Fun in Istanbul

After Charlie and I returned from our Easter holiday in The Netherlands, things started happening very fast. First of all, school blew up….like literally exploded into a million pieces all over the rest of my life, blanketing everything in a frazzled, over reaching sickening grey haze of stress. I know I know, boo-hoo, right?! haha Grad school is work right?!!! Luckily after a few days of craziness, I was able to get a grip on it again, and even managed to squeeze in a weekend hike in the woods with my roommate Cagri and Mr. Charlie Brown. We have a huge forest behind our apartment and finally the ice and snow melted off the trails, so we had ourselves a mini-adventure. I was really surprised by the great vistas and all the cool stuff we found (old machinery, graffiti, a cemetery, a run down cabin…). Of course Charlie loved it because he got to be off his leach and the three of us had a nice afternoon followed by a nice home cooked dinner together. Yey for revitalizing Sundays in good company!

I also had a very long overdue Sunday brunch with the girls. We met at our favorite market and bought fresh croissants and pastries with spinach and cheese and pickled carrots and soft Lithuanian cheese, which of course, we then devoured in a matter of minutes back in Miriam’s kitchen. So nice.  So you see how I exaggerate about school stress?! It’s all about perspective I suppose ;) I’ll have to keep that in mind…

            Well after all that I was about ready for another holiday (joke…but kinda not…), which was great because I already had one planned! What luck!! My dear friend Franziska I rendezvoused in Istanbul, Turkey for six days of fun and sun. We found ourselves a great little studio apartment through Airbnb near the Galata Bridge, with a small private yard and picnic table (which was mostly filled with stray cats to whom we fed saucers of milk regularly) and easy access to all the city had to offer. It was perfect. We spent days wandering the city, chatting, laughing, getting lost, getting sunburned, taking pictures and just generally enjoying ourselves.

SIDE NOTE: Notice how eating is NOT on that list….Well, turns out (as my Turkish room mate had forewarned me) Istanbul, for all its beauty and graceful wonder, is truly and unmistakably a vegetarian’s worst nightmare. There is meat floating inside, on-top-of, under, shoved between, wrapped around, stuffed with and poured over everything! No joke. So we took advantage of our cozy corner market and made the most of the abundance of fresh cheese, olives, nuts and dried fruits available everywhere. To be honest, I think we got the better deal ;) Dried figs and apricots for days… 

Anyway, after a few days we were joined by Franzi’s parents (Margot and Otmar), whom I haven’t seen since Christmas. Not surprisingly, my German skills have not improved in the least, but we are getting much better at charades these days, so the four of us really had a nice time playing tourists at all the fancy places in town.  We visited the Agia Sofia and Sultanamet (Blue) Mosques, the Spice Market and The Grand Bazar, all of which were positively packed with people and so lovely. We were blessed with fabulous spring weather nearly the entire time and we took FULL advantage of it, taking a two-hour boat tour of the Golden Horn, Maiden’s Town and the Asian side. Needless to say, we really covered some serious ground! 

            Which leads me to my next topic about covering ground…The Istanbul Half Marathon!! This was originally our main reason for coming in the first place and I had serious doubts about being able to participate at all, but 2 hours and 13 minutes later, I thought my legs would buckle under me and absolutely everything screamed with fatigue, except my back. Now don’t worry! I am still being very careful and will not over-do it I promise, but I was very pleased to participate with Franzi like we had planned! 

            The day after the race I said goodbye to my little German family and hopped my plane back to Vilnius where Charlie was waiting under the doting care of my roommate. Although I will miss the deep looming call to prayer everyday in that busy Turkish city, I was very happy to have my meatless food and loyal dog back again. Speaking of loyal dogs, Cagri has created Charlie Brown his own Facebook page (I know. So silly. But so fun.). SO if you are interested in following Charlie more than me here is the link:

https://www.facebook.com/mrbeancharliebrown?fref=ts 

I love and miss you all and hope to catch up very soon! Please email me with what’s going on in your neck of the woods so I don’t feel so self centered all the time! Haha Happy Spring everyone and take care! xoxo