Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all! I hope the day is treating you well, and that you all have the opportunity to spend time with your families (and eat enormous amounts of food and special treats). I wish you the utmost peace and happiness through the coming year!

Airports, countryside, and so on.

I could write about the countryside of Northwest France, the green fields and expansive oceans of Normandy, the charming small town of Honfleur in Calvados, the small restaurants and hotels run by friendly, talkative people.

I could, and I will.

But first let me tell you about Charles de Gaulle airport. You will think that I am exaggerating, but I tell you that this is all absolute truth. Do not doubt my word. Here’s the thing: finding Charles de Gaulle airport is only mildly less difficult than locating the lost city of Atlantis. The only thing that prevents it reaching that calibre is the fact that, being on land, one does not need diving equipment. That’s it. It exists in a sub-universe that is absolutely, categorically, impossible to reach from outside of Paris. Or inside of Paris. It simply cannot be done. The A4? Nope. The A1? Nope. Maybe the A3? No. None of these go to the airport. None of them. Despite what the maps may tell you.

Now, some of you who are reading this have been to France. You have flown into and out of Charles de Gaulle, and you are convinced that it is not actually that difficult. I’ll tell you why you had this different experience: It’s because you departed for the airport from a hotel, am I right? Yes, you see, that’s the magic of Charles de Gaulle airport. It supports France’s economy by becoming unreachable from anywhere but a hotel—and, specifically, a hotel that you have spent the night in.

Aye, there’s the rub! My father and I erroneously believed that we could get to the airport from anywhere. After all, we had a rented car. Surely some highway would take us there! We searched the Paris area desperately for several hours on Saturday night, consulting our map regularly, pulling over to ask directions several times, and getting stuck in a good amount of Saturday-night-in-Paris traffic. It would not be hyperbolic to say that we spent about three and a half hours in search of an airport that was likely never more than 45 minutes away. I, of course, found this hilarious. I played music on my laptop (until the battery died) and then flipped through radio stations. I marvelled at the uselessness of our reasonably detailed map. I was impressed at how lost we really were. That’s me. My dad was significantly less amused, having the responsibility of actually making the decisions (considering he was driving). I tried to help, I did! But when it got to the point where it was clear we were not getting anywhere with the map, I surrendered my post. And then I just laughed. Alone.

That night we stayed in a hotel, a Holiday Inn Express that we nearly killed ourselves and the rental car getting to (crossing four lanes of busy Paris traffic? Well done, dear Father!). When we departed in the morning, it took us twenty-five minutes to get to the airport. That was it.

As I’m sure you’re all tired of hearing about the airport, I will spare you the details of what it is actually like to get around within Charles de Gaulle. Suffice to say that it took us, again, multiple hours to figure out where to go. Our passports suggest that we have entered and exited this country several times. And that is all I will say.

Ok, so after we left Paris on Tuesday, we drove through the northwest part of France, primarily exploring Normandy. Our route was primarily determined by an intense, heart-stopping fear of the péage. If you have not met this particular horror, let me explain. A péage is a tollbooth found the French freeway. They are frequent, and largely inescapable. We tried, though—oh man, we tried. We went over the same kilometre-long bridge three times in a row, hoping there was a way around the péage. There wasn’t. You probably think I’m being overly dramatic, and muttering to yourself about the value of a theatre education, but these little buggers were expensive! Going through a péage could set you back up to €5, but always cost at least €2.30. And one could go through two or three in an hour. They were not to be trifled with. So we left the freeways, and wound through small villages for the rest of our travels. It was a far preferable way to travel, not least of all because I was tempted to sing songs from Beauty and the Beast every time we stopped. (Don’t worry, I refrained.)

So, now that I have set the scene—

Day One—The Drive:

We were enroute to the part of Normandy famous for D-Day. It was a long, beautiful drive. My favourite place that we stopped was Honfleur, a small town that was just exceedingly… cute. It had narrow streets with narrow houses cuddled up together. The shops were petite and were perfectly situated for some quality window shopping. There was a small harbour that was full of brightly coloured sailboats. I tell you, this place was charming. Dad and I considered buying property there, but decided it against it. Now that I think about it, I don’t know why!

Day One was really just a lot of driving, but the scenery must be commented on. We drove through beautiful farmlands that were lush and green from all of these winter rains. It seems every building we came across was either thick stone (which I have decided is the most attractive building material) or wood beam (you know, like the house Shakespeare was born in). People pedalled bicycles along at a leisurely pace, or strolled with their small dogs dressed in smart coats. I was overwhelmed with a sudden desire to be French.

Day Two—Normandy Beaches, WWII, and the American Cemetery:

Still wanted to be French, but now for an additional reason: Everyone is so friendly! My father, who speaks French much better than he lead me to believe, has been having long and boisterous conversations with almost everyone we meet. People smile and talk quickly, completely willing to be spending these moments of their lives giving us directions, explaining their town, sharing stories of their lives. As we drive away, my dad translates bits and pieces, “He used to be an accountant, but now he owns this restaurant… Oh, she says it’s very simple, we just turn left…He wants to live in an English speaking country someday…” I am, of course, left out of these conversations, because my French vocabulary is limited to an extreme degree—hello, goodbye, thank you, left, right, dog, wine, bread, and—weirdly—gift and bicycle. Oh, and “tollbooth.” Of course.

Anyway, this was the day when we visited the part of Normandy now famous for the D-Day invasion. It was a powerful experience. I’ve studied WWII, of course, and read about D-Day, but seeing the thousands of graves in the American cemetery, reading letters soldiers sent home, hearing stories of individual braveries, and realising what people sacrificed for something they believed in. It was not like the war we are in now, where the moral lines are blurred and what, exactly, we are fighting for is a question. These young people were fighting to protect those they loved and support what they believed. That, to me, is an incredible, moving commitment. It was a surreal experience to see the coastline of Omaha Beach and visualise the thousands of American GIs splashing ashore into enemy fire, bent on a purpose. The 9,000 white marble crosses and Stars of David in the graveyard are only a small percentage of the people who died in that war, but they still seem to stretch forever.

That afternoon we drove through Saint Mere Eglise, and saw the church where a man had been caught when he parachuted into the town. He had to just hang there and play dead for the duration of the battle below him. What a terrifying, bizarre experience that must have been. Today they have a sort of memorial to him—a soldier mannequin suspended from a parachute caught on the church’s roof. I think that’s vaguely peculiar, but it was still interesting to see.

Day Three—Mont Saint-Michel:

This was the day for Mont Saint-Michel. This is an ancient abbey built on a piece of land that is sometimes an island, depending on the tides. It is compact and steep, and I do have a picture of it, but I’m having difficulty uploading pictures these days, so we’ll see if I can make it work. It’s all made out of the same brownish stone, and looks like a fairytale castle, to some degree—the exact kind of castle that a fairy would wish to live in. We went on a wander through it, and it was truly incredible. The cloister was particularly beautiful—a small grassy area enclosed by a walkway lined with pillars, and a view out to the sea. I can see how monks would meditate there. There was also, on the top level, an enormous wheel. This was used to raise supplies that prisoners would need for work: that was all well and good and reasonable, but the most remarkable part about it? You walk in it to operate it. It’s like a hamster wheel, for people. I was incredibly amused, and kind of wanted to try. Not an opportunity open to tourists, though.

The whole village surrounding the abbey was also delightful. There were steep, narrow walkways up to the abbey, and these trails were lined with shops and cafés. I found one shop that sold an array of swords, shields, maces, battle-axes and so on. I thought of the five-year-old I nanny for as soon as I saw it! I took a picture, but decided that his parents may, you know, hate and fire me if I supplied him with anything from that particular shop. (Reasonably, I might add.)

Day Four—Chartres:

This day was spent in Chartres, a small town a couple of hours from Paris. It’s famous for it’s gothic cathedral, one of the oldest and best preserved in the world. It has two different spires from different centuries, both of them beautiful. I must admit I’m partial to the later one, which is more ornate. Inside are 176 stained class windows depicting 12,000 different scenes, most of them from the Bible. The colours and detail are phenomenal. I have always loved stained class, but these past almost-four months in Europe have really increased that love. I’m still not particularly discriminating (pretty much, if it’s coloured glass I like it), but I enjoy it all more than ever. These particular windows were largely from the 12th-13th centuries. Isn’t that unbelievable? (If there’s one thing I’m more impressed by than stained glass, it’s Really Old Stuff. Clearly, Europe has been good for me.)

Day Five—Chateau at Fontainebleau
This was our last adventure of our road trip in the northern part of France. We stopped by a beautiful Chateau at Fontainebleau, which was, in my humble opinion, even lovelier than Versailles. This was probably helped by the lack of inflatable lobsters. The rooms were beautifully preserved, and there was an audioguide that told us all sorts of interesting information relating to each room. Did you know that there was a time when French monarchs had to give birth with an audience, in order to prove the legitimacy of the child? I feel like that would have been a somewhat uncomfortable experience.

And then, last night (Sunday) we arrived in Denmark, which is where we are now! This post has gotten ridiculously long, so I'm going to call it good for now. Take care, and please have a very wonderful holiday season!

J'aime Paris

I think every city has a strong first impression. In Istanbul it was the colour, Edinburgh was the sudden leap from new to old, London is the pandemonium. My first impression of Paris was of the language. Not completely incomprehensible, but certainly foreign, the words roll in the mouth like hard candy. Street signs take on an air of poetry that they certainly lack in English speaking countries. The whole city gets in on the act. Somehow, even the rain seems artistic. I’m not sure how the city does it, but it sure pulls it off.

And you know how everyone says the French are cold, unfriendly, unhelpful? We have found it to be exactly the opposite. When my dad uses his somewhat rusty French (he hasn’t spoken it in over 20 years), people are appreciative. (Mind you, you don’t get the completely unwarranted flattery you get in Taiwan—“Your Chinese is so good!”—but hey. You can’t win them all.) Most people speak English, and are willing to use it. Luckily for me. Thanks, Paris, for proving your stereotype wrong.

Ellyn and I arrived in Paris on Saturday night, after the world’s most intense school week ever. She had come to London to meet me, and we took the Eurostar together. We met my dad at the hotel, and after dinner around the corner, we headed off to explore. We ended up walking basically the length of the Champs d’Elysées, up to the Arc de Triomph. I don’t know why I imagined it would be smaller than it was, but it was certainly enormous, and the first of the many Absolutely Beautiful buildings we saw in Paris.

The next day was one of the busiest I have personally experienced (and that’s saying something!). We started off with the Louvre, heading there shortly after it opened. We went to see the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa right away. I have a hard time believing that I actually saw such famous works of art. Each was set apart from everything else, carefully sectioned off and guarded from too many adoring fans. But can I just re-state this? I saw the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. Me personally. What a surreal experience.

From there, we explored some more sections of the Louvre. I could spend weeks wandering through there, marvelling at the art at my fingertips. We saw classical Greek statuary, and paintings by Vermeer, Rubens, Monet, Degas, Van Dyke, Renoir, Rembrandt, Picasso, and, of course, Da Vinci. I’m probably forgetting someone major, because there were just so many. I have never had much of a celebrity obsession, but I was starting to feel it in the halls of the Louvre.

Eventually we extricated ourselves from the grip of the paintings, and headed over to Notre Dame. Talk about starstruck! I had come from the Louvre, and was now inside Notre Dame. I wouldn’t say I’m a small town girl, exactly, or unexposed to culture… but these were places I had heard about my whole life. It was like walking into a storybook, or becoming part of a famous painting. The inside of Notre Dame was, of course, gorgeous. Nothing short of that. The two rose windows deserve their acclaim, and the Gothic architecture was worth the almost 200 years it took to construct the cathedral. Ellyn and I then climbed to the top of the cathedral, up a spiralling staircase of 387 narrow, stone stairs. When we were finally thrust onto the balcony, we were agape. Paris stretched before us, and gargoyles stared us down. We stared them down, and took more than enough photographs of them. I’m not going to make things up, I was deathly afraid to be up that high… but it was totally worth it. The gargoyles and I became fast friends.

Following lunch, we headed over to the Eiffel Tower. Talk about a day of celebrity architecture! We decided to go all the way up to the very top, an endeavour that had me shakin’ in my boots before we even stepped onto the elevator. I was quivering by the time we got to the first level. By the second level I was quaking, and by the time we reached the third… well, I was fine. I think my brain went into self-preservation mode, but I was absolutely able to appreciate the beauty of the view. The Arc de Triomph was lit up as usual, and especially stood out to us.

When we got down again, we found that the tower was glowing blue against the sky. It certainly was a sight! Then, weirdly, amazingly, peculiarly… it began to sparkle. Really. The whole tower was covered in various flashing lights, that made it look like it was glittering.

That night Ellyn and I headed out for a bit and discovered Pink Ladies in a nice bar with live music.

The next day was also an experience. We climbed the hill up to Sacre Coeur, a cathedral made out of white stone. The view from the steps of the cathedral was absolutely lovely. I have seen Paris from above many times now, and each time it just seems prettier than it did the time before. Unbelievable.

The following day we went on an excursion to Versailles. My head was really with random “Treaty of Versailles” facts I learned in IGCSE. I felt like making some comment about how much the Germans had to pay in reparations, what their army was limited to, and so on. I opted out of it, and instead had a mini-heart attack in the Hall of Mirrors, where it was signed.

It hadn’t even occurred to me that Versailles might be anything but a place where a famous treaty was signed. Turned out it was a royal residence for a couple of centuries too. Who know? The whole palace is white and gold, and beautiful. It is also, for reasons never satisfactorily explained to me, full to brimming with Jeff Koons’ art. Why? I don’t know. But it includes things like a MASSIVE statue of a balloon dog. I’m not kidding. And these type of objects are found in every room—a large balloon dog, a pool toy lobster suspended from the ceiling by a chain, a statue made of porcelain of Michael Jackson and a chimpanzee. Nothing could have been more out of place. The rooms themselves were lovely, though, and managed to handle the invasion with great grace.

Thus concluded our time in the cold, rainy, and absolutely breathtaking city. We headed out the next day to drive through more rural parts of France—stories to follow!

Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana

Well, well, well. How time flies! I can hardly believe that this is the last week of the semester. Does anyone else feel like these last few months have gone incredibly quickly? If the rest of my life goes as quickly as this, I'd better get on making plans for retirement. Yikes.

These past few weeks have been very busy, but lots of fun (and stress, etc). My mom came to visit last weekend, which was absolutely wonderful. We had tea, explored the Victoria & Albert Museum, went to Harrods, adventured along Portobello Road, had sleepovers in her hotel, and just played a lot. It was so good to see her (thanks for coming, ML!), and it would have been terrible if I hadn't gotten to see her until March.

This coming week we have a showcase on Monday (movement, historical dance--eek, and stage combat). I love all of these classes, but will be SO glad to get these presentations over with. For my movement piece, I am a giraffe, human, part of a snail, a nervous lion, and a bird (not to mention a fire and a couple of narrators). Gracious me. (Then, on Monday night, I have dinner with Luanna! Hurray!) On Tuesday we get to listen to each individual instructor tell us what they think of us (gulp), on Wednesday I have my character object exercise (which is tedious to explain, but trust me-- it's stressful), on Thursday... what happens on Thursday? Hmm. Maybe Thursday won't be so bad. And then on Friday, we have our Shakespeare presentations. Oh yes. This week will be wild.

Next Friday is the last day of school, and then Ellyn is coming to London for the night before we head off to PARIS on Saturday, to meet my dad. Then, Dad and I are spending a month travelling through France, Denmark, Italy, and then France again. I then take a train back to London on the 15th of January and fly out the next morning. Gasp. Exhausting.

Yesterday, Kari, Dana and I went on the London Eye. What a beautiful city! It was fun to see London from above, and find all the places we know and love. (The rhyme there was not intentional, but wasn't it fun?) After floating around in our "capsule" for a while (with me feeling the entire time like I was going to fall out and land in the river), we went off and got delicious Thai food for lunch. It certainly felt like a special day.

When we got home, we settled ourselves in Flat 4 (Kari's flat), and made beeswax candles with a kit that Dana's mom had sent her. We ate sugar cookies fresh from the oven and felt at peace with the world. (Notice how we carefully ignored all of the work that was ahead of us for the next week.) Every time someone new walked into the flat (and this happened a lot), they would sigh, and smile at us. "Aww..." they would say, "This is so nice..."

After that we all went in our separate directions, and I headed home to work on my Character Object Exercise. I have decided that Hilary (my character) is independant, capable, and loving (among other things), and I have to show these to an audience on Wednesday. So, for props, I need a number of things. I have to make her home, and then show her in her home. Ok. So I went to Primark today (Sunday) and spent over £20 on clothes that would fit my character's son, Heathcliffe. (Yes, she named her son "Heathcliffe." Yes, it was after the Kate Bush song.) I now have 1 pair of jeans, 2 t-shirts, 1 sweatshirt, 6 pairs of socks (that's how they came-- not my fault I have that many), and 2 undershirts that would fit a child I don't have.

Interesting. So that was fun.

And now I am going to head to listen to a choir sing at St. Paul's before working on stage combat and then movement stuff.

Wish me luck for this week!

And now, Luna...

I went with Mrs. Johnson and Litza to have tea. It was so much fun! We got delicious tea, scones, finger sandwiches, and little cakes. It was cold and rainy outside, but inside we had hot tea. What more could I want?

Have you ever heard of Harrods? It's an enormous department store in London. I went with Mrs. Johnson and Litza to explore it. It was pretty busy, and I was afraid I'd get lost-- but I stuck tight to my friends, and I was ok. In the toy section, we found this. It's a model of the Globe Theatre! Remember when I showed you pictures from the Globe earlier? This was a little version, and had a cast of different stuffed animals. Of course, I joined right in. Can you see me in the picture?

Here I am on Drury Lane. Have you ever heard of that before? I bet you have! "Do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man? Do you know the muffin man, who lives on Drury Lane?"

This is me with one of the lion statues in Trafalgar Square. My friend Dana and I climbed up to hang out with them for a little while. It's a pretty big lion, huh?Have you ever seen people play instruments on the side walk to earn money? This is my friend Anna, playing her fiddle. It was fun to see someone I know performing! I put 50p in her violin case, and she let me sit there for a while and listen. It was pretty nice, but I bet her fingers were cold!
I know I put a picture of me in a double decker bus up here earlier, but I thought I would also show you a picture of me on the top of a double decker bus, LOOKING at another double decker bus. I felt very tall!
The Eye of London is not an eye at all, but is rather a giant ferris wheel. I went on it yesterday (Saturday) with Litza, Kari, and Dana. It was kind of scary being up so high, but I could see the entire city! Here I am with Big Ben. You can also just see the top of Westminster Abbey. It was fun to get a good view of what I'd seen before from the ground.
After going on the London Eye, we all came back and made candles. It was fun to roll up the beeswax with the wick inside. Litza and I made a couple together, nad were very proud of our work. I like candle making!

Well, I think this will be the last batch of pictures you'll get for now. But I'll be sure to show you more in the future!

Love, Luna

Significantly less exciting

I'm sure you are surprised, but this week I have no particular journeys to tell you about. Worry not, it will start again soon-- in three weeks I am meeting my dad in Paris-- but for now life is very school-friends-London centered.

In movement class, Alex Glassman and I are working on choreographing a movement piece that tells the story of how birds came to have the power of flight. We've been working on creating different animals by using our bodies (I seem to do a lot of that here). For a "flying giraffe," I sit on his shoulders with my arms held out at an angle in front of me, as he walks around. I haven't ridden on anybody's shoulders since I was very young! The whole thing is like that. Straight from being a flying giraffe, I become a snail shell and he the snail. Sue is going to video this for us, so if you're interested, I'll have a DVD of it eventually. Heh heh.

Other than that, I am very excited to see my mom, who is coming to visit this Friday! She'll be just in time to see one of our Shakespeare presentations. What a treat that will be. Then we can spend the weekend exploring. I'm really looking forward to it!

Istanbul [was Constantinople]

You may not all be aware, but clearly I have a very difficult life. No, no, don't cry for me. I just want everyone to appreciate that it's really really hard to to be me. Most recently my very difficult life took me to Istanbul, Turkey. (I know. Really, I do. It's ok to be sad. Sometimes life is just like this.)

Saturday:

Saturday morning, bright (meaning "dark") and early, Anna and I headed off to the airport. We rode the tube 22 stops to Heathrow Airport, and finally got ourselves to the check in counter. "Can I see your passport?" I handed mine over and then heard a shuffling noise. I looked over, and saw Anna frantically digging through her backpack. No passport. I can't even imagine that experience. It would be So. Frustrating. There was nothing to be done about it-- Anna would have to go back to the flats, get her passport, and then return for a later flight. I bid her farewell and good luck, and headed toward my flight.

Before too long, I was landing in Istanbul. I could hardly believe it. Istanbul! Turkey! Somehow, it all seemed so much more foreign than anywhere else I'd ever been (only possible exception: Borneo). I went through all the appropriate lines before eventually finding myself waving to Jean and Kat (friends from when I lived in Taiwan), who had come to pick me up. It felt like complete luxury, to be driven to accomodation by someone who knew where it was. Yes, I have very different standards of luxury than I had mere months ago.

Once there, we were greeted by Rob (Jean's husband and Kat's dad), and the two furry hostesses, Ally and Jazz.

My standards of luxury came back into focus again as I gazed out their windows. What a view of Istanbul ("was Constantinople..." my brain sang)! I could hardly believe it.

That evening, Kat and I went to Taksim for dinner and to explore. I loved wandering around and getting to see my first little bit of Turkey. I was tired, though-- the past few days had not involved anywhere NEAR enough sleep-- and so after a couple of hours we headed back to her house. Eventually Anna showed up (after some serious issues with taxi directions) and we all hung out for a while before going to bed. Somewhere in all of that, I also showed Kat my meerkat. I think she was impressed.

Sunday:

Istanbul is a unique city in that it is on two continents-- Asia and Europe. The Bosphorus, a strait that connects the Black Sea and the Marmarus, runs right through the city. It is beautiful, blue, and sparkly. I want one in Claremont. Kat, Anna and I headed to Ortokoy to take a ferry ride. It was really nice to just float along the Bosphorus for a while, looking at the beautiful houses and all of the other boats. Such a beautiful city. It was windy and cold on the boat, but a wonderful experience anyway!

Unfortunately, pretty much as soon as the ferry ride ended, Kat needed to head back to England. So, much to our disappointment, she headed off in a taxi. (Edit: I make that sound like she was taking a taxi to England. Clearly that was not the case.) Anna and I continued to explore, browsing through jewellery at the weekend craft fair there and eventually finding ourselves in this lovely little shop. The owner was very nice, let us take pictures of the place, and then gave us good luck charms as we left. Ha! The Evil Eye will never get us now... After some very confusing taxi rides, and then needing to be rescued from being Completely Lost, we found our [very relieved] selves back at the Smiths' house. We spent a relaxing evening eating baked potatoes, drinking red wine, and watching a documentary about Dr. Spock. (That sounds kind of pathetic. Actually, I really enjoyed it. Maybe that's even more pathetic...?)

Monday:

Monday was our Big Exploration day. We covered the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar, Topkapi Palace, and the Spice Market. Are you impressed? We were. "How did you manage to do so many things?" You might ask. "How did you have TIME to go so many places? Was public transportation THAT GOOD?" Oh, my friends. We never did really figure out the public transport. Instead, we had a driver. Well, ok, WE didn't have a driver, really. The Smiths have a driver who Rob's company provides for them. Ahmed isn't needed all day every day, so when he wasn't driving Rob places, he drove us around. We couldn't even handle it, we were so grateful and excited.

So, the Blue Mosque. The Blue Mosque is actually called "Sultanemet Camii," but is just called "blue" because of all the tiles on the inside. It is truly an experience to go inside the Blue Mosque. It's absolutely cavernous and incredibly beautiful. I wish there was a good way to describe how lovely it is, but there are really no words. I tried to take pictures of the inside, but there was really no way for that to work. I would need a super wide angle lens, which my adorable little camera does not have. As Anna and I agreed, though, that's why people go places themselves, rather than just reading guide books and staying at home. There's no way to accurately describe it, and certainly no way to photograph it.

After the Blue Mosque, while we still had the energy to do so, we headed off to the Grand Bazaar. What a place! You don't buy anything without haggling over the price first. (Though, it turns out, no one will bargain for pashminas. They were the only thing we found that had a fixed price. Weird.) The Grand Bazaar is just HUGE, a massive maze that is full of mosaic glass lantern (those were my favourite shops-- so pretty!), silver, jewellery, pashminas, t-shirts, rugs, Turkish Delight, and just... everything. I got a lot of my Christmas shopping done there, that's for sure. It was such a treat to be able to go back to bargaining. I've missed that, from various shopping expeditions in Asia. You automatically pay a premium because you're, you know, white. But it's still a lot of fun to bargain the price down as low as you can!

My biggest experience of this was with a rug. Seriously. I bought a rug. I'm not going to pretend it is a super high quality rug, but I got one, and I love it. We spent maybe 15 minutes discussing the rug and it's price, and at one point one of the men brought out apple tea. So we all sat around drinking apple tea and discussing prices. It was a very Turkish experience. Eventually we managed to get about $75 off the original price. Good enough for me! I took my rug, by then bundled up in brown paper, and hopskipped out of the shop. I had a rug!

A picture of Anna and me with the man who sold me the rug is below. He told me that I should get it for my dowry. Um, ok. Various pashmina and jewellery sellers invited me to buy their wares for my mother-in-law. What? Do I look like I'm about to get married?

Ah well. I decided not to get married just for the purpose of buying more pashminas and jewellery (space was beginning to seem like an issue), and Anna and I headed off to Topkapi Palace. The royal family lived in Topkapi from 1461 until 1856. I cannot imagine for the life of me why they moved out. The palace is indescribably beautiful. (So was the weather, as you can tell from these pictures.) If you ever find yourself in Istanbul, promise me you'll go. It was a bit expensive (a total of about $20 to see the palace and the harem) but it was well worth it.

The harem was absolutely gorgeous. Just like the rest of the palace, the ceilings were exquisitely decorated, and the walls were works of art in and of themselves. Even the windows were beautiful! In one room, they were all decorated with stained glass peacock tails. I don't know, maybe living in a harem wouldn't be so bad...

Well, eventually we were satisfied with Topkapi Palace. Next stop, the Spice Market! By this time we were getting a bit tired, but were still enthused. The spice market turned out to be everything we dreamed it would be. You could buy pepper, paprika, dired apricots, Turkish Delight, just everything. I got an enormous quantity of Turkish Delight, some to happily hog all to myself, and some to share. Everywhere we went we were invited to try more Turkish delight. By the time we left, but our bags and our tummies were bulging with the stuff. Life was good.

Then, back to the Smiths' house for dinner, wine, and relaxation.

Tuesday:

On Tuesday, Anna and I boarded a ferry at Bostanci for a 45 minute ride to the island of Buyukada. We had been impressed all along with Istanbul, but this was certainly another day of being blown away by what we saw. The ride itself was beautiful and a bit chilly. The sun was out, though, so once we got to the island we were much warmer.

Right after we got off the ferry, we were greeted by a stray dog. His name, we decided, was Bernard. I have never before petted a stray dog, and I knew even as I did it that it was not a smart move. You don't know if the dogs are sick, have fleas, might bite... you know. Anyway, this is a "do as I say, not as I do" moment. I do not condone the petting of stray dogs. I did do it, though. Bernerd was a great tour guide, and he walked us all the way up the length of the island. He was joined by two friends, who we named Walrus and Seal. Bernard was our special friend, though, and was with us for more or less the entire time. It was great.

Bernard wasn't the only special friend we made. I bonded very closely with Claire. She was a little tortoiseshell kitty who was the sweetest little cat I have ever met. Especially compared to Earl (aka Death Cat). As soon as I started stroking her, she crawled right into my lap and curled up. It was wonderful. I'm so animal deprived!

Fine, fine, there was stuff on the island to see aside from the various animals. The views, for instance. Oh my God, the views.

We climbed up a steep hill to get to St. George's Church at the highest point on the island. It was a very tranquil place, with some lovely views.

After we got back down to the town area, we got some ice cream. Turns out I'm not a huge fan of caramel Turkish ice cream, so I shared mine with a dog friend. (Goodness, I'm a horrible example. Please don't feed dogs ice cream.)

Wednesday:

Our last day in Istanbul, we went to Ayasofya and enjoyed exploring it for a couple of hours. I have never before been in a more beautiful building. It was once a Greek Orthodox church before it was converted into a mosque and now a museum.

Folloowing Ayasofya, Anna and I headed to the Basilica Cistern. A cistern does not normally sound like the kind of place you would want to go, but it was quite incredible. 336 columns, and 2 Medusa heads. Yes, Medusa heads. One is upside down, and one is on its side. Why, you may ask? No one knows why.

After the cistern, Anna and I had lunch. She had a Turkish coffee with lunch, and I had apple tea. I have a special love for apple tea now.

After lunch, we went to a Turkish bath, Cagaloglu Hamami. It opened in 1741 and has been operating since then. Actually, it is on the list of 1000 Places To Go Before You Die. I can see why! It was quite the experience. There's a huge, heated room that has a large raised platform in the middle and many sinks/fountains around the outside. It's a very warm room, and the water provided is slightly warmer than the room itself. You spend a while scrubbing yourself with an amazing exfoliating mit before a large (why are they all large?) Turkish woman comes in to scrub and massage you. I didn't even know I had that much dead skin to lose. Ew. It was a truly delightful experience, though. I've never felt so clean!

Then, after that, we headed to the airport to go home. Well, Istanbul. You were great!

And now a word from Luna...

This is me with my friend Kat. This was my first night in Istanbul! We went out to dinner at a little restaurant on Fish Street. We ate a series of little appetizers called mezes. They included spiced rice wrapped in grape leaves. That was my favorite!

Istanbul is a unique city in that it is on two continents-- Asia and Europe. The Bosphorus, a strait that connects the Black Sea and the Marmarus, runs right through the city. It is beautiful, blue, and sparkly. I want one in Washington. Kat, Anna, Litza and I headed to Ortokoy to take a ferry ride. It was really nice to just float along the Bosphorus for a while, looking at the beautiful houses and all of the other boats. Such a beautiful city. It was windy and cold on the boat, but a wonderful experience anyway!

During some adventuring, Anna, Litza, and I decided to stop at a little bakery. We ordered two treats we didn't recognize, just be brave. Both of them were delicious! Just proves that sometimes you have to try something brand new.

The Blue Mosque is actually called "Sultanemet Camii," but is just called "blue" because of all the tiles on the inside. It is truly an experience to go inside the Blue Mosque. It's absolutely cavernous and incredibly beautiful. I wish there was a good way to describe how lovely it is, but there are really no words. I tried to take pictures of the inside, but there was really no way for that to work.

After the Blue Mosque, while we still had the energy to do so, we headed off to the Grand Bazaar. What a place! You don't buy anything without haggling over the price first. The Grand Bazaar is just HUGE, a massive maze that is full of mosaic glass lantern (those were my favourite shops-- so pretty!), silver, jewellery, pashminas, t-shirts, rugs, Turkish Delight, and just... everything. It was such a fun place!

After the Grand Bazaar, I headed off to Topkapi Palace. The royal family lived in Topkapi from 1461 until 1856. I cannot imagine for the life of me why they moved out. The palace is indescribably beautiful. (So was the weather, as you can tell from these pictures.) If you ever find yourself in Istanbul, promise me you'll go.

On Tuesday, Anna, Litza and I boarded a ferry at Bostanci for a 45 minute ride to the island of Buyukada. We had been impressed all along with Istanbul, but this was certainly another day of being blown away by what we saw. The ride itself was beautiful and a bit chilly. The sun was out, though, so once we got to the island we were much warmer.

There were lots of pretty things to see on the island. Like this view, for instance!

And this one....

We even had lunch in a pretty place! You could see the Marmarus and the trees on the island as well. (More mezes. More grape leaves!)

Here's Litza and me at the highest point on the island. We kept thinking it couldn't get any prettier, then it kept getting prettier!

Our last day in Istanbul, we went to Ayasofya and enjoyed exploring it for a couple of hours. I have never before been in a more beautiful building. It was once a Greek Orthodox church before it was converted into a mosque and now a museum. It is absolutely enormous, and very, very pretty.

Another picture of me at Ayasofya. Doesn't it just look magical?

This is thought to be a magical healing place. You put your thumb (or in my case, my nose) into the column, and be healed!

I'm sorry that it's so dark in this picture! It was almost impossible to get a good picture... in fact, I would go so far as to say that it WAS impossible. This is called the Basilica Cistern. A cistern does not normally sound like the kind of place you would want to go, but it was quite incredible. 336 columns, and 2 Medusa heads. Yes, Medusa heads. One is upside down, and one is on its side. Do you know why? Me neither. Nor does anyone else!