How To Do Vacation

Morning panorama of mountains, Mediterranean sea, and the beach

We are home fresh from vacation. It's a bright, sunny Saturday afternoon so we plan to veg out the rest of the day to recover from traveling. A is in her bed napping, G is preoccupied with his laptop, and I decided to go ahead and post about our vacation. I remember how I'd promised to upload pictures of our sightseeing jaunt in the touristy part of Istanbul and of our trip to Prague back in January but I never kept my promise. I eventually lost interest as we plowed ahead with our lives without looking back. This time, I don't want that to happen. So, here is our vacation post.

Morning, before the guests descended...

We went and stayed in an all-inclusive resort on the Mediterranean coast. It was our first real family vacation and our first experience in an all-inclusive resort. I have to tell you, it was a wonderful experience. We were so well-taken care of that the only decisions we had to make were what dishes we wanted to eat and whether we wanted to go to the beach or the pool for the day. Ah, the simple life...

A's new friends, two British sisters.  G said it was like listening
to a Harry Potter movie.

Amy (Emmy?), dark-haired British girl from above picture
that A especially liked and cried when they parted.

Before we left, we were told that these resorts cater to Europeans and while I knew this, I hadn't really thought about it so I was unprepared to see so many blondes running around the resort. After living in a sea of dark-haired and dark-skinned nationals, the natural blond folks were a big change in scenery. It was strange to see the white-haired kids running around with white eyebrows and bright blue eyes standing out starkly in their deeply tanned faces. It was strange to see the European edgy clothes and hair styles after living among conservatively dressed people. It was definitely a lot of fun to "people-watch" in this cosmopolitan crowd of Europeans. Germans seem to make up the biggest portion of the guest list but there were many others who hailed from different countries. I even saw some Slavic faces, a sight familiar from my time in central Europe. We made friends with an Irishman whose wife was Serbian and they had a shy 2-year-old boy, whom A befriended and they played together in the beach sand. The Irishman gave us his contact information and told us to look them up in case we ever decide to visit Dublin and we told him that they were likewise welcome if they come to our neck of the woods.

Our slice of the Mediterranean

The Mediterranean water was pretty and fairly calm, changing colors as the sun made its trek across the sky. I have to admit that I never did swim in the Mediterranean; G and A did, the brave souls. The sun shone very hot, but the breezes were pretty cool and the water was cold but bearable. The temperatures hovered around 77-80 degrees all week. Just a little too cool for me, as accustomed as I am to hot Florida summers and the warm Gulf of Mexico. I even remember swimming in the Gulf in the middle of a big heat wave and the water gave no relief from the heat since it was as hot as the air itself. Anyway, here the sand was nice enough, considering that most of the beaches of this country are pebbly. It was similar to the darker, coarse sand of North Carolina beaches. Need I say that my heart belongs to the white, sugary sand and the clear waters of Florida? I still love visiting foreign beaches, though...

Running back and forth

Swimming with Daddy

Mommy actually got off the lounge chair 

Building sand castles

The resort itself was pretty cool. There were beautiful gardens and lots of palm trees - just the right tropical flavor. The facilities were very nice and very clean. The service was outstanding. They had a pretty extensive pool..."system" is the only word I can think of it. They had one area just for kids with a fun pirate ship, big slides, medium slides, and little slides for toddlers. There was even a fun moat around the ship, so shallow in some parts of it that it only came up to A's knees. This was pretty much why we chose the resort - all the fun places for A to play! There were a couple of Olympic-sized pools that were sectioned off alone but the main pool was a large, elaborate, connected system with waterfalls and meandering rivers without any real currents. The resort is called "Titanic" and is modeled after the actual ship, "Titanic." Even the hotel itself is vaguely shaped like a big cruise ship and had nautical themes throughout. The staff wore sailor outfits and the hotel had two channels (in addition to numerous European channels) on their TVs - one channel to announce hotel events and the other channel continuously showing the movie....you guessed it, Titanic. 

A section of the pool system at night

One of the waterfalls

Littlest slide

Sliding down with Daddy

Look of concentration as she swam without assistance...

The thing about all-inclusive resorts is the food. You don't have to go out and eat. You don't have to pay for a taxi and hunt for a restaurant. You can just saunter in from your room, the beach, or pool and just pick up a plate and fill it from the wide variety of dishes laid out for your pleasure. The choices can be overwhelming, but with my celiac limitations, it was only a small range of choices so I had it easier. There are snack bars throughout the pool area and on the beach (ice cream!). All that food was free, free, free! The dessert station at dinnertime would make your eyes pop with its gorgeous presentation and all the varieties. The fruit bar was also amazing - plump, deep red strawberries, delicious watermelon, sour green plums, sweet yellow plums, golden bananas, shiny apples, neatly sliced honeydew, perfect cherries, nectarines, etc. A ate her fill of watermelon day in and day out. I didn't gain any weight last month at my last prenatal checkup but I am positive that I more than made up for that during vacation! Who could resist such a smorgasbord?

A's favorite food: pasta and pasta galore!

There were many other perks like (free) clean beach towels daily, nice lounge chairs and umbrellas, free minibar in our hotel room restocked daily, numerous spa/wellness services (massages, etc), nighttime entertainment, playgrounds and trampolines, hairdressers, shops, etc. We never left the resort; we had plenty to do and see. It was nice not having to cook or clean all week long or do anything half-way serious. I think we all needed this vacation, especially before the baby comes in two months.

Cajoling A to take a picture with Mommy

The only good shot...

As I said previously, all our decision-making pertained to food and whether we wanted the beach or pool that day. We didn't loaf all that much, though, since A kept us busy entertaining her every whim. She was forever running back and forth between the water and our lounge chairs. I was forever hauling my big belly clumsily out of the lounge chair to do something for A. That was a lot of work by itself! :-) I'm only 7 months pregnant but feel much bigger than that -- I enjoyed swimming in the pool as it eased some of the strain and weight of the baby. G was the best husband and father: he endured the chilly pool and sea to swim with A most of the time, trotted back and forth to hotel room and snack bars to fetch drinks or some other item, taking A to the potty most of the time, etc. We had a grand ol' time, though, and thoroughly enjoyed our vacation. It cost a pretty penny to come to the resort but it was worth. every. single. penny. I can say that without regret.

So, here's how you should do vacation: go all-inclusive.

One of our increasingly rare self-portraits as a couple

Graduated!

G graduated this week (today would be the ceremony on campus) with his M.Div from Southeastern. He put in four and half years into this degree on campus and some of the coursework overseas. He started his degree just two months after returning from two years of service in South America and during his studies, he: worked nearly full-time with a full load of classes, got adjusted to America again, got married mere months later, lost a child, became a sole breadwinner, had a child born, lost his job, remained jobless for 6 months before getting his job back, endured a major upheaval of pulling up roots and moving across the Atlantic to another continent, adjusted to life overseas and learning the language while taking classes all along. What perseverance in face of all the crazy life events.

My husband is pretty amazing.

Another important man in my life is my dad. He's also graduating today! He is getting his Ph.D from Southern. My dad had a pretty radical call about ten or eleven years ago and following the call, he gave up a comfortable life in sunny Florida and moved to Louisville, KY to endure the icy, dreary winters there. He worked hard, excelling in his classes, completing his M.Div, then his Th.M, and now, after four years of Ph.D work, he will walk across the stage to get his hood just a few hours as I write this and will now have "Doctor" in front of his name. Did I mention that my dad aced in every category in his oral defense of his dissertation, which is rare?

When I say my dad is brilliant, he. is. brilliant.

Congratulations, G and Daddy!

My Sewing Corner

Lots of people are like me: they like to sew and have no space so they sew on the dining room table and put away the machine and supplies in a closet. When we moved here, G kept asking if I would like to set up a corner for sewing in the living room since it's a very spacious living room (it basically has three areas: dining area, a conversation area, and a TV corner with a couple of armchairs). I didn't want my sewing paraphernalia in sight so I kept the usual custom of storing in a closet and used the dining room table.

Then, it became a chore, after putting A to bed at 8pm every night and cleaning up dinner, to get my machine and tools out, set up the machine, running back to the closet every time I forgot something while sewing, and to put all the stuff away by bedtime. It was a hassle and I was losing interest. I was going long bouts without sewing. I began to feel starved of a creative, productive outlet.

I finally unbent and said I was willing to part with some money to set up a sewing corner in our bedroom. It's also a pretty spacious room. The original bedroom furniture arrangement left a lot of inefficient, dead space so we rearranged our bed and wardrobes to free up a great deal of space along an entire wall.

Then, we went to Ikea to get a cheap but sturdy table, a chair, seat cushion, and a desk lamp for less than a hundred dollars. I needed my table to double as the sewing table and cutting table so we got the perfect size. The table is unfinished pine and I plan to paint it white as a noncompeting backdrop for fabric and matching colors together.

So, I claimed a corner of our bedroom by the window for my sewing space. The desk lamp clamps onto the table so I don't need to use any surface space for the lamp base. I love the natural light from the window but it's most likely I will be sewing at night.

We had an unused TV stand that we'd inherited as part of the household of furniture and appliances we bought from another family to set up our home last summer. I turned it into a shelf of sorts to hold my fabric, supplies, tools, rulers, etc. within easy reach of my sewing machine, perpendicular to the sewing table.

Yes, my seat cushion is hot pink :-) I love it!

I'm pleased with my sewing corner  and I hope to add some shelves on the wall or a pretty board to tack things onto.

(We plan to paint all the bedrooms. They're a dreadful dark, gold/mustard color that I've tried to get used to but after 9 months, I still hate it.)

Children's Day

Yesterday was a big holiday. It was Sovereignty and Children's Day. I've pulled some tidbits of information from various websites for a quick summary of this holiday. Turkey was previously Ottoman Empire and went to war to gain independence from occupation. It was April 23, 1920 when they laid down the foundations of an "independent, secular, modern republic." Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, "dedicated sovereignty day to the children and entrusted in the hands of the youth the protection of this sovereignty and independence." They do a big celebration every year.

Aside from this celebration, there is a pilgrimage on Children's Day every year. I am not sure why it's on Children's Day or even if they are related. Thousands (I've heard anywhere between 20,000 to 50,000) pilgrims travel from Turkey, Greece, the Balkans, etc to make the trip to the island and up a big hill (small mountain?) to a Greek monastery perched at the top. The island is a 30-min ferry ride away the city. There are no motor vehicles allowed on the island and residents and tourists travel by foot, bike, or horse and carriage.

This pilgrimage has some traditions entwined into it. Pilgrims run spools of thread starting at the bottom of the hill that monastery is perched on, all the way up the monastery itself. Why? No one knows. Maybe people think it brings them good luck. People also buy different colored candles (each color represent something you need prayer for like house, destiny, marriage, children, protection, etc) to light up at the monastery. They go there to pray for whatever they want/need - protection, healing, etc. And it isn't just the Greek Orthodox believers that go - there are also Muslims and people of other faiths. We saw a great many foreigners there. In addition to candles and threads, we also saw people buying small boxes of cubed sugar to pass out for free. Why? Maybe it's to curry favor from the Supreme Being above. We also saw cheap pins, coins, rings tied with different color ribbons representing the same things as the candles for sale. I'm not sure what they do those. Other things we saw were small piles of rocks on top of a rock wall leading up to the monastery which was also covered with candles. We saw strips of cloth tied on branches and trees for...good luck?

My language teacher makes this pilgrimage every year. She invited myself, G, and A to go with her, her husband, and two friends. On this perfectly gorgeous day, our little band met at the ferry and took it across to the island. Getting off the ferry, we were instantly met with an immense crowd. We got into line to wait for a horse and carriage to ride up to the top -- it ended up being a hour and half wait in the bright sunshine. The long wait and the jostling crowd began testing our patience a bit. We finally got onto a horse and carriage and enjoyed a ride through the picturesque island to the bottom of a big hill where the monastery was. We were met again with a crowd when we got out of the carriage.

We pushed A in a stroller up the rough, cobblestone road (it was ROUGH) amid the crowd coming down and the crowd going up. It was getting hot and our patience was wearing thinner and thinner. It felt like a mile up the hill. Poor A was such a trooper the entire day, hardly fussing except when she was bored with waiting or when she wanted out of the stroller. Even then, it was minimal. Then she was jostled up the road in a stroller, which was probably an uncomfortable ride. The stroller kept getting snagged in the millions of threads laid down by pilgrims. We were getting tangled in them and were snapping the threads to release ourselves.

By the time we made it to the top, the crowds outside the monastery were so dense that we didn't think we could get through to the monastery itself with the stroller. It was past A's nap time and she hadn't been to the potty yet. I was allowing for some irritability from fatigue (even though she was doing amazingly well) but I knew forcing her to endure the heat in a crowd, standing stock-still, waiting just to see a building would be too hard on her. We decided to part ways with our national friends and head back down the hill. By the time we arrived at the bottom and broke free of the crowds, we enjoyed the island breezes, the surroundings, and the sunshine. A enjoyed seeing all the horses. We walked the rest of the way down the island to the ferry. We didn't know the ferry made stops at all the islands on the way back to mainland so it was an hour-long ferry ride. Not a bad ending to a long day.

Despite the crowds, we enjoyed the island. It is beautiful with the surrounding sea, pine trees, old-fashioned houses, scenic overlooks, etc. We would love to return to the island on a normal day (in other words, without the crowds) and explore.

On the ferry to the island

My language teacher's husband on right, his friend on left - hilarious guys

My sweet language teacher

Morning boat out to sea

Rusted bike

Fun ride

Note how crowded it is 

Love the rich detailing

Horse/carriage and biking

Road up the hill to monastery, covered in threads

Found a break in the crowd to snap the threads on the ground

Scenic view of seagull and neighboring island

One of the many neat houses with Ottoman era architecture

Ferry stop at another island; a mosque by the sea

(If you are currently on the blog website itself, you can click on a picture and get a slideshow of the pictures in the post, with a bigger and better view of the pictures.)

Tulip Festival

It's Tulip Festival in the city right now. It's not a gathering with food, music, vendors, etc. It just means that tulips are blooming everywhere. There are several city parks that have tulips on display and even one park, on the other side of the water from us, has quite extensively designed gardens of tulips. I have mentioned that I love tulips on this blog and was looking forward to seeing them this spring.

On Saturday morning, G and I dropped A off for a playdate (thanks for watching her, dear friends!) and headed to a smaller park that borders the Bosphorous River. There were enormous tulips in bloom and some tulips weren't blooming quite yet. It was a smaller display of tulips than I'd expected but I hope to make it to the other side to that park with more extensive gardens of tulips next weekend. Nevertheless, the park was gorgeous, woodsy and natural that you could easily forget that you were smack dab in the middle of a gigantic, densely crowded city. It also had a couple of scenic views of the river with benches. I admired the tulips, G snapped pictures, and we enjoyed an early lunch in the park before picking up A and taking her home for her nap. It was fortunate because it started raining on our way home.

Some pictures of tulips:

Some other pictures:

There were other varieties of flowers

Park's scenic overlook of the river and city

There were clusters of them, never solitary

The city is home to millions upon millions of stray cats

Easter: A First

Testing the water

Easter this year was our first in two ways: our first in this country and first at a beach. Our small group took outdoor grills, meat, side dishes, and desserts for a potluck picnic to the beach in a long caravan of cars. The beach was about an hour away on the Black Sea. It was quiet and we had the beach to ourselves. It was an absolutely gorgeous day - sunny and warm with a strong, cool wind. The water was bitterly cold and no one could keep their feet in the water for more than a few seconds without pain setting in. It didn't deter A from wading in and out all day long.

One end of the beach, fun rocks with little pools to explore

Exploring

Grilling out: hamburgers, kebabs, BBQ chicken, etc

D on left, tossing a frisbee in high wind, pregnant and awkward on beach sand

Other end of the beach, rock cliffs

The kids played in the sand, the older ones went climbing and exploring. After the guys were done grilling out, we gathered together to eat and then we had our Easter service, sitting in beach chairs and on blankets. After that, we had an egg hunt for the little kids.

It was weird hiding eggs in sand and rocks - no bushes, grass, leaves, branches...

Egg hunts get more fun as A gets older

A's loot

I'd post cute pictures of the other kids hunting for eggs but I don't feel comfortable doing so without their parents' permission. Not every parent wants their kid's face plastered on the internet, believe it or not.

It was an altogether best day ever. We got away from the city, A had a blast playing and hunting for eggs, the weather was perfect, we hung out with awesome people, we remembered the Son and honored Him, and we were pleasantly pooped by the end of the day. We couldn't have asked for better.

Here's a cool picture to close this post: