Travels

Day 1: Arrival in Amsterdam

2011-03-14T18:08:00.001-07:00

Brian was unexpectedly chosen to present at a conference in Amsterdam. The timing wasn't great, since we'd have to leave about 10 days after returning from New Orleans, but we couldn't really pass up a plane ticket to Europe. The conference would be picking up his round trip ticket and 3 nights in a hotel, and we'd be responsible for the rest.

We stayed in a hotel that was much more expensive than anything we would have chosen on our own; however, being Amsterdam, it was still very small, though perfectly adequate for us!Our first day, we walked around a bit, Brian registered for the conference, and we went to dinner.Since we were so tired, we pretty much went home shortly after dinner and slept. Brian had to get an early start on the next day.

Day 2: Churches

2011-03-14T18:07:00.009-07:00

Brian went to his conference in the morning, but was able to come back over lunch. We stopped at a lunch counter for a quick breakfast; just a pastry and coffee:Like many (most?) old European cities, we had some trouble at first understanding the maps and finding our way around. Some smaller streets were not marked on the map and streets would unexpectedly change names. Throw in the canals and, at least at first, we'd have to consult our map with relative frequency to get where we wanted to go.A view of the houses alongside a canal:
This was one of our confusing periods. We could see the Weigh House, but were having trouble locating exactly where we were on the map. It took us about 20 minutes longer than it should have to get to our destination!Which was the Church of Our Lord in the Attic. During the Reformation, Catholic worship was outlawed. A wealthy Catholic merchant transformed a canal-side mansion into a church. The family lived in the front rooms, and from the outside, it looked like a normal house.

We purchased our Museumkaart here. This is an amazing value for anyone planning on visiting even just a few of the sights in Amsterdam. As an added bonus, it's valid at many museums in other cities in Holland.

Here I am, descending the stairs from the house-part to the church-part:The church is in the process of renovation, so some parts were closed to visitors. However, other parts were still open, giving us a glimpse into the restoration process. On the bench, you can see paint chip samples and other restoration tools:
A view of the organ:After leaving this church, we decided to head over to Oude Kerk (Old Church) nearby. It's currently located right in the middle of the red light district.During the Reformation, most of the Catholic embellishments were destroyed, so it was a bit bare when compared to other churches we've visited in Europe. Brian was disappointed to not find any relics.
I'm not exactly sure where this staircase goes, but I'm happy I don't have to climb it!After leaving the church, we went to the Allard Pierson Museum, which is the University of Amsterdam's archaeological museum. We didn't take any pictures, but we loved it here! There was a special exhibition on Alexander the Great, as well as the permanent collection of artifacts from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and elsewhere.

Also, they had a funny sign for their bathroom:
We had a light lunch in their cafeteria. It's amazing how a simple cheese sandwich can be so delicious!
We then went back to the hotel as Brian had more conference things to do. I took the opportunity to read (and perhaps nap) a bit.

He got back around 5 pm. We decided to go for a run. Amsterdam, at least the old part, is not conducive to running! We had to stop frequently for traffic, so it was more like interval training than a steady-state run, which is not necessarily a bad thing. We eventually found ourselves at a park where we saw some grey herons. We got a bit lost, but eventually made it back home, having completed about the distance we'd been hoping for.

We quickly showered and went out for dinner, choosing an Indian restaurant that was close by. I'm not sure why I have such a weird look on my face, but I suppose I should just be happy that my eyes were open in the picture.
The food was good, and we then pretty much returned to the hotel as Brian had another early day in front of him.

Day 3: Conference and Relaxation

2011-03-14T18:07:00.007-07:00

Saturday dawned with a full conference schedule. Brian had to get up early, but I got to sleep in. When he stopped by again, it was close to lunch time, so we went to a nearby cafe for lunch. As was everything we ate here, the food was delicious!The afternoon was filled with conference (for Brian), relaxation (for me), and a hard treadmill run (for both of us). Given our troubles running in the city, we decided it was best to take advantage of the treadmills while we still had them!

For dinner, we'd decided to go to a vegetarian place that was highly rated in all three of our guidebooks. However, we were unable to find it, and subsequent research had led us to believe it's not longer in business.

Not to worry, as we found a nice Italian place.
When we ordered garlic bread, this wasn't exactly what we were expecting, but it was delicious nonetheless!
With the conference over, we could now really get started with our sightseeing!

For me, it was nice to have these few days with limited activity as I could get over my jet lag and really appreciate what we saw later instead of seeing it through a tired-fog.

Day 4: New Apartment & Museums

2011-03-14T18:07:00.005-07:00

Sunday morning, after a last treadmill run, we had to pack everything up. Though we had another week in Amsterdam, we were moving from the hotel paid for by the conference to an apartment we'd rented. We couldn't check in to our apartment until the afternoon, so we left our luggage at the hotel (in their left luggage room) and set out to see some sights.

We went to the Amsterdam Historical Museum (they are in the process of rebranding as "Amsterdam Museum"), which was incredibly interesting. One of their exhibits was the recreated interior of a famous lesbian bar that had closed, but may possibly have been reopened?Since it had gotten to be lunch time, we stopped at the museum cafe. Brian had another sandwich and I had a pancake with apples, raisins, and honey.By the time we'd finished lunch, it was time to check in at our apartment. The entrance was in the middle of this picture. We were two flights of stairs up.
Brian, waiting for Daniel to show up and let us in:The apartment was very cute and well-designed to take as little space as possible. This was quite possibly the smallest bedroom I've ever seen -- pretty much just room for a bed:
The kitchen:The bathroom:The living room:Having dropped our stuff off, we walked to the Botanical Gardens.
We joked about what this tree must have done to get itself locked up:There was a building with tropical plants. It was very warm in here, so we spent a lot of time looking at the plants!
Our plan was to then go to the Tropenmuseum (which has exhibits on the tropical former Dutch colonies) or the Amsterdam Resistance Museum (about the Dutch response during WWII). We thought we were heading in the right direction, when suddenly we saw the Amsterdam Hermitage (which is in the opposite direction):Since we were here, we decided to visit. They also were having an exhibition on Alexander the Great.

Brian was standing there, trying to figure out how we got turned around, when a stray cat started rubbing against his leg. He was so startled and I got a good laugh out of that! Though she's trying to enter, we did not let her in the museum:
As it had gotten to the time when the museums were closed, we headed back home. The window of this coffeeshop made me laugh every time:
Though we didn't take any pictures, we stopped at the grocery store to buy dinner and snacks. (Our host stocked our fridge with bread, cheese, and yogurt for breakfast every morning.)

Then, we went to a coffeeshop for the full Amsterdam experience. Neither Brian not I felt the effects of this trip, so we were a bit disappointed; though in retrospect, perhaps that's a good thing. We returned home, munchie-free, and went to bed.

Day 5: Museums

2011-03-14T18:07:00.003-07:00

On Monday we decided to make use of our Museumkaart. We started by heading toward the area where the Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum are located. On the way, we stumbled upon a little park with many lizard sculptures. What a fun surprise!We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so here's an outside shot of the Rijksmuseum, which was undergoing renovation, but still had many old masters on display:And the outside of the Van Gogh Museum:Even in winter, there were so many people at both of these museums that we really couldn't enjoy ourselves as we would have liked.

Consulting the map in the book to make sure we weren't missing any museums:We decided to grab a quick sandwich from a street vendor:And then some more map-checking:This was at the Willet-Holthuysen Museum, which is a canalside mansion that's now open to the public. Brian was working on taking artistic photographs:Outside, in the W-H's courtyard: As we left to head to our next destination, I realized my hat and gloves had been taken from me:I think this may have been a picture of the W-H Museum from across the canal:Entering another museum (obviously, my notes and memory are lacking):About to enter the Rembrant House, which was one of my favorite places we visited.Outside, we saw many magpies; this guy is hiding in the tree:Here's an Indian Ringneck Parakeet. We also saw these in Istanbul and London. They are not native to any of these cities, but have adapted incredibly well:After our long day of museum-going (we visited several not mentioned here), we went to the grocery store near our house to grab stuff for dinner. The basket Brian is holding has wheels on the bottom and can be pulled with a fold-out handle as a mini-cart.Later that night, we had a Trappist taste test.I thought the Tripel won, but Brian preferred the Dubbel. We went to bed early as we had an early day of birding planned for the next day.

Day 6: Oostvaardersplassen

2011-03-14T18:07:00.001-07:00

Prior to coming to Amsterdam, we'd arranged a birding tour through Flevo Birding. Today was the day! We had to get up very early and take a train to a nearby station where our guide would meet us. Waiting for the train: Pigeons waiting for the train (starting our birding early!): On the train: At Oostvaardersplassen, we saw 59 species, many of which were new additions to our life list, as we had never before birded in Europe. Here are some waterfowl: Our guide brought a scope that we could use. We brought our own binoculars from home, but he had some we could have used had we needed to. Shovelers: Many people bird in the Netherlands, and they have nice birding blinds set up in popular spots. Every time we went to one, there were plenty of other people there. The view from the blind: Mostly herons: Mostly cormorants: We drove back to the visitors' center and ate a picnic lunch outside. This guy, a relative of our chickadee, had gotten rather tame and kept flying to our table, hoping for crumbs: Outside the visitors' center: We had to hike a fair amount to get to the next blind. Along the way, we passed some red deer: Our guide and Brian walking toward the blind:We passed so close to her! Walking up to the blind: It was extremely muddy; luckily no one lost their shoes, though we did end up with muddy pants: Near the end of the day: This mural was outside of the center: Modern windmills: We ended up seeing quite a few birds in these fields, which was fun. At the end of the day, our guide brought us back to the station. A starling contemplated taking the train with us back to Amsterdam: He was actually probably hoping we'd give him some food, but we didn't have any. Back home, we ate dessert first: And then had a nice stir-fry for dinner. We were disappointed in our dessert, feeling no effects from it.

Day 7: Haarlem

2011-03-14T18:06:00.004-07:00

On Wednesday, we took a train to the close town of Haarlem. We started at the square: And eventually made our way to the Teylers Museum. Open to the public since 1784, it's the oldest museum in the Netherlands. According to our guidebook, they've tried to keep everything as it had been, so no artificial light in the galleries. We loved it! Well, some artificial light:The museum had a cafe, so we stopped for a snack:Brian really didn't have two coffee drinks and two pieces of pie -- it just looks that way! Our next stop was the Frans Hals Museum. Unfortunately, it was in the process of being renovated, but we were still able to see quite a bit. We just didn't take pictures of it.We also went to the very charming Haarlem Historical Museum. Very highly recommended!We walked back to the main area through ancient streets:And stopped at a cafe for some lunch:We visited a few more museums and a church, and then headed back to Amsterdam. The Haarlem train station was very picturesque: We took the train back to Amsterdam and had a pleasant rest of the evening.

Day 8: Restful Thursday

2011-03-14T18:06:00.003-07:00

We'd seen most of the things we'd wanted to in Amsterdam and had discussed taking a day trip elsewhere, but laziness ultimately won out. We went to the Anne Frank House, which was more moving than expected. Waiting in line:No pictures allowed inside. Then, we stopped at a little cafe for a delicious lunch: The rest of the day was spent walking around and not taking pictures. It was wonderfully relaxing!

Day 9: Vondelpark

2011-03-14T18:06:00.001-07:00

Friday was out last full day in Amsterdam. We started the day with a run along the canals. The son of a friend of my mom's lives here, so we'd arranged to meet him Friday afternoon. He lived about 3.5 miles away from where we were staying, so we decided to walk to his place instead of taking a tram. Taking a short break en route to enjoy the park: We had a very nice time talking to him, his son, and wife, and then we walked back home through the Vondelpark. There were lots of people and animals out. Here's a pair of Egyptian Geese: Some moorhens:Exiting the Vondelpark:We had dinner close by, continuing our vacation trend of stopping at a Wagamama if convenient:Then we walked back home, exhausted from an exciting trip!

Day 10: Return Home

2011-03-14T18:05:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning, we woke up and packed. I realized we hadn't taken pictures out of our apartment window. You can see Centraal Station in the background; we were that close!Down the other way, towards Spuistraat: We walked to Centraal Station and bought our ticket to the airport: On the train:Our trip back home was uneventful. My dad picked us up at the airport, and it was great to see him again and catch up on things.

Day 1: Arrival

2011-02-16T18:08:00.001-08:00

Brian and I have decided to try to run a marathon in all 50 states. This will probably take us decades to complete! For my 4th state and his 2nd, we flew to New Orleans, Louisiana. We had an early afternoon flight out of town, which meant lunch at the airport:Once there, we picked up our rental car:
This guy really wanted to be listed first in the phone book!
We rented an apartment off of vrbo. Here is the exterior:
And some inside shots:
The ceilings were very high. This was much nicer than we were expecting.
After dropping off our stuff, we walked to the convention center where the expo was held.Here's the convention center. We entered in the opposite side of the building from where the expo was, so lots of walking was involved to get to where we needed to be:Finally, we made it!After we picked up our race numbers, we started walking back home. Since it was dinner time, we stopped at Slice and got some pizza:We then walked back home and relaxed in the apartment.

Day 2: Grand Isle

2011-02-16T18:07:00.006-08:00

Our second day in New Orleans, we wanted to be off of our feet as much as possible, so the plan was to drive down to Grand Isle State Park, birding along the way.

First, we had to stop at a store. I needed to buy sunblock for the race the next day, and Brian thought he might want to buy a cheap throw-away shirt to keep him warm while waiting for the race to start.

This is the cheapest one he could find, but ultimately decided against it and would just be a little cold to start:Here are some egrets and pelicans resting on a roof. It was pretty windy, as you can see from the egrets' feathers:
We had to stop and pay a toll to get to the park. They had a little kiosk in the gas station for this purpose:
The roads were elevated over the marshy land:
It was so beautiful! Brian is walking on this peninsula to get a better look at some water birds:
We saw a kestrel on the wire:
This is one of my favorite pictures ever. We noticed a roseate spoonbill, so Brian pulled to the side of the road so I could get a picture. This is what we got:A pelican, roseate spoonbill, and ibis taking off at the same time.

Blackbird in the reeds:
Finally, we made it to the park itself:
This wooden structure led to a bridge where we could get closer to the water:Coming in for a landing:
Pelicans flying:Off to the right, we noticed a dolphin that we originally thought was dying, as he was flailing about. However, we're pretty sure he was scrounging up food:On the drive back home, we got a view of the Superdome:We got home rather early and had a pre-race dinner of pasta and sauce. We went to bed in order to get a good night's sleep as the race was starting rather early in the morning and we needed time to get ready and walk to the start line.

Day 3: Marathon

2011-02-16T18:07:00.005-08:00

Marathon day! We got up very early and dressed:I didn't have the camera with me at the race, but we both did really well! I set a PR by almost 10 minutes and finished far faster than I had thought possible. Brian set a PR by over 30 minutes! We both felt great and are looking forward to doing more marathons. The race course was very flat and fast. We finished at a location quite a few miles from where our apartment was. The race had shuttle buses to downtown. We thought about walking the 3-4 miles home, but we were tired after the race, so Brian flagged down a taxi which dropped us off at our door.

After the race, I was pretty salty:
The shower felt really good!

After a bit of relaxing, we decided to stop by Audubon Park for a bit of bird watching. The race had gone through here, and we were both amazed by the fulvous whistling ducks flying around. We wanted to see more when we had our binoculars and were able to stand still!One of my friends happened to be running the race as well! A friend of hers used to live in New Orleans, and some of his friends invited us all to their house for dinner. Luckily, she is vegetarian as well, so she made a delicious vegetarian jambalaya:The table after the rest of them finished eating:
We got back home, exhausted, and slept well, again.

Day 4: Barataria

2011-02-16T18:07:00.003-08:00

The day after the marathon, we wanted to be out walking and moving around to work out the soreness in our legs. So we headed over to Barataria Nature Preserve. The view from the car driving over a bridge:Me, in front of the information place:
It was gorgeous!
We had a bird checklist, so when we saw something new, we could narrow down its possible identity:
We saw plenty of black vultures flying around; this guy was resting:
More scenery:
Some ibis walking around:
We stopped at a grocery store and had a picnic lunch near the preserve:
At another location, we found many armadillos! This guy was walking on the path, following behind us:
The armadillo is in the background:
This cute little raccoon was foraging around:
Crocodile! (Or, alligator; I can't tell)
There were many different habitats, so we got to see a variety of birds. Many of them were small and fast-moving, so no pictures. Luckily trees don't move!
Another armadillo, walking on the boardwalk:
And a snake on the boardwalk!
We stayed there all day, and returned to our car after dark. As the sun was setting, here's an egret. I loved how you can see his reflection.
We hated to disturb this egret, but he was perched on the side of a bridge we needed to cross.
Searching, mostly unsuccessfully, for more birds:
But we did see a squirrel:
This picture gives an idea of how dark it was. We didn't get him on camera, but we saw a black rail here:Rails are quite elusive, so this was very exciting!

Me, close to the car:
And with that, we returned home after a long but successful day of birding.

Day 5: More Birding

2011-02-16T18:07:00.001-08:00

The next day, we did some more birding. This seemed to me to be a typically Louisiana picture:A little shorebird on the mudflat:I love how Brian captured this seagull in mid stretch:We had to walk out along this ledge to get a better view:
Back at the information area. We'd asked where the best places in the park for birding could be found, and a very nice woman told us to follow her in her car.We would have walked right past this tree:But if you look closely, there was a great horned owl nesting there! (The woman let us take a picture through her scope):
We were lucky to see the striking red-headed woodpecker:
Then, off to another marshy area:We were just getting ready to leave when Brian heard a rustling in the grass. We decided to stay longer to see what might materialize. I am so glad we did as it was a king rail! We watched her for probably about 10 minutes. Our bird book said you probably won't see any rails -- just hear them -- as they are so elusive. And we got to watch her for a long time. It was great.
One final bird of the day:We returned home earlier than we had the night before in order to go for a short run. It felt great to run again, though we ended up running along the tram lines which could be a little nerve-wracking when a tram was coming! Luckily, they don't run very frequently and we were always able to get out of the way. The tram line appears to be one of the main running routes in the city.

Day 6: City Park

2011-02-16T18:06:00.005-08:00

The next day, we of course wanted to get more birding in, so we headed over to City Park. We saw these ducks, which I had identified at the time, but no longer remember what they are:I'll try to remember to look them up and post an update. We rely on the book a lot to help us with identification since we are new birders!
It was the middle of the morning, but everyone was ready for a nap:
We went to the Botanical Gardens. Apparently they were quite damaged by Katrina, but they are working on getting them back to their former glory.
Robin taking a bath in the fountain:
Me, in front of some trees:
Brian found the flower setting on the camera:
Inside the gardens:
House sparrows had invaded the nest box:
An employee saw us birding, and he recommended that we check out the cherry trees for hummingbirds. We'd looked for quite some time and were just about to give up when he, from across the flat, signaled to us that the hummingbird was there. These guys move so quickly! Some good camera-work by Brian resulted in some decent photos:
At rest, though backlit:
We then walked to the art museum, which is located in the park! We had a quick lunch at the cafe inside:
This was one of my favorite paintings, by artist Tom Uttech:
Taking a little break:
Back outside. A duck and turtle, living in harmony:
Parked in City Park, plotting our next move:
Back for more birding:
We saw lots of gulls. Gulls are really hard to identify for novice birders, as they look very much alike! We don't have too many gulls with black heads at home, so these guys were fun to see:

Day 7: Bayou Sauvage and Vieux Carre

2011-02-16T18:06:00.001-08:00

On our last full day in New Orleans, we wanted to get a bit more birding in. We stopped by Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge, which is very close to the city. It, too, suffered extreme damage during Katrina.

They had a very nice display which discussed the wildlife that lives there:
In the large tree, there is a hawk perched. We watched her fly around and located her in several different trees during our hike:
We saw this snake only because it made noise. I had been hoping to see another rail!
More ducks:
Driving along, we'd stop occasionally and walk a few meters into the brush alongside the highway, hoping to see things. Incredibly, this worked quite well -- there is so much to see in Louisiana! Here was part of a large flock of black-crowned night-herons. We were very luck to get to see so many, and during the day!A closer view:
We also got to see another black rail, though he was too far away to photograph well.

We decided that though we'd seen quite a bit of wildlife, we couldn't leave New Orleans without seeing the famed Vieux Carre. We dropped the car off at the apartment and took the streetcar downtown. Brian is waiting at the stop which was about 2 minutes away from our apartment:Approaching streetcars, and someone walking on the streetcar tracks:Blatently disobeying the rules as it very clearly stated to keep your head inside the car at all times!Self-portrait:Waiting at Cafe du Monde for our beignets. We should only have ordered one portion -- it was huge!We walked to a bench and ate them there. They were very powdery; unfortunately there was such a mess that we forgot to take pictures.We walked around a bit more and eventually made our way back home for our last night in New Orleans.

Day 8: Return Home

2011-02-16T18:05:00.000-08:00

Our flight was in the early afternoon, so we didn't have much time Friday morning for more sightseeing. We walked around the park some more and then went to Juan's Flying Burrito for lunch.We didn't visit any of the famed cemeteries, but here's a drive-by picture of some of the monuments:
Even the airport check-in counter was decorated for Mardi Gras (the wreath in the background):
Waiting for the plane:
Our flight home happened without a hitch, and another successful vacation complete!

Day 1: Arrival

2010-06-15T10:47:00.006-07:00

We decided to take a bit of a departure from the vacations we'd been taking lately and take a road trip into nature. We rented a cabin right on Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

On the way up, we stopped at a rest area for a drink:Brian wanted to do the majority of the driving, so my role was that of providing entertainment (interesting conversation, DJ skills, etc.), navigation, and wildlife watching. Usually that last one refers to me telling Brian to slow down so he doesn't hit the animal on the side of the road that might jump out in front of him (even though this "animal" frequently turns out to be litter).

But not always! I yelled at him to stop because a turtle was in the road. We had to turn around, and he hadn't moved. He was right in line of the tires, and showed no sign on moving! So Brian helped him along:Once placed in the grass, he scampered away to safety:Finally, we arrived at our destination. Here is the view of Lake Superior from the porch of the cabin:A view of the cabin, through the trees:
The sauna, right on the beach:
Brian, looking out at the lake from the beach:We were tired from driving all day, so just had a frozen pizza for dinner. And some beer!Then we got a bit of reading and/or video game playing done (I will leave it to your imagination as to which one of us did which of those things!) and went to bed.

We got up several times during the night to go out to the beach and look at the night sky. Because there is so little light pollution here, especially compared to where we live, we saw so many stars. It was amazing. Unfortunately, this was the only night cloudless enough for us to do this, so it's a good thing we did so, even though we were tired!

Day 2: Hiking

2010-06-15T10:47:00.005-07:00

On our first full day in Michigan, we were excited to get out and see some wildlife. particular birds, though we are very bad birders as we don't have binoculars! (This trip revitalized our interest in birding and we have binoculars on order that will hopefully be here by the end of the week).

There was a nice hiking trail withing walking distance of our cabin, so that's where we headed.Stopping at a stream, hoping to see something:
I got a little hot with my jacket, so Brian offered to (insisted on) carrying it. I think it was so he could have more bug protection! Luckily for me, the bugs were bothering him and leaving me alone!
Unknowingly, Brian had trapped a bug on his head when he put my jacket over his head to keep the bugs out. And then wondered why there was non-stop buzzing! He finally realized what had happened, got the bug out, and resumed his protective head cover.
Taking a rest and contemplating the beauty:Most of our wildlife sightings were signs of wildlife rather than the animals themselves, such as woodpecker holes:
And deer tracks:There were all kinds of interesting fungi growing:
In the middle of the trail, we came across this sad little chair (we did not sit on it!):
They are camouflaged, but here are two black-capped chickadees who were building a nest on top of this tree:More beautiful scenery:
Finally, the bugs got to be too much for Brian, who tried to scare them away with his jacket:

You can see Lake Superior in the background:We needed to cross a stream to get over to the lake. The first bridge option was pretty rickety:The more stable looking bridge had a barrier placed so we had to go over it to get to the bridge:A pretty wildflower growing on the barrier:Side view of the rickety bridge. Yes, that is a round trunk used as support!When we finally got to the lake, we skipped some rocks:A butterfly:We heard a frog, so we tried to locate him in the pond. These guys hide very well, but we finally saw him:
We walked back over the bridge:But then realized we needed t go back over the bridge again in order to follow the (confusing) trail. This bridge looks unstable, but we were walking over solid ground, so if we'd fallen off, our feet wouldn't have even gotten wet.It took us a lot longer to finish the hike than we anticipated. We had a great time, though! We walked back to the cabin. We ate lunch and then Brian did a sauna while I read and napped a bit. And did more of that through dinner. It was wonderful!

Day 3: Hiking

2010-06-15T10:47:00.003-07:00

Our third day was also mostly about hiking. On the side of the road, before we got to the place where we were hiking, we saw a turkey:Finally, we made it to the Porcupine Mountains. We went to the trail recommended by the person staffing the information center.

Here is Brian, right before embarking on the worst hike of our lives:
It was certainly beautiful!
Climbing the stairs to get to the lookout:
At times, between the clouds (it was raining a bit) and the trees, it seemed like we were hiking in the dark:The trails in Michigan tended to not be as well-kept as the trails closer to home. We actually preferred the trails in Michigan -- offering a bit of excitement, or steeplechase hiking:We finally finished the buggiest hike in history. We had bug spray in the car, but hadn't put any on since the bugs had not been bad the previous few days. That was a big mistake! We both had to use our jackets to cover our heads and much of the time was spent walking as quickly as we could to avoid more bites and get to the safety of the car!

We drove to another area of the park. Along the way, we saw a giant beaver swimming in a pond. Sadly, I didn't get a picture. He was huge!

This area is known for its waterfalls, and was basically bug-free!We came across this adorable squirrel:Who climbed in the tree upon our approach:This picture does not do justice to the steepness of the hill we climbed up (and down):But it was worth it, as the views were spectacular:The diversity of landscape in such a small area was pretty amazing:
He's hiding, but if you look closely, you can see a yellow-bellied sapsucker. At least that's what we think he is!We drove off to the third recommended hiking place, and it was astounding:Perhaps the best part was coming across these cedar waxwings building a nest:We also saw this dark-eyed junco. He sang for us for quite some time:
Back on the road, we stopped at a sign about a bat cave. There were no bats at the moment, but apparently during the fall, thousands of bats rest here:Across the road was a little pond where we found these two frogs:They blend in so well!

And then...

Another turtle in the road! We stopped the car to move him, as we had the previous one; however, this one ran off into safety as soon as he saw us coming:Brian followed him, lecturing him on safety and giving him other turtle life lessons. Namely, how it is not a good idea to hang out on the road where cars are going 55 miles per hour and most are not on the lookout for turtles! We doubt the turtle listened, though!Back at the cabin, we did a sauna. After dinner, we decided to go back out to the place where we had hiked yesterday. Our goal was to see at least one bird.

It was pretty chilly, so we got to wear some knitted goods:
Waiting peacefully for some birds:
Going to other areas to search:
Looking in trees:
Would you believe that, although we heard hundreds of birds in the trees, we couldn't see even one? They must all have been roosting for the night.

Defeated, we returned to the beach and walked around a bit:
Then, as always, returned to the cabin for a good night's rest. We estimated that we hiked a little over 10 miles, much of it over hilly terrain, so the rest was welcome.

Day 4: Hiking

2010-06-15T10:47:00.001-07:00

Given the activities of the past few days, I know it will come as a big shock that the next day was also devoted to...hiking!

We found an amazing little spot that looked like no one had been through in ages. The trail was barely noticeable. It was great.Here is a white-throated sparrow on the branch:
There were rocks placed strategically (intentionally, I suspect) so we could cross this stream:
Evidence of beavers hard at work was seen everywhere:
They even gnaw the branches off of the trunk!
The beavers had felled this tree, so we climbed in it to watch the wildlife. I'd guess 95% of what we saw were red-winged blackbirds, though there were a few unidentified birds that flew by (no binoculars!)
On the way back, Brian found a wild strawberry. We left it for the animals after each taking a tiny bite:
We came across this abandoned farm house, and did a bit of exploring, even though the house did not look stable at all.
There was a nest full of swallows in the upstairs.
We got back on the trail, when we were utterly surprised by the appearance of a spruce grouse and her young. You know how they always say that wild animals are more afraid of you than you are of them? I'm not sure if that was the case here, as we both screamed in fright!

We were quietly walking down the trail, when all of a sudden, 6 baby spruce grouses (grice?) shot out of the woods, across the trail, as though they'd been shot out of a cannon. Then, their mother ran across the trail, in full display. She was making the most awful sounds, pretending to be injured as a ploy to protect her chicks.

This was the only picture I could get of her, and I didn't get any of the chicks. We wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, to lessen the stress on her, and so she could collect her babies. I wish I had a video of the entire incident, as it seem so surreal now!
After a pretty short hike, we went to a brew pub for a late lunch. Yes, there is a brew pub in the little town near our cabin. And they brewed pretty good beer, too! I had a wheat and Brian had an IPA. We both ate a cheesy appetizer:
Later, we went out to another area for a bit of hiking. We saw cedar waxwings again:And mystery waterfowl:
Back at home, we went for a walk along the lake. We found this creepy spider among the rocks:
And another mystery waterfowl:
Brian had to figure out how to get across this little stream without getting his shoes wet:Success!
We went back to the cabin for what would be our last night in Michigan.

Day 5: Hiking & Return Home

2010-06-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

On our last day, we headed up north for some hiking (big surprise, that). We came across this giant map that you can see while staying in your car:There were all kinds of trails along the road we were driving on, so we'd stop and do a quick hike occasionally. We were rewarded with beautiful scenery:This sign made us laugh. There is no "maybe" about it -- they will destroy all bags!
When we saw this sign, we had to stop since we are members of The Nature Conservancy.
Then we saw this sign, so turned around (since we had passed it) and went for a hike here. It was one of the best hikes we have ever done!
There was a wide variety of landscape types. The trails did not appear to be maintained, so it was more steeplechase hiking, which we were coming to really enjoy.
We don't know what kind of bird would make such a big hole in the tree. It was so symmetrical and square, it almost appeared as though a human with tools had done it, though that's unlikely.
The trees were so overgrown that it was difficult to spot Brian, even when he was only slightly in front of me:
He was going to take a picture of me in the forest; unfortunately, I suffered a bug attack just as he snapped the picture:
But I quickly recovered:
Back on the road, I had never seen a yield sign that wasn't the regulation red and white one. How strange (and possible dangerous!):Hard to see from so far away, but a giant flock of cedar waxwings was in these trees:
One last stop off, at a little pond. We saw these red-breasted mergansers:
We drove back to the cabin; it was early afternoon. It was raining pretty heavily, and the forecast was calling for rain the rest of the night. We weren't supposed to leave until the morning, but we made the decision to leave a day early as we wouldn't be able to do any hiking anyway, and we'd rather sleep in our own bed.

We quickly packed and were on our way!

One last view of the lake, while in the car, right before we left:
Although this trip was unlike most of our previous vacations, we had a great time and will likely be planning more vacations like this one in the future!

Day 1: Arrival

2010-04-30T10:47:00.003-07:00

Last fall, I qualified to run the Boston Marathon. This is something that I thought would never happen, or maybe not until I was several decades older. I couldn't pass up the chance to run, even though I had no chance of winning. Brian agreed to accompany me. We'd head out there, I'd run the marathon, and then we'd have the following week to sight-see.

Here's Brian with our luggage, waiting for the bus to take us from extended stay parking to the airport:Entering the airport:
We made it to Boston with no difficulties, and took the T to the apartment we were renting for the week. We arrived before the official check-in time, but were allowed to leave our luggage in the apartment so we could go to the expo and pick up my packet.

I didn't get many pictures of the expo -- it was so crowded! This gives you some idea:
It was barely possible to move, so we left shortly after picking up my packet. We had lunch at the food court in the mall attached to the convention center (no pictures).

Finally, we got to our apartment. The outside:And some inside pictures:
It was a cute studio, rented from Zoe Apartments, which we recommend if anyone is traveling to Boston! Hotel prices skyrocket during the marathon, due to demand, and this was a very reasonable alternative.

We had just about the perfect location -- the North End, which is the Italian section. We were a block or two away from the Freedom Trail and the Old North Church.

A view of our street:Pre-marathon dinner is typically pasta. Since we were in the Italian section of the city, this worked out nicely! We ate at Panza.They had at least two vegetarian options on their menu, so we got to eat different entrees:We then returned home. I wanted to stay off of my feet as much as possible, and get lots of sleep before the race the next day!

Day 2: Marathon

2010-04-30T10:47:00.001-07:00

The next morning, we had to get up really early. Even though my wave of the race didn't start until 10:30, I had to be at Boston Common to catch a bus to the start around 6:30!

The night before, Brian had walked to the grocery store and stocked up on breakfast food, so I had some orange juice, yogurt and granola:We didn't have a camera with us at this point, since Brian was walking with me to the buses and then going for a run of his own. Our actions diverge for the next 8 hours.

We made it to the buses and I sat with a nice lady from Austin who was also running her first marathon. It took us almost an hour on the bus to get 26.2 miles to Hopkinton, where the race begins. There was an "Athlete's Village" set up on the lawn of a high school. It was several hours until the start, so I ate a bit, put more sunscreen on, and chatted with a few other runners.

At one point, the announcer says that we "might want to think about heading to the start line" which was almost a mile away from where we were. I immediately got up and was in a huge crowd of people. I made it to my corral just as the gun went off! I would have had a bit more time to prepare mentally, but it was not to be.

It was just about a perfect day to run a marathon. The temperature and weather were fantastic! The first seven miles are all downhill, so I had to make a conscious effort not to go out too fast and save some energy for later! Everything was just about perfect until about mile 22. I reached into my shorts for my last energy gel. For those of you non-runners, this is food of a toothpaste-like consistency that runners eat during races because they are easily-digestible. As I was opening it, the gel slipped out of my hand! There were way too many runners around me for me to safely stop and get it.

Then, at mile 23, I was going to console myself with a Gatorade at the water stop. However, there was a line of 20-25 soldiers in fatigues marching along the course, completely blocking the water stop! I have no idea why this happened! In any case, I missed two fueling options and was starting to feel it.

In any case, I had set a reachable goal as a finish time and, despite the fueling snafus, finished more than 10 minutes faster than my goal, so I was happy. And I will carry an extra energy gel (or two) from now on!

I had a great experience and am very happy that I was able to run Boston. As I've said, though, now that I've run marathons in 3 states, I may have to complete one in every state so I can become a member of this club.

After going through the finish chute (mylar blanket, medal, warm-ups, food), I exited into the street and found Brian in the meet-up area. Here I am, exhausted, sweaty, and smelly:Now, on to Brian. While I was waiting for the bus, he went for a run around Boston's harbor area. He then went back to the apartment, showered, and then set out in Boston to wait for me to finish.

As it was Patriot's Day (a huge deal in Boston), there was a reenactment of Paul Revere's ride, which I think this is part of the set-up for:
Brian almost got run over by reenactor Paul Revere as he was not expecting a galloping horse to come through a small street at the same time he was crossing!

He sat in front of this fountain for a while:
Was harassed by this pigeon who wanted some food (but was disappointed):
And watched the sparrow take a bath in the fountain:
We walked from the end of the marathon to our apartment. Normally, the post-race shower is one of the best parts of the race. However, not this time. Our only complaint about our apartment is that it had the worst shower I have ever seen. I really shouldn't complain, as there are many people in the world who don't have a shower at all, but I have expectations for American showers. Like enough water to get me wet.

This one was like a gentle drizzle of water. Occasionally, it was hot; more often, it was lukewarm. Had I been walking outside when rain started falling to mimic the amount coming out of the shower, I wouldn't have even needed an umbrella. It was that bad. I really didn't feel clean the entire week, and usually had to huddle under the covers for a few minutes to beat the chill of the shower.

So, I showered as best as I could, and we headed out to an Irish Pub for a celebratory drink.Cider!After walking around a bit more, we went to Wagamama for dinner. We'd been in one in London on our trip there in 2008.
Brian did not actually use the chopsticks as we didn't want to spend 5 hours at dinner!They had Asian beer for sale:I was still a bit hungry, so we stopped in Dunkin Donuts for a taste of my childhood. Brian had never had a strawberry frosted before (though I don't remember jimmies on them...)! I hadn't had one in years, and thoroughly enjoyed this one. I told Brian some of my dad's doughnut stories, but I'm not sure he believed them.A night view of our street:Exhausted, we went to bed pretty early. Brian was pretty excited that the apartment had satellite TV, so he got to watch SportsCenter, which our over-the-air household misses out on.

Day 3: Whale watching

2010-04-30T10:46:00.004-07:00

Tuesday, the day after the marathon, was a sort of rest day. My legs were tired, so we chose sightseeing options to give me a bit of a break. After a breakfast in our rented apartment, we headed over to the harbor for a whale-watching tour.

Waiting for the tour to begin (we had to get there early because they didn't sell advanced tickets.) Actually, the website recommends buying advanced tickets, but Brian went there while I was running the marathon and was told they don't sell them. Weird!:In line, waiting to get on the boat:View of the harbor from the boat:
The boat took us about 30 miles off of the shore, to a marine sanctuary. We had a great day for seeing marine wildlife. The dolphins were very playful and swam close to the boat:The naturalist pointed out two kinds of whales. This is a humpback's tail:I know we also saw finback whales. These next two pictures are of whales, either humpbacks or finbacks.Inside the boat, having a snack:Back on dry land, we wandered over to the Public Gardens and Boston Common. They are separate entities, but right next to each other.This guy with no shirt but suspenders kept us entertained for quite some time. He was quite the dancer!We walked to the Granary Burying Ground, which is one of Boston's oldest cemetaries. Benjamin Franklin's parents are buried here.A man handed out folders of information at the entrance, so you could do a self-guided tour:We took the T to Chinatown and ate at My Thai Vegan Cafe, where we had an absolutely delicious meal. Since everything was vegetarian (vegan, actually), we had so many choices!We walked back towards our apartment, taking in the nightlife and stretching our legs.

Day 4: Cambridge

2010-04-30T10:46:00.003-07:00

On our 4th day in Boston, we went out to Cambridge, where Harvard and MIT are located. We walked around Harvard's campus a bit, and then went to their art museum. The museum is actually undergoing renovations right now, so they have compressed their collection into a small space, showing only the all-stars.

But what all-stars they have! Pretty much everything on display was a masterpiece.We then went to a sandwich place for lunch:
We took a bus out to Mt. Auburn Cemetery, a national historic landmark. The literature we received at the cemetery said that the success of the landscaping led to public parks and gardens becoming more popular in America.
At the top of a tower placed at the highest spot in the cemetery:Waiting to take the bus back to Cambridge:A friend had recommended that we go to John Harvard's Brew House, so of course we did! We had some beer and appetizers.

Outside:Inside:Back in Boston, we stopped in a park to decide our next move:This street sign was not so helpful, at least from this angle:Without realizing that there was a Bruins home playoff game taking place that night, we decided to eat at Boston Beer Works. The restaurant was right across the street from the Garden, where the Bruins and Celtics play:We were pretty much the only people not wearing Bruins or Red Sox gear. We were early enough to get a table right away:
Yum!I had one of their microbrews that had actual blueberries in it:Walking back to the apartment, we stopped at another Boston institution, Mike's Pastry. There were lines out the door and snaking down the block most nights. We weren't willing to wait that long, but this night was crowded inside, but not to an unmanageable degree.

Here's Brian, placing his order:
And with the pastries:
We each had a cannoli for dessert, and then another one for breakfast the next day. They were good, but not any better than any other pastry we ate this week. I don't understand the long lines!

Day 5: Arboretum & Sam Adams brewery tour

2010-04-30T10:46:00.001-07:00

Thursday morning started off with a run -- my first since the marathon. We did 5 1/2 miles around the harbor -- it felt great! After breakfast, we took the T out to Jamaica Plain, and had lunch at the Purple Cactus:Then we went to the Arnold Arboretum.They had a bonsai exhibit, but it was locked up, so we had to look through the bars. Maybe it's always locked up -- some of these little trees were several centuries old.
We went on a Sam Adams brewery tour:We took a train back to Boston and stopped at Caffe Vittoria for a bit of rest and some coffee drinks.A bit exhausted, we went back to the apartment to rest for a bit. A huge thunderstorm arrived in Boston shortly after we were inside. It left almost as quickly as it came, and things were dry again for dinner.

We ate at Antico Forno on Salem Street, one block over from where we stayed.The food was absolutely delicious -- highly recommended!

On Thursday evenings, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston is free, so we walked over there. The building is cantilevered:
Brian remembers seeing a vignette about this building while watching "This Old House."

In the elevator:Too much photography and not enough installations for my liking, but they mostly had temporary exhibits, so maybe next time it would be more interesting.

Walking back to the apartment, we found these giant benches that were next to speakers piping Frank Sinatra music. So we relaxed for a bit, enjoying life.

Day 6: Museum of Fine Arts

2010-04-30T10:45:00.004-07:00

Friday started off with coffee at a local coffee shop:We then hopped the T with the intent of going to the Mapparium at the Mary Baker Eddy museum. We hadn't brought our guidebook along and were relying on memory as to how to find this place, so it took a little more time than expected. Finally, we knew we were in the right place:
The Mapparium was very interesting, though we weren't allowed to take any pictures. It's a giant glass globe that you can walk inside! The acoustics are such that you can hear whispers across the room as though the person was talking to you.

We had an appointment at one at the Museum of Fine Arts, which left us just enough time for a quick lunch:
And then on to the Museum of Fine Arts:
The son of a friend is an artist who works at the MFA. Although he was very busy preparing to open the new wing of the museum, he took time out to take Brian and me on a tour, telling us interesting anecdotes about several of the pieces. We were so happy that he did, as it made our trip that much more memorable and interesting. I will never look at mounts in the same way again!

Although I could have taken pictures, we left the camera in the coat room; as we were leaving, I asked Brian to take my picture in front of the nearest piece of art:
We walked around a park for a bit (right across the street from the MFA). Among other things, we saw this goose sitting on her nest:
We took the T back to the North End. This sign made me laugh every time we saw it:
We ate at a pizzeria on Salem Street. The pizzas were huge! We could have shared one:
We walked around a bit more; I bought a Boston Marathon T-shirt from Bill Rodgers's running store.

Then, we stopped at the Bell and Hand, which is possibly the 10th oldest bar in America, dating from 1795. Brian had a Sam Adams Boston Red Brick Ale, which is available only in the Boston area. I had a cider, which should be more available in America; sadly, it is not as popular a drink as I think it should be!
Walking home, we crossed a street that has some public art. Near the haymarket, an artist has installed some public art in the crosswalk of squashed garbage. This is near a market selling fruits and vegetables.
On Friday night, we saw some actual squashed fruit near the squashed fruit art:
I was across the street while taking this picture, but you can see the line forming outside of Mike's Pastry.
Another great day came to and end!

Day 7: Gardner Museum

2010-04-30T10:45:00.003-07:00

Saturday was our last full day in Boston. We decided to start with an 8 mile run along the banks of the Charles River, as had been suggested to us by some of our friends. Beautiful scenery met us almost every step of the way.

Back to the apartment, we ate breakfast and showered. We did some of the historic sights that we had not yet done, such as the Paul Revere mall where there is a statue of the patriot:We also visited the Old North Church, made famous by Longfellow's poem:
We needed a bit more cash:
And then we made it to one of the highlights of our trip, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let us take pictures of the inside, though I really would have liked to have done so!
If I lived in Boston, I would be here all of the time! Here is Brian exiting the museum:
We ate lunch at a place near the museum called Thaitation.The food was delicious:
Though we couldn't get tickets to a Sox game, we wanted to see Fenway Park. Here it is:Brian saw the little sign indicating a T stop across a parking lot, near Fenway. We made our way over there, but it was not a normal T station. I have a feeling it may just run during games?
So we got another view of Fenway:
The Boston Citgo sign, which I saw while running the marathon:
We finally made it back to the city center. We went to the Boston Public Library to look around a bit.

Outside:
Inside:
Unfortunately, the tree is casting a shade over this, but it's on the ground, showing the marathon route. A few more pictures from our wanderings:We wanted to go into Charlestown for dinner. Given our location, that meant following the Freedom Trail:
We had drinks at the Warren Tavern, which is said to have hosted George Washington and Paul Revere, and is possibly the 9th oldest bar in the US.
We had appetizers, as well:We decided that our last dinner should be in the North End, where we stayed and where we'd spent much of our time. Trying to decide whether or not to eat here:
Yes -- Ducali Pizza it was.
A good last evening, we returned to our apartment.

Day 8: Return home

2010-04-30T10:45:00.001-07:00

Sunday, our last day in Boston, one week after we arrived.

We had to be out of our apartment by 11 am and our flight didn't leave until the evening, so our choices of activities were limited to those in which we could bring our luggage with us!

Which meant we sat around, relaxing:An interesting street light:
Pigeon-watching (this guy has some string wrapped around his leg. I hope he made it OK. I kind of wanted Brian to capture him -- he has caught pigeons before when we did wildlife rescue -- but didn't want to cause a scene):
In a park:
When we went to the T to take it to the airport, there was a sign saying that the Blue Line was closed! So we had to get on a bus that took us to another bus that took us to another bus that took us to the airport. I wasn't sure we'd make it, but we did!Dropped off at the airport:
And with that, we got on our plane (which was on time) and headed home. As always, we had a wonderful trip.

Days 1-2: Arrival

2009-10-29T10:59:00.001-07:00

Our flight left late Friday night and we arrived Saturday evening in Istanbul, Turkey. Our hotel had arranged a transfer for us from the airport, so we found the people holding the sign with our name on it, and soon we were arriving at Tash Konak hotel in Sultanahmet (Old Town) district of the city.After checking in and showering, we went out to get dinner and explore the city a bit. We also had our first (but certainly not last) feral cat sighting:

We ate at Can Restaurant, which was a cafeteria-style restaurant.After dinner, we walked across the street to the Hippodrome and rested on a bench for some time, enjoying the sights of the city.Here I am though I can't remember why we took this picture!
We made it back to the hotel and tried to go to bed. It was Saturday night, and our window overlooked a street that appeared to be out of the way and not busy. But looks can be deceiving!

There was so much noise! Brian joked that an Angry Men's Arguing Club was convening outside, as what sounded like heated conversations (in Turkish, so we couldn't be sure) took place until the early morning hours. There were also many car horns, cat fights, and other assorted noises.

We decided that drivers in Istanbul were the most extreme that we'd ever seen. Both of the guidebooks we used (Lonely Planet and Rick Steves) made sure to mention that pedestrians never have an assumed right of way. Honking car horns were so prevalent we wondered if somehow the gas pedals are rigged so as to emit a horn beep at regular intervals.

Though the street our hotel was on was not very busy, it was quite curvy and narrow. Back home, if such a street existed, it would probably be no parking, one way only, and with a speed limit of 15. Here, there were cars parked on both sides, traffic coming from both directions, and, though I'm not sure of the official speed limit, cars were traveling much faster than 15!

Instead of driving slowly and making sure a car was not approaching around the corner from another direction, drivers beep to let other cars know to stay out of their way. And that's why we were woken up several times every hour by car horns -- every single car that drove by honked!

This just added to the charm of the city, though, and provided us with jokes and laughter during our stay. We did ask to be moved to an inside room, but were told they were all full. We just took Benadryl to help us sleep the nights when it was too warm to have the windows shut, and wound up having a delightful stay.

Day 3: Hagia Sophia & Archaeology Museum

2009-10-29T10:58:00.004-07:00

On our first full day in Istanbul, we ate breakfast at our hotel and then headed out for some sightseeing. And, what do we come across, but the finish line of the Istanbul Marathon and 15K! Had we known, we would have tried to do the 15K.There is so much history in Istanbul. It was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire for close to 1,000 years, and then it was the capital of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 500 more. Remnants of its past glory are everywhere!

Take, for example, this pillar:
Our destination was Hagia Sophia, though getting there was a bit more challenging than anticipated due to the race course. Incidentally, this great structure was the catalyst for our trip to Istanbul. It plays a role in one of my favorite books, The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.

The outside:From this viewpoint, if we swiveled 180 degrees, we had a view of the impressive Blue Mosque (visited later in the trip).
Relaxing on a bench, enjoying the day:I was reading about what to expect in Hagia Sophia:Renovations have been going on for decades and are very slowly progressing, hence the scaffolding on the left side of this picture:Hagia Sophia was originally a cathedral under the Byzantines (Eastern Romans) and then turned into a mosque under the Ottomans. In the 1930s, it was transformed again, this time into a museum.Because of its history, Christian and Muslim symbols are present.It's a bit hard to see, but this pigeon had entered the museum and is perched on a metal beam:Still tired from our trip, we spent a fair amount of time watching him fly around.

Outside was a frieze of sheep from the Byzantine period:After our visit and just in time to soak the 4+ hour marathoners, it started to rain. Prior to leaving for Istanbul, we'd checked the weather and rain was predicted for every day. W e lucked out, as this was the only rain we'd face our entire trip.

Umbrellas were everywhere and I was amazed at how quickly all of the street vendors were selling them! Since we are not made of sugar and find walking down narrow streets to be quite unwieldy with an umbrella, we just quickened our pace and walked on.
The Archaeology Museum was our destination:As you can imagine, the historical artifacts we saw were amazing. Brian is looking at some stelae:
We never made it over to the ancient ruins of Troy, but this museum had a replica of the Trojan Horse:The Archaeology Museum is housed in several buildings; in between buildings, we stopped for some refreshments:Whenever we purchased a drink in a can (i.e. soda, juice), we were given a straw.

Back inside, I posed next to many different ancient carvings:
I think this lion may have been my favorite piece:
Famished, we headed over to lunch. Outside of the restaurant (right along the marathon course):We spent the rest of the day walking around, soaking up the city. Dinner was eaten at a nondescript and disappointing restaurant. We didn't even think to take a picture!

Exhausted, we returned to our room. Since it wasn't as hot as the night before, we were able to close the window and get a better night's sleep as the Angry Men's Arguing Club's noises were muffled.

Day 4: Bosphorus Cruise

2009-10-29T10:58:00.003-07:00

Monday, like all of our days in Istanbul, started with the hotel's breakfast. Here's Brian helping himself at the buffet:And our plates full of food. The yogurt was so delicious!
The room where we ate breakfast was on the top floor of the building, allowing for spectacular views:
We particularly enjoyed watching the interaction among the seagulls!

Back in our room, Brian double-checked details of our day:We were going on a Bosphorus cruise, so we headed out towards the Bosphorus Strait, which is the connector between the Sea of Marmara and The Black Sea.

We got there a bit early, so we waited at the harbor, enjoying the views and walking around a bit:

On this bridge, you can see people fishing on top and restaurants underneath:Off to the left in this picture, you can see a giant cruise ship that is docked. Pretty much every day, a different large cruise ship was docked there. I can't even imagine trying to cram all of Istanbul into one day -- a week was even too short!This is the boat that would take us almost to the Black Sea and back (not exactly environmentally friendly!):Some views from the ship:

This large building is the Istanbul Modern Art Museum, which we would visit later in our trip:

Though we didn't get any of them on camera, as we were setting off, we saw dolphins jumping out of the water! We pointed them out to the Australians sitting near us, but they weren't too impressed as it's a frequent occurrence in their homeland. Juxtaposition of new and old, a common theme here:Also, of rich:And poor:A far view of the Black Sea:Hard to believe that so many battles have taken place in an area that was so peaceful the day of our visit.

This castle on top of the hill was our destination: As the ship was docking, competing restaurants tried to attract attention and draw lunchers:A bit hard to see, but jellyfish! One of our guidebooks stated that very few people swim in the Bosphorus due to the prevalence of jellyfish and garbage.So many seagulls!So many cats!As we only had a few hours at this stop, it was unlikely we'd have enough time to eat a sit down lunch and trek to the castle ruins on the hill. We stopped at a bakery and bought a picnic lunch to eat near the castle.The trek up was very steep, but we made it!Lunch with a view: I explored some of the abandoned parts of the castle. However, they were full of garbage and smelled bad, so I didn't spend much time there.More incredible views:A camoflagued butterfly:This map gives an idea of the climb we made to get to the top:We returned to sea level, and had some time until the boat departed. We stopped at a nearby restaurant for a beer and relaxation:The boat returned us to Istanbul, and we headed to the Galata Tower. View from the top:This ladder store's method of advertising its wares seemed possibly dangerous and certainly unlucky as the ladders blanketed the sidewalk: Crossing the bridge, back to our side of town:In the setting sun, we saw the aquaduct in the background, reminding us once again of Istanbul's Roman past:We stopped in a British pub for a quick drink (are we in Istanbul or London?):A carpet salesman stopped us on our way to dinner and offered to take us back to his factory to show us how to buy a carpet. We declined! But, as we were talking to him, we saw one of the many stray cats jump into a nearby tree:The birds aren't safe anywhere!

We ate dinner at Doy Doy, a restaurant near our hotel with a rooftop terrace and an amazing view of the Blue Mosque:Light on vegetarian options, we had cheese pide, Turkish pizza:After dinner, we returned to our hotel.

Day 5: Chora Church & City Walls

2009-10-29T10:58:00.001-07:00

After breakfast, we grabbed a taxi and headed to Chora Church. Like the Hagia Sophia, it was a church, converted to a mosque, converted to a museum. It is known for its beautiful Byzantine mosaics.

We got there a bit early, before it opened, so we sat in a cafe and read a bit about what we were about to see:We're not sure what this cat did to earn the medal he was wearing:
Here is the entrance to the church; pretty unassuming:
Cats in the courtyard:
The outside of the church:
And the inside, with views of some of the mosaics:
Me, in the interior:After leaving the church, we walked around the area a bit and explored the city walls that once kept Istanbul safe.

We also saw a rare Turkish Van cat, though we didn't realize it at the time and didn't get a picture! She was all white and had one blue eye and one green. She was so striking and beautiful, but gone before we thought to take her picture. The rest of the trip, we closely examined the eyes of the white cats we ran across, but didn't find another van.

The steps to get to the top of the walls was so steep, we didn't even realize it was a staircase at first!I made it!To try to give the idea of exactly how steep it was, here's a view looking down:We were rewarded with views of the city, in my opinion superior to those we saw yesterday at the Galata Tower, and free!The walkway to reach the tower was treacherous; several feet wide, no handrail, and a steep drop down on both sides!Standing on 5th century walls, watching 21st century traffic file by:Here's another view of the crossing to get back to the steep staircase that will lead us back to the ground:Brian went down first, and then me. A bit more difficult than going up!Near the city walls was an old cemetery, so we wandered around a bit:We headed in the direction of our next destination with the intention of grabbing a cab. But, before we got there, we ran across some chickens in a park: This duck and chicken were following each other around, inseparable:We sat down in the park to enjoy watching the chickens a bit, and to plan our next move:We went to the Bulgarian church, which was constructed in Vienna out of metal and brought, prefabricated, to Istanbul.

The outside:
The inside:A scary tomb in the courtyard:We then caught a cab that dropped us off at the Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent.

Sadly, much of it was inaccessible due to renovations. In the courtyard, I pet a cat:This picture was taken in one of the smaller structures; the burial place of Suleyman and many of his children:We ate lunch at an outdoor cafe popular with students (this is close to Istanbul University).Our guidebook said not to miss their pumpkin dessert, so we tried it:After lunch, we headed for a Turkish bath, known as hamam. This is the outside; no pictures were taken inside:As expected, it was ridiculously hot in the hamam, so we needed to drink a lot of water to rehydrate ourselves:We did enjoy the hamam, and on our next visit to Turkey, will do one the night we get there, to help us recover from the plane ride.

We walked around a bit, hitting the Spice Bazaar, and doing some people watching.

I couldn't help but take a picture of this scene unfolding in front of us. We're right on a busy street, but a wrought iron fence separates the plaza from the busy street. A man got dropped off in a taxi, along with many garbage bags! We sat watching for 10 minutes or so, but nothing happened and then we went on our way. How bizarre!Where to, next? We visited another mosque, of which we didn't take any pictures, and then went to a cafe for a beer.We were given a tiny treasure chest into which we placed our payment:While walking around and trying to decide where to eat dinner, we came across a barbershop and Brian decided to get a shave. In an effort to pack light, he hadn't brought a razor with him and was just planning on growing facial hair on the trip, but his plans suddenly changed.

Before:During:And after:We ate dinner at a restaurant near our hotel. I just had water to drink; Brian had ayran -- a Turkish yogurt drink. As usual, being the exciting night owls we are, we walked around a bit more and then headed back to our hotel.

Day 6: Dolmabahce Palace & Military Museum

2009-10-29T10:57:00.004-07:00

After breakfast, we headed to the tram stop in order to take the trolley across town. Waiting for it to arrive:Our destination was the Dolmabahce Palace, which the sultans built in the middle of the 19th century, partly to dispel rumors that the Ottoman Empire was in financial trouble, and partly to keep up appearances with their rivals. We were not allowed to take any pictures inside, but it was very glamorous, and rivals the most opulent European palace.

The outside gate:

Buying our tickets:
As an aside, many of the bathrooms we went into had both old-fashioned Turkish toilets:
as well as modern ones:
On several occasions, I would be in the bathroom, opening doors until I found a modern toilet at the same time an older Turkish woman would be doing the same, but looking for a traditional one!

Back to the palace; we had to put little pink covers over our shoes to protect the floors:

After the tour of the inside of the building, we walked around the grounds a bit:
Around the back, we found a little outdoor aviary with all sorts of chickens and other fowl:

These guys seemed to be having an engrossing conversation:We walked through a few other buildings on the ground (pictures, once again, were disallowed). Then, we walked to Istiklal Avenue, which is, according to our guidebook, where much of life in Istanbul centers. Near here is where Agatha Christie worked on writing Murder on the Orient Express.

We had lunch at vegetarian-friendly Zencefil.This nostalgic trolley was running, but we didn't try it:We did stop for ice cream, though!We were nearing the time for the Military Museum's band's performance, so we headed over to the Military Museum.

We sat in the back, so this was our view:Though neither one of us is a military buff, we really enjoyed our visit here! Apparently, since it is a bit out of the way, it doesn't get as many tourists as it really should. I heard, however, that they have plans to move the exhibitions to Topkapi Palace, which means more people will get to see them.

After, we tried to buy a couple of CDs of the band's music in the gift store. We waited for about 10 minutes, but no one came to help us. We sat down in the chairs provided, but lost our place in line when a field trip let out:The kids cleared through quickly, and we went to buy our CDs. They were 1.25 Turkish Lira each, and we tried to buy two CDs and pay with a 5 TL bill. They didn't have change! We just couldn't believe it. We scrounged around for TL change and had 1.25, so we only were able to buy one.

We took public transportation back to the Sultanahmet district, and had dinner at a place recommended in our guidebook, Lale's Pudding Shop:After dinner, we went back to our hotel.

For the most part, Istanbul was similar to any large European city. While there certainly were Muslim and Asian influences, it wasn't as exotic as I expected it to be. The one big exception is the call to prayer that takes place 5 times a day. This rings out from speakers positioned on the minarets each mosque has.

Here is a short video taken from our hotel room where you can hear the call to prayer from the mosque across the street. The actual call is a bit longer; I only taped a portion of it.

Day 7: Cistern & Topkapi Palace

2009-10-29T10:57:00.003-07:00

Thursday started with one of the sights that I most wanted to see; an underground Roman cistern.

It did not disappoint! Though, it was quite dark, so some of the pictures did not turn out very well. This was built under the Emperor Justinian in AD 532. At some point it was closed and forgotten about. It was rediscovered in the 16th century.
There were fish swimming in the water.Apparently it was built using capitals, columns, and plinths from ruined buildings, which, in my opinion, makes its symmetry and size that much more impressive.

Occasionally, there would be a gem, such as this highly decorated column:Or these Medusa heads:After the cistern (a highlight!), we went to Topkapi Palace. This is where the sultans lived prior to the Dolmabahce Palace, which we visited earlier in the week.

In the courtyard, we thought we saw a van cat and went over to photograph her; however, her eyes were the same color. She didn't seem happy with our intrusion!Sitting in the shade, relaxing, and planning our next move: Since the line to visit the Harem was nonexistent, we started there.We walked on a stone mosaic path:A beautiful prison, but a prison nonetheless to the women who spent their lives in the harem:We saw indian ringneck parakeets flying overhead, their brilliant green framed by the stunning blue sky. The pictures didn't turn out, though! There were many different buildings, pavilions, and courtyards in the palace. Many of them were under renovation, but we still had a great time.And yet more beautiful views:We then headed over to the Istanbul Modern Art Museum, where we started with lunch.Photographs were not allowed of the exhibits.

Back near our hotel, we stopped off at a cafe for drinks and a cheese plate:The cheese plate ended up being bigger than anticipated, so our appetizer turned into dinner.

This cat was stalking us a bit: We also were watching these birds from our outdoor table:After wandering about the city a bit more, we returned to our hotel. We had to get up early the next day, so wanted to be sure to get enough sleep.

Day 8: Termal

2009-10-29T10:57:00.001-07:00

On Friday, we took a day trip to the city of Termal, a place where there are many natural hot springs. This required taking a ferry to Yalova and then a dolmus mini bus.

We arrived at the ferry station in plenty of time in order to guarantee we'd get tickets. After purchasing our tickets, we waited in the beautifully landscaped outdoor garden until it was time to leave:

I drank a little flavored water: Boarding the ferry:It was full. Everyone had assigned seats, which confused many, many people. Luckily we were able to figure this out from the ticket and quickly found our seats.The trip took a little over an hour, so we went outside for a while:Arriving at Yalova:Our next step was to find the right dolmus to take us to Termal.The procedure went much more smoothly than anticipated. Here I am, in the minivan:Once at Termal, we had to decide which of the baths to go to. We decided on Sultan Banyo.Brian filled the tub up with hot water:Then he ran some cold water to counteract the extreme heat in the room:Once finished, we looked at the map to plan the rest of our day:Even on the Asian side of Turkey, stray cats are everywhere!We had lunch:Reenergized, we walked around the town, through parks, and visiting some natural hot springs: Right after taking this picture, which includes a giant pipe, I hit my head on the pipe as I was looking down at my feet to make sure I didn't slip! Luckily, no major damage was done -- just a slight headache.Some foul-smelling steam, supposedly with healing properties, emerged from this stone structure. I was not as into immersing myself in it as Brian was, that's for sure:More hiking:He's almost camouflaged:When we first saw this steamy area, we weren't sure how to use it.

Joking around; only partly in bad taste:And then using it as we believe they were intended: We did a bit more relaxing:

Our view from that angle:We took a dolmus back to Yalova in order to buy our tickets and catch the ferry. It's a good thing we got there a bit early, as tickets were selling quickly. I don't know what we would have done if we would have missed our way back to Istanbul! At the time we took this picture, there were only 9 seats left:Back in Istanbul: We ate dinner at Dubb, and Indian restaurant highly recommended by our guidebook, and specially mentioned for their vegetarian selections. The meal was delicious!And so was the view (that's the Hagia Sophia):Only one full day left in Istanbul, we returned to our hotel.

Days 9-10: Blue Mosque & Return Home

2009-10-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

Our last full day in Istanbul started with a visit to the one major sight we'd not yet seen; the Blue Mosque.Mosques are generally open to visitors; however, they are closed during prayer time. Also, everyone must remove their shoes and ladies must cover their heads.

I am standing at the bottom of this column in order to give a sense of scale:Another view of the Hagia Sophia:There is a park in between the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. We found a bench to relax while sitting in the shadows of history. Not too many people were there yet, so it was quite peaceful.

This little sparrow was hopping around the fence:This pigeon landed gracefully in the pond:All of a sudden, that peaceful pond turned into a fountain; the pigeon knew the routine as he flew away just before the jets started:

For lunch, we headed to a little place where we sat on cushions on the floor:Then we walked around, heading back over to the area where Istanbul University sits.We walked through the Grand Bazaar, though we didn't take any pictures. Istanbul ended up having much warmer weather than was predicted. I had brought along mostly long-sleeved shirts, which turned out to be a mistake. Saturday was particularly warm, so we bought a Turk Telecom soccer jersey. There was a big match the next day, so several Turks made encouraging comments to me about my clothing choice.

I had wanted to see the aqueducts up closer, so we walked over in that direction. A nice park was located adjacent to the aqueduct, so we stopped to enjoy the city a bit more:Cats and pigeons, living in harmony:The aqueduct:We saw several parks that had exercise equipment in them; every time, there were also some Turks using the equipment, often wearing business attire:A column, in repose:You'd think we'd take more pictures on our last days, but the opposite happened. The above picture was the last one we took!

We eventually made our way back to the area where our hotel was located. We had drinks, and then ate dinner. I had raki, a traditional Turkish alcoholic beverage that tasted like licorice.

Then, back to our hotel.

Our plane left late morning, so we had time for a leisurely hotel breakfast. The hotel had arranged a taxi to take us to the airport, and we made it back home, no problems.

We had another amazing trip. There is so much history in Turkey that we definitely need to go back to explore other areas of the country, and I will enthusiastically recommend an Istanbul vacation to anyone who will listen!

Days 1-2: Arrival & Alajuela

2009-05-28T13:57:00.003-07:00

In May 2009, we decided to go to Costa Rica as we wanted to see wildlife. We considered many different places to stay, but as soon as Brian found the website for Tiskita Jungle Lodge, we knew this is where we had to go. We were not disappointed! We highly recommend a visit.

Tiskita is one of the more remote lodges in Costa Rica. It's almost on the border with Panama and just across the Golfo Dulce from the Osa Peninsula. To get there, we had to take a flight into San Jose, Costa Rica's capital city and the location of its international airport. Then, we had to take another flight to the small town of Golfito. The last leg of the trip was a 2-hour taxi ride, although for large enough groups, Tiskita will charter a plane from Golfito to their own private landing strip.

Because of the logistics involved with getting to Tiskita, and the desire tor educe the possibility of missed connections, it was recommended that we arrive in Costa Rica the day before our flight to Golfito and fly back to America the day after leaving Tiskita. This is what we did.

Our flight to Costa Rica left very early in the morning, and my dad was generous enough to volunteer to take us to the airport, even though that meant getting up at 3 in the morning! The flight, with one connection, was uneventful, and we landed in San Jose mid-morning. We took a taxi to the hotel where we'd be spending our first and last nights in Costa Rica: La Rosa de America. It's in Alajuela, a suburb of San Jose.

Here's the outside of the room we were staying in:
The inside of the room:
The bathroom:
View of the property from our room:
We were met by Robert, the owner of the hotel. He was very friendly and recommended a local bar for lunch. We went, but didn't take any pictures!

After returning to the hotel, we went swimming in the hotel's pool -- it was very relaxing and exactly what we needed after travelling.

We took a walk around the grounds; here is a citrus tree in bloom:
We ate dinner at a small local restaurant a few blocks away from our hotel. This area was not touristy at all, so we had the challenge of putting our meager Spanish to the test at the restaurants.

Here's Brian, relaxing by the pool before dinner:
We had a very early morning flight out the next morning (the taxi was picking us up at 4 in the morning) so we went to bed shortly after dinner as we didn't want to be tired at Tiskita!

Luckily the taxi arrived on time. We were the first people to arrive at the airport. When I tried to open the door, it was locked. A maintenance worker heard me try to open the door and he came down to let us in to sit in the chairs.

Waiting for the plane:
Our flight to Golfito was on a very small plane. I think there were 12 seats, although only 7 passengers. We had to step on a scale before boarding -- the first time I've had to do that! After reviewing our passports, we were instructed to wait in this room until the pilots arrived. You can see the small plane through the glass doors.
An aerial view of the land we were flying over:The flight was rather short, and we were met at the airport by a taxi that Tiskita had arranged for us. The roads were quite rustic and the driver went very fast! On several occasions, we worried that he might hit people, dogs, chickens, goats, cows, and other animals along the road, but there were no casualties! Also, whenever we'd approach a car from behind, he'd beep and then pass them. We were surprised at one point to see him do this to a police officer (and then proceed to go about twice as fast as him!) It was quite an adventure and made me happy that we weren't driving!

Along the way, we had to take a ferry. I didn't want to be conspicuous, so I couldn't get a real picture. There has been talk for several decades of replacing this ferry with a bridge. If that happens, they suspect that there will be more traffic coming down towards Tiskita.The trip from Golfito to Tiskita was supposed to take around 2 hours, but, thanks to our fast driver, we got there much quicker; around 90 minutes.

Instead of doing this blog on a day-by-day basis, as I have in the past, I've decided to collate all of the Tiskita adventures in one entry. The days weren't clearly defined as they have been on our other vacations, and this will allow me to present our trip thematically instead, which I think will make more sense.

Days 2-6: Tiskita Lodge

2009-05-28T13:57:00.001-07:00

From the moment Brian found the website for Tiskita Jungle Lodge, we knew we had to visit. Their website made it sound like just the place for us. They're involved in several conservation projects, including one for scarlet macaws. We've wanted to see parrots in the wild for a long time (and the feral quakers in Barcelona and ringnecks in London don't count!)

In one guidebook we read (possibly Lonely Planet) Peter and Lizbeth, the owners, are described as conservationists and conversationalists. What a perfect description! We happened to be the only guests during our week here. We were treated like family, as though we were long-lost cousins. They regaled us with stories of their childhoods, getting the lodge up and running (things were very rustic in the beginning), and discussed their plans for the lodge in the future.

I really cannot recommend this place highly enough for anyone that likes nature. We will definitely be making a return trip!

When we arrived, we were greeted by a friend of the family who is one of the biologists working on the macaw project. She offered us a snack and we chatted about the macaw release program. Although we weren't allowed to watch the macaws being released, the releases were taking place during the week we were there, so we got to hear all about them.

The view of the ocean from just outside the lodge:

Here's Brian walking in the lodge. This is where we ate our meals:She showed us to our cabin. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect since the lodge is located in a very remote area in Costa Rica. It's very close to Panama. We were very impressed with the cabin! All of the cabins are numbered and named after an animal that can be found in the area. We were in number 17:I should have taken pictures of our cabin before unpacking, but didn't think of it. Here was the main part: There was also another bed, off to the side. The bathroom was very modern: The cabin had a large porch with a hammock. The view from our porch was simply incredible: It's hard to see from this picture, but we could see the ocean from the porch: We showered, feeling grimy and tired after our plane and taxi rides from the morning. Then we put on our swim suits and headed down to the beach.At the entrance to the property from the beach, a bird was perching on the roof of the gate. I knew we'd see a lot of different birds and animals here, but pretty much everywhere we looked we got to see something new!The location is just so beautiful. Pretty much every view could have been on a postcard!

While walking on the beach, we had to be very careful not to step on any of the many, many crabs that were milling about. Here is one resting on a leaf:While walking near the beach, we often heard the unmistakable sounds of aratinga conures. They flew quite high and, even with the use of binoculars, we were never able to tell exactly what kind of conure they were. This is the best picture we were able to get. You can see two; one hanging off each side of this tree:Brian at the beach:

We were walking among the rocks, enjoying the beautiful scenery and relishing being in Costa Rica......when we realized that Brian had acquired a friend:We thought she was a stray, but later found out she belongs to a family that lives about a mile away. She was extremely friendly and followed us around for a few hours, running back and forth between us.Brian went into the ocean while I stayed on the beach. We thought the dog might be leaving us, but she followed us back to our cabin! We didn't encourage her as we didn't want to bring her back to the lodge's property where she might prey on wild animals. She finally left us, probably to return to the beach and pick up other unsuspecting tourists.

In addition to human and dog footprints in the sand, we noticed quite a few bird footprints. It took us a day to catch the birds in action, walking across the beach:Meals are served family-style at Tiskita at set times. I believe they can accommodate around 40 guests. All of our meals were delicious. We'd told them we were vegetarian, and they replied that there would be no problem to prepare vegetarian meals for us.

This was the only picture we took of a meal, but you can kind of see the dining room. We did a fair amount of hiking around the property. We went on one walk each with Peter and Lizbeth, the owners. Peter concentrated on showing us the fruit orchards while Lizbeth focused on showing us birds and other animals.

Brian accidentally erased all of the pictures we took on Peter's tour. Peter carried a knife with him and offered us tastes of several of the fruits that were ripe in the orchard, including what was most likely the best tasting pineapple I have ever had in my life.

While out with Peter, we also got to see a tyra on the path, which is pretty rare to see! He moved out of our view before we could get a picture, but that's OK since the pictures were erased anyway! We also saw a coati that had apparently gotten into a fight and was missing fur on the bottom half of his body.

Here is a starfruit tree:

Investigating some more fruit; I think this may have been some kind of chocolate:Although they could harvest their fruit, they said they'd have to figure out a way to keep the monkeys, parrots, and other animals from eating it in order to do so, which they don't want to do. In fact, they have been specifically planting trees in order to attract different animals, like sloths, monkeys, and parrots.

This is a tree they planted specifically for sloths. Success!Some beautiful flowers we saw: A jungle path: The view of the ocean from just outside the lodge:We'd often relax outside the lodge. There are no TVs or radios here, which really allows the sounds of nature to be heard. Of course there are bug and bird sounds, as you'd expect. Then there are the howler monkeys! I was a bit frightened the first time I heard them but grew to enjoy the sound.I couldn't believe how many different types of lizards we saw! There is a pond near the bottom of the property that is covered in lily pads. When we'd walk down there to try to see the crocodile, all sorts of tiny lizards would rise up on their back feet and run around:This iguana was the first animal we saw upon arrival: Another kind of lizard:

And still another:

We noticed this green iguana on a leaf near our porch. He was so close we could have touched him had we wanted to (we didn't -- he's a wild animal and we wanted him to keep a healthy fear of humans):The next morning, he was still there. I thought it was interesting to see the difference between taking a picture with the flash (above) and with natural light (below). He was really camouflaged!There were several agouti who must have lived near our cabin since we'd run into them every time we walked by. They like to eat fruit, so they're very happy at Tiskita!

We saw agouti of three different sizes: adult, juvenile, and baby. Here is the baby, eating:

He'd usually run to the side of the trail when he saw us coming and would hide in the brush.

Apparently the rainy season technically begins in May, which is when we were at Tiskita. We had a remarkable run of good weather. The sky started looking ominous one day shortly after lunch. We had planned on resting in the cabin and reading, so this was perfect timing by the weather.

It got dark rather early at Tiskita. Dinner was at 6:30, and by the time we were done eating, we needed a flashlight in order to find our way back to our cabin!

I read a magazine article a few years ago about how there are very few dark places left on Earth due to light pollution. I think this might have been one of the darkest places I have been. It was incredible.

One morning, we decided to walk around and see if we could find the macaws. The biologist warned us that they are very hard to spot in the trees, despite their brightly colored plumage. He advised us that our best chance of finding them is if we were lucky enough to come across a pair foraging. We'd be able to find them by the food pieces that were being dropped on the ground.

We headed out along the road, towards the nearby town of Punta Banco.

Beautiful scenery as we walked:

Along the way, we noticed a large number of interesting-looking chickens grazing. Brian joked about starting a chicken blog, but ultimately decided to just put them here:

The road was treacherous in some parts, as there had recently been some rain. It was also incredibly hot. I had to take my shirt off (I had my swimsuit top on so I wasn't indecent!) and still a big sweat mark can be seen starting at my waist.

The closest we had been to seeing the macaws was hearing their loud calls and seeing them fly high above our heads:

We did come across a squirrel monkey while out looking for macaws.

We ran into the biologist. He was gathering beach almonds in order to feed the macaws that were waiting to be released. Before they can be released, they have to be sure that the macaws know how to eat the food they will find.

As we were walking and discussing the macaws, he noticed a lot of debris falling from a nearby tree. Macaws! Can you see one in this picture? If they hadn't been messily eating, we would have walked right past this pair!

Even with their bright primary colors, they become almost invisible in the trees.

You can see two of them in this picture:

We watched them forage for almost an hour. Then, the male gave a large squawk and flew to a nearby tree. We expected that the female would follow him, as they had been in the same tree, but she must have been happy where she was! They foraged in separate trees for another 15 minutes or so, eventually taking flight together, accompanied by loud squawks.

The macaws had been eradicated from the area last century due to slash and burn and habitat destruction. About 6 or so years ago, Tiskita teamed with another organization to release formerly captive (and newly bred) macaws into the wild. Now, a flock of around 60 birds flies free. Last year, for the first time, four baby macaws were hatched, and three of them survived a year, which is one indication that they are thriving. There were several macaws in nests while we were there.

The biologist is able to identify every one of the macaws based on their feather patterns and facial features. She regaled us with many stories and joked about starting a blog to chronicle the soap-opera of their lives! I hope she does this.

It is important that the macaws not get too used to people as that might put them in danger of being captured for the pet trade, so this was as close as we got.

The next day we had our walk with Lizbeth, who was an amazing guide. She knew where the various birds liked to hang out and was able to help us spot three kinds of manakins, several woodpeckers, and many other birds. Here she's explaining something to Brian:

Here are two pictures of smaller birds that Lizbeth helped us to spot:

As we were walking through the fruit orchard on our approach to the lodge, someone noticed a white-faced monkey:

When you see one monkey, there are usually more around if you look closely enough since they tend to stay in groups. We sat down and soon we were able to se around 20 monkeys. Some had babies attached to them.

We watched them for about a half hour until they left the area. They were eating the fruit. This guy has his left hand resting against a giant piece of fruit.

Lizbeth said that this was a juvenile who was trying to scare us away by showing us how scary he was. Two different monkeys tried to scare us away in such a manner. We stayed where we were and they apparently weren't too upset by our presence since they quickly went back to eating.

Most of the pictures were blurry since we had to use the zoom on the camera. Even though half of his head is cut off, there's something about this monkey's eyes that spoke to me.

The fruit they were eating was sticky, so they'd occasionally have to lick their fingers clean:

The monkeys would usually hold on to the tree with their tail, even when they were just staying in one place.

This monkey was putting his hand in this giant piece of fruit and eating the pulp:

Later in the week, we ran into another group of monkeys and watched them for about 10 minutes.

Both Brian and Lizbeth were very interested in the various mushrooms we came across. Some were quite beautiful!

Lizbeth also knew where we could see a ghost bat! All of the bats we saw flying around were dark. Could this guy be any more adorable?

After our walk with Lizbeth was finished, Brian and I sat down outside the lodge, watching and listening to the wildlife and the ocean. We were suddenly told to come over as a boa constrictor had just been spotted. Here she is on a tree branch. What camoflague! It's entirely possible we walked by many snakes but they blended in so well we didn't see them as this was the only snake we saw on our trip and it needed to be pointed out to us:

One afternoon, we decided to walk to Pavones, a nearby town that is world-famous among surfers for its long left wave. It was very hot, but we took off anyway. The scenery, as always was breathtaking. Here were a couple of pelicans that we encountered (the road to Pavones followed the ocean).

We're not sure how long the trip was; we were told estimates of 6-10 kilometers. Which doesn't sound like a lot, but it was incredibly hot. Here I am, trying to get a bit of a breeze:

As we were despairing of ever reaching Pavones, a man with a pick-up truck stopped. He didn't speak English, and we don't speak much Spanish, but we managed to understand that he was offering us a ride to Pavones. We gladly accepted and went the rest of the way in the back of his truck. The ride was quite bumpy but we survived! At the end, Brian was getting his wallet out, but the driver pulled away -- he was just being a nice guy.

It took us a while to actually find the beach as you have to walk down a path that's rather hidden. We had been dropped off directly in front of the path, but we didn't realize it, adding about 40 minutes of walking. We stopped at a store to buy some Gatorade. We were just about to give up and walk back to Tiskita when we saw some surfers heading down the path and we decided to follow them.

We made it down to the beach and watched the surfers for a while. It didn't appear that they knew each other beforehand, but they would have occasional surf conferences:

We needed to get back for dinner, so we started the long walk back, wishing there was a cab service. We were still a mile or so away from our destination, when a couple of kids got off of this school bus and asked if we were going to Punta Banco. We told them that we were at Tiskita. They motioned for us to get on the school bus, and we rode with 6 or so elementary kids. How extraordinary! This would never happen in America! We were so grateful and happy. Every single person we met was very friendly.

On our last morning at Tiskita, we decided to take one more walk down by the pond to see if we could spot the crocodile. Our last dozen or so attempts were unsuccessful, but we had time until the taxi picked us up, so we decided to go for a walk.

Just as on the other days, the wildlife we saw did not disappoint. We saw this beautiful bird land on this tree; then make what sounded like an alarm call. It looked to be a bird of prey of some sort, but we have no idea what kind!

To our left we saw the above gorgeous white bird, and then to our right we saw the below gorgeous black bird:

Could that be the crocodile peering out at us?It sure was! And he rewarded our patience with an even better look! After a few minutes, he appeared to get bored with us and sunk back under the pond. What luck we had!Before we knew it, we returned to the lodge for an early lunch and then the taxi met us to take us to the airport. Tiskita was an amazing experience and we will be back!

Days 6-7: Alajuela & Departure

2009-05-28T13:56:00.001-07:00

We had an early afternoon flight from Golfito back to Alajuela, which means we got picked up late morning for our two hour taxi ride from Tiskita Lodge to the airport. Lizbeth, the owner of Tiskita was so accommodating and made us a nice lunch even though we were leaving before the official lunch time. She knew we wouldn't find much to eat at the Golfito airport and didn't want us to be hungry!

Our taxi driver inexplicably made a stop at a bar in Pavones to either drop something off or pick something up. We were getting a bit nervous as we waited for at least five minutes. But we were soon on the road again.Once again, there were many animals on the road and/or side of the road. I thought we were going to run over an iguana once, but the driver swerved just in time.Here is the refreshment stand at Golfito airport:
We bought a couple of waters since it was really hot and we had an hour until our flight left.
Once again, we were on a tiny plane and we had to be weighed along with our gear.

The view from the plane was amazing:We landed in San Jose and took a taxi to our hotel, Hotel La Rosa de America.

Brian decided to work on his hobby of bug photography. Costa Rica is a perfect place for that! He grabbed these guys in less than a minute:

We were famished as we'd had lunch early, so we stopped at Chery's Bar for a quick snack and a drink.We returned to the hotel and relaxed for an hour or so. Then, we set out for dinner. It was about a mile away from our hotel, so we decided to walk. It seemed to take forever, but we finally found the place. There was an Italian restaurant attached to the spa/hotel, which was our destination.The food was among the most delicious food we'd ever had! I look a little sad in this picture, but I am just tired and hot!I wish we'd snapped this picture 5 seconds earlier, but this dog was attempting to enter the spa:After dinner, we walked back to our hotel and fell asleep. Our flight left very early the next morning. We got up, took a taxi that the owner of the hotel had called for us the night before, and arrived at the San Jose airport. Smooth sailing. Before we knew it, we were home again!

Day 1: Departure

2009-02-28T13:45:00.012-08:00

In February 2009, we took a week-long trip to Dublin, Ireland. We were debating whether or not to take a trip, but got such a good deal on airline tickets that we couldn't pass up this opportunity!

Our flight left late on Saturday evening, which meant we ate dinner in the airport:
Here's our plane, getting loaded:
The actual travel was uneventful. The plane did not have TV screens in the back of the seats in front of us, so we listened to music and read instead. And tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to sleep.