What's a Guest post?

I started prattling on in this blog, forcing Ian to occasionally participate, in a vague sense of documenting EVERYTHING. I am terrible about trying to hang on to every moment, permanently stuck behind the camera, writing notes so I remember the name of that cafe, brewery, person. Technology has made keeping hold of things I like easier (Hello Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter!), but I am basically an amateur at social media.

So when one of my Favorite bloggers and first Expat Interview, Jack Scott at Perking the Pansies, asked me to write a guest blog I first had to find out what that entailed. He made it easy- write about whatever I want. And I'm off!

Here is my post about Ian & I traveling to Istanbul. It covers 24+ hours on a train, passport control with guns, and the most effective weight loss plan ever!

Ian & I in Istanbul with soldier

Make sure to check out the rest of the guest posters as well and Mr. Jack Scott himself. He's half of a gay English couple in Turkey and absolutely fabulous.

Mystery in the Berlin Bathroom

We are lucky to have this temporary apartment to call home in Weisensee. We have really grown to enjoy the area and the place is crazy funky. There is a boar's head that the guys grandfather shot. Awesome.

The bathroom's potential is maximized, but it is literally a closet that was re-done into a bathroom. Tight! And what we were really curious about- What's behind the shower?



Want more pics and stories of apartments in Berlin? Click the apartment label for full gory details of our many, many moves and read What Moving 6 times in a Year has Taught Me.

Vlad's revenge...or possibly Ataturk

We were warned. Don't drink the water. And we didn't...not much anyways. But it was so hot and we were so thirsty & everyone was doing it. So we had a couple sips of tap water in Romania and Turkey. Our last day in Istanbul we felt it. A lumbering of the stomach. An uncomfortable ache and occasional slicing cramp. Soon we were chained to the toilet.

We did the best we could and got along ok. We saw a little more of Istanbul, survived a 10 hour night-time bus ride, and sailed on into Greece feeling slightly better. We gave up today and went to the pharmacist for some blessed pills to make the pain go away, but most of the work has been done by the beauty of our surroundings in alleviating our suffering. Who can pay attention to a stomach cramp when there is a dolphin swimming alongside the ferry (yes really)? Who can feel sick when the teenager serving your meal on the Greek island of Samos tells you they can't serve the rabbit dish because the rabbit is still alive (complete with a finger across the throat depicting what would ave to be done to serve our meal)? Who can be ill when gazing into completely clear waters and watching the tiny fish swim beneath? In short, we are feeling much better.

The Trip - Itinerary, posts, pics, and insanity. 

The Continental Shelf

One of the biggest differences I've found about our apartment in Germany and our old apartment back home (besides of course the shower in the kitchen), is the idiocy of our German toilet. I hope you all don't mind, but I shall try my best to describe this phenomenon.

Like most toilets around the world, you would expect to poo right directly into the water at the bottom of the toilet bowl; however, many toilets here in Germany have a small porcelain shelf that catches the poo. Then when flushing (and hoping the water pressure is good enough and the poo not too hearty), the poo should just slide right off into the lower basin and disappear forever as it should.

This "lay and display" idea is monstrous to me. It just sits there on the top shelf and continues to stink up the bathroom the entire time as you try and finish as quickly as possible. Gone are the lovely days of crossword puzzles and PSP games while I passed through one of life's many pains in the asses... yes, the pun was intended. And I thought Germans were the best engineers...