22 Things I am Thankful For & 29 before I'm 30

Have you seen the posts about "Things I'm Thankful For" & "29 things to do before I'm 30"? So sappy and sentimental amirite? Yeah, well....it's Thanksgiving and almost my birthday - I'm doing it. Basically, it's my blog and I can write what I want to.

22 Experiences I am Thankful For

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.

Our Favorite European Beaches

Not the Bette Midler kind, the good kind (ok- the movie actually has some merit). In my quest for making the most of every summer, I have a desperate need to search out great beaches. And slowly, so slowly,  Ian and I are becoming connoisseurs of beach life.

 

Kusadasi, Turkey

Garbage in the water could not keep us away from these turquoise waves after getting sick off Romanian water and no water in Istanbul. We jumped in for a quick swim before boarding the ferry for Greece and I don't think I've ever been more refreshed.

Best Beach?
Debatable.
One of my best beach moments?
Undoubtedly.

 Pics of Kusadasi

Samos, Greece 

Looking for a Greek island in the summer, Samos lay right in our path and we hoped it wouldn't be too touristy. It wasn't. We had this little rocky beach and blazing Greek sun all to ourselves.

Syros, Greece

The capitol of the Cyclades, this island showed us what Greek loving is all about. We got into the city in the early morning and slept on a bench in anticipation of the sunrise and sand times. We rode a rickety bus to the far side of the island and received resort treatment for the first time - sand, surf, beach chairs, and drink brought right to your spot of shade. Why did we leave?

Pics of Syros

Cinque Terre, Italy

These fishing villages were made popular with American tourists by the great Rick Steves - possibly the worst things he's ever done. Alas - it is "discovered"...and yet. There is a magical nature that can help you forget the crowds. 

Hike the well maintained trails and earn a jump into the dip waters among the rocky outlets. You can jump in practically, everywhere with some places more popular gathering spots.  We resisted going back, but Ian's dad insisted we take him while in Italy and we are so glad he did.

Riomagiore, Cinque Terre

Procida, Italy 

Gallivanting around Naples with my 18-year-old nephew, we wanted to hit a beach so we headed out to the island of Procida. Less popular than it's sister island Capri, the beach was on fire, the lemons were the sourest, and the harbor was spectacular. Part of my love for Naples has to be for this small island. 

Full post on Escape from Naples ~ Island of Procida

Polignano a Mare, Italy 

When people talk about the perfect Mediterranean beach I know I've been there. When we first moved to Berlin I picked up a terrible little writing job where I wrote city guides for small Italian towns with impossible to find information. The best thing I got from the job was the mention of Polignano a Mare. Caves lead from the rocky shore into the center of the city and the beaches are touched by perfectly translucent blue waters.

We were blinded by the whites of the buildings as we headed down to the beach and carved out our small space of sand. More of an Italian vacation spot - we were clearly the outsiders. We followed the locals to wander through the sea-slicked tunnels and up the rocks to cliff jump into the tropical grotto. Occasionally resting on submerged rocks, we felt the warmth of the sun on our face and we could watch neon fish dart by our limbs.

This place was magic.

Short post on Polignano

There are still many, many places on our list to go...

Where We've Been, Where We're Going

Istanbul - Big Danger!

Ebe and I were more than siked as we boarded one of the shittiest trains we've ever seen to Istanbul. The train was cramped, crowded, and unfortunately for us, we had two old Romanian broads in our cabin with us who decided to make it their own.

We eventually made it into another couchette (a cabin with 6 sleepers) with some Kiwi friends of ours, and thought the rest of the night would be nice and relaxing. After a stop in Bulgaria where a loud cackling woman from Cyprus joined our cabin, we were informed that we had to wait in the middle of nowhere for five hours until another train joined up with us from Serbia.

So instead of getting in to Istanbul today at 8:00 AM, we rolled into town at 1:00 PM and super tired. Unable to sleep during the night, I struck up a conversation with a Turkish man and his wife, who explained to me that "Istanbul, big danger." They then charaded out the gestures of drugs and pick pocketing... thanks for the advice!

And once we were in the city, a phrase we heard too much in the beautiful streets of Istanbul was "Spend money here please?" White people walking around must look like huge dollar signs to most vendors. Luckily it just makes Ebe and I feel popular. It's when they don't talk to us that we get down and depressed.

Unfortunately they do hawk out some nice things and we've taken the bait a few times... but for a much lower price! It's hard to believe how much lower we've bought some things with a little "haglin." It's the first place we've actually gotten mementos due to the price and the fact that everything is so frickin cool (look out for our mini-rug which will really tie the room together) and fez!

Much like Bucharest, Istanbul also has domestic animals gone wild... kittie cats! That's right folks, you can't walk around a corner here without seeing an adorable little kitty witty.... or one that's on it's last legs with mange.

Which brings us to our last topic... food (some guy joked with us that we could catch a cat to eat)! We've been eating tons of good stuff so far in Turkey, but alas no turkey. But to hell with turkey, because they have much better things to eat, such as: fresh fish sandwiches, misir (BBQ corn), kebabs, olives, feta, baklava, Turkish delight, and tons of other stuff we don't even know the name of. Hopefully our next destination treats us so well.


UPDATE from the future (May 17th, 2012)

 
We loved Istanbul. A lot. I was honored to write a guest post on Perking the Pansies about our experience in Turkey, but there is nothing like a picture.

Train to Istanbul

Sleeping Car on the train

Visa to Turkey!

Istanbul pretzel vender

Mosque in Istanbul

Grand Bizarre spice

Istanbul Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque

bird seed vender Istanbul

Istanbul pigeon

Apple tea in Istanbul

cat on the beach

We can be a bit squeamish about fish, but how could we not buy a fish sandwich with them catching the fish, grilling, and selling right on the water?

We got sick the next day. Although it was probably from water we drank in Romania...probably. We became best friends with the fancy toilet in the hostel.

And every other toilet in the city. It wasn't pretty.

Istanbul squat toilet.

Turkey requires military service from its citizens and as we embarked for the coast, several Turks were on their way to train. We felt extraordinarily lucky to be able to observe their celebrations in sending off their friends and family.

Turkey

It was amazing. We loved it. Ian - when are we going back?

Full set of Istanbul photos and the trip hit list.