Expat Life: Thanksgiving in London

Happy Thanksgiving from London!

Xoxo

Joy 

Homemade desserts: top: blueberry pie and tres leches cake
Bottom: my pecan pie and a pumpkin pie.

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A-Z Guidebook: Rüstem Paşa Mosque in Istanbul

R is for Rüstem Paşa Mosque

Down the backstreets in Istanbul, you’re bound to find some type of interesting architecture dating back a few hundred years.

One of my favorite areas to wander was Eminönü, home to the tantalizing scents of the Spice Bazaar. Past the smiling sellers touting everything from handmade wooden spoons and baskets to local Turkish cheeses and coffee, you could even miss the doors to one of my favorite mosques here. The Rüstem Paşa Mosque, built in 1560, is one of the city’s architectural gems.

Designed and built by the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan, who also designed the nearby Süleymaniye Mosque and other impressive structures in Edirne, planned Rüstem Paşa Mosque with a unique octagonal plan. Although small, the mosque is covered with intriguing Inzik painted tiles, particularly in vibrant red, which was a difficult color to obtain back in the day.

Also, as you look around, be sure to notice also the kündekâri doors of carved and inlaid wood and the intricate gilded trim high on the walls and ceiling in the vestibule. The mosque truly is a work of art!

A bit of interesting here is that the mosque was paid for by Rüstem Paşa, one of the wealthiest men in the Ottoman Empire as well as the son-in-law and a grand vizer of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. Of course, his namesake mosque couldn’t rival that of his master’s so he selected a site amid the busy market, just downhill from the Süleyman's grand mosque. Rüstem Paşa also is remembered in history for having plotted with Süleyman's wife, Hürrem, to denounce Prince Mustafa, Süleyman's son and heir to the throne. Süleyman had Mustafa beheaded, which allowed Hürrem’s son, Prince Selim, to inherit the throne after the sultan’s death – and this started the long decline of the Ottoman Empire. What drama!

Anyway, the Rüstem Paşa Mosque is definitely worth seeking out when you visit Istanbul, don’t you think?

I’m linking this post to the monthly travel guide link up organized by Fiona, a fellow Australian blogger, at Tiffin Bite Sized Food Adventures. Each month features a new letter of the alphabet. This month is the letter “R.” Please pop on over to Fiona’s blog to read more travel stories or feel free to link up your own!

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Rottnest Island: Where to Find the Happiest Animal in the World

After a week’s worth of depressing news from the U.S. that’s made me cry and get angry, I figure it’s about time to take us all to one of my happy places. I wish I was there right now!

Just a 30-minute ferry boat ride off the west coast of Western Australia (from Perth’s Fremantle neighborhood to be exact) lies a beautiful island where an adorable, playful marsupial lives called a quokka. More than likely you’ve never even heard of a quokka because this vulnerable creature only lives in a few places in Australia.

Fortunately, I spent one blistering hot, summer day leisurely cycling around Rottnest Island to frolic on its gorgeous, nearly deserted beaches and be on the look out for quokkas. Sometimes I found them hiding under bushes. Sometimes they would approach the side of the road as I stopped for a water break. One tried to nearly scramble up my leg as I ate my much-deserved ice cream cone! Quokkas appeared to be everywhere!

In fact, the quokka population on Rottnest Island is between 8,000-12,000 (data from 2008). Dangerous snakes are largely the quokka's only predator on the island unlike the mainland where foxes, dogs, dingoes and deforestation pose a problem. On Australia’s mainland, an estimated 4,000 quokkas live here, with nearly all those populations in groups of less than 50, although there is one declining group of more than 700 in the Southern Jarrah-Karri Forest. So basically, if you want to see these cute critters, head to Western Australia.

Per local history, quokkas were one of the first Australian mammals seen by Europeans. In 1658, the Dutch mariner Samuel Volckertzoon wrote of sighting "a wild cat" on Rottnest Island. In 1696, another Dutch explorer mistook them for giant rats and thus named the island "Rotte nest,” which comes from the Dutch word rattennest meaning “rat nest.” The word quokka is actually derived from an Australian aboriginal tribe which was probably gwaga.

Mamma quokka and her lil joey. How cute!

Anyway, the popular thing to do on Rottnest Island is to take a quokka selfie. Squat down on the ground and try to capture yourself and one of the cute critters in the frame at the same time. I tried to do so as you can see from my photos. You can even search on Instagram for the hashtag #quokkaselfie which pulls up 9,460 posts!

Once you spot a quokka, if you get lucky, it will appear to smile, which is how this charming creature earned the moniker “the world’s happiest animal.”

As you can see, quokkas certainly are cute, and hopefully they brightened up your day as well.

 I guess you can see why the Dutch thought quokkas looked like a rat.

No quokkas allowed in the local store!

Hey quokka, don't steal my ice cream! ;)

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Expat Life: A Real American Tragedy

At 7 a.m., I woke up in London to the sound of raindrops on my window and a coughing fit. I rolled over to check my phone for messages and then wished I hadn’t.

I realized I would be spending my first day off from a new job in tears or anger or both and with stuffed up sinuses! I made a cup of coffee and decided, what the hell, might as well pour a double shot of Baileys into it. Call it an adult-flavored coffee creamer.

Today, I’m sad to be an American. Actually, I’m devastated. I can’t believe that my fellow U.S. citizens actually elected Donald Trump to be our next president. This is really a WTF moment! Has the world gone completely mad? We didn’t think Brexit would happen, but then it did. I didn't even want to move to London at first after the Brexit vote, but then we did.

I’m shocked, but then when I think about it, in some ways, I’m not surprised. During my September U.S. visit to see friends and family members after an 18-month absence, I was shattered to hear the hatred spew from the mouths of people I’m related to (some by marriage) and others that are considered friends. I heard racial slurs. One person told me Michelle Obama was racist. I heard people say nasty things against all immigrants and Muslims to my face. I couldn’t take it anymore. Don’t you people realize we lived in Turkey for nearly 3 years and have a lot of Muslim friends? Do you know how much I loved our life in Istanbul? Did you forget all this? Didn’t you come from a family of Italian immigrants that came to the U.S. for a better life? Even my German ancestors fled to the US in the 1860s to escape religious persecution because they were Lutherans.

My responses fell on deaf ears. These people had already made up their minds. And I was told, times were different then. I don’t believe that.

Can you really call yourself a Christian if you hate other people/other races? I don’t think so. How can you call yourself a Christian if you voted for Trump who was supported by the KKK? I’ve stopped believing in religion anymore because I think people only believe the parts they want to believe of their religion. It’s been proven time and time again, especially lately.

In many ways, I feel like the current international political climate is reverting to a world as it was nearly 100 years ago. Are people really so quick to forget about what one egocentric man did when he came into power in Germany and started World War II? I bet none of my Jewish or Polish friends have forgotten. 

Take a look at the United Kingdom and its Brexit vote, the Philippines and its crazy leader, Poland and its changes to freedom of speech and recent protests against a potential abortion ban, Turkey – where do I even start with its RTE regime and current problems; and Russia is always lurking in the corners, trying to take back Eastern Europe and conquer the world. We are doomed if Trump and Putin become best friends. They can be bigly together.

Will gay marriage, Roe vs. Wade and womens’ rights be overturned in Trump’s world?

Honestly, I’m scared what might happen in this NEW world. I should have just stayed in bed today.

Tomorrow, I’ll have to wake up at 5:30 a.m. and go into work and try to explain this crappy election to my British and Italian co-workers. All I can hope for is that our UK work visas get renewed in 2018 so we can continue to live abroad as long as possible.

Unfortunately, this American doesn’t plan on visiting the U.S. for a long time. If anyone wants to visit us here, we have a spare room!

At least we did our part and voted from abroad.

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A-Z Guidebook: Departing from Port Douglas Marina in Queensland

Q is for Queensland

During the 14 months we lived Down Under, we only traveled once to Queensland – Australia’s second largest state that covers the continent’s entire northeast.

Queensland’s main attraction is a gorgeous coastline stretching nearly 7,000km that is home to the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef system. Although there are dozens of tours exploring the GBR, I think your best option is to depart from Port Douglas.

During our long weekend trip to Queensland, we flew into the city of Cairns and quickly retreated up north to a quiet beach town called Palm Cove, which seemed less touristy than other destinations. I selected a snorkeling tour with Silver Series which allowed a bus pick-up from Palm Cove for an additional cost. The whole point of this trip was to have a relaxing weekend on the beach so we wanted to limit our driving as much as possible.

We quickly departed the bus once we arrived at the Port Douglas Marina and followed through an efficient queue that led us out to our awaiting catamaran. Palm trees and clear blue waters seemed to flank the marina in every direction I looked. I’m sure Port Douglas would have been a pleasant place to stay as well.

Of course the main highlight of this trip was snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef – an experience that we’ll never forget! If you’re looking for more articles about Queensland, then please check out: Dreaming of Palm Trees in Palm Cove, Under the Sea and Snorkeling Among Colorful Coral in the Great Barrier Reef. 

I’m linking this post to the monthly travel guide link up organized by Fiona, a fellow Australian blogger, at Tiffin Bite Sized Food Adventures. Each month features a new letter of the alphabet. This month is the letter “Q.” Please pop on over to Fiona’s blog to read more travel stories or feel free to link up your own!

(Note: Q can be a challenging letter. I thought of previous trips to Quintana Roo and Querétaro in Mexico and of course anything related to Queen Elizabeth or QueenVictoria. Good luck thinking of Q!)

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Checking Out Mural Mile in Philly

On what happened to be one of the hottest days of summer during my recent U.S. trip, I dragged my college girlfriend around with me to look for street art in Philadelphia.

Normally, we meet up in my homestate of Nebraska, but this year she had moved to Philly so we set out to explore her new city for the afternoon.

I had read about and wanted to walk along the city’s Mural Mile, which consists of 17 commissioned murals in the city center on a route that’s actually 2.5 miles long. The murals are quite diverse and interesting! The city’s Mural Arts Program, created in the 1980s in response to the city’s graffiti problem, has helped put over 3,600 designs across the city. You can find a Mural Mile Map here and can even download an audio tour if you visit Philadelphia yourself. The program also offers several guided tours in case you don’t want to do the DIY version.

Even though we were sweating like crazy outside, we stumbled upon several of the large-scale murals while we admired the city’s architecture. Other friends might have balked about being outside during the heat, but Julie knows my crazy ways. We had a lot of fun gossiping about our old college days and talking about our latest moves.

Walking through downtown Philly amounts to a stroll through the world’s largest outdoor art gallery. I wasn’t able to find all the names for each mural we saw, but at least you can see some of the city’s talented artists for yourself below.

The Philadelphia Muses, located at the corner of 13^th and Locust streets, features the nine classical Greek muses of the arts and each one is modeled after a real Philadelphian. For example, the woman in the green dress is the muse of Performance and the man in the coat is the muse of Word.

Finding Home’s theme revolves around homelessness and was made with the help of a number of Philly’s homeless residents.

Building the City mural is painted on the side of a historical building on Moravian Street. The mural, spanning more than one wall, is the artists’s tribute to Philadelphia architecture and features workers pouring steel, the main component of the city’s skyscrapers.

Women of Progress depicts the change in work and gender roles of women.

Spring mural by David Guinn depicts a spring day with Bradford pear and dogwood trees blooming in the city.

Gimme Shelter is dedicated to the city’s dogs and cats that find homes through the local animal shelters. 

The 55’x165′ Pride and Progress mural, located at 1315 Spruce Street, depicts a gay pride festival in the midst of nearby landmarks, including the Drake Hotel.

Last year, Pope Francis was added to the wall of this popular dive bar, Dirty Franks, located at 13^th and Pine streets just in time for his Papal visit. The original mural was created in 2001 by local artist, David McShane, and features the likes of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Aretha Franklin and other well-known “Franks.”

If you visit Philly, be sure to take some time to explore the city’s rich street art scene which includes several hundred murals in addition to the Mural Mile downtown.

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A-Z Guidebook: Ancient Ruins of Picturesque Pergamon

P is for Pergamon, Turkey

When we lived in Turkey, we tried to visit as many historical sites as we could. We loved taking road trips over the long holiday weekends during the year and exploring the ancient ruins, which I still think are even better than ones in Greece. On one such Turkey trip, we visited the historical site of Pergamon, an ancient Greek city, located 26 km (16 miles) from the Aegean Sea and about 90 minutes north of Izmir.

Pergamon (also called Pergamum) was settled by the Greeks in the 8th century BC, and was ruled by one of Alexander the Great’s generals around 320 BC as part of the Kingdom of Pergamon. The city was given to the Roman Republic in 133 BC to prevent a civil war, and briefly became the capital of the Roman province of Asia before the capital was transferred to Ephesus. The latter history included many different rulers and conquerors as well as a damaging earthquake that pretty much displaced the population. In 2014, Pergamon was added to the UNESCO World heritage list for Turkey.

Pergamon also is considered an important Biblical place as it is cited in the Book of Revelation as one of the Seven Churches of Asia.

As usual, the Greeks picked an excellent natural setting for a theater, with a view that extends for miles and would have included Aegean Sea views approximately 2,000 years ago. The acropolis of Pergamum covers a steep hilltop, so you can only imagine how much Greek and Roman civil engineering work went into creating this amazing structure!

Just hanging out at the ancient Greek theater at Pergamon, Turkey.

Another interesting fact is that Pergamum was a great center of learning and once had a huge library of 200,000 scrolls that were (probably and unfortunately) given to Cleopatra by Marc Antony as a wedding gift in 41 BC. At least, you can still see the remains of the library here today.

During our visit, we simply enjoyed walking around the site of Pergamon on our own and taking photos as often as possible. It still amazes me how many historical sites like this Turkey has and that locals as well as archaeologists are still discovering these today such as a Poseidon mosaic recently found in southwestern Turkey.

Location:

I’m linking this post to the monthly travel guide link up organized by Fiona, a fellow Australian blogger, at Tiffin Bite Sized Food Adventures. Each month features a new letter of the alphabet. This month is the letter “P.” Please pop on over to Fiona’s blog to read more travel stories or feel free to link up your own!

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