Sugar Fetishes (from Istanbul)

Alright so this is an edit to my previous "Istanbul in a Nutshell" post. I am now in Calcutta with more time because internet/everything is cheaper. Pictures will be added to previous posts soon!

Nık, Marıssa, and I began our month or so of travelıng together by being thrown into Istanbul. The first day Marissa and I got in (after a 10 hour bus ride), our host Tarik took us to get some Turkish hamburger that was soaked in some kind of red sauce. It was really yummy! The next morning, we also started bright and early with a day of sight seeing with Tarik, 3 Polish CSers, and Jake from New York. Since we were staying on the Asian side of Istanbul, we took the ferry and various buses to the European touristy side.

Once we were back in Europe, we started by seeing the Topkapi palace. This place was where the Sultans lived back in the day and they had it good! The place was beautiful. From the architecture to the tiled walls, guilded entrances, and elaborate gifts, I was stunned at the luxuriousness of it all. The hall that showed all the gifts from around the world to the Sultan had more rubies, emeralds, gold, jade, diamonds, and ivory than I ever thought I would see in my life! The whole time I couldn't help but hum Aladin tunes. You would too.

After the palace, we had a delicious bean lunch near the Istanbul University. Fully fueled, we then hiked back to the Blue Mosque. This was a Friday, and Fridays to Muslims are like Sundays to Catholics. They are required to go to the Mosque for noon time prayer. That being said, we waited a bit for the prayer to conclude before we could enter the building. Speaking of Islamic daily prayer, the city has such a strong Islamic influence that from any point in the city you can hear the call to prayer from some mosque. The chants play on loud speakers at the predetermined times (5am is one of them, apparently).

So we saw the Blue Mosque (Well, lots of mosques actually. They're everywhere). And then we headed back to Tarik's house for the night.

Saturday, we stared off the day with a DELICIOUS breakfast by Tarik. He made us omelets and we had bread with oil, watermelon, olives, feta cheese. And this is where the blog title comes in. Nik loves watching sugar dissolve in tea. One thing Turks love is chai tea, so Tarik served us loads of Chai tea (which I am obsessed with!) Every time we got another serving, Nik would watch the sugar and Tarik caught on and exclaims "sugar fetish!" Once that happened, I think Nik saw the whole trip flash before his eyes because Marissa and I won't let him live that one down. Anywho,

Tarik took us to one of the Prince Islands (the biggest one) where he showed us a Greek Orthodox Church at the top peak of the island. St. George's Monastery is apparently a big pilgrimage site for their church that many people walk in the summer time. People also bring little pieces of cloth to tie around the trees by the monastery to make a wish.

The Island was really cute with lots of old beach houses, but also many modern vacation homes. No cars were allowed, so there were only bikes and horse-drawn carriages. But don't think that that made walking around any easier. Those carriages will take you out if you're not careful.

That night, Tarik was nice enough to make us a fish dinner (caught by his dad) along with some pasta covered in some yogurt topping with the consistency of Parmesan cheese. It was reallllly good! Then Michaela, another CSer, arrived, and we headed to another part of town to check out the night life a bit. Very interesting. First of all, it was raining. I had no sweater and was wearing a halter dress. Therefore, all a little miserable, we decided to refuel at a Burger King (they are hard to avoid). Second, the places we went to played the strangest mix of 90s, Spanish, and Balkan music. Balkan music... not sure how to dance to that. But it was fun! Afterwards, Tarik treated us to some mussels which was a first for me, and I loved it!

Finally, on Sunday, Nik, Marissa, and I got up early to go to mass at St. Anthony of Padua Catholıc Church. The mass was very interesting. There was no choir because the priests and choir had gone to another bigger celebration for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood. So mass was quiet, but the Franciscan priest was super nice and explained a lot about how Catholic Churches are hard to find. Apparently they are restricted as to where they can be and they are mostly all off the main streets. St. Anthony's was well hidden, but the architect did a good job making it look like a Catholic Church with a nice little courtyard in the front.

Finally, we passed by the Galata Tower, buılt by Italıans to monıtor trade routes, on our way to the Grand Bazaar which is supposed to be a crazy big market place.... but SURPRISE! It's closed on Sundays. boo. So we had a chill day and went home to take a nap.

That night, we had a final meal with Tarik and his party of CSers. He made us delicious tomato rice, chicken, and meatballs. We had lots of great conversation, even seeing pictures from Tarik's family albums. We finished off the night with delicious ice cream! The ıce cream here ıs a dıfferent texture... kınd of stıcky I guess? Tarik said it is made from the syrup of Orchid seeds. The best part about gettıng ıce cream in town, though, ıs the performances the men do for you. They do all kinds of tricks it is hard to follow! Hopefully, I'll be able to post a vıdeo soon!

Athens to Istanbul: extended versıon

As Marıssa and I headed out from Athens, we were super excıted for our reunıon wıth Nık ın İstanbul! Lıttle dıd we know, ıt would take a bıt more tıme to get to hım than we thought.

So we take the subway to the port cıty Pıraeus. Paınless. Then we found our 6 hour ferry to the Greek Island Chıos (pronounced Kıos). Because I can sleep anywhere, anytıme especıally on modes of transportatıon, I slept most the way even after 8 hours of sleep the nıght before. We arrıved ın Chıos at about 7pm only to fınd out that the last ferry to Cemse (the maınland town ın Turkey pronounced "chesmay"). So… we found ourselves stranded on a Greek Island!!

Don't worry though, the next ferry out of the island was the next morning at 9am. So we booked yet another nıght at a hostel. But not just any hostel... thıs place was a super cute, quaınt bed & breakfast lookıng place wıth a beautıful vıew of the sea run by a New Zealander turned Greek who taught us everythıng we need to know about rare medıcınal herbs on the ısland. Marıssa and I loved ıt! Then, perhaps mesmerızed by the fact that we were stranded on a gorgeous Greek pıece of paradıse, we decıded to ındulge and buy a combo meal from the Greek fastfood restaurant Goody's! The gyros and frıes and uncarbonated Fanta we got were actually really good!

 

Fınally, after a ferry to Cesme the next day, we sought out the bus for our looooong 10 hour rıde to Istanbul. We got off the ferry at about 10:15am. The next bus was at 10:30am and ıf we mıssed that one, we would have to waıt for the 12pm bus. I was NOT goıng to waıt another hour and a half, so after Marıssa and I got our Turkısh vısas, I sprınted to the buses askıng anyone ın earshot the only Turkısh I knew "Cesme Otogar?" aka "Cesme bus statıon?" Mental pıcture: two gırls runnıng wıth huge backpacks and sweatıng bullets down the calm streets of a Turkısh coast cıty. But... we made ıt!! I run up to the bus just as ıt was pullıng out and yelled for ıt to stop. It dıd. Success.

 

So now we had our reunıon wıth Nık and began our exploratıon of beautıful Istanbul!

Under those togas were buns of steel.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

**Sorry, but stıll havent found a place to upload pıctures... wıll do as soon as I can!**

Athens is HİLLY! Every ruin worth seeing is on some kind of incline. Marissa and İ DEFİNİTELY got a work out… which makes our long-waited indulgence into Greek food totally worth it. But İ will get to that later.

Our final day sightseeing in Athens began with a long trek to the National Archeological Museum. Although it was eerily similar to the Musei Vaticani considering the ridiculous number of statues on display, the museum was really worth the visit and had a lot of interesting displays. The most interesting to me were definitely the room about the Greek myths, the Egyptian room, and the glass room. Side-note: one thing İ must do before İ die is glass-blowing. Super cool when they explained how it is done!

After the musuem, Marissa and İ began an even longer trek across the city to the Temple of Zues and the Theater of Dionysus. Yet more ruins, but worth seeing. We had fun taking pictures with the collapsed pillars while we were on the verge of hallucinations from exhaustion and dehydration. But don’t worry, after realizing our deliriousness, we indulged in a pick-me-up gelato serving. No, we cannot escape İtalian comforts, and no, we do not feel guilty (considering the circumstances).

Finally, to our Greek meal! For our nice Greek meal, Marissa and İ went to the market place near the Acropolis where either good-looking men or grumpy old men try to recruit you to their restaurant. We finally settled on a nice little restaurant (recruited by a cute old man) which had the perfect view of the Acropolis! Our meal consisted of the best Greek salad İ have ever had, mousaka (an eggplant, bread-pudding lasagna dish), pork gyros, and baklava with ice cream for dessert.

İ KNOW. So good.

Also, for all those concerned about us being in Greece during the protests, we saw a protest in progress, and it consisted of a lot of young people playing various styles of drums. Harmless and entertaining!

Finally, our time in Athens ends with a relaxing night at the Hostel Zeus where somewhere in the middle of the night İ hear people belting Country Roads by John Denver outside our window. Country music in Athens, a confusing mix that perfectly sums up our…strange… time in Greece.

Athens is hot.

Yes, Athens is very hot and one guess as to the first thing Marissa and I see in Athens. Not only was it hot, but we climbed many stairs to get to the Acropolis. But it was worth it! We saw the Parthenon, a temple, and other ruins I could probably tell you more about if we could afford a tour. Just seeing all the ruins has been amazing enough for me though!

View from the Acropolis.

Temple at the Acropolis. I hope I am not as dark in this picture as this computer is making me look.

Athens.

Marissa and I with a great view of the city!

A view of the Dionysus Theater from the Acropolis.

Marissa and I try to compensate our not-so-great lunches with  more-than-great views, so we ate PB&Js by the Acropolis.

One of many old churches near the Ruins.

Me and yet another Ruin.

Athens has a lot of turtles!

Nice view in the National Park near Parliament.

Marissa and I took it easy today. We bought tickets for the Acropolis which apparently get us into 5 other ruins thoughout the city. When we bought our ticket the lady said 12 euros, and then I think she saw our disappointed faces so she asked us if we were students. We said yes and showed her our IDs (For Monica.... since I forgot my USC ID at home, I showed my New Yorker ID. I guess you could say I have a "fake ID"... but I am a student) Anyhow, after validating our student status she gave us 1/2 price! And then for our German friend behind us, she looked at his ID and said "Oh, nice place! No charge!" So... the pricing is a bit subjective, I think.

Afterwards, Marissa and I roamed the market area a bit a saw lots of nice little shops. It is so hard to resist buying things for my place in Dallas! Well, not really that hard... I can't afford most things. Since I try to get a cross from each country I visit, though, I did purchase a hand-carved wooden cross from a monastery in Northern Greece. We found this little Christian store amongst the souvenir shops. We walk in and the man says "This is not a souvenir shop. It is a religious store" so we said, "Perfect!" He had such beautiful crosses but a little out of my range, so I asked if he had anything around 10 euros. He searched his store for a long time and found the wooden cross that was marked 35 euros. He said since I am a student, he would sell it at buying price knocking off 20 euros!... He said, "I may not make a profit, but God knows!" He was so sweet. And whatever he was eating smelled really good. Throughout the market, we saw lost of Byzantine art, Greek Orthodox art, Greek sandals, beautiful ceramics, etc... and LOTS of Greek food! Tomorrow is our Greek food day, so we are really looking forward to that. The problem will be deciding which food to eat!

Finally, we walked around the National Gardens and realized that Greece has a lot of stray dogs and turtles. Don't ask me why, that is just from observation.

Today was exhausting though!! We were able to take a nap after our long day, we will take it easy tonight, and head out tomorrow for more Athens and GREEK FOOD!!

Little Miracles

Marissa and I are finally in Athens! The past 48 hours are a blur since most of it was spent on some type of mode of transportation.

First, sorry no pictures this round. They will be posted as soon as I get to another computer!

Riding deck on the ferry was everything we expected it to be plus an extra helping of awkward. The awkward part was that we had no idea where we were supposed to sleep, and we were super exhausted from our overnight bus to Bari that we were ready to hit the hay at 10pm (not a normal time for mediterranean cruise-goers, apparently). Marissa and I were all about sleeping outside, but no one was setting up camp on the deck and the wind was bound to take some of our stuff while we slept. So with no hope of following someone else's lead, we swallowed our pride and asked the reception desk where we could sleep. They said we could sneak an "airplane seat" if there were any extras. Surprise! We found two empty seats and went to bed as soon as possible so that no one could ask us to move. (Some Australian tourists were keeping creepin in, we could tell.) We slept 11 hours.

Anywho, the view from the deck was absolutely beautiful in the morning as we approached Patras. Marissa and I bought our tickets for a 1pm bus to Athens which would be perfect for making it to 6pm Mass in Athens (the bus ride was about 3-4 hours).

Here is where the miracle comes in.

After the bus began to leave the port, the bus drive pulled over and said he wanted to wait for the next ferry and leave at 3pm. When he said this, I knew we would not get in to Athens in time for mass. Before I could panic, though, all I could think to do was to pray the rosary. So we prayed and all I could think to say was, "Mary, please bring us to your Son," and by the second decade, he somehow changed his mind and got back on the road immediately! We then made it to Athens by 5:30pm and by 6pm found the Catheral after getting lost a bit. Moreover, the mass didn't start until 7pm, so Mary even gave us extra time to spend with her Son! All of this was definitely out of my control and was all her work.

AND when mass started, I had to make sure I was still in Greece because there were so many Filipinos! Who knew there were so many Filipinos in Athens? Since this was the 1 English mass they do, the Church was pretty much all Filipinos and tourists. Really cool! Thought you would appreciate that, Tita!

Tomorrow begins our exploration of Athens!

How I fell in love with Italy...

I know this will not be my last time in Italy. I absolutely fell in love with Rome during the 5 days I visited, and I plan on explaining how with pictures.... but I cannot upload them now, so this post is to be continued!

From the Coast of Bari

Marissa and I are in Bari currently waiting for our 16 hour ferry to Patras, Greece. This morning we spent desperately trying to find a place for mass. We found the Cathedral, went to daily mass there, and talked to an old man afterwards to see if he knew who had an evening mass early enough for us to make it on our ferry. This man was TOO cute for words. He just went on telling us stories and asked us "Have you breakfast yet?" After we admitted we hadn't he asked if he could give us chocolate. One guess as to my answer. Now I have a whole bar of orange chocolate that will fuel me through this ferry ride. After speaking to a priest (in Spanish!) at the Basilica, though, it looks like we are going to have to make the evening mass in Athens. Say a prayer we make it in time!! Until then... Ciao Italy!

Flatmate love!

Marissa and I were so fortunate to find such awesome, funny, friendly hosts!! We kept saying how we cannot wait for them to visit the States. Anywho, on Thursday, Anna finally finished her finals so we decided to go to dinner to celebrate! Anna, Petra, and Aurelien (All students in the Erasmus program) took us to Trastevere which is young area of town with restaurants and nightlife. We had some awesome Italian wine over the best pasta and lasagna I have ever had! The second course, the "special meat", not so good, but overall a great Italian meal! We also had fun speaking to our Brazilian waiter in three different languages: Marissa in English, me in Spanish, and everyone else in Italian! He was so funny, but refused a picture with us unfortunately. Afterwards, we sat by the river and chatted a bit before heading home. Marissa and I had such a great time!!

Christopher Columbus Beach... why it is named this, I do not know.

Pretzels on the beach.

A pear on the beach.

We already miss our new friends!

The next day, the same group of us headed over to the beach. That's right, I swam in something besides the Pacific! The water and beach was beautiful. I, of course, forgot my towel (or tire?) so I had to buy a little tapestry. Aurelien was nice enough to bargain for me, but I had to pay in exact change (which of course I did not have) so after pooling money together, I got a little tapestry for 8 Euros... 8 Euros for a tapestry MADE IN INDIA where I am going in 1 week and could have bought for 1/4 the price!! But... when in Rome? I guess?

 

That in no way but a damper on the day though. We had such an awesome time hanging out with our new friends!! We played a little beach volleyball in the waveless waters. Aurelien did an impressive job keeping his cast dry even. I evened out my extreme Toms tan, and we got a picture with the American flag! Overall an AWESOME day which made packing up and leaving even harder that night.

 

That evening at the flat, we chatted with Anna, Aurelien, and Kajetan for almost 2 hours just joking around, drawing... haha! Marissa and I were so lucky to find such laidback people who shared our sense of humor on a lot of levels. We are going to miss them so so much!! But we both extended invitations to them for visits to the States so hopefully this will not be the last time seeing them!

Ciao Roma!

These last two days in Rome have been nothing short of amazing! I am in love with this city!! Let me catch you up to explain why...

On Thursday, Marissa and I caught the noon mass at St. Peter's Basilica in the Chapel of St. Joseph. The mass was in Italian, and I am determined to learn this language next. I don't think it should be too hard with what I know in Spanish.

St. Peter's Basilica

 After mass, we went for a stroll down the river past the Castle and through a market place. There we stumbled upon lots of different booths (much of which I could get in India) including a candy/dried fruit stand. So, we had to indulge. I got some dried mangos of course.

A view of the Vatican from the River.

Market in front of the Castel Sant'Angelo.

Yummy dried fruit!

Fully satisfied with our little treat, we took a bus to Santa Maria de la Paz Church to meet Angie! Angie was so welcoming and super nice to show us around the Church. We saw the oratory, Fr. Alvaro del Portillo's burial place, and St. Josemaria's burial place (which was beautiful!). It was so nice praying near such a holy tomb!

After seeing the place and offering up those intentions everyone sent me, Angie took us over to Villa Borghese which reminded me so much of Central Park... but prettier! I loved this green space that they call the "heart" of Italy (the park is shaped like a heart). The villa was scattered with statues which added to it's historic and romantic feel.

The romance of Villa Burghese!

Doesn't it look like Central Park?!

Statue of Moses being found in the River.



The park then led us straight to a great view of Piazza de Popolo. The three of us admired the city for a bit until we headed over to the Spanish Steps for an even better view! These steps were so lively. Lots of people were just lounging on the steps and Angie was telling us that they have concerts in front of the steps a lot as well as a big nativity scene facing the city during Christmas season. I only wish we had time to sit and take in Rome from such a pretty place!

Alas, we made our way to Piazza di Popolo, our last stop in Rome, but not without getting more gelato of course! I went with tiramisu (it seemed only right to try it), chocolate, and raspberry. I do not regret it at all. Finally, we soaked in our last bit of Rome while sitting in the Piazza di Popolo for a bit until we headed home for a nice dinner with our flatmates.... see next blog for love to my flatmates and new friends from Poland and France!

View from above Piazza di Popolo.



Trinità dei Monti at the top of the Spanish Steps.

Many people lounging on the Spanish Steps!

My picture of Angie is on Marissa's camera... so will post later! Thanks agian, though, Angie!
 

My triple gelato experience.

Piazza di Popolo.

The Vatican

MORE PICS TO BE POSTED LATER! Got to go explore more Rome!

This is a post for Wednesday because if you are a Catholic visiting Rome on a Wednesday what else would you do but go see the Pope speak! It was SO awesome seeing him in person. Just a preview for World Youth Day in Madrid this August. There were people from all over the world and he addressed them in like 7 different languages. Also, as each group was recognized, Pope Benedict was so quick to wave at each one. You could just feel how happy he was to see everyone!

Pope Benedict XVI wearing a festive hat!

St. Peter's Basilica

Reporting to headquarters

Getting up early to get good seats, we had been sitting in St. Peter's heat from 8am til noon, so we were ready to rest a bit in the shade. Luckily, Rome does a very good job of keeping us hydrated with these spickets around the city. We saw two girls faint in line waiting to see the Sistine Chapel, so we made sure to keep ourselves extra hydrated.

Rome has water spickets throughout the city with free, clean water!



Marissa and I were half-delerious when we refilled at this water spicket.

Our next stop was the Musei Vaticani which had SO MUCH artwork it was overwhelming! The crowd was unbelieveable and, to be honest, it made appreciating the art very difficult. I mean, from the 3D illusioned ceilings to the mosaic-filled floors, you can see some form of art. I would love to go back another day where it is not so crowded (if that exists!). Seeing the Sistine Chapel at the end of the art-filled maze was totally worth our sore feet and crowded hallways. That room was so beautiful and it was so amazing taking in that piece of history.

Musei Vaticani.



Courtyard before the crowds.

One of a bajillion statues.

Once we made it through the museum, we headed over to St. Peter's Basilica which was the most beautiful Church I have ever seen!! First, we say the PIETA which is definitely my favorite sculpture... by far. So seeing that made my whole trip! While we were wandering around there, we ran into Missionaries of Charity Sisters who were stationed in Rome. That was a nice sneak preview into our time in India. Finally, we found out that they have several opportunities for daily mass, so we will catch that tomorrow!

Pieta behind glass.

To end the day, we get some well-deserved gelato where I learned how to say "please" from the Italian men working there. Kiwi and mango flavored this time. Marissa and I then spent some quality time just soaking in Rome at a bridge near the River. I am absolutely smitten with the city. If I don't come home, you know where to find me.

Tour of Ancient Rome

Today begins our time exploring Rome, and where esle do we start but the Colosseo!

At the Coloseo!

From the outside in.

What a beautiful ruin!

Marissa and I enjoying the Ancient Ruins of Rome!

We explored around the Colosseo and the Roman Forum which has the ancient ruins of Rome. It was really surreal visiting this place and thinking about how many early Chirstians were martyred here... and now we can visit as tourists. There were even crosses on the Colosseo!

Cross on the outside of the Colosseo.

Me and the Ruins.

Seeing this city was amazing!

After the Ruins, we walked to the center of town and found this huge Monumento Vittori Emanuel II. Really pretty statues and a great view of the city. Then we headed over to find the Trevi Fountain which we overshot by a bit, but found our first of 14 obelisks in Rome!

 

 Once we found Trevi Fountain, though, it was by far my favorite sight today. The artwork around it was beautiful and the atmosphere around it was just so happy. We had a nice older Italian couple take a picture of us tossing coins into the fountain, and the woman just loved the idea! She was so giggly when she asked us to take one for her and her husband. "It was just such a great idea!" she said.

Then smitten by the fountain, Marissa and I sat around a bit. As we were sitting, this Indian photographer starts talking to me saying "Bella!" and "Number one!" and after I told him I was from Dallas, Texas, "Best Country!" Marissa and I then realized that he was just translating for these two Italian men who didn't speak English. We figured this out as he was whispering to them and they exclaimed, "oh! America!" The Indian photographer then asked us to take a picture with them. We obliged.... it was just a funny, passive aggresive situation.

 

At the Momument Vittioro Emanuel II (which is at one end of Via del Corso, the main street)

At the first obelisk we found... which is not pictured.

Statue at the Monument

Looking down Via del Corso from the Momument gates.

Fontana di Trevi... SO pretty!!

Making a wish on a coin toss!

After that, we headed over to the Pantheon which is actually a Church! It took a while and we had to check and make sure the Blessed Sacrament wasn't present. By this time, we are really feeling some gelato, so we walked over to the Piazza Navona which has a lot of artesans and food. I had peach flavored which was excellent!

At the Pantheon

Before getting gelato in Piazza Navona.

Finally, we ended the day with prayer and a rosary in Santa Maria sopra Minerva where St. Catherine of Siena is buried. That was an awesome experience to see the tomb of a saint.... and such a smart woman! Another thing, Rome has SO many Catholic Churches it is hard to pick which one to visit, but the good thing is, Jesus is the same in all of them... but stil! Anywho, after spending time there, we realized it started raining! So we went to an Internet cafe for a while to wait out the rain. Then we found a supermarket for our week's groceries (including Italian grapes!) and headed back to Anna's place!

 

Tomb of St. Catherine of Siena.

Don't these Italian grapes look wayyyy better than ones in the States? No offense California.

Tonight was so fun just hanging out with her and her flatmates! They come from all over: Poland, Franch, Italy, Florida.... all students so it is a great atmosphere and they are super friendly and helpful!