there and back again
Turkey was wonderful — in almost every way, it was a perfect vacation. There were no major problems, at every turn things worked out well (including the weather!), I saw some amazing sites (including the Hagia Sophia, which I was afraid I’d miss), ate some good food, and most important of all, just enjoyed myself. It was so good for me, I needed a trip like that. Life gets hard now and then, and sometimes you’ve just got to get away.
There was one bad thing, I had to take my knitting needles out of my in-progress work, only to be told oops, it’s ok. It was my most unusual Mother’s Day ever, having never spent one in Istanbul. 
Although I wasn’t bothered by jetlag on that end, it’s kicking me on this end; I woke up at 2am (9am in Turkey) and couldn’t go back to sleep, even though I’d only slept a couple of hours, plus a few fitful not-really-asleep-but-trying hours on the plane. Turkish Air is not my favorite airline, but as always my ticket was free so I don’t complain too much.
I was here just a few days ago! This was shot behind the Greco-Roman amphitheater at Myra, in Kale, Turkey
Thanks for your comments on the Turkey blog, and for following it, and on facebook, and for the well-wishes here, before I left! You know how it is, there’s such a huge tizzy in the getting-ready, I didn’t get to respond so this note of gratitude is for you.
And now, back to my regularly-scheduled life.
You ought not to practice childish ways, since you are no longer that age. Homer, “The Odyssey”
My understanding of the traditional anniversary gift ideas (i.e., the first anniversary is paper, the 50th is gold) is that it’s about replacing wedding gifts that have worn out. So whatever you got for a wedding gift that was made of paper would be worn out by the first anniversary. That seems like a dicey explanation, but whatever, I’m going with it.
the traditional 5th year anniversary gift is wood, but look at the gift ideas on the bottom line, there! GO RIGHT AHEAD, I won't stop you if you want to give me that gift. You're wonderful like that.
So I will celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary at the end of April, whee! That’s a biggie for old people like me who finally got it right, here at the end of the game. Since I’m struggling along economically as a freelancer (read that: not making nearly enough money), I’m thinking hard about our vacation strategy. I always use frequent flyer miles, so that’s a huge savings right there. In the late winter/early spring, I always take a 1-week beach vacation, and in the fall I take a 2-week far away vacation. For the last two springs, I went to an island off the coast of Honduras, and it was wonderful but I’ve kind of exhausted the possibilities in that fun place. I was considering Barcelona, but MAN is it expensive.
It’s looking like I’m talking Turkey. Istanbul for sure, but then very quickly to the Mediterranean coast, to Olympos. This is where Poseidon stood when he watched Odysseus sail away from Calypsos, where he got really pissed off and sent yet another big storm to throw the weary wanderer off track. Asshole Poseidon. He’s a real jerk that way.
Been to Turkey? Visited Olympos? Got any recommendations to share? It looks like some of the most fascinating scenery is over near the Syria border, but for people with my passport and last name, that doesn’t seem like a smart place to be. I’m kind of hooked on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, so I’d love to hear any experience you may have!
i’m home from laos and cambodia! what happened while i was gone?
So hey y’all, I’m back! What’d I miss? Anything good? What was the best new thing you saw on Ravelry in the last couple of weeks? What was your best post – I’d like to say that I am going to catch up on everything, read all your back posts, look through Ravelry extensively, but we know that can’t possibly happen. So if you feel like it, leave a link to your best post in the comments so I can be sure to see what I missed.
And in a stroke of sheer brilliance, last year I scheduled this year’s mammogram when? MONDAY. I’ll take my seriously jetlagged and place-confused self to be squeezed and smashed on Monday. Excellent.
I missed you and appreciated your following our travel blog, and really appreciated your sweet comments! Your comments on facebook too, I loved them all. Tomorrow I’ll do a culminating post on the travel blog, but for now I am extremely wonky and tired and hungry and damn glad to be home. I can’t wait to climb into my very own cozy bed….
heading to the other side of the planet in only 136 days.
There are only 13 more days until the big wedding event, but (and yes, I am counting) only 136 more days until I leave for my trip to Laos and Cambodia. A little at a time, the details are falling into place – today I finalized my reservations in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Here’s the main reason I want to go to Siem Reap: Angkor Wat.
Angkor Wat at sunset - incredible....
I’ll remind you of this when it’s time to go, but I’ve got the blog all set up.
This will be the most unusual Thanksgiving I’ve ever spent, in my 51 years of living on this earth.
Happy independence day, y’all. It has a special meaning for me this year.
back from vacation and planning the next!
……and, we’re back. Roatan was just wonderful – even better than last year, in many ways. We weren’t able to be online with any ease, so I just put up one giant post on the Roatan blog, with a flickr slideshow. It was great to be there, and kind of awful to be facing work tomorrow. I only have 235 emails, so it could definitely be worse, but I can’t bear to look at them today. Tomorrow will be soon enough.
I did a lot of knitting on vacation, partly because I had a dreadful cold the first couple of days, and there was an amazing storm for a couple of days. I finished the holey socks, and am ~75% finished with the other pair:
side view of the holey socks
holey socks, accompli!
- Pattern: Holes in my socks! By Nicole Okun
- Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Multi (Colorway: Beverly 209) – 2 skeins were more than enough
side view of the monkeys
looking down on the monkeys
- Pattern: Monkey, by Cookie A
- Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy Socks (Colorway Meadow 1518)
I’m going to try to knock out the rest of sock #2 and get them both out in the mail to Katie asap, then I need to return all my knitting time to the wedding shawl.
While we were gone, spring seems to have arrived in full force here in Manhattan! It’s sunny and gorgeous outdoors, and people seem refreshed. Today is the post-vacation normalizing for us – piles of laundry, straightening up and putting everything away, getting ready for the week.
One thing that makes it better, coming home from vacation, is that we always start planning the next one. Our current idea is to go to Laos, with a trip to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat and maybe a side journey into Thailand, avoiding Bangkok if at all possible. Or to the degree possible, anyway. The child sex trade there is too horrifying to bear, and I don’t want to give a penny to the country that supports it. Every country supports horrors of one kind or another, and there’s little gradation between things at that far end of the spectrum, but that one in particular is unbearable for me. So we’re focusing on Laos, and trying to figure out how best to get there at a reasonable price. We loved Vietnam so much, and especially enjoyed Hanoi, so we may just make a stop there, too. Fun fun fun, anticipating and planning. It makes the coming home a bit easier.
vacation starts tomorrow!
…and, I’m off! I’ll be basking in the sun (or clouds and rain, if you believe the forecast but who cares) on the island of Roatan, off the coast of Honduras. Home again in a week. Here’s a visual taste of the place:
just another morning on the beach.
the lovely island of Roatan
the porch of my little tree house-y cabin
Here’s to rest and relaxation, a cure for the common cold, a lot of snorkeling and good eating, plenty of reading and knitting, and long walks on the beach. Love and hugs.
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