The end of the long and wine-ing road

Our last two nights in Mendoza were fantastic! On Thursday night we went to a cooking class where we watched and learned how to make empanadas, chimichurri with steak and caramelized fruit.

All the while our wine glasses were never empty of Malbec. The other students were also fun with a German speaking group of four, two American students from California and a couple of men from the US. One of the German speaking girls was sitting next to Christos and he had to keep indicating that he was here with his lovely wife! We finally left the school/farm/posada around midnight and stumbled back to our place shortly thereafter. The next day was our final day of wine tours and Christos had to skip the first tasting due to overindulgence the prior evening and a desire to do sometime riding. Christos enjoyed a couple short rides between wineries while Lisa travelled in the van.

Lunch was excellent although by the end (3pm) we were so tired we skipped the full winery tour and just hit the wine store. We made it back to Mendoza city shortly after 4pm and rested until dinner ... Dinner was simply amazing and the best meal of our trip. It was at a winery some half hour by cab from our hotel and was prepared by an American/Korean chef named Mun.

Dinner consisted of a chicken-tangerine salad followed by a cold spices soba noodle soup, a sushi plate (oh so yummy), a main of filet mignon with a Malbec reduction (and wasabi mash) and finally dessert of green tea ice cream and biscotti. The meal was served "closed door" which means one big table and no menu per se. We enjoyed chatting with the other diners and finally finished up around midnight for the cab ride back to Mendoza city and a few hours sleep before our early morning ride the next day across the Andes to Chile.

Boxing Day and the next

Our dinner Christmas Day was the best food we have had to date in Argentina! Lisa had a mouth watering steak while Christos once more had the salmon (gout stay away!). Both were excellent. For Boxing Day we were picked up around 10am for a day of bike riding but unforeseen opportunities changed our plans. Before we left Posada Salentein, the local old dog (Mitre), whom we had befriended, decided to take us for a walk around the grounds!

It was really quite touching. After breakfast, we visited the art gallery on the grounds of Posada Salentein which was pretty cool; a mixture of 19th century Dutch paintings, 20th century Argentinian paintings and Argentinian sculpture.

Our guides then suggested we go on the Salentein winery tour and it was worth it. The founder of the Salentein estates is a rich Dutchman and he spared no expense at the winery. Tasting was in an underground room with a huge marble table (perhaps four metres long, a metre wide and half a metre thick). The winery produces some 2m bottles per year, much more than other places we have visited on the trip. We finally got back on the road around 1pm so we were decidedly late for the biking. In any case, Lisa decided to stick with her strengths and passed on biking for the day. We arrived at our next stop, Posada Borravino, around 3pm and our guides started making a yummy lunch of sandwiches and toasted wraps for us. It took some time for lunch or get to our table but by 4:30pm lunch was done and we were stuffed. Christos went out for a short ride, Lisa lounged by the pool and our guides took off with plans to meet us the day after the next for more wine and bike fun. After relaxing for a few hours, it was off to dinner at a restaurant called "Hand of God" which is owned by the same people who own the first winery we visited on the trip. It was a half hour walk to the restaurant so we worked up a good hunger by the time we sat down. Dinner was an interesting experience .... The food was good (really yummy bruschetta and salad) but the service was literally the worst we have ever experienced. It was so bad we had to just roll with it and appreciate the experience for what it was! Our server was a cute dark haired girl who Christos was convinced was a "blonde" in spirit if not in appearance! She took forever with our water, messed up our order, took forever with our wine (which she opened and then plonked down on the table without pouring) and generally made a mess of the whole affair. The crazy thing was we were one of only two tables she had! The other table was a Canadian family so we bonded over the mutual experience ... They had some upside though as the husband ordered the five 2oz glass wine tasting menu but each glass was a free pour and was a full glass at least. We suspect he slept well! We finished dinner after 11pm and wandered back to our hotel where we polished off a half bottle of Sauvignon Blanc while listening to a live band play golden oldies next door until 1am for a local's birthday party!

Feliz Navidad en Mendoza!

Christmas Eve dinner was at the Posada Salentein restaurant and consisted of salad, fish and two desserts. I guess it's double dessert time for holidays! After dinner we wandered back to our room, stopped at the pool on the way and discovered that at night it is the lair of many frogs! After lounging in deck chairs and staring at the stars for a while we headed back to our room, getting to bed some time after midnight. The next way we awoke and exchanged Christmas gifts before heading to breakfast. Breakfast was good, we finally had something more than toast, cheese and meats which seem to be the usual offerings at breakfast buffets in South America. We had omelettes! Then we headed out for a two hour ride which was wonderful! Perfect weather, the Andes in the distance, no traffic and Walkmans for listening to Christos' "All Folked Up" mix. After the ride it was time for lunch (almuerza in Spanish) which was salad followed by yummy beef ribs. We then lounged for a bit playing carcassonne before Christos headed out for another bike ride while Lisa lounged outside our room. Christos visited the Art Gallery on the grounds while riding and although it was closed the sculptures surrounding it piqued his interest.

It is now just after 7pm and we are watching a little television before dinner tonight around 9pm. All in all an excellent way to spend Christmas! See below for link to the "All Folked Up" mix. http://www.4shared.com/mp3/ZWQ-lBIc/All_Folked_Up.html

The Zonda!

Monday the 24th was out first full day in Mendoza and what a day it was! We awoke around 7:30am after a good sleep to get started on our wine and bike riding portion of the trip and met our guides with their van just before 9am. Our first stop was a winery just outside Mendoza city called Achaval Ferrer where we enjoyed the tour and enjoyed the tasting even more! We enjoyed the wine so much that we purchased three bottles to take back home with us! After that is was an hour drive towards the Andes where we visited another small winery called Azul where we bought two more bottles although one (a lovely Sauvignon Blanc) is earmarked for drinking before we return to Canada. We then stopped at Posada Salentein where we will be staying the next two nights to drop off our bags before lunch. What an amazing setting! Manicured gardens with the Andes in the background! Then it was off to lunch at an amazing place called Tupungato Divino. We had our best meal to date at this fine establishment which also boasted an amazing view of the local vineyards with the Andes in the background. Lisa had the steak while Christos had the salmon. At the end of lunch we noticed it suddenly getting hotter ... And then came the wind! This wind is called the Zonda and it blows hot and fierce. We had to cancel our afternoon bike ride due to the Zonda and its concomitant dust and danger. Truth be told, after the wine tasting and huge lunch we were already considering reducing our riding endeavours for the day, the Zonda finalized our decision. So we headed back to Posada Salentein in the van and as we turned on to the road that leads to the Posada we discovered that the beautiful tree lined path had suffered three casualties from the Zonda!

Our guide, his helper and Christos had to clear three trees from the path that had been knocked over by the wind! We finally got to the Posada and wisely decided on an afternoon siesta ....

The road to Wine Country

Our last night in BA was a blast. We arrived around 5pm, had a couple beers on the balcony of our hotel room and then hopped in a cab to go across town for dinner. A co-worker of Lisa's had recommended a place called El Obrero in the neighbourhood of Boca. Boca is a working class district and when we crossed into it our driver reached back and locked the cab door.

El Obrero was awesome. When we arrived the place was empty but all the tables had reservation signs on them; fortunately we had made a reservation as subsequent diners without reservations were turned away. Within half an hour, the place was packed. We had a super yummy cold calamari to start as well as an OK arugula salad followed by two excellent steaks! Christos finished his off (as well as most of a plate of potatoes) but Lisa could only get half way through hers. The waitress was excellent; both attentive and appropriately chatty. After dinner we took a cab back to Palermo and dropped in on a tango bar. When we arrived at 11:30pm classes were underway and we were told the actual dancing would not start until 2am! So we watched the class for a bit before heading back to our hotel as we had an early flight the next day to Mendoza. Back at our hotel, Christos set the alarm for 6:45am and we retired for a short sleep. When we awoke we got ready to head to the airport and then Lisa realized that Christos' blackberry was still on Uruguay time; in other words it was an hour ahead so it went off at 5:45am BA time! We had a little rest then it was off to the airport and the two hour flight to Mendoza. When we arrived in Mendoza our driver was not there to pick us up so we hopped in a cab to our hotel. Lisa put on her bitchy voice with our tour planner on the phone and when we arrived we discovered a bottle of wine with an apology from our tour planner; this smoothed things over quite a bit. We had a lovely salad lunch with really good arugula before heading back to our hotel for a little downtime. Mendoza is much hotter than we had anticipated; well over 30 degrees today and the forecast for tomorrow is even hotter with a high of 39! We shall see how much biking we manage to achieve ...

Last day in Uruguay

We awoke from sound sleep to another gorgeous day in Colonia. Although both of us are a little homesick, a quick look on the Internet to see Toronto weather reminded us why we escape south! We leave today at 5pm; right now it's noonish and we are relaxing in the courtyard of our hotel reading, watching birds frolic in the fountain and enjoying down time. The festivities went pretty late last night, we had to retire before they were finished! We have one last night in BA, and have made reservations at a highly recommended restaurant, and then tomorrow it is off to Mendoza for the next leg of our journey. Mendoza is of course wine country ....

Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay

We arrived in Colonia de Sacramento on Thursday around 11am after taking the ferry over from BA. Our first day did not start well as the skies poured down rain and our lunch was at a bad tourist trap place. Fortunately the weather improved in the afternoon and the day turned glorious! We had a bottle of wine and cheese at a local bar and enjoyed a fun conversation with two ladies from the US (one from LA, the other from NYC) and two Germans. At 9pm we wandered over to the shore and watched a gorgeous sunset. Our final stop was another bar where we snacked and split another bottle of wine before retiring for the evening. Colonia is quite a change from BA as it is a small quaint town that has maintained its charm with cobbled streets and only two floor buildings. The town was founded by the Portuguese in the late 1500s and changed hands many times over the years. It is quite a popular tourist destination as well as an escape for a few days of calm for residents of BA. Our second day was amazing. Wonderful 25 degree weather and sun! We found a restaurant called La Florida where we had an expensive but awesome lunch; our best meal to date on he trip. Lisa had an excellent salad and steak while Christos had gazpacho and lamb. of course we split a bottle of wine as well. As we left the proprietress chased after us telling us we had left too much money; we told her it was 'propina', or a tip as we were so impressed with the service and the food. After the big lunch and a bottle of wine we retired for a 'conference' (a euphemism for nap).

We also noticed some sort of activity in the main square and found out that tonight (being the 21st) there will be live musician dancing till the wee hours! It's now 8ish and we are off for another wander, view of the sunset and to enjoy tonight's festivities.

A day of Action!

Our plan for today, our last day in BA (Wednesday the 19th) had been to check out the world famous Teatro Colon (opera house). We put on our marching shoes and walked the 5km for our hotel to the opera house only to discover that today they were doing a lighting check ... We could still do the tour but would miss the main auditorium, ie the main attraction! Given the 25 dlr fee each we decided to pass and were both feeling a little disappointed about this turn of events. So we decided to visit Plaza Mayo again to see the Casa Rosada, or government house, as we now had a better appreciation for its role in Argentinian politics. Well were we in for a surprise as today was the day for a huge rally and march to Plaza Mayo! When we arrived things were getting started but not yet in full swing. Drums were being banged, flags being waved and massive BBQs were going to feed people. Turns out it was a rally of union groups for a political party. Each union had its own colours and they seemed to try and outdo each other with their show of support for the local politico.

We were quite amazed as one does not see such grassroots political labour action in Canada. As Lisa was posing for some photos one of the locals decided to get in on the picture; he and his mates were laughing at his bravado and it was all in good fun. After the photo, he passed us a tallboy of Quilmes, the local beer, which was really a lovely act. We hung around for about half a hour then decided to pop into a local bar for a drink. That is when we noticed that the march/rally was all over the news! So after a couple beers we headed back to the Plaza Mayo and by this time it was in full swing. The square was packed and more people kept spilling in from the side streets. It was quite a spectacle and we just hung out for another half hour watching the mayhem. Finally we decided it was time to head back which was a good thing as we were a bit like fish swimming against the current as massive amounts of people continued to head to Plaza Mayo. We walked back to our hotel and are currently in the process of finishing off a nice bottle of Malbec and discussing dinner options (its only 7:30 so dinner is not for another 2 hours). Tomorrow it's off to Uruguay!

Don't cry for me Argentina

The day once more took some time to get started as business issues occupied our time until the early afternoon. We have started calling our holidays "callidays". In any case, by 2pm we were well on our way and our first stop was the Evita museum which was fascinating. It had a major impact on Lisa as she likes tales of strong women.

Truly amazing to think she was dead at age 33 and that for her mourning period the continent of South America literally ran out of flowers! We lingered at the museum for about two hours before heading off to the nearby zoo. While both of us are not wholehearted supporters of the concept of zoos, it was still a fun experience. As it was a gorgeous day (sunny and 25 degrees) we wanted to stay outside so we wandered around the zoo until closing at 6:30pm. We saw capybaras, giraffes, an elephant, rhinos, tigers, a lion, goats, monkeys and other assorted beasties (snakes and birds). The grounds were also filled with wandering black swans and Patagonian Mara which look like jackrabbits. Lisa fed quite a few of the Mara as well as the other animals as we travelled (they sell food pellets at the entrance to feed the animals).

After the zoo we wandered back to our neighbourhood, stopped for a couple of pints in the sun and finally made it out for dinner around 9:30pm at a Mexican place (we needed a change from BBQ). We had intended to go out for Tango but a few drinks too many put is in a sleepy frame of mind so we stumbled back to our hotel shortly after midnight. All in all an excellent day!

The long walk

Our first Monday in Argentina began with beautiful weather, a sky filled with blue and a perfect temperature in the mid 20s (Celsius of course!). After a quick breakfast and some work issues we managed to get out of our hotel around noon for a serious ground pound. We walked down to the botanical gardens which are very cool with lots of plants and a community of semi-wild cats (BA seems to be primarily a dog city) then to the famous statue "floralis generica" and finally to the La Recoleta Cemetery. The cemetery was fascinating as it really is a necropolis packed with mausoleums cheek to cheek and includes the mausoleum of the Duarte family wherein lies the remains of Evita.

We were done our touring by about 5:30pm and then walked back to our hotel which took about another hour. All told we likely walked some four hours! It's now 8ish and we are finishing off a Malbec while relaxing in the garden of our hotel deliberating on dinner. On a side note, last night's dinner was at another Parilla (BBQ place) where we had super yummy chorizo sausages and arugula salad. The chorizo was so yummy that when our waiter asked what we wanted for dessert we decided to split a final sausage!

First weekend in Buenos Aires

We arrived in BA on Saturday afternoon to a bright sunny sky and 36 degree weather (what Christos calls "ballsweaty heat"). Our cab dropped us at the Palermo hotel located near Serrano Plaza in Palermo / Palermo Soho. The hotel is a nice boutique hotel with a lush garden and very friendly staff. After settling in a bit we went for a walk in the neighbourhood, discovered the craft fair (Christos bought a cool pendant for Lisa) had a couple beers and finally got back to the hotel around 8ish. We rested for a bit then headed out for dinner on Argentine time, ie around 10pm! We had OK steaks (we are seeking better) and a yummy 20 dollar Malbec. After dinner we wandered from bar to bar until after 1am. While we had a good time, we were both reminded that we are no longer young ones! The bars were packed with 20 something locals and foreigners. Upon returning to our hotel we realized that our room faced the street and all its incumbent boisterous madness. Sleep was not quickly forthcoming. Lisa had a work call scheduled for 9am so she was a little worried about the lack of sleep but at 8:30am Sunday she received an email indicating the call was not going to happen till later in the week. A bit frustrating as we would like to get our remaining work commitments out of the way! Sunday morning's weather was a veritable deluge of rain with concomitant thunder and lightning! We thought the day was going to be a write off but the clouds broke around 2pm so we headed off to San Telmo where there is a large antique market every Sunday. San Telmo was great! We wandered about for three hours looking at the various goods available and bought a few minor nick naks. Then we wandered around a bit more and found Plaza Mayo which was very interesting as it had a lot of political banners etc in it. We visited the cathedral which houses the tomb of Jose De San Martin complete with two uniformed honour guards in attendance! We finally made it back to our hotel around 7:30pm and convinced the concierge to move our room to a more quiet one. A the present time we are relaxing in the garden sipping a tasty Malbec and discussing dinner plans.

Partying in São Paulo

Christos arrived in São Paulo on Friday afternoon to a serious downpour! So it may be summer in South America but that doesn't mean sun all the time. We got together around 4pm, grabbed some lunch and then relaxed for a bit before heading off to the Yamana Xmas Party (Brazilian office) around 9pm. The party was a blast although a bit odd from a Canadian perspective. A great live band in the reception area, yummy fruity drinks and lots of well made up Brazilian guys and gals. That was all fine and normal but as the evening progressed it became apparent that Brazilian corporate parties are not like Canadian ones ... In the main hall another live band was playing all sorts of weirdness (CCR cover, the gay anthem "it's raining men", a medley of 50s rock etc) and the dance floor was packed with everyone from the receptionist to senior executives (we doubt Yamana's Canadian CEO would ever get down with such gusto if at all!). No dinner was served although plenty of nibblies. When we left at 1am the party was still going strong and we found out later that a samba band started at 2am! The next day we woke up a little groggy, grabbed a quick bite and then off to the airport for our flight to Buenos Aires!

Waiting to start our next adventure

I arrived in São Paulo, Brazil to visit my company office here. I'm counting the sleeps until Christos arrives to accompany me to the São Paulo office Xmas party Friday night. Which I have been told is expected to go well into the wee hours. After that, Christos and I are off on our next adventure - Argentina for Xmas! We hope to be able to update our blog regularly on the trip. Stay tuned.

Oyster Party VII

Although not really a travel for Ctos and Lisa, Oyster Party VII did involve the travel of Aare from Newfoundland as well as James & Ria from BC to make it happen!

The Party started as it does always, doors and the oyster bar open at 4pm ... with only the true gourmands there before 5pm. By the time 7:45pm was reached, a total of 520 of the bivalves had been slurped back! The drinks flowed as did the conversation and all involved had a grand old time.

While the Oyster Party is billed as 4pm to 7pm, these are merely the prime time oyster hours. Inevitably, the Oyster Party goes later; usually much much later. This year, the festivities went to 2am. While most of the revellers drifted out before midnight, a few stalwarts stayed behind and moved the Oyster Party up to the 3rd floor den where some late night DJing, drinking and other nefarious activities took place. As always, Lisa was a trooper and was present for the entire shindig, even if she did drift off into a nap after 1am in the "nook".

Monday... And then Tuesday

Monday was another work day for Lisa with two meetings scheduled before we were to head off for the airport. Ctos spent the morning wandering through a rainy London, window shopping and revisiting Purdey's to drool over tweed. The lure of tweed was too much and he ended up getting a jacket shipped over from the warehouse. After Lisa's work was done we went back to Purdey's and Lisa surprised Ctos by buying the tweed he had planned to buy for himself! We then enjoyed lunch at the Audley, our new pub home. Finally it was off to Heathrow for the flight home, or so we hoped! After several hours delay it turned out our 6pm flight was rescheduled to 9:30am the next day. What a disappointment. So it was back to London for a quick dinner and pints at the Audley before bedtime at 11pm ... We are now in the lounge at Heathrow waiting for out flight. Lisa was able to clean her gitch in the sink but Ctos was forced to buy 25£ underwear at Heathrow! Of course, the one time Ctos did no pack an extra set of gitch and socks is the one time they were required. Oh well, at least we will be home in hours (hopefully). We certainly can't afford another delay as Ctos is off to the Yukon tomorrow.

Sunday of rain

The day started late after the previous evening's frivolity and the lingering effects of jet lag. We finally got out of the hotel around noon and took a cab towards the Tower of London although the traffic was so bad we decided to get out about 3/4s of the way there to walk the rest of the way. Our visit to the Tower was quite fun although the wet weather did put a bit of damper on the day. We saw the White Tower, the Crown Jewels and the Royal Fusilliers.

On the walk back we stopped at St Paul's Cathedral where we happened to be in time for the 4:45pm organ recital; what wonderful synchronicity! We are now back at the hotel relaxing before we head off to a traditional English roast beef dinner at the Prince Napoleon in Notting Hill.

London 7 years! Friday and Saturday

Lisa arrived in London on Tuesday for marketing with Yamana while Ctos arrived on Friday morning. Friday was a work day for Ctos, he presented a silver mining story to Blackrock, while Lisa spent the day on the phone and Internet putting out Yamana fires. Ctos went to his favourite shoe store and purchased a nice pair of brown casual shoes while Lisa purchased two pairs of shoes at a high end store in Mayfair. Thankfully the bull market for precious metals is back! The evening was spent wandering from pub to pub drinking Guinness! What a wonderful evening. Dinner at the hotel was in room and was excellent. The next day we had intentions to go to the Tower of London but ended spending the day shopping. It was a lovely day with a blue sky although a bit chilly. Ctos bought Lisa a cute tweed jacket for the 7th anniversary and then proceeded to visit around a dozen clothes retailers looking for tweed for himself but to no avail. While many tweed jackets were found, Ctos didn't relish any of the fits; he blamed the European cut but the problem was really his growing gut!

We are now back at the hotel resting after the day' s wanderings trying to decide on this evening's dining adventure. While ruminating we watched Doctor Who which was interesting in that the episode referenced both the Savoy (where we stayed last time) and the Tower of London! It seems Doctor Who is sending us a message! Dinner was a 9:30 sitting at the hotel restaurant "Cut" where Lisa had a wonderful Chilean wagu steak while Ctos enjoyed yummy partridge as the hunting season has just begun. It was an amazing dinner! We retired to our room some time after 11pm with plans to visit the Tower of London the next day.

Last day in Paris

Monday was our last day in Paris and involved a serious ground pound as we hiked from our hotel in the 6th to the 9th and back! All told we walked for about four and a half hours! It was a lovely day in Paris, not a spot of rain which was something the other days all included. As it was Monday, the city was returning to normal so we did some shopping. Purchases included a new bag for Lisa (which we are calling the "doggie bag"), new Carcasonne expansion sets and lavender sachets for our bags. We bought the lavender from an old guy on the street who claimed to have been born in 1934 and remembered seeing the city liberated during WWII as a young boy! He was drunk but full of good cheer and after our purchase he presented Lisa with a huge bouquet of freshly cut lavender. Never one to let a good deed go by without paying it forward, Lisa became the "lavender bandit" and started handing out lavender flowers to random people on the street. Reactions ranged from smiles and "mercis" to shocked looks and avoidance. An hour and a half later we were having dinner at Comptoir near our hotel (yummy but be prepared to wait up to an hour) when one of the families Lisa had thrust lavender upon went by with the mom still holding the lavender to her nose! Nothing like random acts of kindness! After dinner it was time for one more stroll along the Seine before bedtime and an early start for Christos the next day as he had to catch a 6:30 flight to Spain. Lisa could rest a bit longer as the return flight to Toronto was not until 11am.

PARIS NOUS AIMONS!

Paris post Bastille Day

It is Sunday afternoon and we have just returned from a visit to the Musee D'Orsay and a stroll through the Left Bank. So far our escape to Paris has been wonderful! Dinner on Friday night was amazing; truffled egg, baked cod, beef with truffle, a plate of cheeses, dessert of strawberries with pastry and chocolates to end it off! Of course, wine was paired with each course resulting in a state of inebriation for both of us by the time we left after three and a half hours! We stumbled back to our hotel through the rain, laughing and hugging the whole way. Saturday started with a late rising (noonish) as we adjusted to Paris time (and hangovers) and then a full day of ground pounding. We visited beautiful Sainte Chapelle for the first time and enjoyed a stroll through the Luxembourg gardens. Dinner was a bit more low key than Friday night. We ate at a place called Le Grenouille which of course had frogs legs as a speciality. Lisa has the frog legs while Christos had the magret. Yummy! Then it was off to the Place Des Invalides to watch the fireworks at Tour Eiffel over a bottle of wine. After the firework show we walked back to the hotel, got lost, had a bottle of wine and finally arrived in bed at 2am.

 Today we viewed the lovely paintings at Musee D'Orsay. The Van Goghs were tops and we enjoyed the Monets etc as well. A new name for us as an artist is Maximilien Luce whose work we both enjoyed. There were also some other realist pieces based on North Africa that we both thought were stunning. After the Musee D'Orsay we emerged into rain but that didn't last too long. The weather has been weird, beautiful sun and perfect temperature interspersed with the occasional rain shower.

On our way back to the hotel we stumbled upon an oyster bar we had visited years ago and proceeded to eat our way through two dozen of the bivalves. We chatted with the owner, the waitress and a patron about the gastronomy of oysters and discovered that today was the last day of the season ... And that there is a street party tonight outside the oyster restaurants to celebrate! That is certainly on the agenda for ce soir!

Back at the hotel we discovered that our package from Sylvie arrived! We are now back in the room and once this entry is done we are going to go through all the goodies she has made for us.

Paris Bastille Day 2012!

We arrived this morning at 11am after an uneventful flight (well we did watch 21 Jump Street) and a long trip from the airport into the city. We are staying at the Odeon, the same hotel we stayed at last year. After Christos called in to his AM call at the firm it was nap time for us both until around 5pm. After our refreshing sleep we went out for a short walk near our hotel and stopped in at the Moose; a Canadian themed waterhole that we spent far too much time at last year! A cold Guiness later it was time to head back to the hotel as Lisa had a conference call to attend; ah the modern age of inescapable labour! On the way we popped in to a shop and bought ourselves a couple of plastic glasses ... For tomorrow's walking and wining! Now it is off to La Truffiere, a restaurant that has just received its first star!

Istanbul Part II

After our busy Wednesday we had managed to cover most of the bases in terms of what we wanted to see so we were able to slow things down a bit for our last two days in Istanbul. First we visited the mausoleums of the Sultans and saw firsthand the results of the fratricide practiced by the Sultans when ascending the throne. Lisa was not impressed and was particularly disappointed with Mehmet III who had nineteen of his brothers and half brothers strangled upon becoming Sultan! Witness all the turbans on little sarcophagi. We then visited the Topkapi museum which although wonderful was cheek to jowl crowded with visitors and a bit like an assembly line as people shuffled by each exhibit. Still it was not to be missed, particularly for the Topkapi dagger and other wonderful jewels of the Ottoman days. After Topkapi we lunched once more at our favourite meatballs place and then spent the afternoon relaxing and playing Carcasonne back at our hotel. In the evening, we embarked on a little walk to the Sulimanye Mosque and spent a wonderful hour and a half at the 550 year old Sulimanye Hamam enjoying the full Turkish bath experience. An absolute must for anyone who visits Istanbul! The next day we paid another visit to the Grand Bazaar and found the antique section. Christos managed to restrain himself and did not buy a thing other than tea for two! We lingered over a lovely lunch of arugula salad, manti (a wonderful Turkish pasta) and chicken while watching the tourists and denizens of Istanbul go by. Of particula note was the mussel seller, very popular with the locals but not something for our squeamish stomachs! After lunch it was time to say goodbye to Evil Ctos ("Etos") using the time honoured tradition of the straight razor shave; what an experience! From sudsing up, the close shave of the razor, burning cotton (for ear hairs?), a full face wash in alcohol and the face massage it was well worth the 10 Lira (6 bucks), including tip, that was paid! For our final dinner it was off to a local fish restaurant for more Manti, lamb (for Christos) and swordfish (for Lisa). How yummy it was! One thing we have really noticed about Istanbul is that it is a cat city. The streets are filled with them and while we doubt many live in houses, the locals seem to love them. Food and water is often put out for these street beasts and unlike North American cats, the local cats have real "cattitude", not moving for humans and simply fixing them with a stare that seems to say "this is my house". After dinner, we went for one final walk between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. Lisa was a bit overcome with the beauty of it all ...

Istanbul Part I

Sadly, our first day in Istanbul was dominated by Lisa having to work all day but such is the price to be paid in order to afford such holidays! At least Christos got to wander about a bit and enjoy the sights of Istanbul. With work for Lisa finally done in the evening it was off to the Rumeli cafe where we enjoyed a nice meal of traditional cold starters and lamb stew. Lisa wanted to unwind a bit after her long day so we proceeded to drink through a bottle of wine with dinner ... followed by more wine and wandering. We found a place with live music (and expensive wine!) and Lisa danced away her worries! Of course, the only problem with drinking until the wee hours (in this case after 1am) is the next morning ... we finally managed to haul our butts out of bed around 11am the next day and wandered to the Grand Bazaar which, although interesting, is not as exciting as one might hope due to the profusion of shops offering the same thing. One thing we did notice was the large amount of vendors of precious metals; the view of precious metals as a store of wealth in countries like Turkey is much more prevalent than it is in N. America; I guess we need a lesson in the real ultimate value of all fiat currencies! Dinner was at a rooftop restaurant and although the views were amazing the food was only mediocre. Ah well, you can't win them all! With work and hangovers behind us, we really got things off on the right foot on our third day. We were at Hagia Sophia before it opened at 9am and one of the first groups through the door (highly recommended as by the time we left the place was packed). Hagia Sophia was the largest Christian Church in the world for around 1000 years after its completion in 537AD. It was a mosque from 1453 until 1931 and has since been a museum; but oh what a museum it is! After Hagia Sophia we visited the ancient Basilica cistern nearby which was constructed under Justinian I and utilized many columns plundered from old pagan temples. Two medusa heads were the coolest pediments of the bunch. The Basilica cistern is a welcome break from the heat and hustle of the surface and we highly recommend it! After the Basilica cistern we visited the amazing and beautiful Blue Mosque and even managed to fit in a coffee at Gulhane Park (overlooking the sea) and a trip to the Spice Bazaar. Today was also market day near our hotel and we just couldn't help ourselves; we had to buy some olives!