November 30, 2014
June 8, 2014
Capetown and on to Zimbabwe
If you're in the travel business, tradeshows are a part of your on going commitment to education in your field. And when a tradeshow is happening in one of your most favorite destinations, that's a no-brainer combination! I was invited to attend ILTM Africa which takes place in Capetown in May so jumped at the opportunity. And when a good colleage of mine was also invited, we came up with a plan to add on a week on safari in Zimbabwe. Because how can you travel for almost 30 hours - one way - for just 4 days at a tradeshow?!
So here we are enjoying Capetown - we'd both been here a few times on previous trips but never with this glorious weather. Took a ride up to the top of Table Mountain for the gorgeous views and explored the locals area around Kloof and Long streets, before the 4 day show began.
From Capetown we flew back to Johannesburg for an overnight just so we could leave our big luggage at the hotel. Next morning was a short flight to Vic Falls airport in Zimbabwe and from there a small plane transfer to our first destination, Davison's Camp in Hwange
National Park. From there went on to Little Makalolo, also in Hwange, and then up to Mana Pools in the northwest to finish the trip at Ruckomechi camp which is on the Zambezi river - all of these are operated by Wilderness Safaris except for our stop for a site inspection at Somalisa Camp in Hwange, operated by African Bush Camps.
Each camp had it's own distinct personality, differed in topography and game viewing as well as the level of amenities, but all were terrific. I would not hesitate to recommend Zimbabwe as a safari destination these days and I'd love to go back and check out the new houseboat options on Lake Kariba in Matusadona Park as well as Singita Pamushana in the southwestern part of the country.
There are probably too many photos in this album but I didn't want to delete enough of them to make it shorter! Click on the link below to view.
June 7, 2014
September 25, 2013
A Weekend in Nicaragua
Doesn't that sound glamorous, "a weekend in Nicaragua"? Yes, the life of a travel agent, jetting off to exotic locations at the drop of a hat. Sort of.
It was an invitation to come and check out the first luxury resort in Nicaragua, called Mukul - Virtuoso gave it the best spa award, Forbes named its golf course as one of the top 5 new resorts to know, Robb Report listed it in their Best of the Best winners. It was too tempting not to go regardless of the full day of travel each way and only having 3 days there to jam as much in as possible. And it was the wet season, turns out they have just 2 seasons - wet and dry.
There's roughly 6 million people and about a third live in Managua where you arrive. Unless you're on business, there's no reason to linger. Spanish is the spoken language and it helps a lot if you speak even a little as English is not so much. Bordered by Costa Rica to the south, Honduras and El Salvador to the north, our guide said it had been fairly peaceful for about 20 years (yes, this was the land of the Contras and Sandinistas). It is still a developing country and you'll see very poor living conditions in most of the villages, surprisingly it also has the lowest crime rate in Central America. The Pacific coast is where you want to travel, the Caribbean side is rural and undeveloped with little infrastructure.
It's a couple of hours drive from Managua to Mukul so after arriving at late at night we overnighted in Managua. Leaving first thing the next morning, we made a day of it and stopped in Granada, the oldest city in the Americas and getting a lot of attention as one of the colonial cities. It's pretty, not dramatic, with a lovely Cathedral and some pleasant walking streets with shops and cafes - and a great leather store called Soy Nica, a must stop for any shopper. From there it was an easy side trip for a boat ride on Lake Nicaragua and with the sky threatening, we decided to go for it. And almost made it till the return trip across the lake when it simply threw buckets of water out of the sky! So now we understand what wet season means.
After a damp late lunch back in Granada we continued on to Mukul Resort and on arrival, their marketing slogan "there's a secret" made sense. You've been driving on 2 lane roads, passing farmers driving an oxcart and avoiding the horses that wander into the road, now the road is dirt, and there appears an enormous adobe looking wall with huge wooden doors which magically swing open on your arrival. And suddenly everything changes as you drive up the hill and see the ocean, then descend through the tropical foliage to be greeted by cold towels and warm smiles.
The resort is new and the staff is working hard to show guests their country and you can feel it in every exchange, it's genuine and they want you to love Nicaragua as they do.
I would love to have seen more of the country, the colonial city of Leon in the northwest, some of the really good eco resorts that dot the coast nearby, hike a volcano or two, spend a night in Granada....in 3 days we did manage to visit the towns/cities of Granada, Masaya, San Juan del Sur and still have time for a spa treatment while getting to know the "secret" of Mukul!
March 17, 2013
Gone Skiing!
5 days in Vail, Colorado sounded like a great idea - we hadn't been there for about 5 years, since Marriott stopped allowing stays with points at their Lionshead property. Finding it available for February with points once again made it too tempting not to go.
Once underway though, we remember just WHY we'd stopped flying there - connections and weather. Here's what the Denver airport looked like as we sat for many, many hours waiting for a plane to take off for Vail......
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And finally, departure - but it did look pretty iffy in this aircraft!
Then, amazingly, heading into Vail it was almost clear.
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Weather came back on the next day, the snow was fantastic but wow - was it cold! Zero degress at the top of the lifts, getting all the way up to 10 degrees by midday......brrrrr.......
The rest of our days were much sunnier and thankfully, departure was a lot less stressful than getting there.
Once underway though, we remember just WHY we'd stopped flying there - connections and weather. Here's what the Denver airport looked like as we sat for many, many hours waiting for a plane to take off for Vail......
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And finally, departure - but it did look pretty iffy in this aircraft!
Then, amazingly, heading into Vail it was almost clear.
Waiting for the boot bag/ski bag/clothing bag at Vail baggage carousel -
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Although our equipment bag(s) didn't make it on the same flight, luckily they were delivered to the hotel in the middle of the night because missing the first day would have been so depressing - full sunshine and clear skies!
November 11, 2012
Italy and Grandma
I wanted to get to Italy at some point during this particular birthday year - and I also wanted to see what I could learn about my grandmother's history. She was born in Florence and I'd been doing a lot of geneology work over the past year, so I really wanted to stand on the streets where I now knew my family had lived. An opportunity to participate in a great fam trip to the Amalfi Coast presented itself and a trip was born.
In both of our many visits to Florence, neither of us had ever been up to San Miniato, a lovely basilica on a hill high above Florence (I think built in the 11th century). It's a beautiful spot, many famous people are buried there and the view of the city is amazing, particularly at sunset.
After many great meals (Osteria dei Baroncelli for tagliata, Mama Gina for panzarotti,) and Barbra allowing me to drag her in and out of hotels to see what was new and renew old acquaintances, it was time to say goodbye and head in our different directions as I headed off by train to Naples to meet my traveling group of agents.
We'd had great weather in Florence till the last afternoon when it begain to rain. Unfortunately this followed me down to Positano where our arrival evening became an eventful thunder and lightning show. Since nothing slows down the agenda on a fam trip, and since we almost always travel in off seasons, with umbrellas in hand we set off for a week of discoveries visiting Positano, Ravello, Amalfi, Sorrento. Because of the storm we couldn't get over to Capri so I guess I'll just have to return another time, sigh........JPG)
After seeing about a dozen hotels over 5 days, we headed back to Rome for our last 2 nights with more hotel inspections, sightseeing by vintage VW buses, and a cooking class (lots of watching and eating involved) capped off by a private visit to Villa Farnesina in the Trastevere district - home to the richest man in Europe in the 1500's with incredible frescoes by Raphael.
So much packed into 10 days, for any normal person that would have been a reasonable trip for 3 weeks!
September 30, 2012
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Traveling at Home in 2012
January 22, 2012
Southeast Asia
There are so many places that I've wanted to visit in this part of the world that I couldn't make up my mind what to include in one trip, the itineraries just got too long. Then I saw this cruise on the Orion II, a small expedition ship and one of my favorite ways to travel - the itinerary cherry picked a couple of destinations that were high on my list, I wouldn't have to pack and unpack every 3 days or be in/out of airports, and the dates meant we could effectively miss the Christmas madness. I was in!
There's no way to sugarcoat 17 hours of flying but thankfully our miles bought us business class seats (after months of religious phone calls). Asiana Air was a reminder that - at least in business - flying can still be a pleasure. And they have real silverware, including knives!!
The trip began in Hanoi where we had 3 days to acclimate and sightsee on our own, and 4 nights at the wonderful Metropole Hotel - located in the heart of the city, it's an historic luxury hotel built in 1901 in the French colonial style. Everything about this property is excellent, our room in the original building was lovely and had the sense of another time without sacrificing any amenities. The staff were all so nice, the gentleman at the front desk lending me his own cable for my Ipad charger when I couldn't find mine and then phoning a store to make sure they had one before giving Jim a map of how to get there. And the foot massage in their spa made an hour go by in what seemed like minutes!
Hanoi has a lot of charm, tree lined boulevards and scenic lakes - also 7
Eating on the street is a very typical activity and it's part of the culture. I had arranged for a street food tour through the Old Quarter of the city with a local chef because I like to learn about how people live. Each street sells something, so it's the pots and pans street or the vegetables street or the noodle street etc. The smells and sounds are coming at you from all directions and I loved it, it was chaotic and
challenging to our western sensibilities and probably not for everyone
From there we flew to Saigon where we would be boarding the Orion II. What a temperature change, it was in the 60's in Hanoi and here it was hot and sweaty. Coming in the day before allowed for time to tour the city which wasn't nearly as interesting or attractive as Hanoi- you can see the highlights easily in a 3 hour tour. It's a bigger city, more people and more motorbikes, a lot more big highrise buildings while Hanoi still retains more of a cultural sense.
Once onboard in our very spacious cabin, we headed out to see who our shipmates would be for the next 7 days. Most of them were Aussies, not a suprise since it's an Australian ship and they make for really fun trip mates. Our first stop was Can Tho, the biggest city on the Mekong Delta. We disembarked on to local boats to travel upriver to the floating markets where you can buy just about any kind of produce from boats that look like they shouldn't float. The most memorable hawker was a little boy and his bananas, he was too cute not to buy from. That night the South China Sea was pretty sloppy and we unfortunately had to miss the Captain's Cocktail party as neither of us felt confident that going from horizontal to vertical would be a good thing!
The next day's landing was the island of Phu Quoc, Vietnam. What was an island of sleepy fishing villages is now targeted for development by the government. We offloaded into our trusty zodiacs and went ashore, traveling by bus to a pretty beach where locals and tourists congregate. The water was kind of rough so we didn't swim but it was pretty regardless of the ever present plastic bags and styrofoam trash that seems to be everywhere. When we returned to the zodiacs to go back to the ship, it was sunset and the locals came out to take pictures of us for a change!
In contrast to the cities on this trip, the next day we enjoyed experiencing some of the natural beauty of Southeast Asia on Ko Kut island, Thailand. In the morning traveling by boat up a mangrove river to a small waterfall, white sand beaches on the coast where we spent the afternoon swimming and snorkeling topped off by the boys from the ship coming out to disperse ice cream - it's a hard life.
And then on to Bangkok (can you say horrific traffic?)......starting our temple tour day with the famous reclining Buddha, a statue so big it's impossible to photograph the whole thing. Then on to the Grand Palace complex which is also too huge to capture in photographs, an overwhelming architectural wonder of golden stupas, palaces, and pillars encrusted in colorful mosaics.. Our two cheery guides educated us in Thai courtesies and greetings which we all promptly forgot. It was an exhausting day in the tropical sun and worth every minute.
Saving the best for last, we flew to Siem Reap for two days of exploring in Angkor Wat. I didn't realize how huge the site was, it's monumental and awe-inspiring. A UNESCO World Heritage site, it's 170 square miles of more than
a hundred 9th-15th century temples and one of the most impressive archeological sites I've ever been to.
Our first temple complex was Ta Prohm which is being slowly reclaimed by the jungle. Enormous gum trees have grown over buildings and carvings, with giant roots that look like dripping candle wax. (it's actually where Tomb Raider was filmed). About 15 minutes away by tuk-tuk is Angkor Wat, lost in the jungle until it was rediscovered in 1860 and the world's largest religious building. Our last visit was Angkor Thom, completely different than the others, with huge stone faces on the stone towers. Being here took my breath away, it's impossible to describe. It's hot and sweaty and dusty and definitely worth doing. We spent 2 days and could easily have spent a week here exploring further and enjoying the town of Siem Reap. But big tip - there are thousands of tourists daily so getting there at 5:30am when the site opens is worth doing to see more without hordes.
This trip was like an appetizer plate, giving me a taste and an appreciation of 3 countries and leaving a desire to return to both Vietnam and Thailand. We had reasonably good weather as it's always hot and humid so our winter is the least of that, although the north of Vietnam was in the mid 60's - it got hotter and stickier as we went south. The people everywhere were very friendly, we had guides everywhere so language wasn't a problem. The younger people are learning English, and sometimes kids would come up to us and want to practice. At the Reunification Palace in Saigon, a group of young women wanted to be photographed with Jim - he's so tall and they're so little, they didn't speak English but it didn't matter, it was a giggle fest!
November 19, 2011
Fes & Marrakech
The genesis of this trip was an invitation to participate in the exclusive experiential travel trade show known as PURE. It's held every year for 4 days in Marrakech, Morocco and I decided to add on a few days to explore Fes.
After traveling almost 24 hours (SFO to Chicago, Chicago to Paris, bus across town to change airports and then fly to Fes), I can tell you how NOT to route your air travel! But it worked for me given that I was trying to limit my time away from the office.
Morocco itself is at once ancient and contemporary and you feel that everywhere. It's a concoction of cultures - Berber, Arabic, French, Spanish- and the influence is seen and felt at every turn in the narrow old streets as well as the modern wide tree lined boulevards. Morocco, however, is not Switzerland! Meaning that the country and its people function on their own sense of time and cultural ideas which may not always seem the most efficient to us. It can be really frustrating so pack your patience and a sense of humor!
First impressions - stepping into the medina of Fes felt like stepping back in time as life goes on there as it has for six centuries. Over 4 kilometers of 12th century walls surround the old city. It's a maze of narrow winding cobblestone streets filled with ancient mosques, countless souks, donkeys pushing by laden with every conceivable type of goods for sale, ancient fondouks which once housed traveling merchants and their animals now used as inns and shops,live chickens and ducks waiting to be a meal, men knee deep in
Fes' famous tanneries - it's sensory and visual culture shock. At one point in the narrow alleyways I stopped for a photo and lost my group - got completely turned around, panicked, and being of a cynical nature thought all the male comments of "lady, you group go there" were trying to lead me astray. Turned out they were right when I finally did take the chance to enter a dark flight of stairs - and breathed a big sigh of relief to find them all there.
We visited one of the oldest mosques which had also been a school, an idea influenced apparently by the influx of Andalusians in the 14th century - and the Jewish Quarter and the 17th century Ibn Danan Synagogue. Saw women carrying trays of the round flatbread through the streets to the communal ovens to cook their family bread for the day, and a young workman manually chiseling the words of Quran onto headstones. Ducked into a curtained doorway to find a small group of children sitting at tables with no books but they sang a song to us with big grins. Then had lunch at Cafe Clock, an expat cafe and meeting place which was a highlight - great food and they spoke English!
An hour and a half drive takes you to extensive Roman ruins at Volubulis, it was the capital of the ancient Roman province of Mauritania (not just Romans made it here - Carthaginians, Phoenicians, and Berbers too). I wasn't prepared for how huge the site was, or the mosaics that are still right where they were originally set, not under glass or protected.
From there we went to Moulay Idriss, the holiest Muslim city in Morocco-at the center is the mausoleum of the man who brought Islam to Morocco 12 centuries ago. And we ate a fabulous meal here at the home/guesthouse of the same wonderful Brit who owns Cafe Clock in Fes.
From Fes we traveled on to Marrakech. Who knows why but there are no flights between the two so the options are to fly to Casablanca (45 min) and then drive 2 1/2 hours, take the train (7 hrs, clean and reasonable), or drive about 9 hours through the High Atlas mountains. We did the first one as it was the quickest way although probably the most boring in terms of sights and scenery, but when you're trying to pack in as much as possible in a short time it works.
On arriving we checked into the Royal Mansour which was built as the personal project of King Mohamed VI of Morocco. It is a mind boggling luxury resort with beautiful courtyards and fountains and opulent individual riads all with rooftop private pools. If you call for room or maid service, they magically appear in your hallway - due to a massive underground system of tunnels and elevators, it's all behind the scenes. I've never seen anything like it. And at breakfast our waiter served us actually wearing white gloves!
Marrakech is no longer an undiscovered city, every luxury hotel on the planet is opening here now. Visiting Djemaa el Fnaa which is the main square and probably the biggest in Africa, you feel the frenetic energy. This is where you'll find the snake charmers and performers and steaming food stands. The medina here is less overwhelming than in Fes but still full of the sense of the exotic. And a must do is a visit to the Majorelle Gardens.
They were opened to the public in 1947, begun in 1924 by a French painter who settled here and was also one of the most important plant collectors of his time. After he died the gardens and home were purchased by the designer Yves Saint Laurent who created a foundation to ensure it continued to exist. Aside from the medina and the gardens, the other major landmark is the 12th century Koutoubia mosque - its minaret is the one of three of the oldest remaining in the world.
But there's so much more to see and do in Morocco that I didn't have time for - the Atlas mountains and small Berber villages, Ouarzazate on the edge of the Sahara Desert, the dunes of the Desert, Essouira on the Atlantic Coast. It's hard to form an opinion when I only experienced two places so although I didn't love it, I'll go back to get a better sense. Food, always one of the things I look forward to discovering, was very good. Lots of couscous and "tagines" or stews of lamb, beef, or chicken, p'stilla which is sort of a savory/sweet pie made of pastry and chicken and nuts - lots of spices like cumin/cinnamon/saffron/paprika/ginger. And the meal always starts with many small plates of Moroccan salads both cooked and raw, the roasted eggplant dishes were my favorites. And oh boy, do they love sugar! Mint tea is a staple but if you don't ask for it to be unsweetened, your teeth squeak from the amount of sugar. I watched the whole tea making process one day as it's quite a production, and the sugar cube plopped into the tea pot was the size of a bar of soap!
And a few random thoughts - if you're mobility challenged in any way, this is not the place to go. Stairs are everywhere, flights of them, and they're narrow and steep and winding with no handrails. Except for the top luxury hotels, there are no elevators. Riads are old mansions in the heart of the medinas which have been converted into hotels and are a wonderful change of place for a few nights. But the stairs are steep, rooms all surround a courtyard and can be dark, and no two rooms are alike so it's really important to know which riads are the best. And English - not so much although more of the young people are learning now, a little French will get you a long way. It's a developing country and this current King is working hard to make progress in its infrastructure but oftentimes service is not up to western standards. Just know that Moroccans do not always have the same emphasis on promptness and efficiency that we do - and accept it as part of the charm of a place like Morocco.
April 24, 2011
Ahhh, Argentina
I started discovering South America a few years ago and having been to Chile, Ecuador, and Peru, this trip was WOW - Argentina! The itinerary on this trip included Buenos Aires, Bariloche, and Patagonia and there is still the northwest to discover.
I traveled with a small company called Blue Parallel who did a fantastic trip for the 5 of us, all travel consultants - it's a top end operation for all my clients who need the very best. I loved the unexpected "surprises" that they put into their itineraries, as well as the high touch service level and quality of all of their guides and destination hosts.
It is a long trip from San Francisco to Buenos Aires, made a little bit longer by going via D.C. which I did because I wanted to upgrade using my United miles. 5 hours from SF and then 10 more to Buenos Aires plus layover time equals a very tired body so being able to lie flat in business was worth it. After clearing customs and paying my $140 entry visa, I was met by my city host and into the waiting car for the 45 min to an hour drive into the city. And it is a big city, a huge percentage of the population of Argentina lives there and in the surrounding suburbs. Walking around in the upscale areas of Recoleta and Retiro definitely gave me a sense of Paris with the many trees and boulevards and parks. Then there's San Telmo, said to be the birthplace of tango and an attractive working class neighborhood, the colorful La Boca area which was once the port of the city where the Italian settlers used the leftover paint from the ships for their houses, and Palermo - an area of lots of cafes and boutiques, kind of the SoHo area. And the famous Recoleta cemetary where Evita is buried -it's a city of the dead aboveground with all sizes and sorts of mausoleums! With only 2 days here there was no time to shop but lots of beautiful leather was certainly tempting. Of all the South American cities I've been to, Buenos Aires is by far the most cosmopolitan and interesting. Interesting detail - so many Italians emigrated here during the war that the Spanish is spoken with an Italian accent.
We stayed at the Park Hyatt in the contemporary building which has views over the lovely gardens and looks back at the original mansion. Nearby is the Four Seasons, also a great choice and some of the best service for any hotel. The well known Alvear Palace is just a few blocks away for those who want some throwback elegance. And for those who need the coolest hippest spot, there's the Faena Hotel on the other side of the river. There's also some very good small boutique hotels so it's not hard to find options, just hard to choose.
Add in a private cooking demonstration at the popular Pure Tierra restaurant with the chef, who showed us how he incorporates traditional foods into contemporary Argentine cuisine - a visit to the private studio of Argentine artist Ernesto Bertani who patiently waited while his explanations of his work were translated by our guide (he does not speak English), he uses fabric in much of his art - a lunch of charcoal grilled shrimp and steak at Fervor in Recoleta- and that's my whirlwind 2days in Buenos Aires.
Next flight - to Bariloche, the lake district and it's absolutely beautiful. It reminded me in a way of Lake Tahoe as it's a huge lake, extremely deep, with mountains all around. But yet it's very different as the lake has many arms, there are the mountains with ski resorts, but with the
Andes as a back drop. You can miss the town of Bariloche, basically one long street of tourist shops and chocolate shops - it's known as the Switzerland of South America! And that's why you also see people asking you to pay money to have your photo taken with a St. Bernard and the puppy which made me sad for the dogs. As the seasons are reversed and we were visiting in April, it was fall and the leaves were turning. For skiing, August is the best time for snow.
Our hotel was the El Casco Art Hotel, right on Lake Nahuel Huapi and the owner is an art dealer so there's wonderful art and sculpture throughout - for sale too. We were able to visit the home of an artist who lives nearby that he represents, Juan Lascano who does gorgeous still lifes and landscapes and was just a wonderful warm man. And the food - again, one of the highlights of the hotel along with the view. Coming here the activities are all about the out of doors and the natural scenery and we certainly covered the options in our 2 days! Hiking with Maxi, our naturalist guide the first afternoon was great to learn about the flora and fauna here including "mini mountain monkeys" which had us all in a quandry. Turned out it's a tiny marsupial, not a monkey at all but it became the laugh line for the rest of the trip. The next day we started out on a "moderate hike" which had me asking for a hand to be hauled up the mountain side - breathtaking views once I got my own breath back! Once we reached the top though, the way down was to rappel over the face or the alternative, slip sliding down a narrow shale trail with a drop off on one side - neither a great option in my opinion so rappeling seemed the lesser of two evils. Note that this was billed as an active trip! We all made it without injury and the reward? An incredible catered lunch on a ledge below, complete with a musician playing a flute to pipe us in to the meal!
Leaving Bariloche, we flew south to Patagonia and this was the highlight for me - the landscape is harsh yet breathtakingly beautiful, a land of contrasts. And I loved Eolo Lodge where we stayed, about 40 minutes past the town of El Calafate where you land and then some miles on a gravel road. It's in the middle of an estancia and I woke up to cows outside of my window - the plains or what's called the Patagonian steppe stretching out to the mountains beyond. The rooms are large, simple and rustic and comfortable, it has charm and warmth and a wonderful staff -and more excellent food. We went out on horseback that afternoon for incredible views, and were lucky to run into a herd of guanaco which is a kind of llama. Wild hares are everywhere, wild ostriches, condors and eagles - not a lot of wildlife as there isn't a whole lot to eat for them.
And then we spent a day on Perito Moreno Glacier, what a highlight. It's about 45 minutes from the lodge, then a boat ride to the glacier itself for those who are going to go ice trekking. Once we were fitted into our crampons, we set off with our guide to navigate the glacier for a couple of hours. It's a unique experience and
the shades of blue were incredible. Plus we were blessed with a sunny day and no wind, highly unusual as it's always a question of how windy will it be on any given day. And to finish the hike off? We rounded a corner and there was a table set up with glasses of whiskey and glacier ice to warm us up - I can see how that would be extremely welcome on a typically cold and windy day! After a picnic lunch brought by our guide Sebastian, we headed back by boat to take a look through Los Notros, the only accomodation in the National Park and has rooms with full views of the glacier. It's a fine place for those who cannot get up close and just want a night there to see it and take the one hour boat cruise around but for me, Eolo was so much better in every way - and the 45 minute drive was interesting so I didn't mind it at all.
It's a vast country with such diverse areas, wonderful wines (Malbecs and Torrontes) and lots of very good beef - vegetarians might have a little difficulty here! From the north and the high deserts and indigenous peoples and villages, to the far south and the granite snow covered peaks of Patagonia, Mendoza and the wine region to the west and Iguazu Falls - I'll definitely return.
November 29, 2010
Istanbul
Forty years ago (gulp!) was my first trip to Istanbul and I fell in love with the city then, it was so strange and everything about it was exotic to a California kid straight out of high school. There's been a few return visits since and this trip was one of the whirlwind type that in my business we call "fam trips". Four travel consultants, one Paris tour guide who is a mutual friend, and 3 packed days of touring in Istanbul - it took us almost as long to get there and back!
Mid-November and our weather was amazing, almost warm for our first full day and we had a lot of ground to cover. Staying at the Four Seasons Sultanahmet in the old part of the city made comfort easy to come by. Created from a century old Turkish prison, you'd never guess that now - the rooms are good sized, different layouts room to room with varying views of side streets, courtyard, some even had views of the Hagia Sophia - very light with high ceilings, warm colors, and wonderful art throughout. It has a welcoming almost residential feel on arrival.
We met our guide for this adventure, Esin, and started off with a vist to the Topkapi Palace , it's Harem and Museum. It was the center of the Ottoman government and court, the Turks ruled most of Europe and the Middle East from here. Inside the Harem section (which was where the extended family lived, not just all the women!) the marble and tile covered rooms and hallways are just beautiful. The museum is an amazing collection of jewels, gifts to the Sultans, almost too much to absorb. What surprised me was the crowds, particularly for November, is there a low season anymore? Have to put Topkapi on my Netflix list......
And easy walking distance, we next went to the Hagia Sophia, built by the Roman Emperor Justinian in the 6th century. It's the oldest domed cathedral in the world, people of Constantinople thought its dome was hung from the sky. It was a church for 9 centuries, a mosque for 6 centuries, and has been a museum since 1935. Inside is just awesome, it takes your breath away when you first enter - the space is just so huge.
Next stop was the Underground Cistern, another engineering marvel under Emperor Justinian. Built in 532, apparently the water was piped in and stored in these cisterns for use in the palace and the city itself. Scenes in the James Bond movie From Russia with Love were filmed here so now I have to go back and watch that one too!
Lunch at Hamdi Restaurant on an outdoor rooftop - views of the water and the Blue Mosque with delicious kebabs and mezze, the small plates that start the meal. I could just eat all the mezze dishes and be happily satisfied - salads, grilled veges, breads and dips, so many ways to cook eggplant.
That evening we went for dinner to a very different part of the city, in the Nisantasi area. It was about a 30 minute taxi ride and a world away from the old city - very chic and upscale, all the designer stores are here as well as boutique hotels like the Park Hyatt. Somewhere I've got the name of the restaurant (found it! called Kosebasi) as it was quite good and I'll recommend it when planning itineraries. And who knew there was good wine in Turkey?! So many terrific restaurants, not all expensive either and the hard part is deciding which one to try.
Day two and the only day of our trip that the Spice Bazaar and Grand Bazaar would be open so we had dedicated the day to shopping! First stop was the Spice market where not only can you buy spices by the bagful (and oh, the smells) but all kinds of cheese, dried fruits, nuts, olives, breads... in any city, the food markets are my favorite visits. I came home with enough saffron for the next 3 years. From there we headed into the Grand Bazaar - in business since 1461, there are over 3500 shops with everything from gold and silver jewelry to carpets, ceramics, leather - some high quality and some just tourist junk. It helps a lot to have a guide who knows who's who depending on what you're looking for. As shopping makes my head spin it was easiest just to go wherever everyone else was going and watch - although I did end up with the most lusciously soft gossamer thin pashmina to add to my collection. But that was only because we all decided a day later that we should have bought them and our amazing guide was able to find the store owner and have him come to the hotel wih bags of choices! Now there is the true test of a great guide.
For a more traditional meal, try Havuzlu inside the Bazaar - we had lunch there and I don't think it was simply shopping exhaustion that made the food so delicious.
During the day our luggage moved to the Four Seasons on the Bosphorus and we rejoined it at the end of the great shopping excursion. What a completely different hotel - contemporary, stylish, and the view, wow. The original palace building has the only rooms that directly face the water with fabulous floor to (high) ceiling windows. There are 2 wings on either side of the palace building which were built when this became a hotel, and the bulk of the rooms are here with side views. There's a beautiful spa here and outdoor heated pool - only guests at either hotel can use the facilities. I loved both hotels but for me, I preferred the history, character and intimacy of the Sultanahmet hotel. However most in my group thought they'd prefer to return to the Bosphorus and all of it's pleasures at the end of a day of touring, particularly in the heat and crowds of the summer.
The boat ride on the Bosphorus is a fun thing to do - but not at night like we did, way to chilly and you can see pretty lights but no idea what you're looking at! But we did end up at a terrific fish restaurant - a whole huge fish cooked enclosed in a salt crust and served flaming! It's fun trip to do during the day, you can see both the European and Asian skylines and shore, and the Golden Horn is full of water traffic so it's a very enjoyable hour and a half excursion.
For the last day we visited the old Hippodrome site and from there, the Blue Mosque. It's a working mosque but you can visit except during the five daily prayers. It's famous for it's blue tiles, called Iznik, but even more so because of it's Ottoman architecture. I think the Hagia Sophia is more stunning inside and the Blue Mosque more so from the outside, just a personal point of view. Our last visit was to the Dolmabahce Palace, a piece of Ottoman Baroque architecture which became the seat of power when the sultans moved from Topkapi in the 19th century. The one piece that stuck in my mind was a 4 ton crystal chandelier and the engineering that keeps the ceiling from collapsing into the grand ballroom.
Istanbul, a mosaic of cultures. The sounds of the muezzin call to prayer five times a day, the smell of roasting chestnuts from the sidewalk stands, the crush of traffic, women in headscarves walking by a Prada store, the new and the ancient. It's a fantastic city, a place one could return to over and over and continue to find something new to discover. I have to go back, again - there's still so much I haven't seen!
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