Istanbul, Turkey

After leaving Egypt, I flew to Istanbul where I had arranged to volunteer on another farm.  I took a cab from the airport across town to meet my host, Metin, and two other volunteers, Holly and Nick, from London.  We had decided to spend a few days exploring Istanbul before we headed south to his farm.  As well as the farm, Metin runs a textiles business, producing fabrics which he sells in two shops/cafes he has in Istanbul. They are called Fes Cafe.  His fabrics have also been used in movies such as Harry Potter and Troy.  He has been the most generous host and I couldn't have imagined a better person to volunteer with.  While in Istanbul he took us to some of the most amazing restaurants and introduced us to many of his friends.  

The first night, Metin took us for dinner with some friends of his at a fish restaurant on the river. He was warmly welcomed by the waiting staff who clearly knew him (as does EVERYONE else in Istanbul, it seems), and during dinner the chef and the owner came to the table to say hello and welcome Metin.This was our first proper experience of Turkish food culture. Food seems to appear endlessly, a platter of babaganoush, feta, olives, breads, almonds in ice, marinated seabass, calamari, spinach, mange tout, butter beans, all cooked in different sauces, all ridiculously delicious. Whenever a dish was empty it was replaced with something new. We had the traditional Turkish drink of raki- tall thin glasses, aniseed spirit which goes cloudly when topped with water and ice.  Unfortunately, I was not a fan of this drink. So I left that area of Turkish culture to Nick and Holly.  As dinner progressed, Holly, Nick and I realized we had eaten everything on our plates before the others had even started.  Eating is much more casual here, the food is definitely more of an accompaniment to the conversation and we had to make a conscious effort to eat slowly and force ourselves to put down our knives and forks every now and then. We were so full, and then were told that was just the starter. Luckily the main course was just one beautifully cooked fish for us all to share. 
After a few more evenings we realized that this is the norm, a huge variety of mainly vegetable meze dishes to share, followed by a small piece of meat and a small Turkish desert, Baklava or Halva, or a strange but amazing sweet melted cheese thing.

Metin

 Fes Cafe

Fes Cafe

Near the cafe is the Grand Bazaar, one of the world's largest covered markets.  There are so many different halls and passageways that I was afraid of getting lost in there! There is also a Fes Cafe in the Bazaar, but I couldn't find it.

We spent one day walking around some of the side streets and were amazed to see some beautiful architecture. We were shocked at how little was being done to preserve it.

After our long day of walking around the city, we stopped to enjoy some Turkish coffee, a drink that

Club Med - Hurghada, Egypt

After leaving Barcelona, I flew to Dresden, Germany to meet my parents for the German Juice Plus+ conference.  It was a fun weekend of health education, amazing people and loud music.  I was so inspired by the product and the integrity of the company and I'm so excited to be a part of that community.

The Lecture Hall. Packed!!!

Once the conference was over, my parents and I flew to Hurghada, Egypt.  From there we drove to El Gouna to stay at Club Med for a week.  It was a relaxing week of sun, beach volleyball (FINALLY!!!), coffee and Bailey's, and crazy signs.  The three of us also read the Hunger Games while I was there and listened to the second one on tape.  We were addicted!  I like the book so much that I decided I needed to try the archery offered at the club.  Unfortunately I was terrible at it...

The pool

The Hunger Games and a pina colada

Beach volley. YES!!!

One of the days we took a trip to the marina in the town. 

 Tok Tok. This is how we go there.  It didn't seem like the safest idea, but we went for it anyway.

The bar where we spent the afternoon

We met some really fun people on this vacation and it was so nice to spend some time with my parents.  There were a lot of Egyptians working at the club and it was really incredible to see how much pride they have in being from Egypt. 

On the day we left. With Mina, one of the Egyptians who worked there. 

BARTTHHHHHALONA!!!!

Hi All!
I have a lot to share from my adventures in Barcelona. It is such a beautiful city and it is amazing to be in the sunshine again! I found the beach and have been spending a lot of time sitting in the sand and drawing.  This is more like it!!

 Barceloneta

 The W Hotel. One day I will stay there

Spanish beach volleyball!

The first hostel I stayed at was a little outside the center, and it was a good place to start.  I met a couple of guys from Argentina who have been living in Barcelona for the past 3 months looking for work. 

Martin and Pablo

It was great to have some "local" tour guides for the first few days.  They took me out to some restaurants and helped me figure out what sights to see when.  They had the inside scoop on when certain museums had free entries and which days were less crowded.  One of the coolest things we did was go to the HUGE flea market. They literally had everything you could imagine there.  We were wondering what these people did with all the stuff when they weren't at the market. 


These guys also told me about the turmoil in Spain right now. The government is lowering wages and raising taxes and the people are rioting.  We were watching the news one night the the police brutality is like nothing I have ever seen before.  Also, students are being charged more for tuition and that is also causing uproar.  There is a protest going on here in Barcelona and tourists need to be careful not to get involved.  

One of the first things I did was go to Parc Güell, designed by Gaudi. 

 The view

 Gaudi's house, which is now a museum

I walked by La Sagrada Familia by Gaudi (I still have to go inside).  It was begun in 1882 and is still being worked on.  Supposedly it will be completed by 2030.  There will be a total of 18 spires, representing (in ascending order) the 12 apostles, the 4 evangelists, Virgin Mary, and lastly Jesus Christ.

As I was leaving my first hostel to move to one in a more central location, I was standing on the sidewalk reading a map and this little Spanish woman, Gloria, came up to me and was so enthusiastic about helping me.  She wanted to practice her english and she ended up taking me on an hour long tour.  of the neighborhood.  We have been emailing back and forth a little bit and I will try to see her agin before I leave.

Gloria

I went on a walking tour of the Gothic area with the hostel and saw the art university Picasso's father worked at and where Picasso attended when he was only 13 years old.  The average age of students there was 21.  The typical application process required students to attend the university for 1 to 2 months and build a portfolio and then it would be decided if they were accepted.  But for Picasso, it only took one week to be accepted.  

I saw the Barcelona cathedral, also designed by Gaudi.

On Sundays a full orchestra sets up on the front steps and the square is filled with locals doing the traditional Catalan dance.

Kitty corner to the cathedral is an architecture school, and painted on the building is a Picasso sketch. The story is that Picasso was in a bar and was doodling on a napkin to make fun of the skill of a fellow artist and the bar tender kept the napkin.  After Picasso's death, the bar tender presented to napkin to the city council.  

The people of the town joke that for an architecture school, the building is one of the ugliest in Barcelona, and they aren't sure if the painting makes it better or worse.  Haha

On the tour, the guide stopped us at an empty corner and pointed out a small, spray painted figure on the wall.  There is an artist called Invader who spray paints the image of a character from the Space Invaders video game in random corners all over the world.  They can be found in most major cities, but no one knows who the artist is. 

The hostel I moved to is right in the middle of everything and was voted the most popular hostel in Barcelona. It is known for being a party hostel and every night at 2am, the staff take everyone to a night club.  The normal time of arrival back at the hostel is around 5 am.  Needless to say, I haven't slept much in the last 5 days.  Haha


This is Bruno, one of my roommates there. He is from Sao Paulo, Brazil, exploring Barcelona for a couple of weeks.

I went to the top of a "mountain" (it's really more like a hill, but they call it a mountain) and saw a 360 degree view of the city.

And two days ago I went to the Picasso museum, which was incredible.  I have seen his work before, but I am always blown away, especially by the work he did when he was a little boy.  I love his Blue Period pieces as well as Guernica.  There was also a video of his process of copying Diego Velasquez' Las Meninas.  Picasso did a series of over 50 studies in preparation that now live in the Picasso Museum.

That is all I have seen so far.  On my list to do in the next few days are the interior of La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's Casa Battlo, and Montjuic! 

I have loved my experience in Barcelona thus far and have met some great people, which makes traveling that much better.  It's much more fun to share these experiences with others.