Where East Meets West: Istanbul

Istanbul has always been a "bucket list" city for me so I was really excited when we got the opportunity to travel there at the end of May.  Istanbul is located on both sides of the Bosphorus, the narrow straight between the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea, which makes it the only major metropolitan area in the world to span two continents (Europe and Asia).  Istanbul's population is close to 14 million making it one of the largest cities in the world by population.  In comparison, New York City has a population of around 8 million.

Istanbul is one of three cities in the final bidding for the 2020 Summer Olympics along with Madrid and Tokyo.  The country seemed to lack the infrastructure to host an Olympics so it should be interesting to see whether they are selected.  There seemed to be constant traffic jams on all of the roads and the public transportation was limited and very crowded.  I wonder if the protests and violence currently occurring in Turkey will affect this bid in any way.  I feel very fortunate that we left a few days before this turmoil began.

One thing that surprised me is how much the Turkish LOVE children.  Colin was pretty much a celebrity there.  It was everyone too, not just women.  It was really unusual to see men in their twenties come up to Colin and rub his head and ask how old he was and try to chat with him.  Another plus of this love of children is that we got to skip a lot of lines at tourist sites.

It's hard to describe some of the amazing sites we saw.  Pictures are best.

Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) - One of Istanbul's most iconic landmarks.  Built in the mid-6th century, Hagia Sophia has been a church, a mosque, and is now a museum.

Inside Hagia Sophia

Inside Hagia Sophia

Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii) - The vast majority of Turkey's population is Muslim so there are some amazing mosques in Istanbul.  Blue Mosque is probably the most famous.

Blue Mosque got its name from the amazing blue tile work inside.  Unfortunately, it is difficult to capture the scale and beauty with a camera.

Inside Blue Mosque

After dealing with months of terrible weather in London, it was great to finally get out the summer dresses.  This picture is taken on Galata Bridge.  In the background is Suleymaniye Mosque.

I loved the inside of Suleymaniye Mosque  Once again, the camera could not do it justice.

Wearing mosque appropriate apparel - no shoes, no legs showing for men or women, no hair showing for women.  The man to my left apparently did not do his research on this and had to wear a mosque provided skirt to cover his bare legs.

A Buckley family trip would not be complete without a boat ride.   Bosphorus Cruise between Europe and Asia.

Grand Bazaar - A covered market with over 4,000 shops.  A bit overwhelming and touristy so we didn't buy much here.

Egyptian Spice Market - I loved all the stalls selling different spices, teas, dried fruits, and nuts.  We tried some Turkish Delight (a jelly like candy covered with powdered sugar and sometimes filled with fruits and nuts) as well as some Baklava (layers of phyllo pastry filled with chopped nuts and honey).  The Turkish Delight was far from delightful, but I loved the Baklava in small doses.  The Turkish certainly seem to have a sweet tooth.

Topkapi Palace - the primary residence of Ottoman Sultans for over 400 years.    The palace was home to about 4,000 people including the sultan, his many wives and concubines, and slaves.

Topkapi Palace had the most gorgeous tile work.

Colin's favorite part of the trip was this fountain in Sultanahmet Park.

Next up on our travel plans is a trip back to the US for me and Colin.  Poor David is stuck staying in London and working.  I have realized that three months is about the maximum I can go before I really start missing my family and the US so can't wait to get back.  Plus, our stock of American food is getting low so I need to replenish it :)

Copenhagen: More than the Little Mermaid

The first Monday in May is a holiday in England (Early May Bank Holiday - I love random made-up holidays) so we took advantage of the long weekend by planning a trip to Copenhagen.  Before researching for this trip, the only thing I really knew about Copenhagen was that it is home to the famous Little Mermaid Sculpture.  Hans Christian Andersen (writer of such fairy tales as The Little Mermaid, The Emperor's New Clothes, and The Princess and the Pea) spent much of his life in Copenhagen and there are a number of tributes to him throughout the city.  However, we found a lot of other things to do here than just see this sculpture and ended up really loving this city.  Everything was so clean and public transportation was handicap (stroller) accessible which for us is such a treat after dealing with carrying Colin's stroller up and down stairs in various London tube stations.  It also helped that the weather was gorgeous all weekend.  David and I have discussed how much great weather can influence what you think about a city.

With a trip to the zoo, a boat ride through Copenhagen's canals and harbor, and a visit to the city's amusement park Tivoli Gardens, Colin was a huge fan of Copenhagen.  Although, I think his favorite part of the trip was the luxury golf cart in our hotel's lobby that he spent a lot of time in pretending to drive.  Fortunately for mom and dad, the golf cart was in viewing distance from the hotel's bar.  David's vacation highlights were the Carlsberg Brewery tour and the endless selection of Danish pastries.  My highlights were the adorable polar bears at the zoo, a legitimate shopping mall across the street from our hotel that had a store that faintly resembled Target, and being able to sleep in a king bed for three nights (a real treat compared to our tiny double bed at our London apartment).

Here are some photos of our trip:

It wouldn't be vacation without a boat ride (at least not for Colin).

Nyhavn:  this is how I pictured Copenhagen before visiting but this harbor is only a small part of the city.

Tivoli Gardens:  Colin couldn't get enough of this plane ride.

Copenhagen Zoo:  Colin is now at an age where we visit a zoo in every city that has one but this was a great zoo. 

David at the Carlsberg Brewery elephant gates.

Christiania:  a weird hippie community that is the #3 most popular tourist attraction in Copenhagen.  David said he could see his dad living here in the 70s.  

Rosenborg Castle:  happy picture before starting our tour where no strollers were allowed, which needless to say was a disaster with an active toddler.

Posing with the famous Little Mermaid sculpture.

Colin's trip highlight:  golf cart in our hotel's lobby.

Amsterdam in Spring

This past weekend, I took a quick trip to Amsterdam.  My college friend Steph is doing a global rotation for a large public accounting firm like David so I took advantage of knowing a "local" in Amsterdam and visited her.  David and Colin stayed back in London for a guys' weekend (hanging out at the pub, going to the park, riding double decker buses, and watching the Masters).

I had been to Amsterdam two times before, but it made a huge difference to see the city with someone who lives there.  The only really touristy thing we did was visit the Van Gogh Museum which I hadn't done on either of my previous trips.  Other than that, we took a day trip to a cute Dutch village called  Zaans Schans, went to some of Steph's favorite restaurants, walked through the city's flower market, and did some cheese shopping.  It was nice to be able to relax and spend some time catching up with Steph (we hadn't seen each other in five years!) and not feel like I had to run around the city like crazy checking the "must-see" items off that are on a normal tourist's list.

I planned my visit in April as this is normally the peak time for tulip viewing.  Tulips have always been my favorite flower.  Unfortunately, the spring in Europe has been just as miserable as the spring in the US so everything is late blooming this year.  We were still able to see quite a few tulips at Keukenhof, a famous flower garden located in Lisse. Keukenof had quite a few flowers already in bloom, no doubt planning for the late spring and not wanting to lose out on tourists as it is only open from late March to late May each year.  Only about four of the tulip fields outside of the park were already in bloom.  It was still amazing to see all the tulips.  

I have included some photos from the trip below.

Bikes, canal, boats - this picture sums up Amsterdam

I loved all the colors of tulips at the flower market

I would buy tulips all the time if I lived in Amsterdam

Zaans Schans - a cute Dutch village a short drive from Amsterdam

With my wonderful hostess Steph at Zaans Schans

Keukenhof gardens

I LOVE tulips!

So pretty!

In Bruges

We took advantage of the Bank Holiday on Good Friday by visiting Bruges, Belgium from Friday to Sunday of Easter weekend.  Bruges is the site of the 2008 film In Bruges starring Colin Farrell, which I have yet to see but was asked by countless people if I had seen it when we mentioned we would be traveling there.  I guess I will have to add it to my Netflix queue.  Bruges is a small city surrounded by canals known for its chocolate and lace.  We skipped the lace but definitely took advantage of all the chocolate shops in the city.  The trip pretty much centered around eating chocolate and sampling Belgian beers including the local beer Brugse Zot at De Halve Maan Brewery.

Colin's favorite part of the trip was once again a boat ride.  The boat trip went through the many canals of the city.  Colin insisted on announcing "BRIDGE" every time we would go under one (approximately every 15 seconds).  I am sure the fellow passengers loved the commentary.  We also went to the french fry and chocolate museums which were about as lame as they sound like they would be.  The city is known for its art museums, but we have given up on going to art museums with a toddler.

We headed back to Brussels on Sunday afternoon via a local train and then took the Eurostar the rest of the way to London.  Colin is still enamored by "choo choos" so was a happy traveler.

I didn't take many pictures on this trip but have posted a few of the ones I took below.

Markt - the main square of Bruges 

Another quality Buckley family picture in front of one of Bruges windmills

Canal ride

Canal ride

More quality parenting - sampling beer at De Halve Maan Brewery while your child watches an iPad and eats a sucker

Birthday Weekend in Paris

 Two posts in one week!  A new record!

After returning from the US on the morning of March 8th, we were up at 5:00am to head to London St. Pancras Station to catch the Eurostar to Paris the morning of March 9th.  My birthday is March 10th, and I wanted to spend it somewhere fun so planned a quick weekend trip to Paris.  I wasn't thinking about the potential jet lag when I booked the trip.  Colin and I were both up until about 2:30am which meant we had less than three hours of sleep when we headed to the train station.  This trip was probably not my greatest idea, but you only turn 33 once :)  I actually think being outside and busy helped with our jet lag.  We have been back on our normal schedule since early this week while it took much longer to get over the jet lag when we returned from Christmas in the US.

This was my third trip to Paris, and we did a lot of the same things I have done on previous trips, but the city never gets old.  There is something magical about it.  Although, traveling to Paris with a child is definitely a different experience.  Rather than dining at fancy French cafes and bistros, we ate at such places as the Hippopotamus Grill.  Good thing they still serve wonderful French wines there!  Colin's highlights were a boat cruise on the Seine and a ride on the carousel under the Eiffel Tower.  We returned to London the next evening.  It was a quick trip but a lot of fun.  Here are some pictures.

Can't complain about a birthday spent in Paris.

Colin and David outside the Louvre.  I have been in before and was overwhelmed.  We decided it best to skip it on this trip with a toddler although we did go to the Musee D'Orsay while Colin was napping.

Colin would not leave this statue in the Tuileries Garden alone. 

This view never gets old.  That being said, I am glad we live in London rather than Paris.  London isn't as beautiful as Paris but is a much more livable city.

Riding the Paris metro made me appreciate London's tube.  The tube is by no means handicap accessible making it a huge hassle with a stroller, but it was nothing in comparison to the metro which was next to impossible to navigate with a stroller and extremely crowded.

Arc d' Triomphe.  After we took this picture, we commented on how any other kids we have will find these pictures of Colin some day in front of all these monuments in European cities and feel really shafted that the most exciting pictures of them are in front of places like the Lambeau Field and at the Wisconsin Dells!

I don't know why we bother trying to take family pictures.  Colin aways refuses to cooperate.

Colin loved the boat cruise down the Seine.  He is obsessed with boats these days.

I love the Eiffel Tower at night.  

We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower on a cold and cloudy morning.  It was still worth it though.

Colin faking a smile and hoping we could leave the cold Eiffel Tower soon.

Carousel below the Eiffel Tower.  No surprise that Colin choose the "choo choo" to ride on.

Nutella crepes.  These really should be a staple of any diet.

Notre Dame.  Colin spent a lot of time catching up on sleep as we checked out the Paris sights.

Surviving Winter in London

This blog has been silent for a few months now.  There really hasn't been much to write.  After the fun of traveling back to the US to see both of our families for Christmas, we came back to gloomy and rainy London.  January and February were both long and boring months.  I can see how it would be easy to get depressed in London in the winter.  It rained practically every day and the sun didn't shine for months.  On the few occasions when it wasn't rainy, it was too muddy to do anything outside.  A couple of times, I decided we just needed to get out of the house so put on our rain boots and headed to the park.  Colin always managed to take a spill and get covered in mud from head to toe making going on these outings more of a hassle than what they were worth.  My other plan was to use these boring months to get into shape.  However, by the time I got myself and Colin dressed, walked the half mile to the bus stop, got on a bus (which likely meant waiting as a few passed us by that were either too crowded or already had the maximum of two strollers on board), got off the bus and walked to the gym, dropped Colin off at the gym daycare (which usually resulted in a meltdown and him grabbing onto my leg and begging me not to leave), working out for an hour, and then doing the reverse journey home, it was just too much work to do more than a few times a week.  Oh how I miss just hopping in a car and driving to your destination.  Colin also seemed to be sick every other week making the winter longer.  So much for my theory that he would get sick less this year since he was no longer in regular daycare.  I think I could make the walk to his doctor's office in my sleep.  Colin's favorite words this winter became "Show" and "George" (after Curious George) which just illustrates how often I had to revert to TV to keep my sanity.

This is also the time of the year that David works crazy hours at work.  In order to escape the endless days as a temporary single mom, I booked plane tickets for Colin and I to travel to Wisconsin to visit my family at the end of February.  I would also get to meet my new nephew Griffin Thomas Hartel who was born on February 23rd.  When I booked these tickets back in August, I imagined a two year old Colin to be a calm, well-behaved traveler.  Apparently, I hadn't been around very many two year old boys in the past.  The days leading up to this flight were filled with increased anticipation.  How was I going to survive a nine hour flight with a little boy who can't sit still for more than two minutes?  Not to mention that the logistics of getting two large suitcases, two carry-ons, a car seat, and a toddler through the airport seemed impossible.  We survived (not without a few glares from fellow passengers) and made it back to Wisconsin.   I truly believe this would not be possible without the creation of the iPad.  I really should send Apple a thank-you letter.

We had a great time in Wisconsin.  Two weeks is the longest I have been back since college.  It was great to have time to just relax and spend time with my family without having to rush places like at Christmas.  My nephew Griffin was born the morning after our flight landed.  Perfect timing!  Colin and I got to go see him at the hospital later that day and got to spend lots of time with him during our time in Wisconsin.  Colin turned two right before we left so we celebrated his birthday again with my family.  We were sad to head back to London but very happy to see David.  We missed him!!  David's busy season is pretty much over now (the perk of him being in an audit group here rather than tax with an April 15th deadline) and spring has almost arrived so the end is in sight.  We even got to take a trip to Paris over my birthday weekend.  More on that to come.  Here are a few pictures from our winter and trip to Wisconsin.

Snow is so much better than rain!  This was the one time we had snow to play in this winter.

Happy 2nd Birthday Colin!  Celebrating in London.

Flight to the USA.  Thank goodness for the iPad and Colin's love of Curious George.

Meeting my nephew Griffin.

The new parents and baby Griffin.

Aunt Ang and Uncle Shannon have on demand Curious George on a big screen TV - doesn't get better than that!

Sisters and their boys

Colin loved sledding!

Celebrating Colin's 2nd birthday in Wisconsin with a "choo choo" cake