Now it's Istanbul not Constantinople

Pictures from Istanbul (pics from Damascus coming soon!)


Eating lunch on the docks. Yummy fish cooked right there!

Blue Mosque

Mosque by the water

Grand Bazaar

Turkish Delight

Smelling the wonderful tea

Spice Market

More Spice Market

Choosing my birthday present :-)


Bazaar lamps

Grand Bazaar

Hagia Sophia

Archway into the palace grounds

Haggia Sophia

Spargel season!

Well on a small cultural note, it is the beginning of Spargel season here (also known as white asparagus). So we are biking with Karl's family about half an hour to a restaurant where we will try some of the first crop of the season. (Very German - biking to the restaurant and eating white asparagus.) White asparagus is grown in mounds of dirt underground and then dug up, which is why it is white instead of green. There are lots of different ways to make it, but I've usually had it here with Hollandaise sauce. That's all for now!

P.S. Back from our trip now (20k by bike round trip), and the asparagus was yummy! I had mine with schnitzel!

Countdown

So, on the occasion of starting a new blog, and realizing on our return from Syria yesterday that I have visited 30 countries, I thought I would give you a little photo countdown of where I have been! Enjoy! (These are all pics I took, except for a few where I am in the picture)

#30 Syria
(Long stairway up to a monastary - Ma'loula - April 2009)

#29 Turkey
(Istanbul Bazaar - April 2009)

#28 Sweden
(Svartbäcksstugan - November 2008)

#27 Luxembourg
(Luxembourg - August 2008)
#26 Monaco
(August 2008)
#25 Lichtenstein
(August 2008)
#24 Switzerland
(Zurich - August 2008)
#23 France
(Paris - August 2008)

#22 Belgium
(no photo :-( Think I lost them all)

#21 England
(London - March 2008)
#20 Czech Republic
(Prague - March 2008)

#19 Denmark
(Copenhagen - February 2008)
#18 Netherlands
(Amsterdam - December 2007)


#17 Poland
(Gdansk - April 2007)


#16 Lithuania
(April 2007)

#15 Latvia
(Riga - April 2007)


#14 Spain
(Madrid - March 2007)


#13 Morocco
(Casablanca - December 2006)

#12 Ukraine
(Uzhgorod - August 2006)

#11 Hungary
(Budapest - August 2006)


#10 Germany
(Munich - August 2006)

#9 Austria
(Salzburg - July 2006)

#8 Italy
(Venice -July 2006)

#7 Finland
(Helsinki - March 2006)


#6 Belarus
(Minsk - December 2005)

#5 Estonia
(Tallinn - November 2005)

#4 Russia
(Moscow, Red Square, St. Basil's Cathedral - October 2002)
#3 Mexico
(no photo available

#2 Canada
(no photo available - I guess we were still using regular film back then)

#1 USA
(My beautiful Washington coast)

Welcome

So, it's been awhile since I have been actively blogging. I've been wanting to start up a new blog, and haven't really had time until today. So, welcome to the new blog! I hope to keep you up to date on what's happening in our lives along with giving you many photos and stories of our interesting cross-cultural experiences. Thanks for reading! Liz