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4943. Jenerator - 8/23/2013 11:23:46 PM Hello all!
What a summer. This is my last weekend before school starts and I am rushing around trying to get things done. I have been in meetings or training sessions all week, so as usual, I will be doing everything last minute.
Turkey and Italy were fantastic and I had such a great time. Though I learned the hard way that Florence (and Rome, to some degree) are just as hot as Texas. And I have to say that there is one thing that we do a whole lot better than the Italians, and that's air-conditioning.
It was *over* 100 degrees (37.7 for you Europeans) every single day while I was there. 4944. Jenerator - 8/23/2013 11:35:46 PM I liked Istanbul, but I am left with an odd feeling about it.
I stayed here: http://www.ottomanhotelimperial.com/
The room was lovely and the view out of my window was directly into the courtyard of the Hagia Sophia! No air-conditioning, though, so I had a healthy glow.
It was during Ramadan and the area between the two mosques was filled with Muslims camping out with their friends and family members waiting for the final call to prayer and the permission to eat. Local reports put the number at 200,000. It was crowded, but fascinating.
I went with an open mind, and have always wanted to go there (yes, the Christian in me has always wanted to see firsthand the church of Constantine - the epicenter of the Christian faith before the Vatican.)
Here is what I noticed - any culture that has Islam as it's national religion - recognized and supported by the government - is radically different than any of us Westerners have ever experienced.
We truly do have freedom of religion here in the US, and any notion that our country is being hijacked by atheists or Christians is nonsense. If you want to see state control of a religion, go to a Muslim country.
Turkey, as Westernized as it is, still has Islam pervasive in its culture and government.
The food was delicious, and so was the wine.
I felt safe despite a couple of people trying to scam me. I knew what they were doing, so they weren't successful. Ironically, their method is to be overly friendly to you and then hit you up for something.
These scammers are nicer than the average Turks. Don't get me wrong, they were nice too, but not overtly friendly. We Americans are chatty - Turks aren't. If they are, they want something from you!
I crammed a lot into my day - both mosques, the Roman cistern, shopping and eating.
When it was time to check out, the concierge remarked, "Oh, you are leaving already?" I replied, "Yes, too soon!" He then said, "Turkey in one day is good. Turkey in three days, better. A week is too much. Three days best." 4945. judithathome - 8/24/2013 12:05:13 AM That could hold true for many places!
Glad you had a good time...I guess when I was in Europe, the overall temperature was not as brutal during summer.
Just have to say, you needn't worry about atheists taking over the USA...the Christians are waaaay ahead of us in that regard! ;-) 4946. Jenerator - 8/24/2013 12:09:53 AM For five of the days in Florence, it was 105-108 degrees.
The people I met in various parts of Tuscany all said Florence was the hottest and coldest part of the country. 4947. arkymalarky - 8/24/2013 1:31:48 AM we were in Florence in June, and it was really nice. I really liked the climate but June ain't August. 4948. thoughtful - 8/24/2013 8:35:01 PM Love Italy and I've heard lots of good things to see and do in turkey...so glad you enjoyed it and had such a broadening experience...but glad we missed the heat when we were in europe this July. I think I would absolutely melt at those temperatures...and sleep would be nothing but a memory... 4949. iiibbb - 8/26/2013 5:27:46 PM I was reminded of a joke about Finnish personalities yesterday.
"Two men go fishing out on the ice. After 3 days, the first man asks the other 'So, how is your mother?' The second man asks 'Did we come here to fish or talk?!"
lol 4950. webfeet - 8/27/2013 8:19:12 AM www.nyrbooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/
Excellent blog by Tim Parks on Berlusconi and the Italian popolo.
Jenerator, enjoyed your travel posts except that I kept getting hot flashbacks to a Florentine hotel room years ago as I read it and imagined you sweat-streaked as you gazed out of your room with a view (I just had to get that in there. A Room With A View is my absolute favorite movie of all time. I can stay inside that film and never leave). There was no a/c in the museums then (perhaps not now, either) and it was unbearable had it not been for limoncello and my addiction to form-fitting Sisley dresses.
France had a blip of a heat wave, but Provence is not as hot as it once was, and it is not humid, like NY, so for me, it doesn't count.
How about la cucina? On what and where did you dine? 4951. webfeet - 8/27/2013 8:42:20 AM Another day of sunshine in Paris. Quelle merveille. Im in a Paris hotel room with my daughter sleeping beside me, exhausted after visiting La Tour Eiffel.We waited for two hours, which was a little less than a wait for a ride at Eurodisney, and she would ask, "are we going to the tippy top?" and each time, I replied, "Yes". Then, moving forward, I look at the Visitor's screen,and, lo and behold, "le sommet" is temporarily closed!
Crisis. Should we stay? Should we go?
Grumbling a bit, we stayed, trudging along with dreams of the tippy top put on hold. Later, I check and see it is open. I check again. Ut is indeed open.
Zooming up the elevator, once we arrived to the top, she was thrilled. I thought, omg, how boring. But this was for her. Its all she's been talking about.
A pack of Italians were very rowdy in the elevator. They erupted in jeers and heckled the guide who only spoke French and English, yelling "Parlo Italiano!" And that brings us back to the top.
4952. Trillium - 8/27/2013 10:42:22 PM iiibbb, what made you think of Finland?
I've been enjoying the travel stories and have a few of my own! In early August I ended up in Alaska when someone else cancelled their trip last-minute! I saw moose, lots of them, while biking the coastal trail in Anchorage!
Alaska was amazing. Daughter marched me through all sorts of environmentally interesting places on the Kenai Peninsula, and it was hard to keep up but definitely wonderful. I'd like to go back, take the train up to Denali (which we didn't have time for) and go out to the Yukon Peninsula with bug netting protection! 4953. bhelpuri - 8/28/2013 7:24:21 AM "Turkey, as Westernized as it is, still has Islam pervasive in its culture and government.
The food was delicious, and so was the wine."
Get the contradiction here, Jen? For "Islam pervasive" you should check out Jeddah, or even Abu Dhabi. Turkey may have provided your first (clearly thrilling!) view of Muslim conservatism, but in fact it is a rigidly non-Islamic state. 4954. bhelpuri - 8/28/2013 7:25:37 AM Dear Webbie,
You should have walked. I have climbed la Tour so many times, including with my older boys. It gives a sense of conquering and accomplishment!
4955. judithathome - 8/28/2013 4:59:07 PM Arks & Wabbit...obviously, I made it back in! ;-) 4956. iiibbb - 8/28/2013 6:08:07 PM I was at a goodbye picnic for a friend of my wife's. Her husband is a Finn, and my grandmother is a Finn... my father and uncle kept alive the stories of Finn relatives from the Upper Peninsula MI.
so I identify strongly with the country, and I display a lot of the traits of people from that country. One thing they're known for is being ... terse and somewhat stoic... friendly enough.
I confuse a lot of people, including my wife, because of these traits.
Anyhow... the Finn at that picnic told that joke, but I'd heard it before.
Anyhow, it's funny to me. 4957. judithathome - 8/28/2013 6:14:13 PM I thought so, too, and even more so since your telling of background.
We've got houseguests staying for a few days and the guy is Irish...straight from....been here (in this country) about 6 months. He has a wicked sense of humor...and is quite amused by what passes for one in America. 4958. Jenerator - 8/28/2013 11:05:32 PM Webbie!
I need to tell you about MY encounter with Mephistos - heheheheh! 4959. Jenerator - 8/28/2013 11:09:35 PM Bhelpuri,
I absolutely agree with you that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are more Islamic than Turkey; BUT, let's not pretend that the culture there (in Turkey) is anything but Islamic. I mean, after all, the country stops what it's doing and prays collectively five times a day, and the government pays for the shrouds that the vistors must wear within the Blue Mosque.
It was fun, and yes I had wine. Granted my waiter was staring longingly at my hummus since it was 7:30 PM and not dark, but still fun.
I will be going to Abu Dhabi later this year. :) 4960. Wombat - 8/28/2013 11:20:13 PM Also the current Turkish government is nibbling away at the Ataturk tradition of a secular society. 4961. webfeet - 8/28/2013 11:21:27 PM More pressing on my mind, Jen, was how you survived as a blonde in Italy and Turkey, but Id love to hear about Mephistos (are we talking about the shoes? Probably not!) 4962. Wombat - 8/28/2013 11:22:20 PM Kind of what some Christians in the US would like to do.
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