Christmas Decision-Making

Well, the deed is done. I bought a ticket to go to Florida on Dec. 27, and I'll stay a bit more than a week. I feel really good that I've taken that step, even though the ticket price is killing me. I'd been on the fence about going home anyway, so I'm glad I finally made what I think is the right decision.

We still don't know exactly what's going on with Dad, but it continues to seem that the initial scare may not be as bad as I feared. That doesn't mean he's in good health -- he's had ongoing health issues for years. But perhaps we are not in crisis mode.

I walked to and from work yesterday, which gave me the opportunity for some night photography. It's dark practically all the time now -- from about 4:00 p.m. until about 7:30 a.m. So given my work schedule, if I'm going to take any photos, they'll probably be night shots! Dave had a work dinner to attend, so I sat at home with Olga in the evening and listened to music and had red wine, green pea and mint soup and peanut butter sandwiches, which is my idea of heaven all the way around.

Christmas came early for Olga! She got a groovy new Union Jack dog bed, which she quickly colonized and made her own. You may remember from my photos earlier this week that she had been sleeping on a rather ratty old bedspread. (When she wasn't in our bed, that is.) I've wanted to toss that bedspread for months, but I kept hesitating because she loved it so much. Well, now it's gone, and good riddance.

(Top: Headlights at a crosswalk, St. John's Wood, last night.)

Morning Delays and Interruptions

There are ghosts in the machine this morning. When I turned on Blogger, for some reason, my entire toolbar had disappeared -- I couldn't upload photos or adjust my text or anything. So I fiddled around and tried to look at reported issues, and darned if I could find any kind of help forum, though there may be one. (I know there used to be one.) And then I restarted my computer and behold, the toolbar showed up. Very strange.

Now I'm behind and I haven't even walked the dog yet. *sigh*

I got more news about my dad, and it sounds like things might not be quite as critical as I had feared, but he's still having tests and it's too early to say for sure. I'm still thinking I will go to Florida but I have not yet bought tickets -- Dad suggested I wait for those test results. Dave and I have Christmas plans here that I would like to see through, so maybe I can go right after Christmas and then stay until after New Year's. I can get a personal day or two from work if necessary. We shall see.

I walked to and from work yesterday, and took a walk at lunch, too. It felt good to move around. Every time I walk to work I save £2.80, which is how much my commute costs -- that's equivalent to $4.59 per trip on the tube. Can you believe the freaking tube is that expensive? It's ridiculous. I'm going to try to walk a lot more often.

Olga woke up loudly snorting in the middle of the night, like she had something stuck in her nose. She sounded like a revving engine, and really threw her whole body into it. Dave and I both got up and brought her out to the kitchen and her water bowl, and then Dave took her outside to try to calm her down a bit. She eventually came back to bed and slept, but the whole episode was very weird.

(Photo: A street sweeper in St. John's Wood, yesterday.)

Up in the Air

Not much to tell this morning. I got some sobering news from Florida about my dad's health, so I'm keeping an eye on that and debating whether to buy an airplane ticket for Christmas. Dave and I had decided to stay here in England because of the expense -- tickets at Christmas are ridiculously expensive -- but now I'm thinking I might just take the plunge and go, even if it's just me.

(Photo: Sculpture by Nic Fiddian Green at Economist Plaza, London.)

Earworms and Owls

I am slowly getting back into the London swing of things. While I was in Istanbul I could not get the song "Istanbul not Constantinople" out of my head -- at least it's a good song, but it was still an earworm that was making me crazy. It has now subsided somewhat, a sure sign that I'm getting back to normal. (I almost always have a tune of some kind going through my brain, often subconsciously. At just this moment it's a k.d. lang song, "Sorrow Nevermore.")

This morning I'm off to a book store to try to track down a book for a student. The library ordered it from Amazon but it's on back-order and not due to arrive for more than a month, so I thought I'd try some local shops. It would be nice if she could have it to read during the winter break.

Here is a belated addition to the Wine Zoo -- Horny Owl from South Africa, which we came across in a wine shop on Sunday evening and bought solely for the amusing label. (I'm a very shallow wine buyer. I freely admit it.) Actually it was pretty good!

(Top photo: Doors near Bond Street in Mayfair, the Sunday before Thanksgiving.)

Home Sweet Home

Yesterday Dave and I got up with the morning call to prayer, just before dawn, and by 11 a.m. we were back in London. Everything went smoothly, although we had to run to our plane because we spent a little too much time browsing around the Istanbul airport trying to get rid of our last Turkish lire. We bought one of those blue glass talismans to keep away the evil eye. Maybe it helped us catch our flight on time.

We spent the day on laundry, getting some rudimentary groceries and dog food, and collecting a very excited Olga from the kennel at 5 p.m. Apparently there had been another incident in which she destroyed a child's ball. I did not ask for the specifics.

When we got home from the kennel, Olga ate a special can of food and then immediately crashed in front of the fireplace, sleeping so soundly that I could stand over her with the camera and not wake her. She radiated happiness.

I felt the same way, falling in to bed last night. We ordered pizza and tried to watch "From Russia With Love," parts of which were filmed in a much-less-crowded Istanbul, including a famous scene in that cistern we visited. But I got so sleepy before the end of the movie that I gave up and went to bed, and slept soundly for nine hours.

And now, back to work!

The Best Public Telephones Ever

I walked six miles to take this photo. I'm not even kidding you. I saw these sidewalk telephones from the bus on our tour Friday and I knew I had to get a picture somehow -- so I got up early yesterday and walked across town to find them. I'm sure it seems silly when I'm surrounded by so much history and architectural splendor to fixate on two big plastic daisies, but anyone who knows me will not be surprised.

Then I braved a public bus to get back! I only had a vague idea what I was doing, but I found a bus headed in the right direction and risked it. The driver didn't even make me pay, probably because I didn't have the proper tokens or tickets or whatever.

I got back to Dave in late morning, and we set out for Topkapi Palace, the home of the sultans who ruled the Ottoman Empire. First we stopped in an outdoor cafe near the Blue Mosque for some more thick Turkish coffee -- which I love -- and listened as the exotic, mournful call to prayer rang out from the minarets.

Topkapi is a large complex of buildings and courtyards, with lots of Arabic calligraphy and blue floral tiles similar to those in the Blue Mosque. That's Dave above in the Harem section, where the sultans lived with their many concubines.

We watched hooded crows bathing in a fountain, and had lunch at the palace restaurant, on a terrace overlooking the Bosphorus.

It was a beautiful clear day, and as the sun began to set in the afternoon we had amazing views of the city. Not suprisingly, Topkapi is positioned on the best real estate in Istanbul!

Finally, last night we went to a restaurant called Asitane, which serves traditional Ottoman Turkish food. The menu indicates that some of the dishes date back to the 1500s, though how accurate the modern interpretations are, I'm not sure. In any case, it was delicious -- I had chestnut soup, quince stuffed with ground beef and lamb, and a rosewater rice pudding for dessert. Getting there involved two cab rides, which stressed me out a bit given our adventure on Friday night, but everything went well -- we had reputable cabbies this time!

Underground, And Taken For a Ride

Yesterday, Dave and I went to see the vast underground water storage cistern that Constantine built beneath old Istanbul in the fourth century after Christ. He used columns recycled from Greek ruins, including the giant heads of two Medusa statues. These days it's an immense underground goldfish pond, and quite impressive.

We took our second bus tour, this time up and around the natural harbor called the Golden Horn. I saw a few things that I hope to go back and photograph today.

We had lunch at the wharf near the Galata Bridge, where you can buy fresh frish grilled on the spot and served on a roll for about $3. A cup of pickled cabbage and cucumbers in beet juice (we think?) is available as accompaniment. It was a bustling spot with lots and lots of Turks -- particularly groups of loud, chatty women in head scarves.

A few girls approached us with a video camera and lists of questions, in English -- things like, "When did you come to Turkey?" and "What was your favorite sight?" They wanted to record their interviews with us. We said sure, even though their English was somewhat impenetrable. We think it was for a class assignment. In any case the questions were harmless and they did not pick our pockets.

We walked back into town through the Grand Bazaar, where we bought nothing.

Finally, we toured the grand Blue Mosque in the afternoon. It's a vast, carpeted space covered with tile, purpose-built as a mosque in the 1600s. It may be the first time I've been inside a mosque, despite my years spent living in Morocco -- there, non-muslims are prohibited from entering. I also recorded part of the call to prayer, in case you'd like to hear it.

Last night, Dave and I went to a popular seafood restaurant and had our first definitively negative experience in Istanbul. We tried to walk to the restaurant, only to find that the Google map on its web site is completely wrong -- it shows the location of a different restaurant with a similar name. (Better get that fixed, guys!) We walked around a bit, knowing we were close, but finally hopped into a taxi in front of the Ayasofya -- completely forgetting the line in our guidebook that says, "under no circumstances should you hire a taxi off the street in front of the Ayasofya." Turns out those taxi drivers are master conmen, and we wound up paying about $43 to go roughly three blocks, through both an unnecessarily circuitous route and a quick-change scheme whereby the driver took my 50 TL note and insisted I'd given him a 5 TL note.

I was so angry at myself for getting into this situation, but what could we do? I just got out of the cab and drank enough wine at dinner to ease the pain.