It has become a tradition of mine to go somewhere for Thanksgiving (although since living in Europe... I go "somewhere" just about every weekend!) The past five years I've spent the holiday at Macchu Picchu in Peru, diving in Dominica, cruising through the Caribbean islands, lounging in the Canary Islands... and Turkey Day 2010 was spent in, none other than, Turkey!
Istanbul has been near the top of my list of places to visit since I moved to Spain, so I had high expectations and was armed with my guidebook and camera. The city did not disappoint. I'm not sure which gained more weight during the trip: me or my luggage! The sights were breathtaking, the food incredible, the shopping, oh, the shopping. There was even a marriage proposal (from our waiter one night at dinner... he informed me he wanted to have seven kids together... I was frightened).
We made many friends during our four days of traversing the city. Everyone was so warm and knowledgable and always invited us in for a cup of tea. I'm a total coffee snob (unfortunately) and have never been particularly fond of tea but I accepted every offer and am now obsessed with their version of tea-- basically glorified apple cider, delicious! I was totally shocked by the liveliness and buzz in the modern area of Istanbul and the availability of alcohol. My ignorant perception of Turkey was that every woman would be in a burka, younger Turks would be very conservative and it would be hard to find a good time. Boy was I wrong. And I thought Madrileños liked to party... damn!
It was a wonderful trip with three of my closest friends. I don't often just stop and realize I have quite an amazing life with the most supportive friends and family, a job that fullfills me, and a thirst for adventure and travel that is quenched by living in one of the best continents in the world for both. I truly am thankful for the ability to do everything I could ever want at this time in my life.
Aşk için tüm, Linds
Friday, November 26, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
America's Favorite Cities 2010
Travel and Leisure, a magazine that I always thumb through in the airport, recently came out with a list of American's Favorite Cities. They picked 35 cities from across the country and ranked them on their culture, food, shopping, nighlife, etc. I found it very ironic that this article just came out since many of the cities listed are ones that have been on my "wish list" of places to move back to. Embedded in the article is a tool where you can compare two cities to each other. So, of course, I spent the next hour seeing how Portland vs Seattle, San Francisco vs San Diego, and San Juan, PR vs anything stacked up.
Here are a few highlights:
Portland: #1 for summer, microbrew beer, farmer's markets, intelligent people, environmental friendliness and public parks (hence why I want to move here...)
Seattle: worst for any season other than summer (duh...), but high up for coffee bars, skyline views and intelligent people. Not really many surprises here.
San Diego: #1 for weather, and also high for athletic and attractive people (why am I not moving here??)
San Juan, PR: This one really cracked me up. Having lived on the island for 2 years, there were many things I knew it was known for (highly ranked for good weather, spending the winter, romantic escape, and happy hour) but two things that San Juan was highly ranked for I can assure you are false: New Years and attractive people. Let me explain both. Spending New Years in San Juan might rank in the bottom 2 of places I've ever spent it (with the bottom being at home when I was 14). Nothing was open and what was closed at 1 am (when most places in PR stay open till 4 or 5 on a regular night). It was a complete let down. Not worthy of making the list AT ALL. And attractive people? Just because someone is tan and in a bikini does not qualify them for being attractive. Now, if you only took the cross section of people that live in Rincon and surf everyday, this might be correct. But PR has to have one of the highest obesity rates of any place I've ever been and unless you like men with long, greasy mullets, this is not a place to find a significant other.
If you'd like to see the article for yourself (and not just my commentary on it) you can find it at the following link: http://www.travelandleisure.com/americas-favorite-cities/2010
As you can see, it looks like Portland suits me the best. Not that I haven't known that since July...but this was some good reassurance.
Cheers! Linds
Here are a few highlights:
Portland: #1 for summer, microbrew beer, farmer's markets, intelligent people, environmental friendliness and public parks (hence why I want to move here...)
Seattle: worst for any season other than summer (duh...), but high up for coffee bars, skyline views and intelligent people. Not really many surprises here.
San Diego: #1 for weather, and also high for athletic and attractive people (why am I not moving here??)
San Juan, PR: This one really cracked me up. Having lived on the island for 2 years, there were many things I knew it was known for (highly ranked for good weather, spending the winter, romantic escape, and happy hour) but two things that San Juan was highly ranked for I can assure you are false: New Years and attractive people. Let me explain both. Spending New Years in San Juan might rank in the bottom 2 of places I've ever spent it (with the bottom being at home when I was 14). Nothing was open and what was closed at 1 am (when most places in PR stay open till 4 or 5 on a regular night). It was a complete let down. Not worthy of making the list AT ALL. And attractive people? Just because someone is tan and in a bikini does not qualify them for being attractive. Now, if you only took the cross section of people that live in Rincon and surf everyday, this might be correct. But PR has to have one of the highest obesity rates of any place I've ever been and unless you like men with long, greasy mullets, this is not a place to find a significant other.
If you'd like to see the article for yourself (and not just my commentary on it) you can find it at the following link: http://www.travelandleisure.com/americas-favorite-cities/2010
As you can see, it looks like Portland suits me the best. Not that I haven't known that since July...but this was some good reassurance.
Cheers! Linds
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Tunis, Tunisia
One perk of teaching internationally is that the schools have a lot of money. When all students, K-12, are paying on average 30,000 euros/year to attend, you know you aren't hurting for money. At ASM, our headmaster throws money around like it grows here--- want a new computer? ok. want to go to grad school? ok. want to go to Africa for a conference? ok. How about taking 70 staff to said conference? ok.
So... off we went to Tunisia for 5 days for the annual Mediterranean Association of International Schools's conference. I was in charge of arranging/planning the aforementioned conference this year, so while last year was all about eating and sightseeing (what else would you do in Florence?!?), this year I actually had to be responsible and in attendance. Luckily, the conferences were excellent.
We did have some downtime where we were able to explore a bit of the country. One day we spent driving to Dougga. It reminded me a lot of the ruins I saw in Greece this past summer but the amazing part was that it was so well preserved. And we were the only people there (that'd never happen at ruin in Greece, or any other European country for that matter). Another afternoon we spent in the picturesque town of Sidi Bou Said. Again... reminded me of Greece. The colors and ornate doors were beautiful. On the last day I had to be in meetings but many of my friends went into the medina of Tunis. I've stolen their pictures to pretend I was actually there, too!
Of course, when you think of Africa, Tunisia probably isn't what would come to mind. And while it isn't a country I'll ever return to, it was another African country to "check off the list." Now I wait for my ultimate, dream vacation, the real African experience, a safari. That'll be the day...
خدى بالك وداعا, Lindsay (I think that means "take care and goodbye" but I'm not positive!)
So... off we went to Tunisia for 5 days for the annual Mediterranean Association of International Schools's conference. I was in charge of arranging/planning the aforementioned conference this year, so while last year was all about eating and sightseeing (what else would you do in Florence?!?), this year I actually had to be responsible and in attendance. Luckily, the conferences were excellent.
We did have some downtime where we were able to explore a bit of the country. One day we spent driving to Dougga. It reminded me a lot of the ruins I saw in Greece this past summer but the amazing part was that it was so well preserved. And we were the only people there (that'd never happen at ruin in Greece, or any other European country for that matter). Another afternoon we spent in the picturesque town of Sidi Bou Said. Again... reminded me of Greece. The colors and ornate doors were beautiful. On the last day I had to be in meetings but many of my friends went into the medina of Tunis. I've stolen their pictures to pretend I was actually there, too!
Of course, when you think of Africa, Tunisia probably isn't what would come to mind. And while it isn't a country I'll ever return to, it was another African country to "check off the list." Now I wait for my ultimate, dream vacation, the real African experience, a safari. That'll be the day...
 |
| Tunis |
خدى بالك وداعا, Lindsay (I think that means "take care and goodbye" but I'm not positive!)
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