Turkey Part 3 - Cirali

Arriving at the Antalya airport on the Mediterranean only one word entered my mind...HOT. That was all that could break through the 100+ degree temperature. We took a van along the coast to the sleepy village of Cirali, where we spent the first day or two trying to make sure the kids (and us, too) didn't overheat. So we mixed it up between time at the pool and naps in our air-conditioned room. We found that the best time to visit the beach was after the sun sunk below the hills, but there was still plenty of light (and warmth) left.

During our leisurely week in Cirali we spent a day on a sailboat trip swimming and snorkeling in uninhabited coves; we traipsed through Greek mythology with visits to the ruins of ancient Olympus and the eternal flames of Chimaera where fire spills from the earth on one of the hillsides above the town; we dined on fresh seafood and consumed copious amounts of ice cream; and, of course, we spent many hours relaxing in and around the pool.

It was great to watch Amelia become totally enamored with the water. While we had done swimming lessons at home, she wasn't thrilled with the fact that she had to follow specific activities, and she hated it when the teacher put her underwater. So in Cirali we bought her a pair of water wings and a pool noodle and after we convinced her to try them out the only way to get her to take a break from the pool was to bribe her with an ice cream sundae.

Tristan made many friends everywhere we went, and in particular some special friends with a couple who was staying at our hotel. The young woman was completely in love with him and would shriek and come running over whenever we were coming or going. They spent a lot of time with him, and when it was time for them to leave we wanted to check their bags to make sure he wasn't packed in one of them! They definitely helped give Dan and I some extra time to relax, and they even bought him this fancy baby pool toy.

I also got to spend one very special morning watching WWF biologists assist in the hatching of the endangered caretta caretta turtles (loggerhead turtles). The turtles lay their eggs under the sand in June and July, and then around 50 days later the tiny hatchlings emerge and make their way to the sea under the cover of darkness. WWF tries to prevent people from going onto the beach at night, but at dawn the biologists can sometimes be found opening the nests that have recently hatched to help along any stragglers, giving us tourists a chance to witness. I got to see them take out 5 babies who then heroically started their 30-yard journey to the ocean. It was amazing to watch the little guys struggle through the sand, though it ended quite anticlimactically when the biologist strode over without a word and picked them each up and popped them into his backpack. He later explained that there were seagulls waiting for a baby turtle buffet, so they would all be released at night when it was safer.After our very pleasant week on the coast, it was time time to say good-bye to Turkey. We had a wonderful trip, and you can find some photos posted here.

Bonus Turkey Footage - Tristan's Log

While you eagerly await the final installment of our trip report to Turkey, here is a little something to keep you interested. Since Tristan didn't seem quite as excited about everything as we were, and since his need for sleep is considerably higher than ours, we spent much of our trip trying to get him to sleep so we could do other things and he would remain a happy camper. So he basically turned our vacation into his own personal Dr. Seuss book of napping. Here is a photo journal of his trip:

Would you, could you on a boat?

Could you, would you with a goat?

Naps on planes, on cars, or in a cave,

And when I sleep through meals I don't misbehave.

On Mommy's back or Dadda's knee,

Try a hammock under a tree.

On the Palace lawn you say?

I could nap there everyday.

Yes, I can nap here OR there,

Say, I can nap ANYWHERE!

Turkey Part 2 - The Magic of Cappadocia

Arising in the darkness for our early flight from Istanbul to central Turkey, Dan and I were sneaking around the room trying to get everything packed up when Amelia sat up and cheerily said she was ready to go. No complaints or fussiness about the early departure made for an easy trip to the airport followed by another quick and bumpy flight, but with no incidents, then we arrived in Cappadocia.

By far one of the most magical places I have ever seen. With surreal landscapes that look like they are from some far off planet or possibly from somewhere in middle earth. I think I walked around with a look of awe on my face the entire 3 days we were there. I couldn't help but to keep poking Dan and saying "Wow, look at that." Luckily he also seemed impressed, and thus was willing to tolerate my giddiness.

We rented a car and drove to many of the sites in the area, including many cave churches and dwellings, entire underground cities, huge scenic valleys, old stopovers from the silk road, and fairy chimneys. We did not partake in one of the most popular activities in Cappadocia, hot-air ballooning at sunrise. While it looked like an amazing experience, we decided that getting the kids up at 5am (again) was probably not worth it. However, I did get up one morning just to watch the balloons fly over the valley, which was in itself a beautiful site. I sat on the terrace of our cave hotel with the early morning peace and silence being broken only by the occasional hissing of the burner from one of the dozens of balloons floating through the sky. I cannot possibly find the words to describe this amazing place and my enjoyment of it, and my pictures likewise do not do it justice, but hopefully they give you some idea. Watch for my last installment of our trip and the complete set of pictures, coming soon.

Turkey Part 1 - Istanbul

We started off our trip on Sunday, July 31st. What better way to start off our 8th year of marriage than by exploring a new country together as a family? We were packed, the dogs were at their "resort," the catsitter was all set, and we were off to Lisbon to begin our trip. Amelia was super excited to be travelling again (despite the initial, very understandable confusion about the fact that we probably would not see any actual turkeys in Turkey), and she recited each step of our plan with increasing exhilaration and volume (drop off the car, check-in and get our tickets, go through security, find our gate, get on the airplane, put on our seatbelts, start to move, go REALLY fast, GO UP IN THE SKY!!).

Our first flight was a quick hop to Madrid, and so far everything had gone exactly as planned, but then the turbulence struck, and struck, and struck again. I watched my exuberant little girl go from boisterous and thrilled to silent and green. Then we heard someone a few rows behind us throw-up, and then it was our turn. We had been saying it was OK if she needed to throw-up, we had the bag at the ready, but when the time came, she silently just opened her mouth and let it all out on the floor (though not without hitting both herself and me first). Thankfully she missed the iPad and all of our carry-ons beneath her seat, and I'm pretty sure she missed the feet of the person behind her (though it was close). We seemed to have packed every possible extra piece of clothing except an extra shirt for her, so our skinny almost three year old was sporting a bit of belly in her 1 year old brothers t-shirt for the rest of the trip. Luckily the first leg of the trip was the worst part of the whole two weeks, and everything else just got better and better. After a few hours in Madrid (and some time in the airport's great children's play area) Amelia remained enthusiastic and boarded the plane for an uneventful flight to Istanbul.

As we made our way from the Istanbul airport into town, the road followed a long park that stretched along the sea. We started to notice shadowy figures all along the park. As we got closer to the city we saw more and more and realized it was hundreds of people picnicking in the park, after midnight on a Sunday night. There were large families with children running everywhere and couples dining romantically. We thought at first it was the city's way of escaping the midsummer heat, but then we realized that the following morning was the start of Ramadan and everyone was feasting late into the night in the park before the fasting began in the morning. It was a beautiful way to enter a beautiful city.

We spent the next three days exploring Sultanahmet (the old part of the city), cruising the Bosporus, becoming totally overwhelmed in the Grand Bazaar, and eating some scrumptious food. We learned fast that Turkey is even more of a baby culture than Portugal, and while we love it in Portugal, it was a bit over the top in Turkey, to the extent that we could barely walk down the street with Tristan and Amelia without stopping every two feet as someone tousled their hair, pinched their cheeks, and asked them questions.

As an example, one day as Dan stayed with Tristan during an afternoon nap, Amelia and I decided to lose ourselves in the city. We wandered aimlessly and stopped to watch fountains and street dogs, she danced at the performance of a band, and before we set off back to our hotel we stopped for ice cream and sat outside the cafe on a bench to eat it. The group of young men working at the cafe were instantly smitten with the blond-haired little girl with ice cream on her nose. They all came out and handed her bags of gourmet chocolates and truffles from the shop in attempts to get her only to tell them her name (she demurely refused). At each restaurant the owner or waiter was always ready to whisk Tristan up at the slightest sign of boredom, and I don't think either of our children has ever had so much attention from so many people. They seemed to both revel in it and be overwhelmed by it at the same time.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Istanbul, and Dan and I for the first time in our travels together made a real effort to slow down and decide not to see everything. This was necessitated by the need to listen to our children's schedules, and it enabled us to take in the things we wanted to at times and at other times we were able to savor the feel of the city at its playgrounds and while sipping lemonade in a park while socializing with the local street animals (which were Amelia's favorite sites).

For now I think I have overstepped my allotted computer time and both children are awake and ready to go do something more interesting. Look for more tales from our travels in the next few days, and I will get pictures up on Picasa soon as well (I hope).

More Daily Amelia-isms

1) While putting her to sleep at night she gets to cuddle on the rocking chair with me as long as she wants, but once she gets up it is time for bed. She keeps trying new tactics to get back up and cuddle again. The latest utterance, while getting misty eyed and lower-lip quivering "But mommy, I don't have any cuddle left in my tummy." Now who out there could say no to that?

2) Direct quote upon waking from her nap today, bed-headed, wearing only a diaper and a t-shirt and carrying a teddy bear: "Mommy, I want to go have a party." So off we go!

Salamanca

In June we finally made it to Salamanca, a trip we have been meaning to take for quite a while. It is a beautiful little Spanish town about a 3 hour drive from us. They are right on a river, making the town a great respite from the surrounding desert, and they have wonderful old university buildings and a beautiful cathedral. The huge square in the center of the old town functions as a social gathering point and is surrounded by restaurants and pedestrian areas. This coupled with the relaxed Spanish summer nights made for a great get-away. As usual, our little travelers were awesome and relished the 10pm dinners topped off with a stroll and an ice cream before retiring for the evening. Amelia was enthralled with our hotel room, and kept wanting to return there when we were done (ex)"ploring."

I'll take the High Road...

First, we should apologize for not writing in so long. We only have one excuse…it’s summer. When the sun shines every day and it doesn’t get dark until 21:30, we find that time speeds by a little more quickly. Of course if you don't buy that excuse, our other two excuses are named Amelia and Tristan, they keep us pretty busy! But we did want to tell you about our trip at the end of May.

This was Tristan’s second plane trip, after going to the US for Xmas. He was a champ and travels as easily as Amelia, who has probably spent more time on airplanes than she has on changing tables (okay, that might not be true). But traveling with the kids was actually easy and even exciting. Amelia had been counting down on a calendar for the last month, and was super excited. Tristan seemed pretty excited, too, but he usually is. After traveling all across the US, a 3-hour direct flight from Lisbon to Edinburgh is really like a walk in the park.

For those of you who haven’t been to Scotland, it’s a gorgeous country. The rolling hills, rugged coast, thickening fog and flowing scotch combine to make a relaxing vacation. Especially appealing were the un-refurbished castles that quickly take you back to the 13^th century. It’s remarkable how those Scots spent most of their time fighting one another, clan against clan, but I think the challenging landscape and challenging climate helped shape the rough-and-tumble culture.

We joined Karen and Kevin from Santa Barbara on this trip, and Liam and Julie came over from Portland. We had a remarkably comfortable home on the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond for a week, not much swimming (though Liam and Dan confirmed the water was VERY cold), but some hiking, exploring, and we were known to pop into the nearby pub for a pint or an espresso when it was raining (daily) or when the power went out (we experienced a pretty rough storm). And to top it all off, our babysitter was two doors down the hallway and she didn’t even mind Amelia yelling “Hey Grandma!” all day long which was then followed by whatever command she felt like doing at that moment.

We hope you all are enjoying summer as much as we are. It’s much easier to entertain young children when you can be outside and let them run around and use up their energy. We’ll try to update again soon, including telling you about our recent sojourn to Salamanca, Spain and our upcoming summer holiday in Turkey which will be in August. For more pictures of our Scotland trip, click here. Até já…