Rose Monday

It is Carnival season. In the States, I was only aware that Carnival was an actual thing because of Mardi Gras in New Orleans and some brief news reports about Carnival happening in Brazil. Carnival, for those who may not know, is pretty much a big party leading up to Ash Wednesday when Catholics go to church, get a cross made of ash on their forehead, and generally give up something for 40 days until Easter Sunday. That of course is my lapsed Catholic explanation. I’m sure there is a more significant and correct explanation.

The party intensifies the days leading up to Ash Wednesday. Yesterday, we experienced Rose Monday in Cologne Germany. Only an hour and half from us, we rented a car with some friends and made the journey across the border. We parked at a train station outside of the center of town and quickly realized that we were underdressed. We were the only un-costumed people on the platform. We admired a family of polar bears, an assortment of pirates, and some more oddball characters while we tried not to freeze waiting for the train. The polar bears had the right costume idea!

We stopped at this suspicious looking rest stop funnily called "Dong". Inside it was even scarier with a full metal interior and toilet bowls the size of a sink. It really looked like a scene out of a Saw movie.

How do you fix a grumpy, hungry, manhandled Natasha? With a Berliner of course!

These people were literally waiting hours before the parade started. 

The train ride was even more interesting. The costumes continued and we learned that we were not only underdressed but under-boozed (aka sober) as well. The pirate/cowgirl next to us was drinking straight from a bottle of sparkling wine and made sure to finish it before we arrived in the center of town 10 minutes later. During the course of the day we noticed other people with their own bottles of wine, cases of beer, and personal kegs. In case people ran out of things to drink, there were beer and gluhwein tents spread around the city for convenience.

Acrobatic cheerleader

Sometimes I regret my choice to be a vegetarian because this sausage tent smelled delicious!

We had a difficult time in the beginning. The crowds were enormous and despite being before noon, the drinking had been going on for quite awhile. One of the main reasons we decided to visit Cologne on Rose Monday was for the famous parade. However, the parade was designed to trap people and instead of being in a straight line you might be able to avoid, was instead designed like a snake that zigzagged through the city. After our road/train trip, we need a toilet and some lunch. Many places were (smartly) closed and trying to find something was becoming almost impossible. For part of our beginning journey we had no choice but to walk along the parade route. The parade wasn’t supposed to start for another hour and it was the only clear route. Being consistent rule followers, this made Gearoid and me very uncomfortable but the many policemen we passed didn’t seem to mind.

After getting smushed and separated we opted to take a break from the crowds and found a safe place to view the parade. However,  the lure of candy drew us closer.

There seemed to be a theme of noses this year. This float has all kinds of noses (dripping, mustachioed, warty, etc) and other floats had prominent noses as well.

 However, once the parade started our marching along the path and through crowds became impossible. At one point our group of four got separated by pushing crowds and even pushier policemen (they started to mind). After a tense 30 minutes, we regrouped, formed a new plan, and found toilets, lunch, and much needed drinks. After that, we had a great time. We found places along the parade route where the people who had been waiting for hours for the parade to start were more generous with their space. At one point, I was in the front along the parade route. It was both an exhilarating and dangerous place to be.

Up close and personal with the parade, the other parade goers, the candy, and the policemen.

This isn’t an ordinary kind of parade in which one or two floats toss candy. Everyone was throwing candy and flowers and it was a competition to get as much as possible. We saw many people with heavy bags of loot caught from the floats. Our first attempts were not so successful. I managed to pick up one piece of chocolate from the gutter (I have no shame when it comes to candy and plus it was wrapped) but I also exhibited some rare athletic ability by catching a piece in the air before it hit someone’s face (I think in German he was cussing me out for stealing his chocolate but I like to think he was grateful the full bar of chocolate didn’t bounce off his nose.)

It was after these meager candy gatherings when we found the place right in front along the route. Gearoid positioned us in front of an ambulance that was parked nearby so that we could gather candy that bounced off the hood. But that was not enough for his natural competitive edge. Soon he was leaping, jumping, pushing, and calling out kamelle with the other parade goers begging for candy to be thrown. Being not as competitive and scared for my safety, I mostly raised my arms to protect my face and head from elbows and rogue chocolate bars and flower stems. It got to a point where the only candy I caught was when it landed on my head and I pressed my hands to hair to keep it from falling to the ground. That actually yielded quite a bit of chocolate. In the meantime, when he wasn’t preventing me from getting pushed to the ground Gearoid was quite successful at candy collecting (from the air and not the ground!). After an hour or so, we had just as big a bag of loot as others and were exhausted from being manhandled by the crowds and police (they were friendly but grabby).

Our loot

We were all exhausted and decided to visit the cathedral before heading home. Unfortunately, the cathedral was closed, most likely to protect its beauty and sanctity from  the 1.5 million people milling about outside with drinks and costumes. Our plan to return home was confirmed when we simultaneously tried to avoid a vomit spotted sidewalk and a casual football game that was becoming concerningly less casual. Overall, it was a fun and adventurous day that I’m glad to have experienced once and only once in my life. 

Saint Valentine's Day

If you didn’t know February 14^th was Valentine’s Day you might have forgotten about it if you lived in the Netherlands. Unlike the States, there wasn’t an explosion of red and pink everywhere. In fact, stores have started to wheel out the Easter treats and anything Valentine was tucked away in a corner. I asked a Dutch friend with children if kids here send cards to school for Valentine’s Day. The answer was “no” and she said that most Dutch people think of it as a commercial holiday. She then promptly started discussing the costumes her children would wear for Carnival later this week.

I whole-heartedly agree that Valentine’s day is a Hallmark Holiday but find it funny that the dedication Americans (or at least US stores) spend on the 14^th, is nothing compared to the parades, weeks off of work/school, costumes, decorations, drinking, etc. that the mostly secular Dutch people spend on a Catholic holiday. And Valentine’s Day gets barely a passing glance from them. I digress though.

Gearoid and I try not to go overboard for the holiday and have started a tradition that pleases both of us. Gearoid is supposed to find a recipe and cook it for me. It works for both of us because I don’t have to cook and he knows explicitly what is expected of him. Despite being together for over a decade, we most recently had a breakthrough. I have learned that despite his goodness and best intentions, Gearoid will never be a man who accurately guesses what gift/gesture will make me happy. We’re done with games that include subtle hints from me, statements of “you should know what I like,” and conversations in which I think I’m being clear but he’s not getting the point I’m trying to make. What inevitably happens is begrudging appreciation with a hint of disappointment from me (because it’s the thought that counts right?) and frustration that his efforts weren’t successful from him. There was a period of time when I stopped making comments about something looking nice or me needing a new something because it was impossible for Gearoid to filter out what was a hint and what was a simple comment. At one point, he missed what I was hinting at and bought me the hat that was right next to what I wanted and I don’t know about other girls but I don’t want my boyfriend to pick out my flat iron as a birthday gift.

Now I explicitly say I want …. And he clarifies that I want…. And we both end up happy. So this year, Gearoid clarified,” All I’m supposed to do is cook dinner and get you some Belgium chocolates from this specific shop, right?” (I’m usually just satisfied with dinner but living so close to Belgium I couldn’t resist affordable Belgium chocolates.) I concurred and then being the conscientious person he is, three days later he confirmed again what was expected of him. 

Heaven in a tiny box. We actually opened these on February 13th and made a pact that if I shared these with Gearoid then he would share his chocolates the next day with me. Guess who didn't keep his side of the bargain?

Gearoid’s dinners have had their highs (salmon with rice pilaf) and their lows (potato lasagna) but I really appreciate the effort. He researches a recipe, does the shopping, and then spends an extraordinary amount of time preparing it in secret. Something that usually takes 30 minutes to prepare can take him an hour or more. I’m usually starving and have to have a snack before the meal is ready. Valentines’ night, he settled on the couch and said he would wait before cooking because it only took 30 minutes. I gave him a questioning look that sent him to the kitchen. An hour later, I was treated to delicious stovetop enchiladas and Spanish rice.

He did well and was rewarded with his own box of Belgium chocolates and some homemade cupcakes and semifreddo that I had made. The most romantic part of our Valentine’s Day was when I went to bed and Gearoid stayed up and did dishes. No hints were necessary.

Gearoid with his big (and unshared) box of chocolates and a framed picture of his marathon run. I ordered the picture specially for him because it looked so much better than the pictures of me taken during the race where I was about to cry or about to die. He was quite proud and promptly took down real artwork to hang it on the wall. 

I found a recipe that made only 2 cupcakes. It was perfect considering the amount of chocolate already in the house. I also made semifreddo which is homemade Italian ice cream-like deliciousness. 

Deep Freeze

Winter was late to the party but she made quite the entrance. The mild temperatures in mid-January had me already thinking of spring. Then last week it got cold. I mean really cold. I forgot that the world could feel this cold. I really have no right to complain when I have a cousin braving another Alaskan winter and other parts of Europe are immobilized by blankets of snow. But I am in the Netherlands and that means one huge difference- biking.

It’s how I get places. To school 3 times a week. To language coach appointments. To visit friends. To Zumba classes. Although, I have to admit that I can’t play the martyr too much. My bus pass has seen a lot of action this past week. Here’s why. The winter we’ve had the last two weeks hasn’t been the normal 30-40 degree weather. We’re talking in the teens and under.

The world and the air literally freeze at those temperatures. The other day I went to Dutch class and I was awesome on the bike. I was going so fast that I was using the highest gear, I got to school early, and I enjoyed the ride. I chalked it up to my strong legs because I had actually made it to the gym before leaving for school (for some reason, I can never find the time in the 4 ½ hours from when I wake up until I go to class to visit the gym that is literally right around the corner from my house.) On the way home was a completely different story. I lowered my gears considerably, cursed quite audibly, took longer to get home, and was completely wiped by the time I made it. It turns out I was super fast going to class because the wind was pushing me and it was against me on the way home. I didn’t even know it was windy because it was so cold the wind was frozen. Nothing blew across the street and trees were not swaying in the wind. You only experienced the wind by moving in it. Moving against frozen wind is an experience I don’t wish for anyone.

When there isn’t frozen wind, the bitterness is there to remind you of pain and cold. Despite bundling up with scarves, hats, and thick gloves that don’t allow me to bend my fingers the cold finds me. The tiny patch of neck that got accidently exposed when I adjusted a slightly choking scarf, the bottom tips of my earlobes that are exposed because my hat inevitable travels upwards on my head into a cone (I don’t know if my head is shaped weirdly or if friction with my hair causes it but my hat will not stay down), and the entirety of my face that in warmer winter weather only felt like a perpetual ice cream headache, are completely and painfully numb by the time I reach even the closest destination. Tears stream out of my eyes and everything in my nose freezes and only defrosts (quite quickly) when I enter a heated room. My lungs both burn and feel like frozen blocks in my chest. In general, I would say the entirety of the experience sucks.

As children we romanticize winter. We are excited for snow because that means no school, making snowmen, sledding, and general coziness at home. As an adult you realize that winter is not so idyllic. It is cold, uncomfortable, and inconvenient.  Winter is bitter.  I have to admit that it’s also beautiful (especially if not only during the holidays). It snowed last week and I enjoyed watching the thick fluffy flakes float down for several hours. I, of course, did all this on my couch under a thick knitted blanket with a cup of hot tea. 

Despite trying to live the life of a hermit during snowy weather, I did feel guilty about staying inside all day and we went for a short walk in the park.

You can't tell from here but over yonder is a Dutch "hill" and families were out sledding. 

I really did enjoy watching the snow fall so I immortalized it on film (from inside of course).

More Istanbul

Friday

 We decided to take a break from the touristy side of town and travelled off the beaten path. After our delicious and gluttonous breakfast, we left the hotel and headed in the opposite direction from the previous day. We walked through random neighborhoods, up very steep hills, and enjoyed several beautiful views.

Along the way we passed Istanbul University which on the outside looked very impressive. Unfortunately we couldn’t get in to explore more of the buildings on campus because you needed a pass to enter. We walked on and after more hills came upon Suleymaniye Mosque. A quick look in our travel guide informed us that this was the second biggest mosque in Istanbul and definitely worth the visit. We decided to walk around the grounds first and were rewarded with an amazing view of the city (or at least part of it) below. It was definitely worth all of the hills we climbed to get there. Feeling like a Jezebel with my uncovered head, I slipped my neck scarf over my hair and after removing our shoes we quietly entered the mosque. It was breathtaking. The dome is extremely high up and there are only so many windows so in order to light the interior giant lights are suspended on chains towards the ground. It creates a very serene atmosphere.

View after climbing the first hill of the day

Interesting graveyard

                                                             Suleymaniye Mosque

                                                             Suleymaniye Mosque

                                                Place to wash outside before prayers

This doesn't capture the true beauty of the view from the mosque

After the mosque, we headed downhill and ended up in a neighborhood that is not on any tourist map of Istanbul. The previous two days we had commented on how clean and well-kept the city was compared to other major cities we have visited. Well, we found the poorer side of town as well as what was hopefully the town dump and not someone’s backyard. I didn’t feel unsafe but I did feel uncomfortable. I felt like a voyeur in people’s lives as this was definitely not a tourist friendly neighborhood. However, it was nice to see what “real” Istanbul might look like. We continued downhill until we reached the river. After a quick venture through the Spice Bazaar (which smelled, looked, and sounded gorgeous) we crossed the Galata Bridge and enjoyed views of the cityscape on both sides of the bridge. We climbed more hills (the hills were really endless that day especially considering how flat our lives are in the Netherlands) to the Galata tower and then headed over to Istiklal Avenue for lunch, window shopping, and people watching.

Although poorer and dirtier, this neighborhood had a great view

We refreshed ourselves with freshly squeezed pomegranate and orange juices. 

Galata Tower

Turkish Delight- very delicious. It reminded me of Dots candy with no chemical aftertaste.

We returned back to “our” side of the bridge and then took a ferry to the Asian side of the city. Instead of a tourist boat we took the ferry that regular commuters use (the Asian side is cheaper to live on than the European side). Again, we were treated to gorgeous views. However, once we got to the Asian side we noticed a considerable difference. It was colder, wetter, dirtier, and less groomed. We weren’t deterred though and made our way  to the train station that housed a locomotive from the Orient Express. We then warmed ourselves at a café with tea and baklava before heading out again into the damp weather. Being Gearoid and Natasha, of course we managed to find several bookstores with English books. We browsed but managed not to buy. We finished our brief visit to the Asian side with a walk through the fresh market where we bought bread, dolmas, and fruit for a quiet meal back at the hotel.  After getting lost and having to walk up more hills and through more random neighborhoods, we finally made it back to the hotel for a peaceful evening after a long day of walking (mostly uphill).

Although I love Gearoid dearly, he was grating on my nerves a bit after 3 non-stop days of him as my only company. 

But I instantly perked up with some Turkish Delight!

A man was feeding the seagulls from the ferry. It was pretty cool to watch until he threw the rest of the crumbs to the birds and the all blew in my hair. Luckily the gulls were full by then.

Trainstation- if you look closely you can see the locomotive that was part of the Orient Express.

I wish we could have taken more pictures of the beautiful fruit and vegetable displays because they were all so attractive.

This man was selling the delicious and warm boza drink. 

Saturday

 We returned to the tourist side of town for a morning trip to Hagia Sophia, a former cathedral turned mosque that is now a museum. This was the highlight of the trip for Gearoid. After a couple of hours of walking around, taking a multitude of pictures and finishing our audio tour, he suggested we just “hang out” and appreciate the age, history, and beauty of the place. I obliged him as much as I could before guilting him into leaving (I then felt guilty for rushing his “absorption of history” time- I think this was due to residual effects of the cathedral).

This urn (and another one across the way) was used to hold sherbets to cool down the faithful during the hot summer months.  

Looking at an ancient library.

Where the imam led worship services

Gearoid was impressed by how after thousands of years and visitors this once rectangular marble step had been worn down. 

Dear Gearoid's family- don't worry about him. Here he is walking through the Gates of Heaven. He made it without being stopped:) 

Viking graffiti!

Picture of a mosaic of Mary.

Baptismal bath

One of many cats just hanging out

We then headed around the corner to the Basilica Cistern, which was (like the rest of the trip) amazing. There wasn’t too much to see but the lighting, the columns, and the mysterious Medusa sculptures were enough that we spent an extra half hour getting dripped on while drinking tea in an underground cafe.

Medusa- there were two Medusa statues and they're unsure where they came from and why one is upside down and the other is laying on her side.

After a delicious and cheap lunch of falafels, we walked away from the tourists in search of an aqueduct. We found ourselves walking back down to the riverside where we encountered some rain clouds threatening to open up. We hurried into the crowded Spice Bazaar and made our way through tiny streets rushing away from the impending rain. Unfortunately we got caught and drenched (we really should have bought an umbrella from one of the many impromptu umbrella vendors we saw earlier in the day) but fortunately were close enough to the covered Grand Bazaar to escape the torrential rain. While there, we started/finished any and all shopping we wanted to do. I found Gearoid’s bargaining style too harsh so mostly we got ripped off as he went along with my complacent buying tactics. We walked away with a lamp, a plate, some magnets, a purse, and a few other trinkets (all overpriced).

This was at our the falafel place. Sometimes the giant meat skewars looked really dried out but this one with layers of chicken, spices, and veggies tempted even us long term vegetarians.

Picture of a Whirling Dervish

After a quick rest at the hotel, we ventured off for dinner. I suggested this hole in the wall place I saw the day before during our random neighborhood walk. It was close enough to the hotel and far away from the tourist trap restaurants. I, very happily considering my usual chronic lack of direction, led the way and we found the almost literal hole in the wall. It was a Turkish pizza place with only five things on the menu. Inside were a teenage boy and a cold stone oven. He welcomed us profusely and tried a couple of times to engage us in his broken English.  I wanted to chat back but it was extremely difficult so we instead looked at the collage of pictures on the wall next to us that showed other caught off guard tourists eating pizza and smiling uncomfortably. The pizza was delicious though. He reignited the stove with newspapers and rolled out the dough in front of us ensuring that our food would be fresh.

After the pizza, we decided to spend our last night doing something “traditionally” Turkish. I couldn’t convince Gearoid to have a Turkish bath but he did agree to smoke a hookah. There was a café near our hotel and we entered the smoky room and unsuccessfully pretended to know what we were doing. We ordered tea and coffee and an apple flavored tobacco. The hookah was brought over with disposable mouth pieces. I brought it to my mouth to inhale when a boy came over to light it with hot coals for us- duh- because you can’t smoke without heat. The smoke flavor was mild and we only occasionally got a strong apple flavor in our mouths and nostrils. I don’t know if it was the smoke, the darkened atmosphere, or because it was our last night in Istanbul but I became melancholic and lethargic. At that point, we refused more coals and headed out to the delicious fresh air outside and back to our hotel for much needed showers. Lying in bed that night, I felt an uncomfortable tickle in my chest- another reminder of why I don’t smoke.

There were many hookah smoking pictures taken and most were unflattering and are never going to see the light of day.

Sunday- Our last day

We were treated to blue skies again on our last day. We filled up on our last breakfast at the hotel and then headed to our last tourist destination- the Blue Mosque. It was extremely beautiful both inside and out. However, being a major tourist attraction and being required to remove your shoes before entering, the slight smell of feet tainted the gorgeous interior. Unfortunately for us, our third camera (we stupidly didn’t bring chargers and took so many pictures that we went through my camera and both of our cell phones power sources) ran out of juice and we didn’t get nearly as many pictures as we did of Topkapi or Hagia Sophia.

We had a few hours to kill before we had to be back at the hotel for our shuttle so we enjoyed the weather and took a very nice rambling walk. Our walk led us through a park behind Topkapi where we drank tea at an outdoor café with amazing views of the Golden Horn, the Asian side of the city, and fisherman enjoying their Sunday off.  The only blight on a beautiful day was when we got scammed by a shoe shine guy to get our shoes cleaned. We had been saying “no thanks” all day to shoe shiners- even the guy who boldly told me that my shoes were dirty- and a helpful gesture on our part got us scammed. The man walked in front of us with his shoe shine equipment and “accidently” dropped one of his brushes. Gearoid picked it up for him and as a sign of gratitude he lifted my boot clad foot and shined away. He chatted about a son in a hospital or something to that effect before sneaking Gearoid’s feet onto the cleaning platform. Gearoid pulled out a couple of Turkish lira to thank him for the “free” shoe shines when he promptly informed us that he charges more than what we were offering. He quickly made change for Gearoid and walked off leaving us stunned at his scam. It was both an amusing and annoying experience.

I literally could have enjoyed the view all day long.

The pomegranates were so beautiful. 

 After another falafel lunch and some people watching we made our way back to the hotel and ended a wonderful and amazing vacation.