April was not a good blog month. Between traveling, lots of visitors, and getting the flu, there was just no time to sit and reflect about everything going on around me. It makes me sad, because this blog is really important to me, and the next few months are only going to be more hectic. I'm going to start with the most recent activities in my life and work back (hopefully quickly), as I don't want to forget any of it.
To escape the spring showers of Madrid, Amanda, Kimiko, and myself made use of another one of the many Spanish holidays for a week-long excursion to Istanbul, the cultural and economic center of Turkey, and the only major city in the world to sit on two continents. But before arriving, we were able to make use of a 10 hour layover in Munich and experience a little bit of Germany. At the moment, Germany's economy is supporting the rest of Europe, and it's interesting that in my short time in just one city I could see how efficient everyone was. Just in the way their airport security works or how the metro is laid out, I got the impression that Germans are really on top of it. Of course, we didn't have time to see much in one day, but we were able to visit Dachau, the first concentration camp built by the Nazis. We traversed the same 4km path where SS Guards would march the new arrivals from the train to the camp gates--although I can't imagine it looking so green and floral 75 years ago. Dachau itself was haunting, but you really had
to stop and put yourself in the mind of a terrified, confused, powerless, even hopeful prisoner to fully grasp the gravity of such a heinous place.
After the most exciting layover of my life, we finally arrived late that night in Istanbul. I am definitely cursed when it comes to airport arrivals, and here we ended up missing the last train of the metro we had planned to take, so we were forced to figure out shuttle and taxi services while trying to make sure we weren't being ripped off (which we were). The next day, and every day in the city after, had the most perfect weather you could imagine: warm, bright, and sunny, but still cool enough to wear the required long pants and sleeves to enter the mosques without getting heat stroke. And there are plenty of mosques to see. Looking over the city skyline, you can see minarets popping out between almost every other building. In a predominantly Muslim city of over 13 million people, I guess a lot are necessary. We were able to see three of the most famous ones, one that is a museum now (Hagia Sofia) and two that still function as places of worship (Sultanahmet and Süleymaniye). All of them were incredible buildings, and there's no way words or pictures can do them justice.
We had to do the touristy things, like visiting palaces, eating Turkish delight, and a bus tour of the city, which was all very nice (except the Turkish delight). The May Day demonstrations were definitely different from protests I've seen in Madrid. Here, you went through a metal detector and police search just to enter the main city square where speeches were being made. I hardly even notice police officers in Madrid during marches, but it was impossible to miss the fully-equipped riot police stationed at every corner, ready to enter a scene in a moment's notice. A four lira (less than 2€) ferry ride carried us to the nearby Prince Islands in the Sea of Marmara, where automobiles are prohibited and everyone gets around by foot, bike, or horse and carriage. We opted for the bikes, expecting a pleasant ride along the water but actually discovering uninterrupted hills that seemed to defy physics by always going up and never going down--the struggle definitely had me worried about returning to triathlons next fall. We were able to rest on our own little private beach though, which definitely made it worth all the trouble.
Desperate for another beach day after living in a landlocked city for so long, we crossed the river over to Asia and took an hour and half bus ride to a beach town called Şile on the Black Sea. It reminded me a lot of Half Moon Bay in some ways: beach houses on the hills overlooking the water, quaint downtown area, and completely overcast. The sun had left us back in Istanbul, so we walked along the water instead of actually swimming in it.
After visiting Morocco, it was nice to get another perspective of a Muslim country by visiting such a completely different location. In Istanbul, many women didn't cover their hair, we saw couples holding hands and kissing along the river (even a gay couple), and alcohol was readily available in almost any grocery or convenience store. Marrakech was almost the opposite in these regards, the same way most smaller towns in any part of the world are usually more conservative than a cosmopolitan city. Although in my opinion, Marrakech was cheaper and had better food.
Flying out just at daybreak and watching the sun as its rays stretched over the sea to rouse the earth, I felt a pang of jealousy for the people below who are able to wake up every morning in this other world. I looked back once more at the smoggy city, and saw, as our new Turkish friend would say, Istanbul getting smaller, and smaller, and smaller.
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| Our beautiful, springtime "death march" |
to stop and put yourself in the mind of a terrified, confused, powerless, even hopeful prisoner to fully grasp the gravity of such a heinous place.
 |
| Hagia Sofia, an ancient Byzantine cathedral turned mosque by the Ottomans |
We had to do the touristy things, like visiting palaces, eating Turkish delight, and a bus tour of the city, which was all very nice (except the Turkish delight). The May Day demonstrations were definitely different from protests I've seen in Madrid. Here, you went through a metal detector and police search just to enter the main city square where speeches were being made. I hardly even notice police officers in Madrid during marches, but it was impossible to miss the fully-equipped riot police stationed at every corner, ready to enter a scene in a moment's notice. A four lira (less than 2€) ferry ride carried us to the nearby Prince Islands in the Sea of Marmara, where automobiles are prohibited and everyone gets around by foot, bike, or horse and carriage. We opted for the bikes, expecting a pleasant ride along the water but actually discovering uninterrupted hills that seemed to defy physics by always going up and never going down--the struggle definitely had me worried about returning to triathlons next fall. We were able to rest on our own little private beach though, which definitely made it worth all the trouble.
 |
| Prince Islands Beach |
Desperate for another beach day after living in a landlocked city for so long, we crossed the river over to Asia and took an hour and half bus ride to a beach town called Şile on the Black Sea. It reminded me a lot of Half Moon Bay in some ways: beach houses on the hills overlooking the water, quaint downtown area, and completely overcast. The sun had left us back in Istanbul, so we walked along the water instead of actually swimming in it.
After visiting Morocco, it was nice to get another perspective of a Muslim country by visiting such a completely different location. In Istanbul, many women didn't cover their hair, we saw couples holding hands and kissing along the river (even a gay couple), and alcohol was readily available in almost any grocery or convenience store. Marrakech was almost the opposite in these regards, the same way most smaller towns in any part of the world are usually more conservative than a cosmopolitan city. Although in my opinion, Marrakech was cheaper and had better food.
Flying out just at daybreak and watching the sun as its rays stretched over the sea to rouse the earth, I felt a pang of jealousy for the people below who are able to wake up every morning in this other world. I looked back once more at the smoggy city, and saw, as our new Turkish friend would say, Istanbul getting smaller, and smaller, and smaller.
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