Istanbul (not Constantinople)

"Istanbul was Constantinople, now it's Istanbul not Constantinople"

If you need a reference to the song - click here!

Istanbul was like no other place we've been before.  It's hard to find the right words to explain exactly why, or what it was about this place that seemed so 'different' but we'll do our best to try.  For those of you who are fans of Disney movies, I (Nancy) referred to the movie, Aladdin, more than once during our 6-day trip if that helps to set the tone.

I think pictures will be best to help to illustrate the uniqueness and appeal of Istanbul, and so we don't get carried away, we'll condense it to a list of the "Top 13" (in no particular order).

VIDEO for #1 on its way...

 #1 - Call to prayer.  Five times a day you hear the "call to prayer" throughout the streets.  This was played on speakers from the minarets at each mosque.  It was a constant reminder to us that we were in Istanbul and very much in the heart of an Islamic nation.

#2 - Apple Tea.  One of the most popular drinks in Istanbul is tea, especially apple-flavored tea (think warm apple cider).  It is served in a small, tulip shaped glass.  Here you can see we sampled one apple and one orange tea at a cafe.

#3 - Nargile.  Also known as "hookah" or "shisha".   Yes, of course we had to blend in with the locals.

#4 - Dolmabahce Palace.  Here we are at the entrance to the Dolmabache Palace. It's decorated extravagantly, even though it was built during the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan financed this palace with loans from foreign banks.  It can only be visited on a guided tour, and they didn't even allow pictures inside.

#5 - The Blue Mosque.  The best view in Istanbul at night. Luckily we passed by it on our walk home each night.  We also visited the Blue Mosque during the day and the view was quite remarkable.  The official name of the mosque is the Sultanahmet mosque, but it has been given the nickname, "Blue Mosque" because there are over 21,000 Iznik tiles (mostly blue) decorating the interior.  It was beautiful to see, the only part that wasn't enjoyable was the odor of smelly tourist feet - since no one is allowed to wear shoes inside.

#6 - The Turkish language.   Very difficult to pronounce or even try to sound out.  The combination of letters is so different than any other language we speak, or learned in school.  So we resorted to pointing at names if we were trying to ask how to get somewhere.

#7 - Hagia Sofia.  This was probably our favorite, awe-inspiring tourist spot in Istanbul.  It is incredible to think it is more than 1,400 years old!  It was originally built as a Christian church and later converted to a Mosque when the Ottoman's took over.  The inside (which you can see here) is so tall that the Statue of Liberty could fit inside!

#8 - Cats. Imagine the world's largest zoo for cats.  Now imagine someone breaking into that zoo and letting all of the cats out.  That's what it's like in Istanbul - there are cats everywhere!

#9 - Turkish Baths.  No trip to Istanbul is complete without spending a few hours in a Turkish bath (hamam).  We treated ourselves to a Turkish Bath experience on one of our last nights in Istanbul and it was such a treat (we even upgraded with an oil massage). We left feeling completely re-energized and rejuvenated.

#10 - Grand Baazar.  A shoppers dream!  Nothing can prepare you for the Grand Baazar - it is a cluster of small streets, with booth-like shops selling just about anything you can imagine, filled with thousands of people.  The shopkeepers and their assistants are relentless in their quest for a sale. It's a toss-up to say who enjoyed bargaining more, but it was definitely a great experience and we walked away with a few souvenirs...

#11 - Basilica Cistern.  Known as the "most unusual tourist attraction in the city", this underground water cistern was a beautiful and unique sight to see.

#12 - Turkish candies.  I (Nancy) LOVE candy.  Maybe it's because as a child I was hiper-active and therefore I was prohibited to eat anything with sugar listed as an ingredient for the first 18 years of my life.  But I found one candy in the world I can live without, the traditional Turkish candies, or "Turkish delights" in Istanbul.  They are bland, bright colored, marshmallow-tasting candies, but chewier... very disappointing.

#13 - Bosphorous cruise.  A perfect, relaxing way to spend an afternoon - cruising up the Bosphorus River with Europe on one side and Asia on the other.

Goodbye Dublin or Hello Istanbul?

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”

The beginning of our Istanbul trip would mark the end of our Ireland adventure – however, it was difficult to know where one ended and the other began.  Was it all the Guiness you ask?  Perhaps.  However, I think it was more of the blurry night (or early morning) we spent at the London Luton airport. Trying our best to take advantage of the cheap airfare throughout Europe, we thought we were smart, or maybe even ‘ingenious’ by booking a late flight out of Dublin into London Luton, followed by a flight the following morning to Istanbul.  We landed in London around midnight, with our flight departing to Istanbul at 6am.  I’m sure we aren’t the first people to spend the night at an airport, but I think it was quite a unique experience at this airport in particular.  We might not have empirical evidence to support us, but I’m pretty sure we were the only passengers that didn’t know there would be an urgent scramble, in order to procure comfortable overnight accommodations within the lonely halls of the airport.  As soon as we exited the plane, the dash began and the passengers flooded into the main concourse, where the cafes and restaurants were located.  We didn’t understand what sparked the hullabaloo.

As we lazily strolled (or as slowly as I am allowed to stroll alongside Nancy “fast-walking” Perzel) into the concourse we realized the airport had turned into a make-shift hotel, with hints of a refugee camp.  People were sleeping everywhere!  We were immediately at a disadvantage as the better spots had already been claimed.  Some people created a cot of sorts, by sitting in a chair and resting their feet on their luggage.  The ‘lucky ones’ had managed an entire metal bench at a closed sushi restaurant, while others had forgone any sense of comfortable and were simply sprawled out on the floor of the airport.  No way we would do this … we have … standards.

Apparently, standards can quickly change at 2:30am at the airport.

Fortunately, we were able to snag a love seat at a coffee shop (thank you Costa Café) that must have been overlooked during the pillage of the airport.  However, we were disappointed to learn that the café would close at 2:30am.  How dare they close a café, at an airport, at 2:30am…

We were in quite a dilemma, and only the type of dilemma you can find yourself in while traveling internationally, at a foreign airport, with overnight layovers.  We have such a tough life.  What shall we do?  We scoured the airport for possible sleeping areas, we even sent two separate unsuccessful search parties (first Todd, then Nancy, and then Nancy again), but the more we looked, the closer it came to the dreaded ‘closing time’ where we would be kicked out into “the streets”.  Our standards decreased with every 15 minutes that passed.  Soon, the people sleeping on the floor, whom we previously labeled as ‘outcasts’ where now part of a club that we wanted to be a part of, if we could only find a spot.  I’m pretty sure at 3:00am the appearance the cold, white tiled floor had visually transformed into fluffy, white pillow squares, at least that’s how it felt when we finally accepted the fact that we were destined for the tile (er, pillowed) floor.

Dare we say we’ve never slept better at an airport?  I know you are dying to see our sleeping arrangement, fortunately it was documented.

As the time for our flight arrived, we grumpily gave up our palatial Tempur-Pedic mattress on the airport floor and boarded our flight.  Sidenote – I think we must have found a good spot, since our spot was immediately confiscated by another set of squatters, as soon as we vacated the premises.

The boarding, flight and landing were very much a blur.  However, we had finally arrived in Istanbul! 

We read that almost everything is negotiable in Istanbul – you really are supposed to negotiate prices for everything from beers, to taxi rides, to souvenirs.  However, one suggestion for future travelers, would be that the Istanbul Visa Control apparently do NOT appreciate attempts in negotiating the $20 visa entry fee.  Our attempts to ‘buy one, get one free” (visa entry) and “two for thirty dollars) proved utterly unsuccessful.   Fortunately, we were still allowed to enter the country, we just had to pay full price.  I think I found the one thing in Istanbul that isn’t negotiable (that and the McDonald’s menu, but that is another story).

After a beautiful one hour shuttle ride into Istanbul (I’m assuming it was beautiful) since Nancy and I slept the entire trip, we arrived at Pasha Hotel -- our hotel for our first two nights.

We both went straight to bed, only to be awoken later that afternoon by the Islamic ‘call to prayer’.  This was going to take some time to get used to.

7 days... 6 cities

Kilkenny

An old, medieval town that was surprisingly more fun than we expected.  A nice change from the hustle and bustle of our three days in Dublin.  It was a fun city to explore; we especially enjoyed our tour of the Kilkenny Castle.  The castle was built at the end of the 12^th century, and a powerful British family and their decedents lived in the castle for the last 600 years (until the 1930’s).  This family adopted the surname ‘Butler’ and we learned that all people with the last name “Butler” should be able to trace their family lineage back to this family, as they were the first family to take on this last name.  We set out to find a restaurant and some live Irish music for dinner and happened to sit next to an older couple celebrating their 35^th wedding anniversary from Ringold, Georgia!  I’ve tried to convince Nancy that I have already got that anniversary present out of the way… 

Kilkenny Castle

Cork

We stopped here for one night out of convenience, since it was the biggest town close to the Blarney Castle, which we were scheduled to visit the next morning.  In Cork, we visited St Anne’s Church, where you can climb the bell tower and actually ring the Shandon Bells.  The bells were labeled with different tunes and there was a booklet with directions to play specific songs, we took turns pulling the different chords and played the song “Amazing Grace”, which could be heard throughout the town of Cork – at least, the few surrounding blocks.  

Playing the Shandon Bells at St. Anne's Church in Cork, Ireland.

We arrived at Blarney Castle in the afternoon to explore the grounds and to kiss the Blarney Stone.  This was a bit scarier than we thought and we actually watched two grown men before us chicken-out as they bent half-way backwards in an attempt to kiss the stone… but we overcame our fears and kissed the stone – the legend says we now have the “gift of the gab”.

Todd getting "the gift of the gab"

Trying not to think about how unsanitary this is...

Private residence at the Blarney Estate.

The Ring of Kerry
The Ring of Kerry is a 180km drive around the Iveragh Peninsula, one of Ireland’s most popular attractions.  We stopped midway through the drive at a Bed and Breakfast in a small town called Waterville.  We woke up to a beautiful, but increasingly cloudy morning, and an obnoxious fair-skinned, redheaded, and freckled child (your typical Irish cliché) berating his mother in the kitchen while we tried to enjoy our Full Irish Breakfast.

Good morning Waterville, Ireland!

Our view from our breakfast spot at our bed and breakfast.

Our breakfast feast!  Traditional Irish breakfast with "pudding" - we won't tell you what it is, you need to try it for yourself.

Dingle
A very cool, small town on the Dingle Peninsula.  Yes, save the jokes … Berry, Ireland doesn’t exist, I already checked.  However, Dingle is known for its musical talents and is also the location where the movies “Far and Away” with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and “A Quiet Man” with Clint Eastwood.  The drive around Dingle Peninsula was just as beautiful (and less crowded) than the Ring of Kerry.  There is a famous bar Mac Carthy’s, where all the upcoming Irish artists play before they are ‘big’ – likes of Damien Rice, The Script… but U2 never played there.  Dingle was also home to Todd’s favorite bar in Ireland, Dick Mack’s – no trip to the west coast of Ireland would be complete without a stop to Dick Mack’s Bar.  It’s the type of place that feels like it hasn’t changed a bit since it was opened in 1898, for all the right reasons.

Beautiful scenery driving around Dingle, Ireland.

Inside the famous Dick Mack's bar - family owned since 1898.

Doolin

A tiny town with only three pubs, we decided to stay here because of the town’s notoriety for being the very best town in Ireland for authentic Irish Music.  We visited Gus O’Connor's Pub, listened to live music all night and even made some Irish friends that were visiting from Limerick.  

Doolin was also a starting point for our visit to the Cliffs of Moher.  In the morning we received a treasure map, of sorts, from a guy working at the hostel with alternative directions to avoid the heavy parking fee that is connected to this tourist attraction.  Free? Yes. Somewhat dangerous?  Probably.  But was it worth it? Even if Nancy had to walk through a field of cow manure in Chaco’s – yes, Todd would do it again! I will provide you the comparison of the Goonies finding ‘One-Eyed Willy’s’ treasure … yes, it was that awesome.

Our treasure map...

We all make sacrifices... luckily some wash off with soap and water :)

It's a minor miracle we actually made it to the Cliffs of Moher from the directions we were given on the "treasure map" above.

Galway

We had heard that Galway was a ‘must visit’, but honestly, we were a little disappointed.  The weather wasn’t brilliant, which might have shaped our subpar view of the city.  I guess, by the end of our trip, we were tired and ready to relax, which we did in Galway more than anything.  Worth mentioning: we visited The King’s Head bar, which dates back to the 1600’s –  the current building is mostly original, and was given to a local Irishman by the King of England as a reward for beheading the King of Ireland (due to a rebellion).

What do you when it rains all day in Ireland? Find the nearest pub and order a Guinness or an Irish Coffee!

Spending the afternoon at King's Head...

Back to Dublin…

We returned our car this afternoon and only had a couple hours before getting to the airport.  So, what do you do when you have time to kill in Dublin?  Find a pub and drink one final Guinness, of course.   

Goodbye Dublin... heading to the airport

Our last sunset in Ireland

We are both pretty exhausted and can’t believe we were about to begin the second leg of our journey – a week in Istanbul, Turkey.

Driving in Ireland

The difficult thing about driving in Ireland is … well, all of it.  Not only are you on the opposite side of the car, but your perspective is completely different from where your lane starts and stops, but also learning the dimensions of your new car that you’re renting (or ‘hiring’ as it is referred to in Europe).  The changes are immediate, the left lane on the highway is ‘slow’ and the right lane is ‘fast’.  At an intersection, turning left is easier than turning right.

God bless the round-abouts that are all over Ireland.  We still don’t understand why these haven’t caught on in the US, but they replace stop lights and logically make much more sense.  The round-abouts would make turning at intersections much easier.

However, I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the condition and size of some of the roads we drove on (so that I may be properly congratulated at a later point in time).  The proper highways (while filled with tolls) where rather typical in size and speed – however, we were only on the highways about 20% of the time.  The rest of the time, we were avoiding disaster left and right, in the form of cow crossings, farm equipment, picture takers (we were guilty, too), and lanes that were not properly paved to fit two lanes of opposing traffic.

Let me explain… First, let us preface this expose’ with this:  when we say ‘every time’ we really mean ‘every time’.  Okay.  Every time we were driving on the back roads of Ireland, it felt like we were driving in some sort of video game, where rules are made up as you go, Demolition Derby might be an accurate title.  Not only were local drivers unappreciative of being stuck behind lazy, scenic route taking, luscious green hills appreciating, sheep gazing tourist, they would ride your tail until you would (a) turn onto another street, (b) pull off the road or (c) assumedly fall off the mountain-side yourself. 

There weren’t a lot of places to pass cars because the country roads were extremely narrow and all seemed to be built on hills or cliffs.  We regularly went with option B, we would pull off and let cars pass and then continue on our leisurely pace – Todd time, as Nancy likes to call it.  Or, let’s just speak the truth and admit we were driving a bit timidly during our first time behind the wheel on the right side of the car, remembering to stay on the left side of the road.

Back to “every time”…

Every time there was another car coming in the opposing lane, I had to actively remind myself to stay on the left side of the road.  “Keep her in the gutter,” the grisly car attendant’s advice was fresh on my mind.  ‘What a smart guy’ I thought to myself in disbelief more than once at his level of genius for providing such wonderful advice.  Every time I passed a car in the opposing lane, it was much more similar to a game of chicken, than it was to simply driving.  I kid you not, the oncoming traffic simply didn’t budge off their ‘half’ of the road, which, to me, appeared to be about 2/3rds of the road.  To clarify, there are not lines marking the middle of street and each oncoming car simply took the space they felt like they needed.  These games of ‘chicken’ usually resulted in Nancy literally being placed in the ‘gutter’, as we would swerve off the road to escape the impending accident.  Yes, I will be glad to chauffer you around Ireland, whenever you wish.

The games of ‘chicken’ with oncoming traffic would continue throughout many of the back roads of southern Ireland.   I guess, the saving grace to all of this, was the incredible backdrop with which were able to narrowly escape these accidents.  The scenery was as picturesque as you could imagine.  The hills were a shade of green that simply doesn’t exist in America, especially in Georgia.  The hills, trail, quick moving clouds was absolutely stunning.  Even with gas costing 1.52€/liter (this would equate to a full tank of gas costing approximately 75€ or $105 – and we were driving a Ford Focus!), it wasn’t enough to dampen the fun of our trip.

Nancy and I were turning into a pretty formidable driving team.  After a steep learning curve, and a couple bumpy, but brief dips into the gutter (keeping Nancy a little too far into the gutter) we slowly but surely settled into a routine that worked very well.  Nancy was the navigator and I was the driver narrowly averting oncoming traffic, the occasional cow crossing, or tourist in the street.  Through trial and error, Nancy had developed into quite an amazing navigator.  Not only were the road signs in Ireland difficult to decipher, but the inadequate map we received nearly split in two as soon as we opened it.  (Maybe the robot did get the last laugh, after all).  Not only was the text quite small for the road signs, but predominately the signs used the Irish Gaelic language with English written smaller, underneath.  Somehow, Nancy was able to decipher these Irish hieroglyphics and tell me (usually) in the middle of the roundabout, which typically resulted in taking the complete circle a time (or two, or three).  Perhaps, a little late, but I think it just adds to our credibility as an excellent tandem.

By the end of the trip, as we were cruising back into Ireland, we felt much more confident than when we had left.  We triumphantly returned to Dublin without any (noticeable) damage to our Ford focus.  We may have over-compensated on the pre-departure checklist of visible damages before we left, just to cover our butts a run-in with an immobile Irish hill or gutter. 

To summarize, there was much more “swerving” than there was “steering”, more “confusion” than “clarity” and more questions than we had answers to, perhaps a little more stress than we had planned for, but it was an incredibly unique, albeit a little too ‘thrilling’ at times, experience, and the perfect way to explore Ireland.

This was an interesting sight the first time we came across cows on the road - it gives a whole new meaning to road congestion.

We tried to find the pot of gold, but someone else must have got there before us...

"Keep her in the gutter"

Now that we were officially check in to our Ford Focus for the next 7 days, the daunting task of actually driving became quite real.

"Have you ever driven on this side of the road before?" the attendant asked with a sideways smile.

"Nope" I nonchalantly replied.

He offered his parting advice, "Well, just remember: Keep her in the gutter."



This phrase would be repeated constantly on our road-trip, sometimes as a joke and sometimes shouted as a literal reminder to get back on the correct side of the road.   “Keep her in the gutter” meant that with Nancy riding in the passenger seat (I was the only one covered to drive since we were using my credit card as car insurance), I needed to keep Nancy in the ‘gutter’ or towards the edge of the road, at all times.  According to Nancy, I may have used this as literal advice a couple of times (actually veering off the road and putting her in the gutter), but I don’t remember, I was busy checking out the luscious green hills of Ireland.  Regardless, the phrase would be the only words of advice we received before starting our week-long, 6 city Ireland road-trip.  As we already mentioned, I was not only driving in a different country, but also from the opposite side of the car, on the opposite side of the road.

In keeping with full disclosure, I have to be honest in saying that our first 10 minutes with the car, didn’t exactly start off great…  First, the attendant asked if he could turn the car around for us – what a kind gesture I thought at first, that, or I guess I didn’t look like the confident type of guy that knows how to turn around an Irish car in my first seconds of driving ‘in opposites’ since the car was facing the wrong way on a busy street.  Second, and probably more damaging, when we finally walked across the street to get in the car, out of habit, Nancy and I both walked to the “wrong” sides of the car.  “Ha, ha, that was … funny,” we nervously laughed and glanced back with relief to see that the attendant and robot weren’t watching us from inside the store window.  Not much to inspire Nancy with confidence in my Irish driving ability, which was non-existent at this point.  I think we were off to an unsettling start.

And how exactly am I supposed to do this??

There were quite a few signs in the car and even on the roads reminding drivers to stay on the left... real reassuring!

Todd and Nancy vs. "The Robot"

The idea of renting a car and taking a leisurely road-trip through the picturesque countryside of Ireland was, shall we say, a little bit different than the image we had created in our minds.  After spending three days exploring Dublin, Nancy and I were excited about having our own car, our own schedule, and our own space, for the next eight days.  This luxury would allow us the freedom to come and go as we wished – and of course the challenge of driving a vehicle on the opposite side of the road from the opposite side of the car.

I think the nervousness started when we realized that car rental companies in Ireland do not allow foreigners to use their own car insurance, which is typically accepted around the world when renting a car.

Let us elaborate, car rentals in Ireland were cheap to the point of being absurd.  To rent a car for 8 days, it was only going to cost 45 €.  We would soon understand that the rental companies certainly don’t earn the majority of their money through the ‘rental’, rather through the insurance that you are “allowed” to purchase, or should we say is forced upon the unknowing consumer upon their arrival in the company’s lobby.  Through this technique, almost all Americans will have no other choice but to pay the exorbitant, daily, insurance premiums which cost approximately 36 € per day.  We didn’t really feel like we had a lot of options, as we were sitting in their lobby with all of our bags already packed.  I’m pretty sure a smirk, in the form of a smile, began to spread across the robot’s face.  All of a sudden, what we believed to be a 45 € car rental had mushroomed into an almost 400 € expense ($560).

To put it mildly and succinctly, I was pissed.

When trying to inquire and use our charm to possibly bargain our way around this exorbitant fee, we were quickly informed Ireland has its own set of rules:

 “I don’t understand… why can’t we just use our own car insurance?” we started asking innocently enough.

 “The amount of liability paid out is too great.” the car representative recited her line.

 I asked, “You mean it’s dangerous to drive around here, in Ireland?”

She quickly responded, “No, it’s just the amount of liability paid out is too great”.

I asked again, “You mean, too many foreigners are getting into car accidents in Ireland

and foreign car insurance companies don’t want to cover us?”

The robot responded mechanically, “The amount of liability paid has become too much”.

My game of ‘cat and mouse’ with the robot failed to elicit the response I desired:  her admitting that everyone gets into accidents while driving in Ireland.  In fact, the last bit of conversation we picked up from the family returning their car in front of us was, “A copy of the estimate will be sent to you in the mail…”  Not exactly what you want to hear before embarking upon a cross-country road-trip.

I asked, re-asked and re-asked again what other options existed to avoid this ludicrous increase, until she finally mentioned that a few credit card companies exist that will still actually cover car rentals in Ireland (where all damages are put directly onto your credit card).

I stormed off to figure out how I would even begin to find out if my credit card would allow for something so specific – I didn’t like our chances since we had no cell phone or internet connection.  So, there I was, calling a credit card company collect from a phone booth on the crowded streets of downtown Dublin.  The next challenge would be hoping to explain that we needed a very specifically-worded letter from them, granting us auto rental coverage in Ireland.  I figured it was a long shot as the phone began to ring.

Fast forward 15 minutes … And thank you MasterCard Citi Professional… Apparently, they are one of the few remaining companies to offer this auto coverage and they were even able to email me a letter, which we were hoping would be sufficient proof to show the robot if we could pull it up on our iPad.

The next step was to find internet.  We scoured the streets until finally finding a café with free WiFi. It’s amazing how resourceful you become when traveling around new places with just your backpack.  We quickly pulled up the email with the letter granting us coverage from MasterCard (thank you Insomnia Café of Dublin, Ireland) and walked triumphantly back into the car rental agency and showed her our form.  I’m probably embellishing a bit, but her smirked quickly disappeared, along with the 300 € insurance expense she was hoping to charge.  Of course, we would really have a lot to deal with if we were unfortunate enough to damage the car, but who worries about that when you’re on vacation…

Nancy says I gave her my best ‘Todd smile’ as we drove away.

Todd and Nancy – 1

 “The Robot” – 0

Welcome to Ireland ... let's begin in Dublin.

For Nancy and I, I think Ireland was a place that we didn't really know too much about, other than we thought it would be a place we 'should' visit.  So, visit we would.

I think our expectations were vague, other than knowing about leprechauns, Guinness beer, the four-leaf clover (which were extremely difficult to find by the way) and St. Patrick's Day, I think our knowledge of this wonderful place was very limited.  Sorry for all of the stereotypes in the aforementioned sentence.  However, what we found was one of the most friendly, historically interesting, and relaxed places we've even visited.

To say the Irish people are friendly would be an understatement.  You would have to try to make an Irish person mad at you.  We loved learning about the tumultuous and sometimes violent history that has created Ireland and Dublin would be a perfect place to start or end your trip.

We spent three days running around Dublin.  Most of our time was spent hoping into and out of Irish pubs (do I really need to use the adjective 'Irish'?), dodging raindrops and criss-crossing the multiple bridges that  cross the river Liffey.  It was very important to us that we really got a good feel for the taste of Guinness in Dublin, which would lead to many, multiple, various tastings.  Yes, after all of our intense research, we have concluded with empirical evidence that Guinness in Ireland is delicious.  Drinking a freshly poured Guinness from the bar atop the Guinness Brewery was a highlight of the trip.  Here is a list of the things we enjoyed the most (or at least remembered to take a picture of):

 Ireland at night.  In a place where drinking is a way to keep warm, the Irish pubs, especially around The Temple Bar area (while full of tourists) was a great time.

Learning the origin and the words to the rowdy, drink along, sing along song "Sweet Molly Malone".

All of the Irish Pubs.  It's sad to admit, but every time we walked into a pub in Dublin, we were like, "wow, this is decorated just like the Irish pubs in America".  Stupid Americans.

Having a Guinness at The Stag's Head.

 Guinness over Dublin from the Guinness brewery.

Pat Liddy Walking Tour of Dublin.

The Guinness Brewery tour and drinking our free Guinness atop the Gravity Bar overlooking the city.

Exploring the cathedral of St. Patrick's and understanding the origin of St. Patrick's Day.

 The food in Dublin.  And, yes, this entire tray was for me.  In the background, you see Nancy's much healthier (and boring) option, a turkey, bacon sandwich.

Bienvenidos a Calle Los Francos!

It's official...
We have our very own authentic, Andalusian "piso" (pronounced ‘pee-soh’) --- Spanish for an apartment with more that 1 bedroom – for the next 9 months! We did our final walk-through yesterday and signed the Spanish contract. It is quite a relief to have the search completed and the keys in our hands!


Here's a breakdown of the events that led up to this...

That morning, we met a new friend and 3rd year English teacher, Melissa Capp, for a traditional Linares breakfast "tostada".  This is a toasted French bread baguette, topped with freshly-grated tomatoes, jamón (cured ham), and the enormously popular Jaén olive oil (a product that is made in our region, which also happens to be the world’s largest producer and exporter of olive oil).  The breakfast was delicious and surprisingly filling breakfast – hopefully, something we can easily make on our own.   During breakfast, we even asked Melissa to review the five page lease we were about to sign, especially all of the technical Spanish jargon which confused us.  I guess, you would call it a "working breakfast" -- very un-Andalucian of us.

After breakfast, Melissa went with us help us open our Spanish bank account (and our first shared account as a married couple). It was very helpful to have her along with us since she was able to clearly explain to the account manager that we are teaching English in Linares for one year.  Although we had heard stories of other auxiliares having problems with opening a bank account, the whole process ended up being much more simple than we had anticipated.  The biggest problem was figuring out where the end of the line was at the bank!  There are no lines of any sort.  Basically, you walk in, and enter 'the sea of people' waiting in the lobby.  Then, you go around asking each person "la ultima?" -- meaning, "are you the last one?".  Next, you must track this person through 'the sea' until you finally see the person in front of you being attended to, only then do you know you're next.

Next, at noon, we were scheduled to meet the realtor and our landlord family (a Spanish family that arrived with husband, wife and daughter -- we think it was some sort of Spanish intimidation tactic for all of them to show up) for our final walk-through.  The wife, Alejandra, helped to explain how all of the household appliances work.  She was clearly the only one responsible for these chores (more on that, and the role of women in Spanish culture later) and Manuel, the husband, was able to chime in when we asked how to turn on the heat/air and hot water.  I'm not sure we totally understood everything; in fact, we can say definitively that we didn't, but we were able to take a hot shower today.  However, there is something unusual about using ‘salt’ in the dishwasher that we haven’t exactly figured out yet…

After signing the contract, we returned to our hotel to pack up for the last and final time.  The realtor's son, Alvaro, actually came to pick us up in their car to bring us (and all of our belongings) to our new place!  It was about 3:00pm (or dare we say 15:00) and we quickly dropped off our bags in our foyer (yes, we have a foyer) and asked him to take us to the nearby supermarket, AlCampo (think Wal-Mart without the obesity) to buy sheets, towels, and some other necessities.

Probably a little embarrassed to include this in 'el blog', but, we actually celebrated our achievement with a delicious lunch at ... McDonalds!!!  We are sorry for not being sorry, because it was delicious.  Before being judged, let us explain ... Up to this point, we've been eating a lot of authentic food, tapas (small meals), and ordering many things that we’re never 100% sure what they are until they arrive.  So, it was with much anticipation to finally settle in and enjoy one big meal where we knew exactly what we are going to get, even if the ketchup is a little different.  We won't hold that against them, it was definitely a little taste of home.

After all of our traveling, moving, packing, unpacking, repacking, it was such a nice feeling to wake up this morning in our own place!!!  Nice to be "at home" ... even if we did have to spend the first night in our new place in our sleeping bags (because our sheets were still in their package).

Our Spanish address:

Todd and Nancy Perzel

C/ Los Francos, N.8, 3A

23700 Linares (Jaén)

España

Keys in hand!

When we saw the living room was the same colors as UGA, we knew it was meant to be!

Our favorite part of the piso: The view from the upstairs terrace that overlooks the Sierra Morena mountain range.  We have plenty of time to enjoy the sunset, it's a pretty incredible view... but, maybe we're just making it up, you'll have to come see it for yourself :)