New Life Goal: Move To Lisbon

(The view from our hostel window)

Lisbon was great: well worth the - now let me add this up real quick - 26 hours or so of travel time that it took to get there and back.  The flights themselves were short and, aside from the one flight which found both of sitting in separate middle seats, pleasant.  The layovers, though... Well.  We were stuck in Frankfurt for about 10 hours on the way there, and about 6 hours on the way back.  Boring.  Mind numbingly, sit in an airport under flourescent lights in an uncomfortable chair boring.  We did take a short trip into the city center, but that turned out to be shutting down at about 11pm, so we didn't have much to do other than nap in the terminal, the perpetually lit terminal.  For that reason, no pictures of Frankfurt are to appear in this post.

Onward, Westward, and upward.

(Placa do Comercio)

(Consulting the Oracles)

Lisbon rules.  It's cheap (though it is on the Euro, so we suffered immensely when changing money), easy to navigate, and combines pretty much every aspect of a great European city.  It's got the open paved plazas of Spain (and also, I imagine though can't confirm, Italy), the tree lined parks and boulevards of Paris, the mass public transit of London, the historic system of trams akin to Prague or Budapest, and hilly, narrow, tree lined streets with beautifully tiled buildings to boot.

(One of the many funicular trams or "elevators")

 (Dad:  The man belonging to those feet was about average height.  Let's assume that he wears a size ten shoe.  What gauge tram track do you suppose they were using?)

(A view from St. George's castle, which was actually built by Moors and then sacked [twice] by Christians.)

People are friendly.  So friendly, in fact, they're all willing to share their hash and coke with you!  Some areas seem a bit touristy, but on the whole it seems like a very lived in kind of city.

(Another elevator.  The hills are pretty steep.)

(Another shot from St. George's castle.)

Maybe this contradicts the 'lived-in' feel of the place, but it's also got a huge World Expo park east of town, complete with 'modern' architecture and an aquarium.

 

(Modern)

 (Vasco!  The cartoon scuba diving version of Vasco De Gama.)

(This is actually in another part of town.  Behind this weirdo is Belem Tower.  It was built in the 1500s to guard the river.  According what I've read, it sat closer to the middle of the river until 1755 when a massive earthquake changed the direction of the river.  Unfortunately it, like most other historical and cultural sights in Lisbon, was closed on Monday!)

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Matt's Definitive Guide to Lisbon

Drink tons of espresso standing up, preferably while inhaling little custard pastries (Pastel de Nata).

Eat pork and clams.

Drink a lot of wine.

Eat a lot of prosciutto.

Ride rickety funiculars.

Watch skate punks.

Hear no Fado.

Buy no hash.

Drink more espresso.  Eat more pastries.  Don't limit yourself to the little custard ones though.

Hatch plans to return.



Kabak Valley

After a fun/busy/fulfilling/soggy/sunny trip from the parents (pictures of which I'm sure you've all seen many of), I took off to Antalya to meet up wıth Kate and head down to Kabak Valley.

View Larger Map

We took a 3 hour bus from Antalya to Fethiye, then hung around the bus station for a bit to wait for our dolmuş out to the top of the valley.

 (The Bus)

 (The Rest Stop and Olde Ladies)

 (The Far-Scarier-Than-It-Looks Dolmuş Ride)

Kabak Valley is part of a natural preserve that prohibits permanent structures from being built.  Unfortunately (depending on how you look at it) people have built complex camps into the hill side and all along the valley floor, turning Kabak Valley into a major stop for hikers and yogis.  Being the beginning of the camping season, we pretty much had our camp, Shanti Garden, and consequently the beach, to ourselves.

 (We stayed in one of the huts on the righthand side)

(We read a lot, usually, but not always, right by the beach)

(We were actually there!  Really!)

It was really nice to be able to take a vacation where the objective is to relax.  It's a strange feeling:  traveling and then not stalking around a city with a map and a camera from one sight to the next.  I guess this is what normal people do when they go on a vacation - lay on the beach and read for hours - but I've always felt like I had too much to see while I've been in Europe.

Wow... reading that last paragraph back, it sounds pretty terrible.  All traveling is great, and I'm lucky to be doing it.  This trip ruled just as much as any other.  I shouldn't cast seeing the great monuments of the world as a chore.  Kabak Valley is a great monument in and of itself.  The architecture is just a little bit less refined than some others.

 Anyway, we got to do some hiking along the Lycian Way as well.  The camera stopped working halfway through the hike, so I don't have too many pictures of it.  We did some bouldering in the rain, then decided to stick to the trail for a bit.

 (Extreme)

 (Trail Markers)

Galata Tower and The First Bike Ride of the Season

 (Galata Tower, about a 10 minute walk from my apartment)

(From Galata Tower, looking over into Sultanahmet)

I finally made it to the top of Galata Tower, that iconic tower in all of the pictures of Beyoglu.  It was one of the first nice days of the season, so it was super packed.  Like, a line into the spiral staircase packed.  Beautiful building that it is, it also contains a restaurant, cafe, and nightclub (!).  Parents, we will not be going to the nightclub there.  Sorry.

It was also nice enough out this weekend to break out the bicycle for the first time.  This is more or less the route I took, maybe a little bit further down towards Pendik... and I also started from Goztepe rather than Kadikoy.  Either way, you get the idea.  It was a beautiful ride.

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Okay.  Well, apparently that doesn't work.  Main idea - I rode along the coast of the Marmara, put in about 30km or so, and I'm terribly out of shape.

 (It lives!)

Mosques!

(Süleymaniye Camii)

The return of Spring - and the fact that we're not going to be here much longer - has prompted some much neglected tourism on our part.  We/I have decided that I really needed to see a lot more that this city has to offer before I make my grand departure so we're going to, and please hold me to this statement, do one touristy thing per week.  Don't worry, parents, I haven't seen much so a lot of our sightseeing will be new to me, too.

So yeah, that'll mean that I'll have a lot more pictures to show for all my time spent in Turkey.  First up, initial explorations into the iconic minarets and domes of the Istanbul skyline...

(The entry-way to Yeni Camii.)

(Inside Yeni Camii or "New Mosque."  Construction of the mosque began in 1597.  That's right: The "new" mosque is that old.)

 (Süleymaniye Camii, built between 1550-1557, designed by the famed architect Sinan, it's the second largest mosque in Istanbul.)

 (The inner courtyard of Süleymaniye Camii)

 (The height of the dome inside Süleymaniye Camii is exactly twice the diameter of the dome, or so I've read.)

 (Inside Süleymaniye Camii)

(Eminonu ferry terminal.  I don't know those people, but taking a picture sans-strangers is impossible.)

The Istanbul Archeological Museum (An Olde Poste of Early January)

(Behold!  Ancient Pagan Rites!)

Boldly flaunting our Sunday Morning Motivation in the face of a cruel Istanbul January, we ventured out under the steely gray skies of the city in search of adventure.  In search of fulfillment!  In search of enlightenment!  In search of some semblance of belonging in this rich loam of history that both buries and nourishes the rollicking garden we call Istanbul.

None of which we found.  We did, however, find a full Turkish breakfast (of which there are no photographs), the Istanbul Archeological Museum, and a straight-up cloudy nargile/backgammon cafe.  To put it in more readable terms...

Alas, our search was in vain.  Adventure, always the cruel mistress, chose not to reveal herself this day.  Our palettes whetted by the adventurous weather that the damsel left in her wake, we boldly and foolishly plunged forward, perhaps discovering even greater treasures and pleasures than we had originally intended to!  For our path, while lacking in adventure, fulfillment, and enlightenment led us to a cornucopia of cultural and historical delights the likes of which have rarely been espied by man's eyes.  These delights I shall now try to describe to you with a limited number of accompanying photographic aids...

The stone-paved entryway to Halle of Antiquarian Artefacts.  Note the few barbarous souls braving the tempest to glimpse the treasures contained within.  Note their queer dress, mannerisms, and social habits.

Ah! The ancient Quardricat of Carthage.  Carved of the finest granite quarried by fallen armies turned to slaves, this ancient feline guardianess protects the Halle of Ancient Artefacts.

 Even the heavily guarded Halle falls victim to the cruel hand of theft!  Alert the guards, and if the guards be of no use, alert...

...Baal of the ancients!

A new past-time discovered!  Tavla, the age old Turkish game of wit, logic, strategy and will!  Reaching the end of this chapter of Personal History, I put forth a challenge:  Caption of the captionless!  Provide the Secret History of the documented Artefacts!

Super Ski Weekend

(Mountains.  Snow.  Rad Grindage.)

This weekend we (Kate and I, Kate of the Islands) took a short trip up to the mountains around Bursa to do some snowboarding.  Despite my horrible luck with rental cars in the past, we went for it, and ended up with a 2011 Ford Focus...

Automatic transmission.  Power locks and windows.  And it's own Albany-sweatshirted driver.  The best thing about renting the car?  Probably the fact that Hertz didn't really care when we brought the car back with a few extra scratches.  The worst thing?  The 150 TL 3/4 tank fill up.  But, most importantly:  What did I learn from the rental car experience?  You can do whatever you want in a car in Turkey and nobody will care at all.  People habitually drive the wrong way down one way streets, block other cars into their parking spots, jam their cars into improbably small gaps in traffic and generally drive like they're in a Pitbull video.

But the mountains!  We went to Uludağ, a mountain near Bursa... about a 2 or 3 hour drive from Istanbul.  We took the car-ferry across the Marmara to get there...

...but it cost a lot of money, so we took the long way back, which ended up being about 4 1/2 hours.

Not too bad!  We stayed at a "boutique" hotel in Bursa... probably one of the poshest places I've ever stayed at.  I'll spare you the details but we had this as a standard room accessory:

(There was also a chandelier in the bathroom.)

(The outside of the hotel... not a great shot, but certainly the most well maintained building for miles)

Okay.  I'm getting to the mountains.  We're there.  It was great.  The mountains were a lot bigger than I thought they'd be; certainly a lot bigger than the Czech mountains.  The conditions weren't ideal... a lot of fog, wind, and ice on 90% of the trails.  So much fog, in fact, that sometimes I wasn't really sure if I was actually moving down the hill, let along which direction I was headed in or how fast I was going.  It was nice to know that I still got it though.  No wipeouts, just muscle memory from what, 13-14 years ago?  As lousy as the weather was, it was really nice to be out there.  Again, you might find yourself asking, "but what did he learn?"  This is what the mountain taught me.  Kate is a quick learner on the snowboard (she reads this, clearly).  Turks can't ski.  A lot of people go to the mountain just to hang out.  In fact, some of them go for weird club music and bowls full of vodka next to a roaring fire while sitting on some weird fake polar bear skin couch.  I can still snowboard well, and I want to do more of it.  A lot of dogs live on the mountain.  Nothing is cheap.  Everything rules, especially the restaurant with all you can eat* lamb** roasted on a spit by the side of the road.

(The road up the mountain.  There were a lot of minibuses.) 

(Real ski lifts.) 

(Not pictured: roaring fire) 

(She stands.) 

(So does he.) 

(Not so cheap roadside shack.) 

(Roasting lamb** at the Not So Cheap Roadside Shack)

* We think it was all you can eat.  We're pretty sure the guy said we could have more if we wanted.

** We're also pretty sure it was delicious lamb, but other options could include delicious goat and delicious mountain dog.