Istanbul IV

All of the photos on this page are of the Sultan's Palace. The one above is of a walkway made of small black and white pebbles. All of the ones below are of painted/glazed tiles. I was struck by the way the tiles were put up, one large sectioin of one pattern right next to another section of another pattern and color, and so on.

Istanbul III

The view from the Sultan's palace looking north up the Bosphorus.
The "patio" at the harem in the Sultan's palace.
the library at the Sultan's palace.
Not sure what they called this -- it was a detached building where the Sultan watched games and things, looked out over the water, meditated, took naps.   All in all a great place to while away some time (or wile away, depending on the Sultan)
The entrance to the palace from the side of Hagia Sophia.

Istanbul II

Cindy in Istanbul, taken from the Sultan's Palace.  In the olden days she wouldn't have been out in public.  
Bleu Mosque seen from Hagia Sophia.
Hagia Sophia.
The newer part of European Istanbul.
From a restaurant we ate at our first night -- the spice bazaar in the lower right next to the mosque.  Looking toward the old part of town.

Istanbul I

This is the castle that guarded the entrance to the Bosphorus from the Black Sea.  It is on the European side of Istanbul.  
Cindy went to get more coffee and this bird made off with her breakfast.  This is on the roof of our hotel, the Hotel Turkomon.  It was right by the Blue Mosque.
This is taken from our balcony looking toward where the Sea of Marmara narrows into the Bosphorus.  This is a Roman obelisk at the southern end of the Hippodrome.
Pictures are a little out of order, but this is on the Asian side of the Bosphorus.  We liked the way the houses sort of cascaded down to the water.  This could be Lake Washington if it wasn't for the Turkish flag.
This is the Blue Mosque, again from our balcony.  I'll post some pictures of the inside.  It has six minarets.  It is unbelievably large, inside as well as out.  It is still in use, and we were awakened every morning about five a.m. with the first call to prayer.  You could hear them all over Istanbul, almost like an echo.  They last about 10 minutes, so one doesn't easily sleep through it, or go back to sleep immediately after it stops.

Welcome Back Dave!

Wow -- I see it's been two months since I posted anything.  How lazy can a guy get.  I'll try to do better.  The last two months have been very busy, though.  Cindy has been gone a lot -- to Kosovo, southern Albania, and now wrapping up her second week in the U.S.  Three weeks of her five-week trip are work-related and the last two are "vacation."

She has 15 Albanian prosecutors and agents on the trip, along with the two Albanian lawyers/judges that work with her at the embassy.  The other American lawyer that works with Cindy at the embassy went over with them, but she is returning this weekend.  Cindy and the gang leave for New Orleans this morning.  They will spend a few days in New Orleans and then go to Jackson to finish out next week.  They leave to return to Albania next weekend.  

Cindy and I went to Istanbul over the May Day long weekend.  We stayed very close to the Blue Mosque, and walked around the old town quite a bit.  I'll post some pictures and write about Istanbul later.

I'm making pickles -- I just finished slicing 10 kg of cucumbers.  Pickle making is pretty light on labor except for the slicing part.  It's about a week and a half effort which involves about 8 hours of labor, counting the trip to find cucumbers to buy.  But I get tired of the slicing.  I'm planning on enlisting Taylor and her friends to see if I can get them to tie up the pickling spice in cheesecloth.  

First Day of Spring

I realize I have been a terrible blogger since being back.  But happy first day of spring to everyone.  Here in Tirana it is cold and wet.  We were supposed to be going on a day trip to Lezhe and Shkoder, but it canceled until the weather improves a little.  Too wet and cold to be walking around old castles and such.  

We are off Monday, celebrating Navrez (which has, according to Wikipedia, a zillion spellings).  It is nice to have a three-day weekend, although I'm going to a breakfast meeting Monday, and Cindy is working some this weekend before she goes to Kosovo next week.

Taylor got back Wednesday from her week in Istanbul.  She had a great time.  There was even a team from Seattle.  She was part of a team of four from her school who went to the International Water Conference.  In addition to the adult part there was a student part.  She had a great time and got to hang out with people from all over.

Cindy and I are going to Istanbul over the May Day weekend.  Monday is a holiday here.  Hopefully it will be a little warmer in five weeks.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Back in Tirana

I am back in Tirana. My class is over (I passed, proving you can teach an old dog new tricks) and I'm back at work buying things. Weather was cold in DC, and had three days with snow. Not enough to play in, but enough to let class out early. We also had a gas leak one afternoon which got us out of class.

My cataract surgery went well, at least so far, and I can see much better. I'll have some followups and some new glasses in 30 days.

Talk to everyone later.

It is cold here, it was cold in DC, and I'm ready for spring.