidentally, Torino has the most covered walkways out of any city in Europe)

4. Italians don't speak English. Or French. (Consequently, when I got back on the train to France, I was so comforted to hear French...a language I can at least somewhat understand)

3. Don't judge a book by its cover. (I know it's an age old adage, but when we got to Megan's apartment, I totally thought her S.Korean roomate would not be a party girl...and then she went out & partied until 6 am on Saturday! That's what I get for judging too quickly....)

2. There are ways to communicate without words...if both people are willing to try.

1. No matter what goes wrong, there will always be laughter, smiles, and people to help you.

Parle Italiano?

"Occasionally she dreams of Italy. She dreams of cheese shops, persnickety Fiats, and very fine leather goods."

So, my first experience with Italy was Torino. Not the top of anyone's top cities to see in Italy, but definitely a beautiful city. Hayley & I went for Easter weekend & we had a blast, not to mention a few adventures.

Namely, CALUSO! In Torino, we were staying with my friend Megan and she had facebooked me her address...Via Valperga, Caluso. Well, according to Google maps, there is a Via Valperga in a town called Caluso, about a 40 minute train ride outside of Torino. So I thought, hey, maybe she lives in the suburbs. I mean, stranger things have happened. So, when we arrived in Torino, we took a local train to Caluso, and got off in what I would call real Italy. And I mean, in the middle of nowhere, not tourist-y at all, small-town Italy. So we walked up to a bar to get directions to Via Valperga, and although they don't really speak English, and we don't really speak Italian, we somehow managed to communicate & they told us they would drive us there. So into the car we go, and onto Via Valperga. Unfortunately, number 28 is the police station!!

This is a definite problem, as Megan is not a police officer. But we ring the doorbell anyway, and after a flurry of French-Italian-English/gestures realize that in fact, there is no one named Megan around...especially not an American girl named Megan. So halfheartedly, we look around the road for apartment buildings and our friend from the bar slowly gets out "why...is...no...here...MEGAN?" Good question. If only we had a phone number... or the internet. So our friend takes us back to the bar to use their computer. And there we discover that there is a Via Valperga Caluso, in Turino. So, we head back there stat on the next little train. Try explaining that to someone who doesn't speak English. I think they mostly understood though...and thought it was hilarious. We will be the talk of the town in Caluso for awhile, I think.

Our (re)arrival in Torino & finding Via Valperga Caluso went smoothly, but after arriving, we realize there are only Italian names on the bell ringers. Nothing is ever so simple, right? So we start ringing random bells, but no one answers. Luckily, a man comes out of the building & lets us in, & against all hopes, speaks English! He tells us there are some students living on the second floor, so we decide to check it out. & wouldn't you know it there is a sign on one of the doors that says "welcome." Who else would have an English sign on their door? So we knock, and guess what? It was the right apartment! Whoo! And so we all laughed it off & I marked it down in my list of "lengendary travel activities" and then we started our actual trip. But Caluso will always have a special place in my heart. And now we have friends there! Hayley & I just wrote a letter to the only bar in Caluso in Italian (with help from our Italian roomate Simone, of course!)

We saw so much over the next few days - lots of Piazzas and Plazas. We went to the Mole and the National Cinema Museum, which took a whole afternoon, and could've taken the whole day if we had time. It was one museum I actually wanted to read and watch everything because it was so hands on & so cool! We also went to the Egyptian Museum, which is apparently the best outside of Egypt and the Parco Valentino, which is complete with Mideval Village.

And the food - Italian food is AMAZING! We had real pizza, real gelato, and hot chocolate, which is literally like melted chocolate in a cup. So delicious. & we learned about apertivo. You buy a drink & then can eat all you want. So I drank probably the best white wine I've ever had, and got to eat real Italian pasta, which duh! is also delicious.

All in all, it was a fabulous trip & I learned so much (which will have to wait for another post after these stories!) & am so ready for my next adventure in Istanbul! 3 more days!

"got a picture of her momma in heels & pearls, she's trying to make it in her daddy's world

"cause i'm a woman. phenomenally. phenomenal woman, that's me."

I feel like I'm finally figuring out how to be a woman. I've always been a rule follower and during high school I started to follow "the rules." These rules included "jean friday" & led me to fall in love with high heels, which let's face it, are REALLY a girl's best friend.

But lately I've realized I'm just as happy in sweatpants as I am in dress pants, and I don't always need to dress up on tuesdays. If I wake up late & throw on jeans & a sweatshirt, that doesn't make me any less feminine. & makeup? well, it's great, but my friends here wear a little mascara and look more gorgeous than someone back at school who cakes on layers of makeup. So who makes a rules? & where does feminity fit in?

When I was little, being a woman meant dancing and wearing frilly tutus. & then I progressed to the shoe phase. When I was 11, I bought a pair of lime green dressy sandals even though I had nothing that matched simply because I loved them. This began my shoe obsession. & then at 13, I found the first perfect little black dress...which i consequently was forced to return because my dad thought it was too sexy. alas, this began my preoccupation with fashion.


in high school, I started dating. & then I started doing this and that and the other thing and life got too busy for time with boys. and popularity? well it wasn't exactly there, but i had friends and that was good enough for me. I had school and sports and music and womanhood meant being well-rounded.

College...well it's progressive, but mainly, I'd say being a woman meant being Greek. Leadership, service, loyalty, and involvement. I'll say it once & then a hunded times, my sorority was my world in college. & that's as feminine as you can get, right? & I was popular & busy & happy. But lately I've realized that I defined myself by my titles. I was the President of Alpha Gamma Delta, the President of HSAB, again, this, that, & the other thing. But who did I think I was without all of that?

Well, now I've got the time to figure that out. I like to live by the rules, but I like to break them every once in awhile too. I like to be busy, but I like to have time to myself. Heels will always be my favorite, but I know now that I have to wear sneakers when I go camping. I'm practical and frivolous, and crazy and calm, and phenomenal. Phenomenal woman, that's me.