Final Thoughts and Last Riffs

Outside of the Windstar, there weren't many American tourists whom we crossed paths with. Not sure if it is a sign of the economy, or that these places are a bit less visited, or because a lot of schools start before Labor Day, and we were there until the 20th.

Which also meant most folks thought we were something other than Americans. We were confused with Germans, English, Irish, Welsh, Scots, Dutch, Aussies, Canadians, and our personal favorite -- Jamaicans, mon. (Seriously, in Istanbul some people thought we were Jamaican. I'm pretty certain not sure many Turks have met many Jamaicans, because the Bolgers are not sprinters. Our dreadlocks must have confused them.)

Speaking of hair, my four blondes attracted a lot of stares and comments. One family even asked to pose for a picture with them. At first Carol thought they were asking her to take their picture -- so she reached for the camera to oblige. Then they clarified -- they wanted a family shot with our family (excluding your faithful blogger, who was standing in line at the Dolambahce Palace -- the first time, not the second time!).

Further down is our list of favorites, but I also like to give some impressions. So here's a run of them:

• Turkey is open during August. Much of Athens and Barcelona has left for vacation, so we got more of an all-around authentic feel in Istanbul.
• Don't go to Greece for the beaches -- go for the history. Definitely dabble with the beaches, but they are not the reason to go to Greece -- go to Hawaii or the Carribean for beaches. Or Delaware/the Jersey Shore.
• Greek and Turkish wine is a bit on the weak side. They are fine to drink, but I preferred Israeli wine a LOT more back in the Spring.
• Priorat is the best Spanish wine in my book, moving ahead of Rioja -- unless, of course, I was near that region!
• It's hard to find affordable meals for five in any country on the Euro -- even lunch. Now I know we were in touristy areas, but years ago Greece was famous for being an inexpensive place to go. The EU has ruined the affordability!
• With the exception of the cabbie who ripped me off, everyone was pleasant. There wasn't the resentment of some tourist areas.
• It would be fun to stand between two restaurants in Rhodes and flip a coin -- the two hawkers wouldn't know what to do while the coin was flipping.
• We felt the most comfortable in Spain, but some of that is language (Carol knows it, and I can figure some signs out).
• Cargo shorts with a zippered pocket are a good way to fight the famed Barcelona pickpockets -- I never had to worry about it. (I did worry that I might become used to wearing cargo shorts, but such is the way travel indelibly changes a person.)
• I do hope that Turkey stays secular and welcoming to the West. Istanbul is an amazing mash up of East and West.
• If you aren't awed at the Acropolis, you have no sense of the history of democracy, politics, and philosophy.
• If you aren't inspired at Sagrada Familia, you have no soul.
• If you aren't bewitched by the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul, you have no sense of adventure.
• If you are awed and inspired at all three of the above, you are a friend of ours.

The best guide book combination is to have BOTH Lonely Planet (surpassed my old favorite, "Let's Go" long ago) and the DK Eyewitness Travel. One complaint about Lonely Planet -- the darn print is too small and hard to read. I don't need reading glasses (yet, wait a year or two), but I really could have used them for the Lonely Planet books.

Lonely Planet has the detail, while DK Eyewitness lays the info out very clearly in an easily accessible way. Use Lonely Planet while planning, and use DK while on foot/on the move.

Well, a quick word of thanks to my faithful readers, many of you who sent emails, Facebook comments, and even more comments on the blog posts than usual. We're already planning our next trip in 2011. Right now the short list includes: Portugal and Northern Spain, Paris and western Germany, or England and Scotland. It will be August, so keep the weather in mind as you suggest places.

Thanks, and safe -- and often -- travels.

At the End of Our Journey, We Ran Into Another Iron Tourist at the End of His Journey

Christopher Columbus bids us
to head west to the New World.
So we did.

Torie at the Christopher Columbus statue

St. George and the Dragon Door, Old City, Barcelona

Sagrada Familia

The photos don't do it justice.

Park Guell

Benches at Park Guell

The benches were probably 50 yards long, with
the patterns, colors, and shapes all shifting.

Chimneys and Water Tank at La Pedrera

La Pedrera Rooftop

Casa Batlo

Trip Favorites

Historical Site:
Glen -- tie between Gaudi and the Acropolis
Carol -- Sagrada Familia
Julia -- Parthenon
Maddy -- Casa Batlo
Torie -- Parthenon

Favorite City:
Carol -- Barcelona
Julia -- Barcelona
Maddy -- Barcelona
Torie -- Athens
Glen -- Barcelona

Favorite Island/Resort:
Julia -- Rhodes
Maddy -- Santorini
Torie -- Santorini
Glen -- Rhodes
Carol -- Santorini

Favorite Hotel:
Maddy -- Ciragan Palace
Torie -- Windstar
Glen -- Windstar
Carol -- Windstar
Julia -- tie between Windstar and Ciragan Palace

Favorite Country:
Torie -- Greece
Glen -- Turkey
Carol -- Greece
Julia -- Spain
Maddy -- Greece

Favorite Beach:
Glen -- Sarakinko, Milos
Carol -- Ciragan Palace Pool
Julia -- Sarakinko, Milos
Maddy -- Faliraki, Rhodes
Torie -- Agia Kyriaki, Milos

Favorite Meal:
Carol -- tied between de Madra Tapas and the lunch in Bodrum
Julia -- the peasant lunch in Ephesus
Maddy -- de Madra Tapa
Torie -- Ribeye steak at Candles restaurant on the Windstar
Glen -- the Boat BBQ on Carol's birthday

Favorite Dessert:
Julia -- The Chocolate Fountain
Maddy -- tie between Lemon Creme Brulee and the Ice Cream Sundae with PB cookie
Torie -- tie between the Chocolate Fountain and the Lemon Creme Brulee
Glen -- Carol's Birthday cake which was so thoughtfully ordered by me!
Carol -- Her birthday cake

Casa Batlo

On the Roof of Casa Batlo

Back Patio, Casa Batlo

A Balcony at Casa Batlo

The photos don't do Gaudi's work full justice,
but it's worth a try.

La Sagrada Familia from Our Hotel Rooftop

It's only two-thirds or so as high as it is going
to be when finished.

An Unfitting End in Barcelona

After lunch on Wednesday, we went to the Cathedral. Built between 1298 and 1460, the building has chapel after chapel of jaw-dropping beauty. The choir section is nice to sit and reflect in, taking in the ornate wooden carvings, and the crypt down below the main altar is an unusual touch.

However, the most interesting (in my book) part of the Cathedral is the cloister. There are beautiful fountains, the famed geese of the Cathedral (no, I hadn't heard of them either, but apparently the geese are big in Barcelona), and an area to walk around and reflect. There is also a free, small museum with some beautiful art and a big ornate gold thingie that is well protected. The girls and I immediately made plans to steal it and sell it to the British Museum for a fortune.

Then we wandered on to other parts of the area. First, we stopped at Caixa de Fang and bought some fine-looking, yet affordable ceramic pottery (see, I did take everyone shopping!). Then we went looking for a noted gourmet chocolate shop, but alas, it was closed for August. Just wandering the narrow streets near the Cathedral is pretty cool.

We rambled over to Las Ramblas, the main street of Barcelona. From there we sidetracked through the Mercado de La Boqueria (an outdoor food market) and then we stopped for the traditional ice cream near the one Gaudi building we did not visit -- Palau Guell. I checked -- but it's only open from 10am till 2:30pm, and it was 3:15. Word on the street is that it is the least interesting Gaudi to visit -- primarily because large chunks of it are closed and being renovated.

We headed on down Las Ramblas to the Christopher Columbus monument, which fittingly is right by the ports. We crossed the wide, new pedestrian footbridge in the Port Vell area. The girls were complaining with the heat and the long walking, but once they saw the mall they became more interested.

So, oddly, our two week trip (well, really 12 days because two were essentially travel days -- overnight to Athens, and then all day back to the States) finished with a whimper -- at a mall. I did not shop, but (to give me credit) neither did I complain.

Walking back across the pedestrian bridge, we learned it doubles as a drawbridge for the marina, as it swung open to let two large sailboats through. That was neat to watch, as was the huge powered catamaran that was maneuvering around another part of the harbor -- looking like a space age vehicle of sorts.

We metro'd back to our neighborhood, and relaxed a bit before dinner. The tapas restaurant I wanted to go to was full up, so we went to option B -- a tapas restaurant right down the street from our hotel on the Passeig de Gracia. The meal was fine -- we enjoyed some tapas and then shared some entrees like tapas. Carol and I shared a nice bottle of Priorat, which has surpassed Rioja as my favorite type of Spanish wine.

We whiffed on the place we wanted to go for dessert (good write-up in one of the guidebooks, but they would only seat us if we were getting dinner -- and this at 10:05pm). Carol and I finished off the evening with a drink at the Hotel Majestic's rooftop bar, with Barcelona spread out all around us.

The trip was all but over.

The Golden Horn and the Galata Tower.

Oh yeah, and about one eighth of one percent

of the people we passed by that day.

View of the Bosphorus, Asia, and the Hotel Pool

From the girls' hotel room. Our view -- still nice,
but not of the pool, just a grand entrance to the Bosphorus.

Plates at the Spice Bazaar

Part of One Stall at the Spice Bazaar

Because it wasn't posh, we treaded gingerly through
the Spice Bazaar. It was neither sporty nor scary.
(Hmmm. . .how can I work Baby into the Spice Market caption?)

Water Entrance at the Palace

Real estate ad: "Just steps from the Bosphorus"

Big clock at the Palace

Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside.
Dolmabahce Palace is an amazing place to visit.
Just be careful of the ATM machines!

Lion Around On the Grounds of Dolmabahce Paace

Exploring Barcelona the Old Fashioned Way

On Wednesday, our last real day of the trip (Thursday was a travel day), we thoroughly covered the La Ribera, the Barri Gotic, and Port Vell neighborhoods of Barcelona on foot. We dipped into El Raval, albeit not in-depth.

After taking the Metro to the well-situated Jaume I stop, we were a bit disoriented, and immediately went to wrong Cathedral. Well, not the wrong Cathedral -- we were planning to go to the Esglesia de Santa Maria del Mar at some point, but I had wanted to start with the Cathedral de Barcelona (don't ask me why. I don't know. I had a plan. It went out the window. It worked fine this way).

Built in the 14th Century in just 59 years, the Church (Santa Maria del Mar) was noted by the guidebooks as very aesthetically clean and simple, adding to its beauty. Here's one such sentence: "Many regard the Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar as Barcelona's most beautiful building, architecturally superior to the clash of styles of the main Cathedral."

Tip for travelers -- just because something is written in a guidebook doesn't make it true. While the simplicity is nice -- the Cathedral's grandeur blows it away. I'm assuming that they didn't want to count the less than 100 year old Sagrada Familia in the mix -- because that's the most stunning church I've ever seen.

(And I've been to Westminster Abbey, Notre Dame, York Minster, the Vatican, the Aya Sofia, St, Mark's in Venice, as well as Sparta Presbyterian and Bethany Lutheran. So ranking an unfinished, unopened cathedral at the top of the list ought to give you some idea just how mind-blowingly beautiful Sagrada Familia is. I realize you might not agree, but it's okay for you to be wrong.)

This is NOT to dis Santa Maria del Mar ("dis" is from the Latin "disrespectivo," meaning "criticize" or "knock" in a particularly harsh way). First of all, any building from those days (opened 1384) that is still standing is a stunning achievement. Secondly, there are elements that commend it -- but not as much as the enthusiastic guidebook stated. Worth the stop, though, so don't get me wrong.

Once we figured out we were in the "wrong" church (knowing which we were going out of the Metro was a crapshoot) I had my bearings. The next stop was the Museu Picasso, which in my estimation was MORE interesting than the guidebooks said it would be. Picasso lived from age 14 till uncertain in Barcelona, and this museum -- set in five Medieval stone mansions that all survived in a row -- is dedicated to more of his early work.

Faithful readers of the blog will know I am NOT a huge art guy. (In fact, that sentence probably proves that point, because I'm pretty sure art aficiandos aren't called "art guys.") However, I did want to see Picasso's work (just as I have been to the Louvre -- and not only because it is fun to say repeatedly in the manner of Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau. Admit it -- you are saying it that way right now, and you know I'm right!).

Anyhoo, the guidebooks warn that the Museum is a little disappointing, because his most famous works are in Paris. While there were some less-interesting works, there were plenty of paintings representative of Picasso's later work too. (It's like going to a sporting event and expecting every at-bat to be fascinating or every play from scrimmage interesting.) All in all, more hits than misses.

From there we wandered over to the Mercat de Santa Caterina, which has an amazing, colorful, undulating roof. Unfortunately, you can't see the top of the roof from underneath it. So, while it was fun wandering the labyrinth of streets to find it, getting there was anti-climatic.

The day was hot and humid, but not nearly as bad as the previous day. We stayed hydrated, and headed over to the Museu d'Historia de la Ciutat (remember, this is Catalan language, NOT Spanish, so there are differences in spellings and words).

Located right near the Cathedral, the area around the Museum is quite beautiful. The Museum itself is neat. Located underground, it is billed as having the most extensive subterranean Roman ruins in the world. There is also a medieval royal chapel of note. There is also a banqueting hall from the 1300s -- the hall was used for Isabel and Ferdinand to receive Columbus after he discovered India, or America, or some islands, or whatever it was he actually found. The Holy Inquisition also carried out its trials there (insert Monte Python skit joke here).

The most interesting part, however, is the Roman ruins of Barcino, including that of a laundry, a dye shop, a winemaking building, the Roman fishsauce, and the remains of an early (6th Century) church. Oh yeah, and very nearly the remains of a tragically dropped audioguide.

The audioguides come as part of the admission. These things are great. Unfortunately, in one section I was looking intently whilst shifting the audioguide around. Which, of course I promptly dropped to loud clanging off the walkway, dropping into the ruins below.

The one security guard told me to wait there, so I did (sheepishly). An elderly security guard came along with a long string with a hook on it (think a fishing pole without the pole, bigger string, and a safer hook). After a couple of tries, he hooked the strap and reeled it in. Clearly I wasn't the first to drop their audioguide. I thanked him, and then immediately put the strap around my neck. No more drops -- and the audioguide still worked!

We wandered around the area by the Cathedral (the main one this time) and stopped for lunch. Given that the restaurant is right in the heart of the Barri Gothic (Old City), we overpaid. But that's part of the deal in those areas. We sat inside, which was nearly airconditioned. During lunch, I frantically searched for additional sights to see, as we had covered much more ground more quickly than I expected.

View of the Bosphorus & Asia from the Hotel Pool

To infinity pool and beyond!

Views from Topkapi Palace

Mosaic in Aya Sofia

Taken without a flash.

Blue Mosque peeking out from behind the Aya Sofia

Blue Mosque. Bolger Family.

I bet we're the only people to ever pose for photos here.

Calligraphy in the Blue Mosque

My Arabic is a tad rusty, or I would translate for you.

The Obelisk of Theodosius in the Hippodrome of Istanbul

This is approximately 3,500 years old. Staggers the mind.

The Blue Mosque from the Sea of Marmara. Early morning.

The Aya Sofia from the Sea of Marmara

Life Was Old Here, As Old As the Hills

Thursday the 13th, we docked in Kusadasi -- which is the heart of the Turkish Riveria. Once a sleepy fishing village, over the past 30 years, the town has exploded in size. While 50,000 people live there year round, the city swells to over 400,000 people in the summer. Apparently, the better beaches are several miles away.

But we weren't going to a beach. Instead, we were going to Ephesus. Our guide, Mr. Denizhan Pekoz, met us just outside the port area and took us to our mini-bus, a Volkswagen Caravelle. This was a legit sized vehicle -- comfortable enough for us, but not overly large (see Athens, Istanbul posts).

Denizhan spoke very clear English, which would give him a major leg-up in our book over our guide in Istanbul. A former cruise ship worker, he was an interesting guide, willing to answer any of our questions -- about his life, life in turkey, Turkish politics, and, of course, questions related to our tour.

When we arrived at Ephesus, we saw our favorite sign for the trip hanging over one of the outbuildings that was selling souvenirs/drinks, etc. -- "Genuine Fake Watches." Truth in advertising.

The weather -- as we found on the entire trip -- wasn't as hot as we feared it would be. Ephesus is about five kilometers inland from the Aegean Sea. It was formerly a port city, but the river silted up, and between earthquakes, conquering armies, malaria, the city was eventually abandoned.

The earliest indications are the area was settled around 6000 BC, with significant growth starting around 1500 BC. It became one of the most important cities in the Mediterrean region until an earthquake around 614 AD and was completely abandoned in the 15th century.

Today, Ephesus is most famous in the West as being a key city in the early days of Christianity. John is believed to written his Gospel here, Paul lived here for a few years, and -- of course -- wrote two letters to the Ephesians. It's one of the seven churches addressed in Revelations, and also believed to have been the final home of Mary, mother of Jesus.

Only about 10% of the city has been excavated, but the most important sections of the town have been unearthed. The most famous is the Library of Celsus, which was only second to Library of Alexandria (Egypt, not Virginia for those of you not paying close attention).

We also wandered through the Odeon, the agoras, the Theater (seats an estimated 44,000 -- and was the site of an anti-Christian riot), the remains of the Temple of Hadrian, and the remains of the Temple of Domitan. But, it was just as interesting seeing the shops, houses, main streets, and baths. It was reminscent of my trip to Bet She'an in Israel, or our trip to Pompeii. It never gets old seeing how smart they were back in the day -- good hygiene, good markets/shops, and the areas for discussion/discourse. One of the coolest views was from the Theater down the street that led to the port -- realizing the views people must have had when they first landed at Ephesus and headed into the city.

After spending approximately 90-120 minutes at Ephesus, we hopped back into the minibus and headed for the Basilica of St. John, a large church about two miles away from Ephesus and just on the edge of the current town of Selcuk. A beautiful site, we could also see the remains of Temple of Artemis (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world -- now just one forelorn pillar left.

Constructed in the 6th Century, the Basilica held the believed remains of John for many years until the Crusaders took them for safekeeping (and of course, the bones have long gone missing).

From there, we went to a sales job and lunch at a state run facility to help create jobs and teach the manufacture of Turkish rugs.

We got the full sales treatment. After first being shown the process of harvesting silk from the silkworms, the natural dyeing process (organic!), and the looming process, we were taken into a big room and shown dozens of carpets. We of course had Apple Tea (Carol and the girls) while I had Turkish coffee.

I don't drink coffee. Never have liked the taste. But, I figured it would be rude to turn it down. I had it sweet (with sugar). While it was too hot at first, I did drink it and kind of enjoyed it. (Sorry, Starbucks, I'm not converting to drinking coffee.) We ended up bargaining over a runner for our front hall. We paid a good price compared to what it would be in the States or in Istanbul -- because we went right up to the factory and picked it up ourselves (as Johnny Cash would sing).

It was small enough we were able to take it with us rather than have it shipped -- which saved us money on shipping. Afterwards, we sat among the peach and quince trees and had a good lunch of a variety of village foods. We talked for a while with Denizhan.

After that, we went to the House of the Virgin Mary, way up a hill above Ephesus. She lived approximately four kilometers from the city, because Christians were persecuted back in the day. Apparently, their involvement in daily life, politics, etc. was frowned upon by the rest of society (some things don't change).

It's quite the pilgrimmage site -- popular with Christians and Muslims (in their eyes, she is the mother of an important prophet and should be venerated). It's a nice setting, but we're not big Mary folks, so after a bit we moved on.

We returned to Kusadasi, and walked out to a spit of land that sticks out into the harbor. The small castle that once guarded the harbor. The castle keep was locked up, but we strolled around the grounds, getting views back into the city, and all around.

Maddy and I walked through the town to do some various modest shopping. We then headed back to the ship to join the rest on the long run to Istanbul. We had dinner in the restaurant that night -- I enjoyed my surf and turf.

Later that night, I hung out on deck for a while. The oncoming wind was so strong that the boat was hardly moving. The stars were, once again, brilliant. Saturn was easily seen.

All in all, Ephesus was well worth the day and the private tour.

Blogger on Board. Sea of Marmara.

The Windstar at Kusadasi. Dwarfed by Larger Ships

Location Believed to be Final House of Mary, Mother of Jesus

The Famous Travelin' Bolgers In Front of the More Famous Library of Ephesus

View Down the Main Shopping Street in Ephesus

Columns at Ephesus

An early symbol for Christians

Our Guide At Ephesus

Finished, But Not Done

We're back -- it was a happily uneventful flight. Tomorrow being Saturday, my goal is to write the last four blog posts (Kusadasi/Ephesus, last day in Barcelona, final riffs, and favorites), as well as post a bunch more photos, so faithful readers ought to check in one more tomorrow either late tomorrow afternoon, Sunday, or, of course any time after that.

Thanks for all the nice emails.

As the Ship's Social Director said in wishing us good travels -- "may your luggage always end up in the same airport that you are in."

We Have Seen True Genius

Tuesday was Antoni Gaudi day for the Bolgers. Until we made the decision to come to Barcelona, I knew a LOT more about Curt Gowdy than Antoni Gaudi. After going to four Gaudi works, it is clear that Gaudi was far greater than Gowdy. One can read about Gaudi’s work, and even be impressed by pictures, but until you see it with your own eyes, you can’t believe it.

Gaudi is the brightest star among the Modernisme architects. It is nearly impossible to describe the genius of Gaudi’s work. We went first to Casa Batllo, a house Gaudi designed that just happened to be one block from our hotel. It was like stepping into Dr. Seuss on steriods, except that it was real and had been designed for a family. This magnificent mansion was the right place to begin our Gaudi day.

As part of the admission fee, we received the little audio players so we each had our own private tour. The audio player (you hold it up to your ear) was a great addition – it helped point out design features and provide context that we might never have seen. It also keeps the people moving along. It is simply the most striking house – from top to bottom – that I have ever seen.

(Unfortunately, given the cost, Chez Bolger will not be redone in a similar style. It would give the neighbors something to talk about, however.)

From there we headed north three blocks to La Pedrera, the apartment building he designed. After waiting in line for nearly 30 minutes, we entered. The rooftop is the most impressive part of the design. Built between 1905 and 1910, it must have seemed otherwordly at the time. The rooftop chimney vents are said to have been the inspiration for the design of the storm troopers in Star Wars.

The apartment we were able to tour – with furniture and art from the times – wasn’t nearly as impressive as Casa Batllo. However, the way the apartment spilled from one room to another was very interesting – and the design let in a significant amount of natural light.

From there we took the metro several stops north to near Parc Guell. For us, the two day pass that Metro offers is the perfect way to cover a lot of ground easily and relatively cheaply. Barcelona’s system is extensive and excellent. The only weird part is, when you transfer lines within stations, sometimes you have to walk outside a long way and check back in again. Even the London Tube stations have connecting tunnels underground.

Anyhow, as nice as the Metro is, the haul on foot to and from Parc Guell in the August heat was tiresome. The park is set on a hilltop, with dramatic views of Barcelona and the Med Sea. However, it was the hottest, most humid day of the trip. It felt like a normal July day in Alexandria, except we didn’t have more than one of those miserable type days this summer.

The weather in Greece and Turkey was warm, but between low humidity and sea breezes, we never felt uncomfortably hot. We had taken a number of the famous Bolger forced marches on this trip, but this was the hottest. In previous years, our trips with forced march sightseeing was done during Spring Break (since Julia is now on the high school crew team, we don’t have the ability to travel during spring break anymore). So, these were the hottest conditions we have faced on a trip. Even Costa Rica was more pleasant.

That said, Parc Guell was clearly worth the sweat. From the three crosses monument at the top, you could see all of the city laid out. Then, we walked through the trees (a part of the park that is underwhelming) to the central area – which includes Gaudi’s famous benches and stairs. The gatehouses alone are stunning to see. As one of the guidebooks note, "it’s a strange, enchanting place."

Maddy and I explored the area around his house, and saw the most amazing aqueduct while Carol and the other two girls hung out in the Doric Temple. It is truly a special place. Given the heat, Carol wasn’t quite as taken with it, but I saw it as an amazing mix of design and nature.I had presumed there would be restaurants dotting the neighborhoods around the park. I was wrong. It was now well past lunchtime, we were hot, sweaty, hungry, and thirsty. On the way back to a different Metro stop (closer to where we walked out of than where we came into), we stopped and got lunch. At least the place was not air conditioned, because that might have made things a little better. I think half of our bill consisted of drinks as we rehydrated.

We saved the most stunning for last. The Sagrada Familia. Gaudi’s great church, which although unfinished after more than 90 years after it was begun (there was 20 years of no work, during the time of the Spanish Civil War and thereafter). We entered via the Passion Facade, which I think is the most amazing side of a church building I’ve ever seen. Done in the modernist style, it gracefully tells the story of the Passion of Christ.

Inside, I got goose bumps from the brilliant, soaring design. The stained glass windows are the brightest I’ve ever seen, and the soaring buttresses are incredibly designed. The balconies are wavy and inspiring. It is Barcelona’s most visited, and most famous, location.

Unfortunately, we did not go up the open tower. One of the two towers normally open to the public is closed. They also no longer allow people to walk up (which apparently is quite the climb). The only option is to use the elevator. There was a 2+ hour wait for the elevator – so all in all, we decided to skip it.

Around the back, the Nativity facade is also incredibly and beautifully carved. Carol spent a lot of time there, pointing out scenes from the birth of Jesus, as well as the animals and other decorations (angels sounding trumpets, for instance).

In the end, the kids were a bit Gaudi’d out, although they did think his work was amazing. While the forms were similar, there were so many differences in the four Gaudi places we went that each clearly provided a new perspective and look.We took Metro back to the hotel (after a break for a snack and to rehydrate in the heat). I promptly fell asleep for a couple of hours.

We walked down to the Barri Gotic part of town and had dinner at a restaurant that opened in 1897, the Four Cats. The food was good even if the vibe was very touristy. After returning to the hotel and dropping the girls off, we walked a half block to a Vinoteca and shared a bottle of wine at a sidewalk table. A mellow end to an amazing day.

Quick Note

Well, today's the last full day of sightseeing/tourism. Tomorrow is spent traveling all day, so the trip is winding down. The girls are already talking about jet lag -- even though they are enjoying Barcelona, they are also thinking about seeing their friends back home.

I will have a few more blog posts -- including at least one or two wrap-up write-ups this weekend. I haven't riffed in a while. . .so there will be at least one more of those. However, the trip definitely feels, this morning from Barcelona, like it is winding down.

Life Is A Moveable Feast, and It Has Moved to Barcelona

After checking into the Hotel Majestic. (Hotel Pretty Good, yes. Majestic? Maybe a stretch). It turns out that it is one block from one Gaudi-designed house, and two blocks from his famed apartment building. Today (Tuesday) is Gaudi day for us. All Gaudi, all the time.

Anyhow, we went for a late afternoon walk through a very lively city – despite large chunks of the population being gone for August holiday. Interestingly, three languages work here – Catalan, Spanish, and English. Apparently, Catalan is NOT a dialect of Spanish, but a separate and distinct language.

We wandered past fountains and down Las Ramblas. I had a conference call, so we wandered back to the hotel in a different direction, got some ice cream, and people watched. The girls thought Barcelona is cool. And it is. As much as we enjoyed Greece and Turkey, it was good to be back where at least one of us (Carol) could speak the language (well, Spanish, not Catalan). Heck, I can read some Spanish.

Our first choice for dinner was closed – the restaurant owners are away on holiday, so we made reservations for nearby de Madre Tapas. Wow – what a meal. Not one of the high end restaurants (we weren’t in the mood to go dressed up), but the food was amazing. Carol ordered in Spanish, and carried on a brief conversation with the waiter. Maddy, Carol, and I shared many different plates of tapas. Julia and Torie ordered entrees.

I picked out a relatively cheap bottle of Priorat (the wine growing region near Barcelona. We ate great food (including grilled salted peppers from the Padron region), sat outside, and enjoyed ourselves for quite some time. I could spend every night having tapas and hanging out.

Afterwards, Carol and I went up to the rooftop bar – with Barcelona laid out around us – and enjoyed the view and a drink. Great vibe already to the city.

(Barcelona does have a reputation for pickpockets, so I am wearing cargo shorts with my wallet zipped away safely in a lower pocket. It’s not exactly a fashion statement, but it will do.)　　

Off to enjoy gaudy Gaudi.

Quick Note

The hotel in Barcelona does not have free wireless, so I'm not going to pay for something I might not use that much. So, that means I won't be posting any more photos until we return to the States in a few days.

It also means I'm back to the fun system of emailing myself the copied blog post, then posting it via blackberry, and then going back in and quickly editing it. Good fun.

The Best Cab Driver

Monday was primarily a travel day – going from East (Istanbul) to West (Barcelona). We hiked down the street a ways back to Simitci for breakfast. The family that runs the place were quite happy to see us – we even sat at the same table.Breakfast was 23.50 TL (approx $18) – because we got slightly different things this time. Torie tore into her Simits pretty happily, and Julia had some tasty flaky cheese pastry dish type thing. Maddy found a muffin more to her liking than yesterday’s.

Our transfer never showed – so we took a cab. (Turns out the transfer driver got confused and went to the airport to pick us up to take us to the hotel). Our cabbie was quite the colorful Turk. Named Ishun, he even has a website entitled bestcabdriver.com – we’re going to have to check it out. He is planning to write a book, and he has been featured in many articles, on TV, and on the radio. He showed us his book of clips. He was joking and telling stories about things he’s done and people he has met.He also noted he wasn’t a Mafioso cab driver – he took us the fastest way for the cheapest fare.

(True – the hotel said it would take an hour and cost 50 TL, but it was 40 minutes and cost 36 TL. ) I tipped him very well (gave him 50 TL and took no change).

The passport control line moved very slowly, but our flight was delayed a bit. Since they barely had any seats, we had to sprawl out on the floor, eating a hastily bought bunch of snacks (and I had some dates).

Barcelona was a 3.5 hour flight – so we got in a bit before 5pm. Fortunately for all concerned, they only had two people working at passport control, so the line was both long and slow. You would not want the workers who were standing around watching to go open a few more booths, because that would have meant work on their part and would have interrupted their story telling.

I know -- we should put them in charge of health care!

Maybe Not The Grand Bazaar, But All in All, A Pretty Darn Good One

So, after finding out the hard way that the Grand Bazaar was closed on Sundays, we decided to head down and find the Spice Bazaar, which remains open on Sundays during August. After stopping to get some souvenirs for the girls, I was reoriented by the nice shopkeeper on where we were.

We had just gone through a maze of streets, and while I had a general idea of where we were, I had no specific idea. Now I knew roughly how to get to the Spice Bazaar, but I didn’t know specifically. I had run out of old mosques by which to find my bearings. We then happened onto a very strange scene.

We wandered into a maze of streets that could best be described as the clothes bazaar. It was an open air market. But we might have been the only Westerners there. No one bothered us – hardly any gave us second looks. Instead, the shopkeepers were busy flagging down the covered women (most in colorful headscarves signifying Turkish Muslims and some in the more somber black of the Arabic countries) and selling to them.

(As an aside, we were surprised to see how many women wore the head scarves in Istanbul. It is a sign of the growing strength of the ruling Islamist Party, we presume. We had been told that we would see very few "covereds" as they are called, but nearly every women here in this bazaar was wearing one. It was as though it was the price of admission.)

There were vendors selling water. I paid one Turkish lira for two bottles – that’s essentially 75 cents for TWO bottles. Between breakfast and now this, I was starting to find some food bargains. There were also numerous carts selling grilled corn on the cob. I should have bought one just for the experience, but wasn’t hungry. Julia suggested a new business for me – a man and his dream, being the first to sell corn on the cob via a pushcart. (I can see me on the streets of DC now!)

(As another aside, one thing I love about traveling in non-English speaking countries is the bizarre array of t-shirts with English language words on them that are either nonsense when strung together, or clearly knock-offs. Abercrombie and Fitch would be a buy stock if all they actually sold all the shirts with their name on it. My personal favorite, however, was a t-shirt I saw on a man in Athens. It simply said "New York Teams." He had the bases covered – Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Rangers, Islanders, Devils, Nets, Knicks. If there are any college sports still left in NY, they are covered too.)

We then wandered up to a building, and I said – "I think this is the Spice Bazaar. Let’s go in!" And it was the Spice Bazaar. (I know what you are thinking – "Glen, must be tough being right all the time." And it is, but I’ve learned to deal with it. Mrs. Iron Tourist? She's still learning to deal with me being right.)

I will admit that wandering through streets somewhat randomly and getting to the right point by guessing correctly at each intersection (and by intersection we mean of two narrow cobblestone streets) was extremely lucky.

The Spice Bazaar is extremely cool. Housed in a rickety two story building, there are shop after shop selling various spices, Turkish candies, Turkish tea, dates, and a basic polyglot of stuff. The outdoor clothing bazaar (almost like a giant flea market) was neat just because we wandered through it as though we weren’t really there. No one paid us any mind, and we didn’t stop to look at or sample the wares.

The Spice Bazaar was different. We bought some Apple Tea for Julia, which they vacuum packed and sealed. I bought some dates to munch on over the next few days. I also bought some barbeque rub for meat, and Torie had some Turkish Delight. She didn’t care for it, so instead we passed on it. We also got some Christmas gifts at the Bazaar. Carol wanted a new teapot for show, but there were none being sold there. Plenty of colorfully decorated/painted plates, but no teapot.

After spending a fair amount of time in the market (you walk at the crowd’s pace, not your own), we made our way back into the bright sunshine. We headed down the couple of blocks to the Golden Horn, passing yet another famous old mosque. The streets were packed with people. To cross a busy street, we went below, through an underground pedestrian crossway. It was packed, with shops on both sides, and we could hardly pass through because of the crowds.

We crossed the Galata Bridge – where many men were hanging out fishing and then took two cabs back to the hotel (paying fair, agreed upon rates). That had been quite a bit of walking (and yes, we bought ice cream), so we hung out at the pool for a while, watching the freighters and yachts go by on the Bosphorus.

Dinne involved a taxi ride to Nevizade Sokak in the Taksim area. That was a neat (and affordable) ride, as we went in to parts of the city that were much more alive with local life than where we had been. Nevizade is a small pedestrian street with lots of restaurants in a trendy area. Being Sunday night, it wasn’t as crowded as normal, but there were still a decent number of people.

Our waiter brought us small plates of meze to look at and order from. Meze is the Turkish equivalent of Tapas – a variety of small dishes you can eat as appetizers, or string together in a lengthy, relaxed meal. Carol and I opted for a dinner essentially of meze – shrimp, calamari, yogurt with spinach, stuffed grape leaves, some meat dishes, green beans, etc. The girls liked the meze, but they also went with conventional dinners. The BBQ on the Bosphorus the night before was neat because of the setting, but this dinner was great because it was more authentic, and the area had a lively vibe.

We caught two cabs going back. I think we paid less for the other six cabs combined we took that day than we paid for the first one. Live and learn.

I enjoyed this day in Istanbul more than the first, when we saw all the sights. The first day was very interesting, but the second day was much more lively. Gave us a much better sense of Istanbul.

The Worst Cab Driver

After the Dolmabahca Palace, it was time to head over to the Grand Bazaar. So we flagged down a cab and stuffed five of us in. When he dropped us off near the bazaar, he ripped me off, saying we owed him more because there were five in the cab. The price he gave was already high, and then he added a surcharge. I learned my lesson – no hopping in a cab in Istanbul without establishing either a rate or at least that the meter would be on.

We then had lunch in a square just off the Grand Bazaar. The best part about lunch was that we ate outside, and I did not feel ripped off (not that the food was wonderful, but at least it wasn’t overly expensive). Then we headed into the labyrinth that is the Grand Bazaar, ready to do battle with the shopkeepers. If Rhodes was tough, we could only imagine how crazy the Grand Bazaar would be.

And we’ll still have to wonder how crazed it is. The Grand Bazaar is closed on Sunday. Storefront after storefront closed down like an early morning in Manhattan. While the Palace had been very cool, between the cab rip-off and the Grand Bazaar being closed, there wasn’t much good going on after that.

Finally -- an Affordable Meal!

Since breakfast wasn't included at the Ciragan Palace for us, we decided on Sunday morning coming down to walk till we found a place to get breakfast. The first few places were all closed up, but closer to a univeristy we found a small family run place called Simitci.

Simit is the round sesame seed bread that is a big part of the breakfast meal. We got two meat, cheese, egg, and olive platters, two simits, and a muffin-like thing for each of the girls -- along with five bottles of water. All for just 18.50 TL, which is roughly $13 dollars. And it was good -- we shared the platters, and Torie really enjoyed the simits (as did I -- much softer to bite into than it looks).

I had let everyone sleep in until 8:30 am. This was part of my throttle back on the Iron Tourist family thing with teenagers, simply to avoid mid-afternoon revolts. To be fair, we do still cover a lot of ground each day.

So, after breakfast, by the time we had walked back to the Dolmabahce Sarayi Palace and took our place in the long line, it was 10:10. The line didn't move -- and then we saw a sign that they didn't open the ticket office till 10:30 (despite the Palace opening at 9am -- I guess for groups and pre-ordered tickets.)

Once we got into the Palace, it was amazing. Built in 1856, the palace was so costly and over the top that it helped hasten the bankruptcy of the Ottoman Empire. Apparently the interior designer had done opera sets in Paris, so it was remarkably over-designed on the inside. A Museum since Ataturk died there in 1938 at 9:05, it has all original furniture in it.

The outside gardens are beautiful, including a clock essentially carved in the grass with flowers and bushes that is approximately 20 feet high. Situated right along the Bosphorous, there are nice breezes and it is very relaxed. The Palace was home to six Sultans, as well as used by Ataturk as his home and office while in Istanbul.

The only way to see inside the Palace is to put little plastic baggie slippers over your shoes and take a guided tour. We didn't have to wait long, and the tour was definitely worth it. Our guide spoke accented English, but he was loud enough and clear enough to be easily understood. I think it was a better tour and more interesting than the Topkapi Palace. Carol's perspective is that they are so different as to not be comparable. Anyhow, a visitor to Istanbul should not miss it, even though it is a little out of the way. (Plan to wait in line to buy tickets, although once inside it did not feel crowded at all, unlike Topkapi Palace).

The guidebooks were wrong on two accounts. One is that all the clocks in the Palace are stopped at 9:05 am, the time of Ataturk's death. I related this fact to the girls, and of course, only one of the number of clocks we saw were stopped at that time. The rest of the clocks were stopped at random times.

The other mistake in the tour books is that they say there are two tours -- covering the main palace, as well as the harem section. It's been combined it into one tour. So it cost us 43 TL -- 20 TL for Carol and I each, and the student rate of 1 TL for each of the girls. Finally a break in entrance fees for children in Turkey.

The very end of the tour -- which winds its way through nearly ALL of the rooms of the palace, up and down ornate staircases, past bedrooms, into bathrooms, and Ambassador's staterooms -- finishes in the enormous ceremonial hall. Built to hold 2,500 people, the entire hall is stunning to behold. We could easily fit two of our house into the hall, and probably more. The dome looks like that of a major church/mosque.

We headed out of the Palace and strolled along the grounds, which run along side the Bosphorous. Pretty. Amazing.

Day on the Water

Here it is Monday morning, and I have written about Thursday, Friday, or Sunday yet. I'll knock out Friday quickly right now. It was the transit on the boat from Kusadasi to Istanbul -- 330 nautical miles.

Carol and the girls were worried my head with explode with nothing to do but wile away the hours on the boat. One day of calm and rest turned out to be fine -- and I'm glad it was at the end of the cruise, not in the beginning (which happens if you take the Istanbul to Athens direction).

I let everyone sleep let (till 9am). (You gotta admit -- for two teenagers, 9am isn't exactly sleeping late). And then we had a leisurely breakfast. Then I alternated between writing blog posts to download once we had a wireless card signal, and reading books on my Kindle.

Passing through the Dardanelles was pretty cool (mentioned in previous posts), but for the most part, a mellow day. Carol and I even watched a movie -- "Defiance" -- which is the Daniel Craig movie about the Jewish partisans in Eastern Europe during WW II. Very moving movie, and still hard to believe that was only 60+ years ago. Never again should mean never again.

We ate dinner out on the deck at the Candles restaurant. There was more menu variety at the main restaurant , but we really enjoyed the more low-key, informal dinners outside. Every so often the wind would whip out, but that's just part of the fun.

All in all, it was a good, calm day. A nice break in the middle of a busy two weeks.

The Castle of St. Paul. Bodrum, Turkey

A must see if in this neck of the woods.

Tubing, with the Windstar and Bodrum in the background

Maddy and Julia tubing

The two person tubing didn't work as well as the solo tubing. However, Maddy does deserve credit for never having fallen off during the two person rides. Torie and Julia went down first each time.

Torie, tubing

This was at the start -- many of the pictures I took during the fast part didn't come out well, because either the boat was bouncing or the tube was bouncing.

"It's Not An Adventure Until Something Goes Wrong"

The post title, "It's not an adventure until something goes wrong" is one of my friend's (John Passacantando) favorite sayings. In fact, odds are high he'll be trademarking it and sticking it on t-shirts (maybe that's irony on the Life is Good shirts?).

Anyhow, it's pretty remarkable that this headline didn't show up until describing the afternoon of the first day in Istanbul.

(By the way, as I'm writing this, it's early morning of the Monday we'll be leaving Istanbul for Barcelona. Despite these relatively minor hassles on Saturday afternoon, we really liked the city much better after Sunday -- next blog post.)

After checking into the hotel (more on this later) it was getting past 1pm and everyone was starving after an early breakfast. So we went to the hotel restaurant to grab a quick and easy lunch. They put the five of us at a table for four. The food was good (albeit not cheap), and the table was crowded between our plates, bread plates, glasses, etc.

Suddenly, Torie's bread plate fell (it must have gotten pushed slightly as other stuff got moved around, because neither she nor I touched it at that point). The plate fell and shattered. Neither Torie nor I were cut, so at first it seemed a minor plate breaking.

However, a few moments later, we realized that a fellow at a nearby table was bleeding. Somehow, a shard have traveled probably ten feet and cut his arm. Being British, he and the rest of his party took it in good spirits, although we felt terrible about the flukey shot. When he came back after getting first aid, I went over to apologize, but they sportingly chalked it up to just one of those things. That was a bit of a bummer.

We (and by "we" I mean me) decided to take what looked to be a short walk to Dolmabahce Palace (hereafter called "the Palace" in this blog post for brevity and spelling sanity reasons). Well, it was a bit further than we thought -- more than a mile in the heat, after having walked around the Aya Sofia, the Blue Mosque, and Topkapi Palace after an early morning rise.

When we got to the Palace, the line was quite long, and hardly moving (with closing coming relatively soon). We decided after waiting a while and barely moving forward to scratch the plan and save the trip for Sunday morning. We did enjoy the ceremonial changing of the guard (although these soldiers carried non-ceremonial machine guns).

I then went to a nearby ATM to get out some more Turkish Lira. The transaction went through, until my card got stuck coming out. So, I got neither the cash (which was to come after the card was returned) nor my ATM card, which was retained by the ghost in the machine. Yikes -- now we were down to one ATM card, with more Istanbul and all of Barcelona to go.

Carol quickly saved the day -- she had our Credit Union's 24 hour 800 number programmed in her blackberry. We were able to confirm that the transaction had been recredited to our account, my ATM card was killed, and a new one was being issued (something to look forward to upon returning home -- "the new phone books are here! the new phone books are here!" as Navin Johnson would say.)

So, after cutting a gentleman's arm, we had hiked yet whiffed on the Palace, and then had my ATM card swallowed like Jonah. So we walked back to the hotel. We also had whiffed on dinner plans -- as the few places we tried for reservations were all booked up (Saturday nights in August in Istanbul are the hardest nights to get reservations -- the opposite of Athens).

And now I was second-guessing myself on the choice of hotels, as well. I had booked us into one of the nicest hotels in Istanbul, the Ciragan Palace Kempinksi. It's right on the Bosphorous, and used to be a Palace. Some guidebooks even list it as a stop worth seeing.

(When I was in college, traveling through Europe on $20 per day -- good luck with that now! -- I was staying in flea bag hostels. In Rome, walking past a nice hotel, I vowed that some day I would be able to afford to stay in places like that. Anyhow, we've always had fun staying in at least one VERY nice hotel while on these trips. So, we dumbed down our hotels inAthens and Barcelona to afford this very nice hotel in Istanbul.)

Well, it's almost too nice. You shouldn't be intimidated by the staff at a hotel, and yet these people are much more officious and official than I care to be. Now, that's not a knock -- the hotel is great, the service is solid, and the location is incredible. One drawback is that it is a bit far away from the main sights of Istanbul. On the flip side, being right along the Bosphorous in an oasis of calm is kind of nice.

The palace was built by (actually for) Sultan Abdulaziz, who reigned between 1861 and 1876.
All in all, I wouldn't recommend staying here, but mostly because it is too nice for a regular family like ours. After much thought, we enjoyed it -- nice resort, cool breezes, right along the Bosphorous, and it is neat to stay at what once was a Sultan's Palace. We don't stay in a special place every night on the trips, but like Waterford Castle in Ireland back in our 2003 trip, it was a fun two-night treat.

However, since we were here, we did take advantage of one thing -- the beautiful infinity pool right on the edge of the Bosphorous. We sat out in the late afternoon by the pool (Torie, of course, swam the whole time) on the very comfortable lounge chairs. We then had a sumptuous dinner at the hotel BBQ, right on the banks of the Bosphorous. Excellent food, served buffet style with meat/fish/chicken cooked to order.

The food was excellent, albeit pricey.

Clowning Around by a Rhodes City Gate

Castellania Fountain in Plateia Ippokratous Square

Taken mid-day, the square was wall-to-wall people when we back for a drink in the early evening. You aren't able to walk five feet without being pitched to stop in and buy something (stores) or eat something (restaurants).

On the Walls of Rhodes