Hello again from the planet Moylandia!
Fortune finds us in a lovely apartment on the outskirts of the Medina in sunny, warm Marrakech.
Unfortunately we have been lax in our blog department so... let's back up a couple weeks to where we left off just before Thanksgiving back in the sunny southern coast town of Gundogan. (Enter backflash music)
So we decided being in Turkey was good enough for Thanksgiving and chose a traditional dinner of beans and rice, with vigorous games of Yahtzee and 10,000 for dessert.
The next day we went exploring again to try to find the elusive Cheese Flower Cave, which is nestled somewhere in these hills. We chose a new road to follow up into the surrounding hills. Our path took us through sharp, low pricker bushes and along the base of giant cliffs. After 40 minutes of scrambling around we spotted a small opening in the rock across the valley. It took us another few minutes of working through more brush to get to what turned out to be another tomb cut into the mountain side. As we wandered around the surrounding area of bare rock and grasses we found more ruins. Tombs and some stairs leading up to a small altar area. This was really cool so we looked around more.
As I stood up on a giant boulder, Isaiah shouted from below, "Dad! Come look what I found!" I climbed down and saw the most impressive tomb yet; this one was unlike all the others. Its opening was a rounded doorway instead of a simple square and around the door were ornate carvings of snakes and a horseman figure. The entrance to the chamber had a narrow seating area on either side of the opening. This was obviously for someone a lot more important... maybe some Lelegian king, who knows. [Editor's Note: maybe also from a later time period...] This site was also littered with pottery shards as well as a tiny penknife found by Diego; it was even engraved with the number 7! Happy birthday Diego! This turned out to be the best site we came across.
The last few days in Gundogan we continued to try to find that damn cave. We found a few more tombs, one quite large, and a 3 foot long legless lizard that Diego and I thought was a cobra for sure, but no Cheese Flower Cave. Oh well, it was not for lack of trying. [Editor's Note: We also saw large tortoises, one of which nearly scared me to death when I almost stepped on it... so much for brave exploring!]
Our time was up in Gundogan; it was time to head back to Istanbul and visit Buyukada Island, the biggest of four near Istanbul in the sea of Marmara.
We arrived at the Gokcen airport around 9:30 am. After realizing our lovely and very hospitable host had mistakenly overslept, we made our way to the ferry dock at Bostanci. The only hiccup was when we got off the bus at the wrong ferry dock and had to take a couple more buses to get to the right port... a very minor inconvenience.
The ferry ride was only about a 1/2 an hour and our host was waiting for us as we stepped off the boat. It was a short walk to their amazing 3rd floor apartment. We walked because no cars except for service vehicles are allowed on the islands. This means lots of bicycles and horse carriages and streets filled with people instead of cars. Sweet.
The view from their apartment was incredible. A vast amount of the Istanbul waterfront was visible and at night it was really something. Also the hospitality of our hosts was amazing. It really feels like every host is trying to outdo the previous in generosity. Honestly, people who have never met you inviting you into their home and feeding you traditional, delicious food, like you have been one of the family for years. Humbling and refreshing.
There were parties and a bit of island touring. On Friday Dec. 3rd we ventured to the European side of Istanbul for one last goodbye.
We returned to the Blue Mosque and saw the Basilica cistern. Huge, dark, and filled with columns and surprisingly large carp. This is the site of the famous Medusa head columns thought to have been brought here from some other temple in the time of Justinian around 600 AD. When walking underground in the cistern you feel like you are in another dimension. It was cool and a bit creepy at the same time. From here we tried to go to the Topkapi Palace but arrived a bit too late to make it happen; another one for next time I guess.
We had some time left before our 7:40 pm ferry home, so we made our way back to Taksim square. As luck would have it, the movie theatre in Taksim was showing the new Harry Potter in English, so we went (Diego wanted to go for his birthday). When we got out of the movie we realized we had missed our ferry, oops. The next one was at 11 pm, so we had some time to kill. This proved to be just fine as we got to hang out at Planet Paprika with our pal Serhat.
The night was warm and the walk to the ferry only about twenty minutes. The ferry ride home was 1 1/2 hours though, so we got home pretty late. The view of the skyline on the ride home was incredible with the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Bosphorous Bridge all lit up.
Not to be outdone, our hosts back in Buyukada had a party our last night, and in the morning we were off again. Goodbye Asia, hello Europe. Also hello ice cold, as London was sitting at a chilling 28 F.
It was cold all right. Proper winter weather. Not all this warm sunny bs. Great. Well, we only had to wait 10 minutes outside once we got out of Gatwick Airport. From here, we made it to a great little guest house just 5 minutes from the airport. Gatwick Guest House was really comfortable and had the added bonus of being a short walk through a super foggy old graveyard to a 500 year old pub, Ye Olde Six Belles Pub. We had pints of London's Bright, fish and chips and burgers. All the while being surrounded by lovely British accents. Unfortunately, we had very little time visiting our first English speaking country in 6 months as we had to catch our plane early the next morning to Africa.
Now we are almost caught up. Another early Easy Jet flight and some lovely conversation with a Moroccan man and his sister brought us to Marrakech. We were all bundled up for London and Marrakech was quite warm, maybe 30 C. The nice brother and sister who sat next to me on the plane stayed with us until we were met by our new host, a native Moroccan from Marrakech and partner of a family friend. He took us on the shortish drive to his apartment, our new home for the month of December. We drove through traffic, which seems to have a life of its own as traditional rules of driving appear to be more like guidelines. There were numerous motorbikes, scooters, cars and trucks of all kinds and even a few camels. It was not quite a white knuckle ride, but close.
We arrived at the apartment and were impressed with how beautiful everything was... Moroccan style is gorgeous. We were all tired and hungry and our host made us feel quite at home. He then produced one of the best meals we have eaten all trip [Editor's Note: maybe ever]. A masterpiece of Moroccan dishes. Salads, olives, fruits and barbeque chicken, cooked eggplant and squash. It was mind numbingly good.
So we thanked our lucky stars again and lounged off to sleep.
Marrakech is impressive at first impression: big, busy and pink [Editor's Note: all buildings are pink from the clay or concrete painted pink]. We will explore around and enjoy the heat while it lasts, and of course, post more pics. Until next time...
M4
Fortune finds us in a lovely apartment on the outskirts of the Medina in sunny, warm Marrakech.
Unfortunately we have been lax in our blog department so... let's back up a couple weeks to where we left off just before Thanksgiving back in the sunny southern coast town of Gundogan. (Enter backflash music)
So we decided being in Turkey was good enough for Thanksgiving and chose a traditional dinner of beans and rice, with vigorous games of Yahtzee and 10,000 for dessert.
The next day we went exploring again to try to find the elusive Cheese Flower Cave, which is nestled somewhere in these hills. We chose a new road to follow up into the surrounding hills. Our path took us through sharp, low pricker bushes and along the base of giant cliffs. After 40 minutes of scrambling around we spotted a small opening in the rock across the valley. It took us another few minutes of working through more brush to get to what turned out to be another tomb cut into the mountain side. As we wandered around the surrounding area of bare rock and grasses we found more ruins. Tombs and some stairs leading up to a small altar area. This was really cool so we looked around more.
As I stood up on a giant boulder, Isaiah shouted from below, "Dad! Come look what I found!" I climbed down and saw the most impressive tomb yet; this one was unlike all the others. Its opening was a rounded doorway instead of a simple square and around the door were ornate carvings of snakes and a horseman figure. The entrance to the chamber had a narrow seating area on either side of the opening. This was obviously for someone a lot more important... maybe some Lelegian king, who knows. [Editor's Note: maybe also from a later time period...] This site was also littered with pottery shards as well as a tiny penknife found by Diego; it was even engraved with the number 7! Happy birthday Diego! This turned out to be the best site we came across.
The last few days in Gundogan we continued to try to find that damn cave. We found a few more tombs, one quite large, and a 3 foot long legless lizard that Diego and I thought was a cobra for sure, but no Cheese Flower Cave. Oh well, it was not for lack of trying. [Editor's Note: We also saw large tortoises, one of which nearly scared me to death when I almost stepped on it... so much for brave exploring!]
Our time was up in Gundogan; it was time to head back to Istanbul and visit Buyukada Island, the biggest of four near Istanbul in the sea of Marmara.
We arrived at the Gokcen airport around 9:30 am. After realizing our lovely and very hospitable host had mistakenly overslept, we made our way to the ferry dock at Bostanci. The only hiccup was when we got off the bus at the wrong ferry dock and had to take a couple more buses to get to the right port... a very minor inconvenience.
The ferry ride was only about a 1/2 an hour and our host was waiting for us as we stepped off the boat. It was a short walk to their amazing 3rd floor apartment. We walked because no cars except for service vehicles are allowed on the islands. This means lots of bicycles and horse carriages and streets filled with people instead of cars. Sweet.
The view from their apartment was incredible. A vast amount of the Istanbul waterfront was visible and at night it was really something. Also the hospitality of our hosts was amazing. It really feels like every host is trying to outdo the previous in generosity. Honestly, people who have never met you inviting you into their home and feeding you traditional, delicious food, like you have been one of the family for years. Humbling and refreshing.
There were parties and a bit of island touring. On Friday Dec. 3rd we ventured to the European side of Istanbul for one last goodbye.
We returned to the Blue Mosque and saw the Basilica cistern. Huge, dark, and filled with columns and surprisingly large carp. This is the site of the famous Medusa head columns thought to have been brought here from some other temple in the time of Justinian around 600 AD. When walking underground in the cistern you feel like you are in another dimension. It was cool and a bit creepy at the same time. From here we tried to go to the Topkapi Palace but arrived a bit too late to make it happen; another one for next time I guess.
We had some time left before our 7:40 pm ferry home, so we made our way back to Taksim square. As luck would have it, the movie theatre in Taksim was showing the new Harry Potter in English, so we went (Diego wanted to go for his birthday). When we got out of the movie we realized we had missed our ferry, oops. The next one was at 11 pm, so we had some time to kill. This proved to be just fine as we got to hang out at Planet Paprika with our pal Serhat.
The night was warm and the walk to the ferry only about twenty minutes. The ferry ride home was 1 1/2 hours though, so we got home pretty late. The view of the skyline on the ride home was incredible with the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Bosphorous Bridge all lit up.
Not to be outdone, our hosts back in Buyukada had a party our last night, and in the morning we were off again. Goodbye Asia, hello Europe. Also hello ice cold, as London was sitting at a chilling 28 F.
It was cold all right. Proper winter weather. Not all this warm sunny bs. Great. Well, we only had to wait 10 minutes outside once we got out of Gatwick Airport. From here, we made it to a great little guest house just 5 minutes from the airport. Gatwick Guest House was really comfortable and had the added bonus of being a short walk through a super foggy old graveyard to a 500 year old pub, Ye Olde Six Belles Pub. We had pints of London's Bright, fish and chips and burgers. All the while being surrounded by lovely British accents. Unfortunately, we had very little time visiting our first English speaking country in 6 months as we had to catch our plane early the next morning to Africa.
Now we are almost caught up. Another early Easy Jet flight and some lovely conversation with a Moroccan man and his sister brought us to Marrakech. We were all bundled up for London and Marrakech was quite warm, maybe 30 C. The nice brother and sister who sat next to me on the plane stayed with us until we were met by our new host, a native Moroccan from Marrakech and partner of a family friend. He took us on the shortish drive to his apartment, our new home for the month of December. We drove through traffic, which seems to have a life of its own as traditional rules of driving appear to be more like guidelines. There were numerous motorbikes, scooters, cars and trucks of all kinds and even a few camels. It was not quite a white knuckle ride, but close.
We arrived at the apartment and were impressed with how beautiful everything was... Moroccan style is gorgeous. We were all tired and hungry and our host made us feel quite at home. He then produced one of the best meals we have eaten all trip [Editor's Note: maybe ever]. A masterpiece of Moroccan dishes. Salads, olives, fruits and barbeque chicken, cooked eggplant and squash. It was mind numbingly good.
So we thanked our lucky stars again and lounged off to sleep.
Marrakech is impressive at first impression: big, busy and pink [Editor's Note: all buildings are pink from the clay or concrete painted pink]. We will explore around and enjoy the heat while it lasts, and of course, post more pics. Until next time...
M4
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