and a few more photos from Istanbul...not Constantinople

Here are a few more Istanbul photos- I was very happy to see that the graffiti was Banksyesque.

Galata Tower- right next to our rooftop wine patio

We were inspired by the moustaches of the turks

We walked at least 77 kilometers- but through some amazing places

Istanbul...not Constantinople

Do not go to Turkey to relax- especially if you are a country mouse like me. I am only now calming down from the incredible visual overstimulus that is Istanbul. There is stuff packed everywhere- shops selling pipefixtures next to a kebab restaurant that has 6 tables in the street that has a taxi rushing by that narrowly misses some guy carrying a tray of tea past a stray cat sitting in a vegetable box...Whew! If run on sentences aren't your thing be aware. We had a great time, our friend Vicky (friend before the trip= great friend after) has lived in Istanbul for 8 years and led us around like starstruck teens. It must have been a wee bit annoying to always have to stop and make sure we were still doddling along. Grandad Steve and Leslie made the trip as well and it was so good to be with my dad. Especially drinking wine on the apartment rooftop- thanks dad!

Here are some of our highlights

Spice Market- it was packed wall to wall with people- put Luca on the shoulders and just took in the smells- amazing.

Bosporous boat ride- we got the front of this smallish boat- that meant we had cushions not benches- nice sunny day to sit back and watch

Walking the hills- Istanbul has some mean hills- and we walked em- coincidentally I didn't see any fat turks.

The mosques- Blue and Hagia Sophia- even full of other tourons like ourselves these buildings are awe-inspiring. To be able to stand in them and quietly look up was humbling.

Asia- we took a ride across the Bosporous and cruised the asian side- I saw one market that had 37 different kinds of olives.

Istiklar street- again just great people watching but the best part was having to walk up "guitar street" to get there.

Hagia Sophia from our apt rooftop

Leslie, Steve, and some teenager

Picture in Europe- Asia in the background

Stories from Luca and Wilder

Luca here: I have been to the art museum- I watched a movie about a bunny and a 3 eyed girl- the artist is from japan. The big ginormous statue is of the artist who made all these. He had a picture with a nerd in his nose- you had to be there. (Dad's note- the artist is called takashi murakami -http://www.qma.org.qa if you are interested)

Today we had a BIG sandstorm- it was really windy and sand kicked up in my face and i said "take cover" and we jumped inside.

Wilder here: (The first picture) This is from when we took a picture with the Sheika and Sheik of Qatar. Each year they take a picture with all the students from QF schools but this year was the first year the sheik came as well. They took the picture in Al Shaqab which is a huge horse facility and we were in a huge indoor riding arena. I am somewhere below the zero.

 

This one is of me and my brother at his football practice. I am in my Chelsea jersey (for Symon) and using my Barcalona ball. These are my 2 favorite teams.

Things to do in Doha when your...

well not dead but that was a good movie. It's February break and we decided to stay here and explore the country- Just what can you get up to in Doha with a few days in hand? From camping to Forts we tried to find out- read on... 

It's a mirage! On the way to camping you drive past an old film set- very cool and very in the middle of nowhere. That level of randomness always pleases me.

This is Fred- we are looking after our neighbors dog and I must say it is nice to go camping with a hound. Good boy fred.

We went to the beach of Zikreet with our neighbor and their friends- Using the mullet as your clue- can you guess what nationality they are?

Luckily it wasn't windy- but just in case we tied the tent to the trusty CRV- and to think the guy in Jordan called it a woman's car- that thing is pure rugged baby!

Lisa has been our culinary daredevil- this is not just a photo-op- she ate that pepper!

we- found another cool park in doha- this one is right next to all the crazy skyscrapers- I think the architects in this town are like "oh yeah, you think thats a crazy building? check this out.."

Only in Qatar would they rebuild the deathstar. (Luca is shooting stormtroopers by the way)

Behold: the Narwhal tusk and the eye of sauron buildings

Birthday Bacon- oh what a start to my 40th birthday!

Notes on the Zubara fort: This is the only cool part of the Zubara fort- trust me not that exciting.

"Hey Wilder I put some candy in the cannon you should grab it!" Oh please oh please oh please

Either the tower is leaning, my left foot is longer than my right, or Wilder was being artsy while she took this.

Little mister sunshine

Hard to see but that is a man attached to that kite- totally crazy- kiteboarding- just one more thing you can do in Qatar

Of course to kiteboard you need a beach that is really windy- here is that beach- the stinging sands of Fuwairret- they even stung my hairy legs!

Singing sand dunes, tennis, and bikes

We have settled a bit into our routine- I guess we all seek a bit of normalcy in our lives and naturally just sort of seek it out. The kids have various activities after school as we try to have them do more than we offered at home-piano, football, touch rugby, karate to name a few. We have our normal day- up in the morning getting the kids fed and into their school uniforms, out the door by 6:30, a day of school, home and playing in the compound, talking with great neighbors, dinner, bath, bedtime story- it all feels well... like normal. and then little things come by that remind us we are in a crazy place that is so so different from our little casa in the woods. Here were the last 3:

Bikes- our bikes arrived at the beginning of the month and I don't think Lisa and I realized just how much we needed them- If you aren't into biking then this just sounds weird but having bikes and being able to get out and cruise is amazing- we feel like little kids on huffys (and of course Lisa has to get ready for the Abu Dhabi triathalon in march- 200k!!!). Anywhoo- bikes are great.

Tennis- This town brings in sporting events like crazy- especially for a city that doesn't really have the most get out and be active population. So there we were sitting in the bleachers watching Nadal and Federer. In the bleachers as well were members of Paris St Germain and FC Bayern Leverkusen- top football teams from France and Germany who just happened to be in town for some warm training. In a few weeks the Tour of Qatar begins (cycling), the ladies tennis tournament, Pro golf, It is just really getting difficult to keep going to all of these top level sporting events- but someone has to- because the bleachers are usually empty! Just expats go- no Qataris- maybe they just watch on TV.

And the road is flaaaaaaaat

the sign says tour of qatar but I don't think the pros went this way

everything is bigger in doha

luca and wilder on the singing sand dunes

Singing Sand Dunes- we loaded up the CRV and with a few neighbors went out to the singing sand dunes.  You actually can make them creak and groan as you run down- really cool. Luca said it was more like farting and has taken to calling them the farting dunes. We don't really have forests out here so we swung by a construction site, lots of those, and grabbed a few wooden pallets. Nothing felt more normal than roasting marshmallows around a campfire in the desert next to the farting dunes.

What Wilder Thinks

 christmas here is so different 

there is no snow duh there is no 

lights on trees!

:)

                                              but the espire tower has lights dancing all over the 
                                         tower.

                                       

santa will ride on camels and the children will dream of sweetened  dates

                                         all the christmas shopping you will be doing is in the souq waqif.


             This is the first christmas away from home. The best thing was a letter from santa. 
             The worst thing was that there was no snow. I miss you guys back home.


             When we went to Jordan we rode camels and i rode an arabian horse when we went to Petra.




                        the locals called Petra- al betra