Roma

On Thursday, 27 August, Bo and I took the super-duper-fancy (expensive) excursion from the dock in Civitavecchia into the Eternal City. Our group was small, with seven other persons including John & Lisa, Mary, Gail and Jeff from Sacramento, a couple from New York and two lovely tour guides. We saw the Coliseum (only slightly older than the one in L.A.) then stopped for a fun and funny group lunch. After the meal we went to the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Square (which is actually key-hole shaped) and St. Peter’s Basilica. The Sistine Chapel was amazing and about what I expected, but St. Peter’s Basilica was mind-blowing. Each work of art was more breathtaking than the next. It’s difficult to believe that humans created these masterpieces. Rome is magnificent.

Cruising

August 23rd. Cruising with my kids is a ball. We took a cab from our hotel, went through security and boarded the ship all in about an hour. Leorit and I had a balcony room with Bo across the hall in a man cave. (The ship would not let us book a suite. Long story.)

We enjoyed the gym (at least Bo and Leorit did), the walking/jogging tracks, the pools (I had my flippers and goggles; yay for laps!), all of the free restaurants including the buffet and the fine dining, the shows (a little cheesy, but I liked them), the Second City workshop, the “Dancing with the Stars” contest and “The Newlywed Game.” One night we pulled out the fold-away couch in our room, Bo stayed and we had a slumber party. Every day before dinner I met with some wonderful friends. (That’s Liz and Andy in the photograph. John slept through picture day.)

Our first day (Monday) was a sea day. Tuesday we took a cab into Valletta, Malta and walked around in the shops for a little while; Wednesday and Thursday were excursions (see separate posts); Friday Leorit and I rode the shuttle bus into town. We found frozen yogurt and picked up some souvenirs in Livorno, Italy while Bo hung around the pool and some of the other passengers went into Florence and Pisa.

Our last full day (Saturday), Leorit and I took the tender (actually the ship’s life boat – see pictures re-loading onto the ship) into Cannes, France. I was loving the water and had a nice conversation with Edna from San Diego. Edna was taking a 40th birthday trip with a friend that she’d known since childhood. When Edna went back to her towel she told her friend that she met someone who is from Long Beach and working in Kuwait. Her friend pops up, “Bonnie!!!” Edna’s friend is the same Liz who I knew from the ship. Spent an hour or so swimming, playing and floating in the Mediterranean. Heaven!

Cruising - Highly recommended.

Barcelona

August 20th. The flight from Istanbul to Spain was uneventful. I saw people watching X-Men on the plane with Hugh Jackman speaking Spanish. Who knew!!!

My arrival in Barcelona was not as smooth as my arrival in Turkey. The lady in the "information" booth at the airport did not know which bus went to my hotel so she sent me on the bus to a central location. We passed hundreds and hundreds of taxis waiting so they could go pick up passengers at the airport. At Placa de Cataluna I lugged my very heavy suitcase downstairs to the tourist area. The lady at the "information" booth there told me I needed to take the metro closer to my hotel so I lugged my very heavy suitcase up stairs to find the metro. I then lugged my very heavy suitcase downstairs and got on the L-1 as instructed. After about 10 stops I figured out I should be going the other way, so I got off and got back on the train going the right way. At Plaza de Espanya stop I got off the train and lugged my very heavy suitcase up the stairs. I then walked around for about 30 minutes looking for my hotel. After asking directions a couple of times, I finally found Vincci Arena on a side street. Later that evening I had chicken palella at a little restaurant on a side street. Sitting at a sidewalk cafe in Spain and eating Spanish food; how cool is that?

The next morning I took the 46 bus (2 blocks from my hotel) directly to the airport to pick up Leorit. The whole trip took about 20 minutes. We passed hundreds of taxis waiting to pick up passengers leaving the airport. We rested most of that day (Friday), got our toes polished and walked around a little. The next day (Saturday) we took the hop on, hop off tour bus -- all three, red, blue and green -- and saw a lot of Barcelona. At Subway for lunch we met a really nice family from Toronto and luckily I did not accidentally leave my credit card there. Thank you to the proprietor.

After the tour we went to the Internet cafe and then leisurely took the 46 to the airport to pick up Bo. At the airport we saw hundreds and hundreds of taxis waiting to pick up passengers. We walked into airport at the exact time Bo's plane was scheduled to arrive. We asked one lady where to find Ryan Air and she told us they did not fly to that airport. The airport where Bo was arriving was over 100 kilometers away. Leorit and I did a Keystone Cop routine, running around, in and out, back and forth, trying to figure out what to do. We decided to take a cab to the other airport. We went outside and for the life of us could not find one single taxi to pick us up. We saw one pass, but when we tried to stop him, he said he couldn't take us because we were at terminal A; he could only pick up passengers at Terminal B. We finally kidnapped one cab who, for A LOT of Euros took us to the other airport just outside of Barcelona. Luckily we were able to send a text to Bo telling him we would be late, so at least he wasn't stranded without hope.

70 minutes later we were hugging Bo. It was so good to see him.

Moving to Turkey

Little did I know that when I went to dinner with Bhartin we would be joined by his really nice, sweet, completely delightful, older brother, Kemal. Kemal and Bhartin treated me to a wonderful and delicious traditional Turkish meal with salads, kebabs, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, lamb, chicken, cheeses and hot bread. When we dropped off Bhartin near his home after dinner he almost refused to accept his guide fee for the day. Kemal and I then headed to the local hooka hangout. It was a huge, dark, place with people speaking at least 15 different languages. I found out it was a dark due to a power failure not ambiance. We talked and smoked for about an hour and then took a drive to see the sights of Istanbul including a telescopic view of the city. Now I'm back in the hotel lobby typing away. The hotel clerk is watching "Catch Me If You Can" and "Rambo 2" on the television. I can hear Leonardo Di Caprio and Sylvester Stallone speaking Turkish. Who knew!!!

My plan is to return to Istanbul in early December with Cheryl and my sister, Toby. I cannot get back here soon enough.

There is One Born Every Minute

Had a lazy morning after getting a solid ten hours of sleep and then finally taking a shower where I completely soaked the entire bathroom.

Went out to do some sightseeing and things happened exactly like the book said they would. The tour guide said a young Turkish man would approach me and offer to be my escort for the day (he did) for a fee (how many Lira is too much for a private tourguide?). As part of our tour of the sights he would take me to a carpet store owned by his uncle (actually, it was his cousin Mahmet), where I would meet his family (one more cousin and a brother) where they would drink tea with me (really delicious apple flavored) and then try to sell me a Turkish carpet (yup). Following that he would take me downstaırs to hıs brother's jewelry store (it was across the street, and he was a friend, not a brother) where I would drink Turkish coffee (only half) then I would be convinced to buy jewelry (a ring and a bracelet) at a price special to me because now I am practically a member of the family (yup).

It was Bhartin's first day as a guide. He didn't know that much about the places we visited, but he was a fun companion, he showed me where everything was and he did manage to take a lot of wildly unflattering pictures of me. We visited the Blue Mosque, Ayasofya, the Grand Bazaar, Topkapi Palace and saw a lot of monuments. When he dropped me off at my hotel he suggested that we get together in a couple of hours for dinner. I initially turned him down because I thought it would be weird or uncomfortable, but going along with my resolution to not miss anything because I was fearful, I decided to go. I could use the company and I had nothing else to do; so the kid gets an extra free meal out of it. Whatever. We'll see what happens.

Istanbul

Tuesday, August 18th. Spent an absolutely wonderful day in Istanbul. Arrived at 0600 and made it through immigration without a glitch. I asked informatıon about getting to my hotel, but the lady saıd they are just informatıon for flights. Thıs guy saw me lookıng perplexed so he came up to help me. I told him I needed to change money, but he saıd I should wait until I get to town so I get a better deal. He showed me where to get a transfer (whıch was actually a taxi) and then started to take my bag to the taxi. I told hım I could do it myself. He insisted on takıng my bag. I told him, "You know I have not exchanged my money and I have nothing to give you." He said, I'm not helping you to get money."

I arrrived at my hotel at 0700 whıch ıs 6 hours before I was supposed to check in, so I took a bath in the sink downstairs and signed up for Grey Line Tour No. 6 which took me on a cruıse of the Bosphoros to the Spice Bazaar and the Dolmabahçe Palace. I met Julie and Gwyn from Wales, who are teachers wıth a vactıon home in Turkey, Kia and Marco from Australia, Abduhl and his girlfriend from Morraco and Ahmed from Egypt, who is a successful busınessman (wıth teeth pointing to all corners of the globe) who has been workıng ın Kuwait for the past 29 years.

We got back to the hotel about 1830. Hotel Erguvan is everything a boutique hotel should be. (See contact below.) The rooms are small but immaculate; the servıce is perfect; the staff just lovely. There is a terrace where they serve a breakfast of cheeses, meats (no pork), tomatoes that taste lıke tomatoes(!!), olives, juices and fruits. There is also a whole table of homemade bread and pastries, but I don't know too much about them. Really I don't, I don't, I don't. The vıews are of the Blue Mosque, the Marmara Sea wıth hundreds of fishıng boats and cargo shıps ın the harbor or a nasty old fence, whıch I found out is actually the Ancient Wall of the Hippodrome.

Last night I ate a delicious dinner of salad, cheeses, and some eggplant thing that even I could not finish. Just before I left the terrace at 2000 was the call to prayer. I could hear it from about six different places. They were all saying the same thing, but the calls started at slightly different times, so it was echos all around. Really cool. After 39 hours of no sleep, I was out like a log.

I really like Turkey and the people here. They are direct, but not pushy. The tour bus took us to a carpet store. The guys were really nice and helpful; not for one minute did they let you forget that they definitely wanted to sell us carpets, but they were real and funny about it. In the Spice Bazar the stall keepers would ask me to come into their store. When I told them I was just looking, they said, no problem, come in to look. When I would leave without buying anything they were still really gracious.

The Blue Mosque, Topkapi, Ayasofya and Grand Bazaar are all within walking distance. That's my plan for tomorrow.

Erguvan Hotel İstanbul Aksakal Cad.
No: 3 Sultanahmet - Istanbul
Phone: +90 212 4582784
FAX: +90 212 4582788
ınfo@erguvanhotel.com ınfo@ıstanbulhotelserguvan.com

Coming to Long Beach for R&R

Sorry I haven't been writing much lately. Too tired, bored, uninspired and/or lazy.

I'm coming home for a visit September 29th (happy birthday Leorit) through October 9th. Party at my house on Sunday, October 4th, 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. If you're reading this, you're invited.

See you on October 4th, if not before.

The Troops Go Marching Two by Two

Good grief, it's been busy at the USO these past few days. I remember that on Mothers' Day we were fully staffed and out of our minds with 1,100 visitors; yesterday we had over 1,400. Every single person is really nice, but the flow is constant and work is exhausting, which is why I haven't been responding to e-mails. Mike-E. was in Ethopia, Jordan is in Egypt, Bettie is in Italy, Chemetrie was in Qatar and Mike C. left for another job so it was Christine, Joe, Steve and me staffing the Center 22 hours a day. Steve hasn't had a day off in over a month.

I am not complaining because we are happiest when we are busy, this is exactly why we are here, and as I said, our troops are wonderful. I just wanted to write it down for posperity: the USO at Camp Virginia, Kuwait is hoppin'!

BTW - Some are going into theater; some are coming out. I can't tell how many or who is going where because I don't know. If I did know, I couldn't tell you; or I could tell you . . . but then I'd have to kill you.