October 30 no climbing for the Kozins

Brrrr. It is cold outside! Early October snow cut off power last night!

For those of you reading who live in the bay area, I get back late Tuesday night. It would be great to meet up for a drink on Wednesday night to say hi and catch up. Location tbd.

October 28: lots of plane time and arrive Boston

I made it safe and sound to Boston. Had a great dinner with Simon, Julia, Alyssa, and Dave. We all went back to Alyssa and Dave's for some home made pumpkin pie. What a great welcome back to the states!
It's so cold here that Simon and I will probably change our plans a bit.
We do not love the idea of camping in the snow at the gunks. We had planned to head out Saturday and come back Monday. We will see what happens now.

Last day in turkey oct 27-my thoughts

I lay in bed unable to fall asleep on my last night here in Turkey. I have only 3 hours to sleep before I have to get up to catch my plane.
I am reflecting on my travels here in turkey and my trip as a whole.
I wonder: what have I learned about the world, about myself, and about my relationships with others?
Visiting Turkey has sparked increased interest in the geography and history in the area. The hagia Sofia and the blue mosque left lasting impressions. The views of Istanbul I would see daily from the ferry were breathtaking. The masses of people everywhere and the traffic causing constant noise were overwhelming, to say the least.
Daphne was a better tour guide than I could ever imagine.
I learned that my communication skills about what I want to do actually Need some help.
After taking the weekend trip to Munich I realize that cities with easy public transit are so much nicer than those without. Add some bike paths get me a bike and I am a very happy traveler. I feel free to roam.
Daphne and I talked about how traveling like this provides us with the opportunity to learn something new about ourselves. I agree! Meeting new people as you travel around, trying new foods is such a great way to adapt your views.
I think i will have a better sense of how this trip has affected me when I get back. I think sharing my stories and digesting my experiences on some much needed bike rides will help organize my thoughts.
I have yet to endure a long plane ride home. Hoping for some sleep along the way!
Thanks to all of you who have followed my first ever blog. I will likely continue to update as I keep exploring. I have loved getting comments from you along the way. I am curious to know how trips like these have changed any of your attitudes or mindsets.
Looking forward to catching up when I get back.
R

October 25, walking around town, yoga, and music

Daphne and I had a great day walking around Istanbul.  We had Kufte, turkish meatballs for lunch.  Then took the ferry to the European side.  In the photos below (when they get uploaded) you can see tons of boats waiting to cross the Bosforus to head into the Black sea.  I guess boats need to wait for a go ahead, so they just hang out near Istanbul.  See map below.

We enjoyed walking around town.  Then we headed to Yoga.  Good class, it was in English.  It was so cool to be able to do yoga in a such a busy city 6 flights up from all the traffic.

Daphne and I had some of the best food on the trip, Kebab wrapped in a large pita like wrap.  A turkish burrito of sorts.

It was amazing to see so many people out at night on a Tuesday.  There were so many outdoor restaurants.  Then we enjoyed listening to some great music at 5 floor bar.  Lots of people dancing!!!  Good fun!  Getting back to D's place was a breeze at 2 in the morning on the Dolmus (van bus- a colectivo type bus).  No traffic, phew!

thanks for reading...

R

October 24, Morning Munich by bike then fly to Istanbul

For those of you who don'tknow, I tend to be a heavy sleeper.  In the dorms at Davis, I continued sleeping through a fire alarm until my R.A. banged on the door yelling my name.  I tend to have to set two alarms because I can turn the first alarm off in my sleep without knowing.  Ivy's roommate has one of those cute inbread dogs that snores.  He and I shared the living room at Ivy's apt. while I was there.  It was funny everyonce in a while to wake up and hear snoring from a dog!  Lucky for me, I am a deep sleeper and it never bothered me.  Actually, I thought it was kind of cute.  No need to go pet the dog or anything (you know me), but I did like the thing (Otto).
Anyway, today started off with a quick breakfast with Ivy before she took off for work.  I rode her bike to return it at central station, Hauptbahnhof.  I spent a few hours at this station with Ellie in 1998 when we took a train through Germany to the Czech Republic.
I returned Chen's bike and zipped back on the U2 (subway to Ivy's place) to get my bike.
I had just enough time to explore the city by bike.  First I found the famous Hofbauhaus.  It was a bit too early for beire, so I just took a stroll around and snagged some coasters for a memento.
Then I headed to a nice outdoor market called Vicualienmarket.  After that I had just enough time to climb the endless staircase to the tower of St. Peter's chuch (ha, funny, Peter, that was your suggestion :)
It was well worth the climb to be ableto see amazing views of Munich. The tower I was on faced Marienplatz, Munich's town hall.  The pantomime conversation with the swiss man up there told me that if I waited 15 minutes, for the clock to strike 12 noon, I would get to hear music and see dancers.
I was glad he told me to check my watch because, instead of staying, I zipped over to the train station to return the bike, get my bags, and head to the airport with just the right timing to get to my flight.
I had a lovely time in Munich meeting new people, and exploring.  What a difference a nice subway and bike path system make!!!
I had a lovely flight to Istanbul.  I shared the row with a cute Turkish woman who really wanted to talk to me.  When Turkish failed her, she would continue speaking Turkish, then throw in one or two German words.  She prayed and rejoiced the moment the plane landed.  It reminded me of another little someone I know.
Turns out that there are many Turkish immigrants to Germany, so this was a busy flight.
The evening ended beautifully with a nice dinner at Daphne's uncle's house.  It was so nice to be able to get to know her family and have a home cooked Turkish meal.  Daphne had to work because she did the majority of the interpreting.
well folks, thanks for checking in!
R

Oct. 23. Biked to Dachau

Just a quick update here as it is bedtime. Ivy and I biked to Dachau to see the memorial for the concentration camp. It was sad and a good learning experience. After having visited the holocaust museums in L. A. And D.C., this site was rather tolerable.
I am scheduled to fly back to Istanbul tomorrow. I just heard about the earthquake in turkey so I will see if my flight will still go.
Thanks for the follow up emails and will update soon.

October 21-weekend trip to Germany

Hey folks,
My last minute trip to Germany was all but unplanned.  It turns out Ivy just got an apartment last week.  Daphne and I had plans to go to Van, we decided the trip would be too long for the amount of time that we had there. 
We had so many other options of places to go.  Konya was the top choice and I had to decide what to do.  Long story short, Ivy was on skype the moment Daphne and I were talking about our plans, and it turned out that she could host me.  So, I got a last minute ticket to Munich. 
I arrived and walked around until it was time to meet Ivy after work.  We went out for drinks with friends of friends of friends.  Lucky for me, everyone could speak Enlish.
Tomorrow we will explore Munich, and do some shopping for Ivy's apartment.  I am trying to figure out bike rental, of course, to be able to explore this area by bike.  Maybe I DO need a folding bike, or a breakaway type bike.
If any of you reading this blog have been to Munich, please send me your favorite places.
It is wonderful to have beer again.  Spain and Turkey have liquid that they like to call beer, but it really doesn't count.