Turkish Details

Coming home from Turkey was really hard for me ( I know, cue the world's tiniest violin). Probably the worst denouement I've ever had post-travel other than when I moved back from London. I was coming home to a dead car-when my job requires driving about 50 miles a day-and the immense stress that has caused, bills to pay, an apartment that featured the smell of cat pee-one of them decided to suddenly use our towels instead of the litter box, and all those other "real life" things that make you go on vacation in the first place. It was especially tough because I really fell in love with the country, the history, the beauty, and the details. To help me relive the adventure, here are some of my favorite slices of what we saw.

Door to the Blue Mosque entrance.

Detail of the famous Iznik tiles in the Blue Mosque. Incidentally, did you know Iznik is where the Nicene creed was agreed upon? Crazy amounts of history.

Windows outside the Hagia Sofia complex.

Hagia Sofia. Look at the way they lined up the tiles of marble.

Mosaic circa 500 that still features the original gold, silver, ruby, and emerald tiles.

Can you spot the hidden kitty? Appropriate, given just how many cats live there...

Fountain outside the Topkapi Palace, where the Ottoman sultans used to live.

Loved how every column had a different marble design.

The Dardanelles and view of Gallipoli.

Water and sewer pipes more than 2000 years old at Ephesus. Too bad the lead they used made people crazy.

Super sweet kitty at the amphitheater.

Remnants of a church built for St. John the apostle, who spread the word in Turkey (and rumor has it brought the Virgin Mary there too).

Taking a dip in the hot springs of Pammukale.

Thermal pools of Pamukkale.

Lion details on a sarcophagus in Heiropolis's necropolis.

Blue tiled minaret at Mevlana's (poet Rumi's) mausoleum.

The entrance walls to a caravansarai built in 1229, where travelers and traders on the silk road took refuge at night.

Makin' carpets.

Ready for take off, Cappadocia.

The view from 5000 feet up.

Evil eye tree, Cappadocia.

Ladder carved into the volcanic ash cave dwellings dating back to 2000 B.C.

Fairy chimneys, Cappadocia.

Mosaic meant to mimic turkish carpet patterns at the mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk, Ankara.

Man's first writing-cuneiform-letters and envelopes in Ankara.

Boat ride on the Bosphorus river.

Property on the Bosphorus is as pricey as anything in Manhattan or Malibu (and sometimes more).

Turkish tea. Can you see the steam?

Spices, including rare saffron and the most delicious red pepper flake mix, at the Spice Market.

Happy Trails

Vegas was actually not horrible. I mean, granted, I spent nearly all of my time in the hotel, but what do you want from me!? Honestly, I was just happy to catch up on some sleep. But I also did the two things I wanted to do: have a drink at the Peppermill and grab some gigantor macarons from Bouchon Bakery. I don't know why I forgot that we have a Bouchon now in Beverly Hills...okay, probably because it's in Beverly Hills and I feel inferior and dirty just driving on Santa Monica Blvd. west of San Vicente. But anyway, it gave me something to look forward to, so in the end it was fine. The macarons were delicious but the only one that really stuck out in terms of strength of flavor was the coffee, which was amazing. If I had them again I'd just get a couple of those and bypass the rest. We stayed at the Aria, which I'm no fan of and I had no phone service the entire time I was in the hotel-which you already know was a lot of the time-so when I got to the airport Saturday I was deep into app withdrawal and sort of went crazy making mediocre Pic Stitch collages. That I will now subject you to look at.

In A Nutshell...

I used to feel guilty and inferior for not having it all together. Then I realized you only get it all together in time to die or become too decrepit to move your body. Nobody my age has a clue what they are doing, and if they do, they are probably extremely boring while doing their version of the elusive it. So here's to making mistakes and having as much fun as possible along the way!

Speaking of mistakes, I'm going to Las Vegas at the end of the week. The reason is a good one-my cuz is graduating law school, but Vegas, man do I hate that town. Still, I've decided that I will completely avoid everything about it I hate (compulsive gambling, fake tits, chain stores everywhere, and public vomiting) by consuming my time at the few places I love: the Peppermill diner with it's fake pink foliage covering the ceilings and pitch-black lounge illuminated by a fire pit (okay, not exactly safe but my current lack of funds will preclude getting to the point where I stumble into the flames) and giant macarons from Bouchon Bakery.

"If You're Truly Wild At Heart...

...you'll fight for your dreams." Wild At Heart, which is all sorts of crazy goodness, happened to be on HBO the other night and I caught it just in time to hear those words uttered by Sailor's good witch/fairy godmother/hallucination. And it's a good thing I did. Finishing up my coursework and now being simply unemployed rather than a graduate student seeking employment has been a really hard adjustment. The wealth of Gang of Four music playing around here probably hasn't been terribly helpful for my mood either...But that's okay.

 A graduation card my mom gave me offered a lot of perspective-she wrote that a lot of people are so consumed with career or their own woes that they don't really enjoy life, and that I'm lucky to at least be in a position to have a lot of amazing experiences and wonderful opportunities outside the career realm. I mean, yeah I want to get the show on the road in terms of working in a special collections library already, but in the meantime I go out and explore this fabulous city, have the support of an amazing boyfriend, and haven't put my life on hold. So yes, I am going to fight for my dreams rather than sit in a pool of my own tears wallowing in the salty-sad mess.

So as for that next adventure, Australia proved to be too expensive right now, probably down to the overblown fuel costs. So we opted for Turkey! My pops went on a ridiculous trip a couple years ago, and it put the seed in my mind looking at all of his beautiful pictures. We'll be there for 12 days,  seeing everything from the ancient ruins at Ephesus and Troy, exploring modern Istanbul, hanging out in hot springs cliffs in Pamukkale, and tons of other amazing places. I'm actually more excited about this trip. We leave at the end of November and I cannot wait. Let's hope by then it's a welcome break from work, but even if it isn't, it's a frickin' vacation and another amazing country to scratch off my map.

The amazing hot springs in Pamukkale. 

Pamukkale.

Cappadocia spice market-loving the color!

Evil eye tree in Cappadocia.

Hot air balloon rides in Cappadocia, where buildings are literally cut into the rock formations.

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Desert Getaway

Our hotel, which was a lot of fun, but damn did they nickel and dime for every little thing. It got to be a bummer.

The Amigo Bar, where yeah, we spent more than a little time.

Roof paintings at the Amigo.

Ace Hotel lobby. A rope and macrame fan's dream hotel.

Okay, so maybe I had a few drinks in my system at this point...at the amazing Parker Palm Springs.

Gorgeous little quartz fountain outside of the Parker.

Mister Parker's. Tasty food and awesome, fun decor.

Indeed. Desert getaway doesn't come cheap. Guess that's why it's a once a year deal. Sigh.