Happy Birthday Lori

Before setting off for Bonaire we celebrated Lori's birthday.  You'll notice that the cake in the picture looks surprisingly like a store-bought cake.  That's because it is.  However, the reason that we didn't have a delicious home made cake was because we didn't want to have a bunch of cake left over when we went on vacation.  It had nothing to do with the fact that since it was Lori's birthday, I was in charge of baking (or acquiring) the cake.  I can bake cakes.  Really.

As a 100% full blooded Dutch person, Lori has always loved birthdays.   However, one downside of being born on December 21 is that it is the winter solstice, the day where the northern hemisphere has the shortest daylight.   In some locations that is not such a big deal, but in Northern Europe, shortest daylight is really short.  According to the US  Navy website, the sun rose over Wassenaar at 8:50 am, stayed around for a paltry 7 hours and 40 minutes before setting at 4:30 pm.   Had she been born on the summer solstice, she would have enjoyed 16 hours and 45 minutes of daylight.  Quite a difference between the low and high tide if you will.

Sometimes people forget how far north we are in Europe.  Had Lori visited her parents in Des Moines on her birthday she would have enjoyed a balmy 9 hours and 10 minutes of daylight.  To find a days length in North America that would have been equivalent to Wassenaar she would have had to travel to Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, which is about half way between Calgary and Edmonton.   Needless to say, Red Deer was not on our potential vacation list.

So what did we give her for her birthday --- more daylight!  We flew to Bonaire that day, leaving in the early afternoon.   We flew with the sun, so she enjoyed 12+ hours of daylight.  Unfortunately, we spent most of them jammed into an airplane seat.  Luckily the Bonaire sunshine made up for it.   

Bonaire

When we were deciding where to spend Christmas, there were several criteria that had to be met.  First, Kate only had 10 days off (medical school is much more stingy than Vanderbilt with time off) so she wasn't anxious for a big time zone change and the associated jet lag both ways.  That ruled out Europe.  Second, those of us in Europe were anxious to see the sun.  That also ruled out Europe....and a lot of other  places.  

So we settled for the Caribbean island of Bonaire, about 25 miles off the coast of Venezuela.  Only one hour difference for Kate, lots of sun for us and best of all -- we didn't even have to leave The Netherlands.  It turns out that Bonaire is a special municipality of The Netherlands.  It used to be part of the Netherlands Antilles but when that was dissolved (perhaps you missed that huge political shake up in 2010) Bonaire voted to fall in directly with the Dutch.   Actually, the best thing was that due to the Dutch heritage, KLM had direct flights from Amsterdam.  

Santa arrived by boat on Christmas morning

The main attraction of Bonaire is its world-renowned diving.  And it was great.  There were tons of fish, good coral and some special features as well -- octopus, turtles, a shipwreck, eels, lobsters and -- thanks to Kate's keen eye -- a blue marlin.  The diving was easy, little to no current and most sites were less than 20 meters.  It was the first time the entire family got to dive together; we each did about 15 dives and it worked out great.   Grant and I got to do our first night dive (Lori and Kate came along as well).  It was neat to see the tarpon swimming around -- they're about 2-3 ft long -- and they swim quite close to you.  Luckily they were looking for fish, not humans.  

No matter how warm the water is, when you stay down for an hour your body gets cold.  That's why not everyone is smiling in this picture. 

Grant coming out after a dive

Kate and Lori were always the most efficient with their air.  They stayed down longest and came to the surface last on every dive.  

Note the rainbow over Mark's right shoulder.  

We did have some weather scares.  The guide book stated that "Bonaire offers dependably dry weather" and "with only 22 inches of rain each year....Bonaire offers underwater visibility of 100 ft or more".    Despite that cheery build-up, we awoke our first morning to a driving rainstorm.  We wondered what kind of week were we in for.  But it cleared off, the sun came out and temperatures got into the 80's.  That happened several more times during the week but the rains never lasted too long.  

Bonaire is also known for its flamingos and donkeys.  The flamingos are attracted to the brackish lakes on the island that are full of shrimp, which give them their pinkish color.  We saw three flamingos flying along the beach; I don't think I've ever seen them fly before.  The donkey's are leftovers from the plantation days. The island has a donkey sanctuary that you can visit, but somehow that didn't get to the top of our activity list.  

Soaking up the sun

Dinner along the beach

In between dives we played cribbage on a board that was given to us by Mark's Aunts Mary & Helen when they were in Florida.  Believe it or not Grant was the family champion.  He also won the family card tournament.   

This was our rental "car" for the week.  These are popular because people use them to haul scuba gear around and go diving from the beach.  We ended up doing all of our diving from the boat.  

If you look real hard you can see the donkey in this picture.  They wander free around the island; this guy was next to our truck at dinner one night.  

Kate pulling her "cracker" for Christmas.  

Despite the limited cooking facilities Lori came through with two batches of cinnamon rolls and one coffee cake.  

We decorated this plant to serve as our Christmas tree.  

With Bonaire's Dutch connection, they had Dutch grocery stores like Albert Heijn.  However, we had never seen "Natural Cats" in the stores in Holland.  

None of these underwater photos are from our trip.  But they give you an idea of what we saw.  Our octopus wasn't this big, but he swam through the water, landed on a rock then changed colors to match the rock.  

We saw several turtles, including one who was nestled under some sea fans.  

The tarpon were large and scary at night.  

A juvenile drumfish. 

We saw several different types of eels.  

Box fish are one of my favorites.  

Thanksgiving Turkey

The Blue Mosque

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving with Turkey.  To be more precise, we celebrated in Turkey.  Since Grant is at an American School, he got the four day weekend so we off we went to Istanbul. 

Istanbul is a city with a very long history.  Most of the cities we visit have a 4-5 page history in the guidebook.  Istanbul's was 16 pages.  Most historians date the beginning of Istanbul to 700 BC when Byzantion was founded as an independent Greek state on the European side of the Bosphorous Straits.  In AD 324, Constantine the Great moved the capital from Rome to Byzantium and the town began to be called Constantinople. 

In 1453, Sultan Mehmet II conquered the city and the era of the Ottoman's and Sultans began.  During this switch to the Muslim religion many of the famous mosques in the city were built.  This was also the time when the town began to be called Istanbul, a rough Greek translation of "in the city".  The town seemed to go by two names for the next 500 years. 

Of interest to Dutch readers is the reign of Ahmet III in the early 1700's.  Tulips were his favorite flower -- formal gardens were filled with tulips and the flowers were scattered on the floor of festivals.  You'll recall that the Dutch traders first brought tulips from Turkey back to Holland in the 1500's.  The rest is history. 

The Ottoman Empire lost much of it's territory in the late 1800's and early 1900's in a series of wars.  The peace treaty of WWI stipulated the removal of the Sultan and the establishment of a Turkish nationalist government.  This is also when Istanbul became the city's official name.  So that's the super condensed history of the city -- 16 pages down to 3 paragraphs. 

The first thing you notice when you tour Istabul is that there are a lot of very nice people willing to help you find your way to the main attractions.  They show you how to get there, where to enter, what the hours are.   The second thing you notice when you tour Istanbul is that every one of these nice people is really trying to get you to go to their rug shop after you tour the historical sites.  They are not high pressure, but they are persistent. 

The Blue Mosque was built in the early 1600's and is one of the most famous religous buildings in the world.  It's name is a result of the blue Iznik tiles that decorate the interior.  The rug salesman who attached himself to us got us to the mosque prior to prayer time, when all non-muslims are kicked out.  When it's not prayer time, anyone can enter as long as they take off their shoes, wear long pants and women have their head and shoulders covered.  I've included some pictures, but they really don't capture the beauty of being there. 

Night view of the Blue Mosque

Properly attired tourists

Inside view of the Blue Mosque

Across the street is the Haghia Sophia, or Church of Holy Wisdom.  This huge structure is over 1400 years old.  It began life as a church but was converted to a mosque in the 15th century.  Now it is a museum.  In addition to a beautiful interior it houses many 1000 year old mosaics.  There are also two Nordic rune inscriptions that are believed to be from Viking travelers in the 9th and 10th century.  It's kind of amazing to think they traveled that far in that age. 

Haghia Sophia

Haghia Sophia.  Another view. 

Church meeting minutes from 1166. Must have been a long meeting.

Ceiling in the Haghia Sophia

There were yards and yards (or meters and meters) of ornate carving.

A 12th century mosaic

The Ablution (washing in preparation for prayer) Fountain outside the Haghia Sophia

Our hotel was a combination of three or four old homes joined together.  So there were lots of stairs and hard to find passages.  I only got lost in it once.  But it was two blocks from the center of the old city.  And more important, it came with three cats.  You could find them lounging around the breakfast area or office all day.  The whole town seemed to love cats.  The rug shop across the street had a litter of new kittens in the window -- what a way to attract shoppers. 

Two of the three hotel cats. The one on the right is 20 years old.

An interesting place to rest. How did it get there?

This cat in the Haghia Sophia seemed to be meditating into the light. It was totally motionless.

These kittens in the rug shop window were only days old.

The only downside to our hotel was that it seemd to have perfect accoustical placement for the mosque speakers.  We awoke every morning to a loud and clear version of the sunrise call to prayer. 

Two of Istanbul's other attractions are the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market.  The Grand Bazaar is described as " a labyrinth of streets covered by painted vaults....lined with thousands of booth-like-shops".   Labyrinth and thousands are very accurate words here.  You could buy jewelry, fabrics, leather goods, antiques, sourvenirs and of course, rugs.  You could get fitted for a custom leather coat and return the two days later to pick it up. The Spice Market is a similar concept except that it specializes in food items, especially spices.  Both have been in operation for hundreds of years. 

Only the brave shall pass....

Inside the Grand Bazaar

More happy shoppers

Spice Market Entrance

Dried fruits and nuts at the Spice Market

The Spice Market

We were going to walk the streets around the Spice Market until we saw the streets. Most of Istanbul's 14 million people must go to market on Saturday (at least those who aren't selling rugs).

Topkapi Palace was built by the Sultan Mehmet II in the 1400's.  This Palace included The Harem, the 400 or so rooms set aside for the hundreds of the Sultan's wives, concubines and children.   There was also a treasury displaying gifts to the Sultans from other countries, including the 86 carat Spoonmaker's diamond.  We toured this area with 500 elementary school children who were all very anxious to practice saying "hello" and "where are you from" in English.  I guess they were in training to become future rug salesmen. 

The entrance to Topkapi Palace. The day after we left town a Syrian gunman opened fire and hit two people in this area.

Food was placed on this table for the harem members to eat. Looks like it was a pretty big buffet.

A tiled ceiling in the Harem

An ablution fountain in the Harem

A room in the Harem

And of course no trip to Turkey would be complete without a visit to a Turkish Bath.  I visited the Cagaloglu Baths, a beautiful 250+ year old bath where you first steam for 30 minutes, then get pummeled by a local Turkish masseuse, followed by a vigorous scrubbing by said masseuse and finished with same masseusse pouring warm water over you. It wasn't the best massage I've ever had, but it was certainly the most beautiful setting.  On the way out I noticed that Kate Moss had done a photo shoot here in 2008.  Unfortunately, I didn't see anyone closely resembling her during my visit.  I looked up the photo's from the Kate Moss shoot. Since this is a family friendly blog, this (below) is the only one I could post. Let me also say that we didn't get to wear designer clothes in the Bath, just the old raggedy orange and white checked towels.

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This stand sold round bread outside the ferry station.  The owner stepped away for a few minutes so it became self service. 

Lots of street vendors were selling chestuts and roasted ears of corn.

The Galata Bridge.  The top part was used by fisherman.  The bottom half was restaurants. 

There were lots and lots of fishermen out that morning. We did not see any of them catch fish.

The Basilica Cistern, an ornate underground water storage facility was built in the 500's. There are over 330 columns each over 25 ft high.

These aren't ghosts...just an extended exposure in the low light of the cistern.

The Alexander Sarcophagus in the Archeological Museum. This carved marble tomb from the 4th century BC depicts Alexander the Great's victory over the Persians.

Any resemblance

The Treaty of Kadesh, the world's oldest surviving peace treaty. It was between the Egyptians and the Hittites in 1269 BC.

 

What is peace without love....the oldest love poem, 2000 BC.

The Bosphorous Straits

Grant put his new Kindle to good use while Mom and Dad shopped for, what else, rugs.