October 24, 2005
Home
We’re recovering and sorting through treasures we’ve accumulated from around the world and things we’ve negected in storage for 15 months. It’s always good to go home after extended travels. Its nice to visit old haunts, enjoy familiar tastes and most importantly connect with old freinds and family.
We were thrilled to see old freinds again who trecked accross the state for some fun, food and well.. lots of photos. It was so great to see old friends and pick up as if no time had passed at all. See above photo; Tim, Juliana and Jill. Cheers and a warm welcome to all our treasured freinds.
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October 16, 2005
Twenty Nine NYC
I celebrateded twenty nine years in NYC. The last day of our around the world trip was also the first day of my life of twenty nine years. I celebrated the day doing one of the things I love; travelling. We started with fresh New York bagels. (delicious!) The weather cleared from the downpours of rain all week to a wonderful sunny fall day. It was off for a ride on the circle ferry to see the statue of liberty up close. Listening to the stories of her creation, I felt a renewed appreciation for the symbolism of the statue; liberty, fraternity and equality. It was spectacular to see this symbol that welcomed generations to America welcome us back to our home. It was off to Greenwich Village for some exploring after a lunch of the best and biggest pastrami sandwich ever. We wound down with some Vietnamese fusion cuisine and out into the night. A good day doing some of my favority things; travelling, exploring, enjoying good food and enjoying the stories that come while traveling.
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October 15, 2005
Coming to America
Our adventure continued in the streets of Prague. After leaving the diverse landscape of Turkey, we explored the winding backalleys and cobblestoned streets of beautiful Prague. We soaked up Bavaria; walked accross St. Charles Bridge in the shadow of Prague castle, marvelled at old town square with its Gothic Cathedrals, tried Pilsner beer with a side of goulash, got lost in the winding alleys of one of europe’s preserved Jewish ghettos. Then it was off to Sweden for some exploring of Erica’s roots. Beautiful Stockholm was in the full splender of fall. My favorite season, we missed fall during our experience down under. The trees in Stockholm were bursting with fall colors. This city of islands connected by bridges was a great fun to explore and learn about Vikings, Swedish culture, and history. We took a side trip to Vingakor for an expertly guided whirlwing tour of Erica’s Swedish roots. We experienced great Swedish hosptiality while viewing ancestral homes and beautiful Swedish countryside. After a brief side trip to Sigtuna to search out 900 year old runestones in Sweden’s oldest living town, we hoped on a plane for the journey accross the big pond to New York City. Hello Big Apple! We’re back in the United States.
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October 09, 2005
Turkey's Magical Landscapes
Turkey is a place of great natural beauty. Turkey has truly been blessed with a diverse landscape from a lovely Mediterranean coast to the craters of the moon of capadocia. We were lucky enough to enjoy some of the breathtaking scenery of Turkey.
Capadoccia: Is a place where the landscape is so unique, the original people thought it must have been created by fairies. It looks like the earth has been folded into white peaks like a long ribbon of candy.
There are dynamic “imagination” valleys where the shape and form of the earth is so varied. This varied landscape invites one to allow the imagination to wander like looking upon a cloud filled sky.
The earth has been shaped and formed into “fairy chimneys” that dot the landscape. There is even a natural “last castle.” A large mound has been carved into the dwelling of a city. This city sits proudly looking out over the plains like a majestic castle.
Pamukkale: is a such a breath taking sight, a religious roman city was constructed in its place. Heavily calcified water has created a magical landscape of natural pools, cascades and terraces.
The warm mineral water still flows down the side of the cliff adding to this magical landscape daily. We walked down from the top enjoying the aqua colored pools terrace by terrace.
At sunset, the orange glow of the sun setting over the mountains reflects in the pools and on the white landscape. The magic of this place is spectacular.
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October 07, 2005
Let's see if the coffee is still delicious...
Coffee has a lot of symbolism to different cultures. I love the symbolism in Turkey that merges coffee with relationships. In Turkey, marriages are arranged. Arranged marriages uphold the old tradition where parental opinions have great weight in the union between their children. Enter a meeting ceremony centered around coffee. A Turkish boy will go to the house of girl that he wished to marry and sit and have coffee with the future mother in law. The girl will remain in the kitchen to prepare the delicious coffee. Coffee can act as a face saving mechanism. Perhaps, the mother does not think the girl is a good match, perhaps she is not pretty enough, smart enough or just not a good match. After the meeting, the mother will simply say, “the coffee was not delicious.” Clever in that no one loses face. Due to the nature of the ceremony, the boy can also be tricked into marrying a girl that is less than desirable. Perhaps while the mothers are meeting, the girl may employ her friend to make the delicious coffee instead of herself, thereby avoiding demonstrating that she has poor culinary skills. The coffee may taste delicious now, but will it continue to be delicious in the future? The girl can also use this meeting to communicate as well. Perhaps, if the girl is being forced into marriage to this boy, she uses coffee to communicate this. She might spill the delicious coffee on the boy while serving it. She might mix in salt into the delicious coffee instead of sugar. Watch the signs of the coffee delivery carefully. As with all things, it is likely the mother who has the last say. Even after the marriage has taken place, the mother can still express her displeasure with this union. She might suggest to the son in reference to a daughter in law that does not meet her expectations, “Let’s just see if the coffee is still delicious…” and so the ceremony and the symbolism continues…
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October 05, 2005
Sacred Places in Turkey
My previous impression of Turkey was a secular predominantly Muslim country. Once I started to look into Turkey as a travel destination, I discovered that Turkey is rich in sacred Christians sites that I never thought about. A few of the sacred sites we were blessed to visit in Turkey include:
Aya Sofia: an incredible church from Byzentine Holy Roman Empire Times. Amazing Frescoes.
Ancient cave churches where Christians fled to avoid being martyred by the Romans. The original frescoes are still intact!
Ancient underground city also used by early Christians to avoid warfare and persecution. Amazingly complex and clever places and VERY secure.
Early seminary used by the apostles for teaching also in these cave structures.
The Virign Mary’s House! Where she fled with John who looked after her until her death. This was just outside Ephesus.
The most complete ruins of a Roman city; Efes (the very one of Ephesians)
The nearby city of Colossea (the very same as the church of Colosians)
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October 02, 2005
Desert Rythm in the Middle East
One of the things I love about traveling is when it challenges my views of things. I never would have imagined taking a vacation to an Islamic country in the Middle East. Enter Dubai, a stop on the round the world trip, and I left with a changed world view, and memoires of a country that I found fascinating and exotic. Dubai is a modern, tolerant booming middle eastern city in the United Arab Emirates. Definatley the city that oil built, this city has grown by leaps and bounds from its roots of nomadic bedouin people. I found Dubai to be amazing city different from any place that I have travelled. This is a surprisingly a cosmopolitan albeitt middle eastern and asian cultures. Iranians, lebanese, Indian, Pakistani and Arabs mix harmoniously with others seeking their fortunes in this port city.
Dubai is hot. The heat hits you like a furnace once you leave the refuge of air conditioned spots. The sun beats down on the tan colored old parts of the city and the glittering glass skysccrapers alike. Dubai has some of the most amazing architectual buildings in the world. Everything is top flight out here.
Highlights of our time here include:
We got lost in one of the old sections of town and were surrounded by mostques witht the evening call to prayer at sunset. It was a mysterious reminder of our new place in this different culture.
Sunsets are spectacular on the waterfront with the clear desert sky
We took a sunset cruise up the river. The contast between ancient mosques and sandstone colored building with modern skyscrapers was just magnificent.
Souqs (markets) with winding alleys to get lost in.
Desert safari! great fun with dune bashing and camp with belly dancing and henna.
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