Thursday, December 28, 2006

Istanbul: A city of many pasts (Part 1)

About two weeks before our much anticipated Christmas trip to Istanbul (at a leisurely Sunday night dinner at Linda and Jay’s), Linda proudly exhibited a book called “the Hedonist's Guide To Istanbul, 1st Edition” with Vanna White flair and an audible “voila” melody: don-da-da-DONN! Little did we know then, but that book was going to set the tone for what would become the most gluttonous, most upscale, and most enjoyable trip I’ve ever been on. This is what I thought when, for the second night in a row (and the third time that particular night), I had to suppress my normally snorty, hooty laughter to a stilted, jaw-clenching wheeze to keep myself laugh vomiting up my 7 lbs. of candied fiber turds I ingested for dessert. But I digress. Let me explain.

Dec. 23: There were four of us on this trip: Breanna, Jay, Linda, and myself. We got in late the first night – Breanna severely jet-lagged after an early morning arrival from Texarcana; Linda pooped from corralling us ADHDers through the maze of airport, gates, and pee breaks; and my dad and I exhausted from racking our puny hippocampii about the last time the two of us were in Istanbul (more than three years, 10 months prior).

Dec. 24: After a typical Turkish breakfast of cucumbers, tomatoes, and cheese, (yum) we left our hotel early, heading out for a Sunday chock full of culture. We started with the gigantic Topkapı Palace, an old (1465) citadel on the banks of the Bosphorus that had considerably moderate proportions considering it held the leader of one of the strongest empires in the world when in use. Then, after 5.5 grueling hours of touring the palace, we hit the 17th-century Blue Mosque, which is actually gray on the outside, but has an interior lined with some 20,000 mostly blue tiles. Thus, the name.

Afterward, we visited the older Hagia Sophia mosque, originally built during the fourth century, and heard the sound Linda’s lung makes when exposed to repeated, unexplained pictures of my crotch showing up on her camera. Sort of a cackle followed by a low rumble. Very funny.

Finally, after all that historical refinement, it was time for a celebration. ‘Twas the night before Christmas, after all. So, ours was a feast at a famous Turkish restaurant, featuring live dancing from the various regions of Turkey.

But, while all picture-worthy and clap-inducing, these dancers – some even blindfolded and throwing daggers – were no match for the three reasonably attractive, undulating, breeding-age females who held long, deep stares with male audience members as then writhed rhythmically with the percussion heavy exotic beats. One was the worst of the worst (think: cheap, confused, trashy stripper who accidentally fired her unfastened bellybutton ring at the audience in mid-writhe). One was decent, and would probably be dubbed “good” by most accounts. And one was the best of the best. This final act was fun, smooth, and talented in a drool-inducing way. The best belly dancer any of us had seen, by far, making the men in the audience wish they could be Sultan and include her in their harems.

Interspersed between these acts were sips of a strong, anise-flavored Turkish liquor called raki, multiple appearances of yours truly on the stage, and spicy belches that flew like my reticence into the wind. Oh what a night!

Raki, btw, turns from clear to cloudy when you add water. Much like my brain got when I added raki. Think ouzo without the “OPA!”

Dec. 25: No one really remembers this day very well. Perhaps it was the raki. But from our combined recollection, we think we:
1) Snubbed some carpet guys for a couple hours while they tried in vain to sell us “a piece of history” for 2,000 euros.
2) Ate the best buttered Iskander kebabs ever made while on the Turkish Champs Elysees (called Bagdad Street).
3) Laughed like people thought we were high while trying with stubborn American optimism to open the bathroom door at the Iskander kebab house. My dad went first, failed, and was criticized for the letdown. His response: “I know how to push open a door!” He was then helped by a friendly waiter who, after giving my dad a questioning look (seemingly saying, “Have you never seen a door before?”), gently pushed open the door. I followed, failed, and met the same waiter and his open sesame hand. Then Breanna. Failed. Then Linda, who mocked us all shamelessly. Failed. There must have been a candid camera out there. It was unreal.
4) Belched Iskander kebabs while haggling our way through the bustling and colorful Egyptian Spice Bazaar, which was the original terminus of the Silk Road.
5) Had the best bass ever at another belly dancer frequented restaurant in an area called Kumkapı, famous for its fresh fish and live entertainment. (I put the money in there, btw.)It really was the best bass I’ve ever had, despite having to overcome my well built and much maintained wussiness by having to cut off the head, tail, and scales to get to the juicy meat. Merry Christmas, fishy. Thanks for a good meal!

Dec 26: We started the day happy, hopeful, and high-spirited as we learned that our 43-year-old Turkish guide, Ramazan, was right. It DID always snow in Istanbul this time of year. And it WAS beautiful.
It snowed without much surprise or fanfare from the locals. To them it was an inevitability. Slowly, beautifully, and quietly, the old, dusty, cracked buildings and streets of this huge metropolis were alighted with falling snow. Everything seemed to be peaceful. The oranges and pomegranates for sale on the streets seemed out of place with a white petticoat. But they seemed composed. The ubiquitous palm trees standing sentry on the banks of the Sea of Marmara looked peculiar with a dusting of snow. But they seemed serene. All was still.

Inside the lobby of our hotel, no one was stirring – not even a mouse. We American travelers from Germany were all standing silently, gazing at the first snow any of us had seen this season. To us it was a perfect, introspective, and unexpected moment. And a great one to remember.

Istanbul: A city of many pasts (Part 2)



Dec. 26: On this frost-bitten morning, after seemingly seeing snow for the first time, we headed for our second and newer Sultanate palace of the trip: the Dolmabahçe Palace, lived in by the famous Kamal Atatürk, father of modern Turkey. This European-style palace was perhaps the most ostentatious place I’ve ever seen, complete with the world’s largest Bohemian crystal chandelier, a crystal staircase (for sheeze), alabaster floors, and carpets bigger than my apartment (also for sheeze).


It was much different than the simpler, more functional Topkapı Palace. But, despite the flamboyance of the rulers who wielded power of the massive Ottoman Empire from this residence, there was only one, small, lonely ottoman left. For shame, Atatürk!


The day was later lubricated by a salty yogurt drink (called Ayran), a fiberous lunch, and a bowl of what was later, accurately called the “dessert of regularity.” Poosville, daddio!

Afterward, we wandered the Moorish hallways of the labyrinthine Grand Bazaar, where I haggled and bought lots of needless gifts (most of them for myself – did I really need three more pairs of jeans?). Here I met and was practically fondled by a gorgeously famous Turkish pop singing sensation named Tugba Ekinci, who apparently is a bad singer. She was being followed by a TV crew, which got me on camera with my arm around her, showing her that I am married and, therefore, unfortunately not eligible to be her Kevin Federlein.


At this point, Breanna came up with an idea for a video game in which you have to find your way through the bazaar, buy the things on your shopping list, and shoot the swindling, insulting, in-your-face, jump-out-in-front-of-you-and-dangle-merchandise-in-your-eye merchants. I’d play that shit.

That night, the four of us paced up and down Istiklal Caddesi, the main pedestrian thoroughfare in Beyoglu, the very European neighborhood around our hotel, where we set out to buy Turkish Delights from the shop that started it all – Haci Bekir. We also ended up buying a brick of sweetened Saharan sand there, which I’ll comment on later, and found a nice restaurant where we licked clean our plates that we swear we filled with “all the foods that no one else would eat,” (including several unidentifiable and colorful desserts that could easily have been scraped from the bottom of an old Turkish man’s shoes). Many of the dishes were meats, of that we’re sure. The others…?

Later, we played cards and laughed so hard at the ½ kilo hunk of gritty sand – sitting untouched and unwanted on the coffee table in Jay and Linda’s room – that Linda peed herself. The sandy substance, called Halva is made from sugar, pistachios, and moon dust. Taking a bite is like licking sugar off a bath towel and jokes abounded that night.

Dec. 27: This final day was slow and relaxing. It included a funicular to the top of one of Istanbul’s seven hills, some STRONG Turkish kahve (coffee), a miserable attempt to recreate the “Oh my love, my darling” scene in the movie Ghost, some Turkish Chay (tea), a stop by what was known to the Byzantines as "the center of the world," a final dead-man-walking strut through the Grand Bazaar, and without a doubt, the best meat I’ve ever tasted. The meat was served at a fancy-pants kebab house near the airport called Beyti’s that has served everyone from Arthur Miller to Serena Williams to Bill Clinton. This place is the holy temple of meat. The holy of holies. And served the following, all of which I would consider on my list of “the best I’ve ever had”:

Lamb
Döner kebab meat (whatever that is)
Beef
Lamb and beef kebabs
Rice
Eggplant puree

OK, so the last two aren’t meats; but they were also really freaking good. And, while we were there, Mr. Beyti himself even stopped by our table, asked us where we were from and how we liked the food, and then sat down at a table near us to enjoy his own tender meats. The joke was: “ ‘I’ll have the salad,’ he said.”

Afterward, we headed for the airport for a flight on Turkish Air – with a 100% lateness policy.

It was truly one of the – if not the – best trip I’ve been on. And, on that sappy note, I have to say in all seriousness that family, food, and fun actually can go together in perfect harmony. Just add Istanbul and a couple glasses of raki!

Also, here are a couple random learnings:
60% of Turks can’t swim, despite one of the most popular beach scenes in the Mediterranean.
70% of Turks don’t want to be in the EU, despite the fact that it’s the freaking EU.
A harem is not just half-clad women. It’s actually the Sultan’s repressed family.
Justinian I was a great man – he set up and ruled over Constantinople.
The word Istanbul is probably Greek for “to the city.”
Rapid expansion of the Ottoman Empire was not due to a need for new footstools.
Circumcisions are usually performed on boys around age 8.
Tulips come from Turkey.
Linda is easily frightened by Algerian men.
Santa and the Christmas tree are, in Turkey, symbols of the New Year.
Turkish merchants are must less pushy than their Egyptian and Moroccan counterparts.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Weeks 1-3: While Kate is away, she is ok

So some of you, hopefully, have been wondering what I've been up to while Pecos and Justin have been fending for themselves in Germany. Well, I've been home with my family in Maryland, and I have been super busy. I know it's been a while, but hopefully I can summarize my time here. Let's just see how it goes (be warned . . . it’s boring).

I flew home on December 7th and spent a few days settling in, readjusting, and catching up. That weekend, Liz (the one on the right in the picture of the two girls in the green dresses) came to town. I got to meet Liz's new dog Lucy. Lucy is super sweet and hopefully I'll have some pictures of her when I go up to visit Liz (in her new house) in Pittsburgh in a few weeks.


On the thirteenth, my brother Edward, der Waschbär, turned 30. It was great to be home to celebrate his birthday with family and friends. That week was also very nice because Edward and his girlfriend Jen had both taken the week off of work. This meant that they were available for hanging out. It was great to catch up with Edward and to get to know Jen better.

During the week of the eleventh, I also became swamped with work. This work has kept me very busy until, well, now. It's great to have work to do, even if it does infringe on more important activities like Christmas shopping, blogging, and watching OnDemand. Seriously, I love working, though I am happy that my work is (temporarily) wrapping up. That way I can go to Chicago (this weekend!!) without having to duck into a random Kinkos to squeeze in some work.

I went to visit Barbara (Justin's mom), Bill (Justin's step-dad), and Oma (Justin's grandmother) from the seventeenth through nineteenth. Barbara and I baked Justin many cookies and mailed them with some Christmas presents. Hopefully, the cookies will still be fresh when Justin gets them tomorrow. It was great to hang out with Justin's family and look through Justin's bedroom at the horrible t-shirts he wore in high school.



Between the nineteenth and Christmas, I filled my time working, hanging out with the dogs, and Christmas shopping. On the 22nd, my friend Rachele (the one on the left in the green dress) flew in from Santa Barbara for the holiday. During her time here we hung out and caught up. Her time here was brief, but it was great to see her. Hopefully Rachele will come visit us this spring.

For Christmas, my family enjoyed dressing the dogs in embarrassing outfits, eating Christmas Eve dinner at 10:30 PM (this is a bona fide tradition in my family), and just enjoying our time together. Justin and I received the best Christmas present ever. It's an oil painting of Pecos and it looks awesome. I can't wait to hang it up on our apartment. My parents, Edward, and I traveled to Barbara, Bill, and Oma's for Christmas dinner. It was great to all get together, even if I did miss Justin greatly.



I think that about wraps my time here. Obviously, I've left out all of the emotional stuff, like how happy I am to spend time with my parents, how much I enjoy talking to my brother everyday, how desperately I miss Justin, and how I am dying to pick Pecos up and give him a squeeze. It would be so wonderful if my boys could have come home to.

In a quick look forward, I am traveling to Chicago for the 29-2, Pittsburgh the weekend of the 5-7, to Justin's mom's sometime the week of the eighth, and to Georgia from the 14-19. On January 20th I fly back to Germany. I know the next three weeks are going to go as quickly as the last three. Hopefully, I’ll find some time to blog.

I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season and I want to wish all of you a wonderful new year.

PS: Justin has our camera, so most of these pictures are old pictures I took off of Shutterfly.





Thursday, December 21, 2006

Week 2: While Kate is away....the boys are OK


So we’re deep in the heart of week 2 and I’m trying to catch up with my life sans wife – and let me tell you, it ain’t easy.

Just to clarify things, dear readers, I didn’t mean to imply in my last post that my wife left me and the dog to fend for ourselves in this foreign land….I just meant she went home for Christmas to see her family and I didn’t. I’m staying here with my dad and step mom…well, sort of. We’re leaving this Saturday for Istanbul – a sunny, progressive Turkish city that connects both East and West as well as my tummy and Turkish Delights.

I’d like to say that things are sad and lonely when she’s not around, but that’d only be half true. They’ve been sad, lonely, busy, and filled with funny hats.

In the short time that Kate’s been gone, I’ve been able to:

Start reading (and get amazingly frustrated with) Harry Potter in German:















Visit the Wiesbaden Christmas market, twice:



















Win some prizes at work for being awesome:


Hang out with people wearing funny hats:

Put Pec in a funny hat:


Cook like my fridge is gonna die:

Make some awesome stir fry:

Buy (and not hook up correctly) a digital receiver:

Buy a television:



Fall asleep while receiving an award from a very high-ranking military officer:

And be this festive fellow:





Thursday, December 14, 2006

Week 1: While Kate is away....the boys will play


For those of you who aren't cool and require to be spoon-fed information (much like our current administration, might I add), I will tell you outright that Kate and I are separated. That's right, she flew back to the States to spend time with her "family," while I'm left here all alone to toil and fret about why family is in quotes.

Yes, it's hard to make do when she's around, as many of you already know, thanks to the ceaseless demands ("take out the trash," "wash your own dishes," "why is this pasta on the floor again?") ....but it's even more difficult when you compound the fact that I am a male and, therefore, genetically predisposed to fogging out any nags that would naturally occur in my brain if I weren't.

Not that I'm particularly special in my inability to draw a blank when asked, "what would your mother say about this pigsty?" just that, like most men, I'm challenged when it comes to decorum. Especially when there's no one here to put me on the straight-and-narrow other than Pecos, who, despite his good intentions, couldn't resist having cereal for dinner even if his own mother were there pointing a stern finger at him.

My chromosomal imperviousness to etiquete has led me to enjoy the freedom of such cuisine as well as led me to:


Eat steak and only steak for dinner:










Get in a fight:




















Have this picture taken:

And leave the bathroom dirrrrrrty:

Pecos didn't quite get the "bachelor lifestyle," though, so he ran off to Iowa or somewhere green and flat and had this picture taken on the side of the road by a muddy squirrel friend he made on a freight train headed for San Antone. May the wind be at your back, Pecos!

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Nürnberg und Würzburg



A word-for-word transcript of Kate and Justin’s car conversation between Nürnberg und Wiesbaden (with a stop off at Würzburg):

Pecos: I’m cold.

Kate: Pecos, you’re not even in the car. You’re back in Wiesbaden, no doubt snuggling up with Linda…probably taking a nap on Egyptian cotton sheets.

Justin: Wow, you’ve lost it completely.

Kate: I guess I lost it this weekend in Nürnberg.

Justin: Yes, you did. But we had a good trip, at least. We got to see our hot German friend, Marc, and his girlfriend Julia.


Kate: So, do you spell her name Y-O-O-L-I-A? ‘Cause that’s how you pronounce it.

Justin: (Placating her) Yes, Kate. Exactly.

Kate: I’m glad we got to go to the Christmas market there – didn’t I read somewhere that it was the biggest in the world?



Justin: Maybe in one of your cheaply researched girly magazines like Domino or Reader’s Digest. It’s certainly huge, drawing over two million people each year. But it’s not the biggest. Probably one of the oldest, though.

Kate: There must have been two million people waiting in line to buy an overpriced Christmas trinket at that German Christmas store we went to - Käthe Wohlfarht, right. I think they were all Americans.

Justin: Yeah, I can’t believe you waited in line there! And what about those lines to buy lebkuchen and glühwein!



Kate: Oh man, weren’t they gooooooood.

Justin: Mmmm. You can’t deny how wunderbar the sweet, ginger-bready lebkuchen are; or how the hot, sweet, cinnamony wine warms you up in the cold.

Kate: Those cute little blue boots they serve the glühwein in are pretty cute too, huh? If only Pecos were small enough to fit inside one. That’d be the ultimate!

Justin: What? “The ultimate” what? (Under his breath): I think your glühwein was spiked.

Kate: Yeah, they’re huge collector items, you know.

Justin: What Pecos in a mug? Sure. … pause … Oh, no. You were being serious. … Uh, yes. Pecos in a mug – now only $5.99 at your local Petsmart!

Kate: ?

Justin: ??

Kate: Well, you know what I wish I could collect – the recipes from Marc’s work. That duck I had was really really good. Not to mention the red cabbage. I wish I worked in a cooking school.

Justin: Yeah working there has really paid off. That pumpkin soup and monkfish that Marc made us on Saturday night were really freaking great. (Drool begins to drip from Justin’s mouth). I wish I were Marc’s girlfriend.

Kate: Well, OK then. Let’s not go there.

Justin: Yeah, Marc’s so dreamy. I really like his choice of shoes.

Kate: Um.

Justin: Yeah, and I totally dug his apartment. I mean that futon we slept on was so nice. And that fabric.

Kate: …

Justin: (Takes his eyes of the road to think about Marc).

Kate: JUSTIN! Watch the road!

Justin: Oh. Ooops.

Kate: Hey look, there’s a sign for Würzburg.

Justin: Oh, I’ve always wanted to go there. Let’s stop by for a little bit and walk around. I hear it looks like Prague….