Party in the Cistern

Leave it to the Turks to dress up a cistern with neon lighting and serve dinner and have echo-microphone singing of Hotel California and a male belly dancer from Lebanon.

If you entered a place like this:


Would you really expect to see something like this?

My colleagues and I (let's be serious, who else do I ever hang out with) went out for a night of dinner and belly dancing. It was nice getting off campus and seeing another area of the city and getting to hang out in a cistern for the night. The food was good (I forget sometimes since the cafeteria serves a bad version of Turkish food) and the dancing even better.

Segovia

My favorite part of Segovia was the building facades. Most had some sort of interesting pattern on it that popped out at you as you walked by.

The aqueduct is awesome, even though it looks like it was built last week and has some refuse in it when you walk to find the source. The cathedral is beautiful and the Alcazar sweet. We were in the Alcazar with hordes of children which was actually quite enjoyable. They were really cute - taking pictures of each other and running around the place, trying their best to be respectful. I suppose it is like their "Waterloo Village" or something.

There was TONS of pollen here. Aimee is running in it in one of the pics. I think I have European pollen issues - I have terrible allergies over here.

We ate some delicious desserts and slept A LOT. Ah - Segovia. The place of rest.

Popeye's Secret

Froggie Juice

Make a smoothie with bananas, strawberries, honey, some water, and some juice of your choice and then the secret ingredient - SPINACH. It looks gross, but you call it froggie juice and the kids love it! So when Calvin thinks he is getting dessert, he is really getting his greens. I love it! Thanks to mothers sharing their brilliant ideas.

Another food eating tip that I thought was a joke, but tried because we were bored -- telling Calvin he CAN'T eat something because we want to eat it. He loves this game, and as advertised on my friends' blog, he actually requests that we play it with him.

Culture Club

Kres had culture week this week and they asked parents to come and share their culture. As if these kids don't get enough American culture, I decided I would go to Kres and share some more. I googled some stuff (of course) and came up with the story of the Jersey Devil (for 4 yr olds) and NY's finest - the Black and White Cookie. I would have never made my own B and W's at home had it not been for this activity -- thank goodness, cause I will never be without B and W's again.

Venitian Twizzlers

So there is also no licorice in Istanbul. We have yet to figure out why, but we can only find gummy things, not licorice-y ones.

In Venice we were happy to find these huge (everything is huge) licorice desserts. It was like a licorice tube stuffed with some sort of creamy, candy stuffing. To say they were delicious is not good enough. We got 4 different flavors and they were scrumptious.

We were also able to purchase a branded kind of the same thing at the grocery store made by Haribo -- a brand Turkey has, but not a product they possess. Bizarre.

Meat and Cheese

Warning: Vegans and Vegetarians may be upset by the content of this post.

In Milan, we were walking from our hotel to the nearest subway station, Pete and I passed a ridiculously crowded butcher shop with some of the most beautiful meat we have ever seen. Just loads of different, gorgeous cuts of beef and pork and even some chicken, we could not help but stare in awe of its beauty.

We stopped on the sidewalk and stared in. Too nervous to enter since we would stick out as tourists with our 2 kids and big backpack and camera in addition to our inability to speak the language.

We didn't enter the first time, nor the second, but we vowed that on our return to Milan we would enter that store and show them our money and purchase some meat and cheese. When we got back to Milan, our first pass was a bust since it was siesta time, they were closed, but on the second pass it was like 1849. We entered and we purchased.

A hunk of cheese big enough to feed a mastiff sized mouse and 2 huge chunks of meat equaling the pig's rump. To taste Parmesan and prosciutto together in Istanbul is worth the extra carry-on weight. Extra yum.

Home of the Happy Hippo

I did not know I was visiting the HHH when we first made plans to visit Italy, but was happily surprised to find my favorite chocolate (and hazelnut) friend in the grocery stores there.

With the Happy Hippo, anyone's travel nightmare can turn into a dream. It cures fevers, homesickness, and achy backs.

Amazon ships them to the US for 5 USD/package, but it seems more economical to fly to Italy. At least you can also see where they are born.