MP goes to Europe - vita
Hello Everyone! We have started a Blog and plan on blogging it up to keep you updated about our travels and the current location of our fearsome Sasha. We hope to be emailing and blogging about...

Wisconsin
Madison, United States
We are just finishing up our visit in Wisconsin. Jeremy has been windsurfing with Granddad Roman and Sasha has been wandering around Madison. Last night we went out with Kira, Scott, Teresa, Brent, Mila and John. All old friends of Vita's. We ate at a Brazilian barbeque and I am fearful about the physiologic consequences!
We will be leaving for Barcelona on 7/22 with a quick detour beforehand to Chicago to see Nandani, Sachen and Gayatri.
Sasha has been teething again and we have been trying to get her to sleep enough by feeding her ibuprofen and tylenol. Jeez! I don't know how many teeth a little girl needs! She's not wrestling down wildabeast on the Taiga after all.
More Later!
written by  vita on July 19, 2009 from Madison, United States
from the travel blog: MP goes to Europe

chicago
Barcelona, Spain
Our brief stay in Chicago was awesome! We met little baby Gayatry - a 7 week old daughter of our friends Nandini and Sachin. We relaxed, took walks to the park, and ate amazing south-indian food. All in all - totally spoiled!
written by  vita on July 22, 2009 from Barcelona, Spain
from the travel blog: MP goes to Europe

Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain
written by  vita on July 24, 2009 from Barcelona, Spain
from the travel blog: MP goes to Europe

Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain
Sasha is making friends with local kids and dogs
The trip to Barcelona went amazingly well. Minimal crying from Sasha, some traffic in Barcelona, but other than that it was pretty easy. Our apartment in the city is amazing. First of all I was just pleasantly surprised that it existed at all - after all I made a reservation over the internet with no Deposit and no way to check that this is a real thing. But somebody was there to meet us on time, the place is big, comfortable, aircondintioned and only a 10 minute walk to La Ramblas, the main street. And even closer to their "Central Park", couldn't be more perfect for Sasha.
written by  vita on July 25, 2009 from Barcelona, Spain

eating out
downtown cafe
Thanks to the jetleg, Sasha has been getting to bed around midnight, so we've gotten to experience some of the night time city. The number of people out and about is just amazing. The sangria is great, people watching is fun, and there is quite an abundance of outdoor cafes.

Seville
Sevilla, Spain
playing in the fountain
After being in Seville for 4 days my initial impression has definately improved. Even though the promised break in the "heat wave" never materialized, we've learned to adapt. We don't try to go out in the middle of the day and limit our outdoor activities to mornings and evenings. the only exception is playing in the fountain with Sasha.
written by  vita on August 3, 2009 from Sevilla, Spain

Cordoba
Cordoba, Colombia
Jeremy and I took turns visiting Cordoba. I just got back yesterday - had a wonderful time. Took a high speed train, AVE, which was just amazing. First of all it looks sleek from the outside. Inside it's ridiculously spacious and comfortable. They show movies and give you headphones. There is a cafe. The ride is very smooth, you can barely feel you are moving. And it can go up to 180 mi/hr! It really was state of the art.
Cordoba itself is a gorgeous little town where through architecture you can really see history. As everything in this region of Spain, it was first Roman, then Muslim. In 10th and 11th century Cordoba apparently was the center of the cultural world in Europe - 3 times the size of Paris, it was a place where Christians, Muslims, and jews actually coexisted in piece and where art and science was valued. There is still one of the oldest Sinagouges in Spain the Jewish quarters.
written by  vita on August 5, 2009 from Cordoba, Colombia

Sunday
Sagrada Familia by Gaudi
The Gaudi church Sangrada de Familia- characteristic tree like supporting columns
Today we went to a park designed by the architect Guadi. His work predominates Barcelona. He was the driving force of modernista architecture. The park was interesting. On the way home I stopped and toured the Sangrada Familiar. A huge chapel built and conceived by Guadi. This thing has been in the process of being built for over 1 century. It is truly fantastic. Sasha and Vita wnet home for a nap and she gets to go sans bebe tomorrow. I will be going to a musical performance at a local park with the wild monkey know as sasha! Only 3 days left in Barcelona, it is hard to imagine something more amazing, but I have an open mind!
Jeremy

Seville
Sevilla, Spain
boardwalk by the beach in Barcelona
Patricia and Sasha in Istanbul
We arrived in Seville after a zoo in the airport. We took a local flight and the airport was mobbed. Sasha and everyone slept poorly last night do to teathing and we were all in a terrible mood. THis trip has done little to improve my Spanish and I am pretty sure that the lady in front of us was asking if we had ear plugs. Sasha is now asleep after we walked down to the main square and had some Sangria. We stopped to see if we could get some take out at the cafe down our street and we were informed that they opened in 10 minutes at 8:30 Pm. I feel very American or very much the father of a little girl!
The pictures are from another Gaudi building. This was a bourgiousie apartment building overlooking downtown Barcelona
written by  vita on July 30, 2009 from Sevilla, Spain

Seville
Sevilla, Spain
We are now on our day #3 in Seville. It is a gorgeous town, the whole downtown is a pedestrian zone, so it's wonderful to just walk around and check out local shops and cafes. I took a great 2 hour walking tour of the town yesterday, so my head is full of random statistics and history. The architecture here is amazing - the city was first Roman, then moorish, then catholic. So it's an amazing mix of Roman columns, gorgeous blue and white tiles, and gold covered crosses. They are trying to build a metro here, but having a very hard time because they keep unearthing ancient sites. So the metro has been projecte to be completed in 1982, and there is still only one line.
So far it has been unbearably hot. I was glad to learn that they are in the middle of a heat wave, and today should be better, but I'll believe it when I see it. I think the heat explains the city's schedule - everything shuts down between 2 and 6, and no self respecting restaurant even opens till 8 pm - which is Spanish 8, more like 8:30 - 9. After 9 pm the city comes to life, and by 10 the streets are full and most of the tables in the outdoor cafes are taken. What really amazed us is that our neighborhood playground, empty most of the day, finally gets packed with happy children.
Unfortunately for us by 10 we are all exhausted and there is no way we can stay out with Sasha. So because all the interesting things here, such as outdoor concerts and Flamenco performances start so late here, we have really started to feel the strain of traveling with the baby. While it's easy to take turns going on a tour or to a museum, or occasionally have Sasha run around through a fortress while we are sightseeing, it is really no fun to go out at night by yourself. So no Flamenco for us - but we've gotten Twinkle Twinkle little star down!
written by  vita on August 1, 2009 from Sevilla, Spain

Northern Spain
Santiago de Compostela, Spain
We are now in Green Spain - the North West portion of the country, where the climate is somewhat similar to our Pacific Northwest. It rains a lot of the time here, so everything is Green, hence the name. The capital, and the biggest attraction, is Santiago de Compostela - it's a final destination of a 500 km piligrimage to honor St James.
We are staying in a tiny little town about an hour away, on the Atlantic Coast, just a block away from the main beach and a board walk. It's just gorgeous. It's been sweater weather here, which is such a welcome relief. The wind didn't stop us from hanging out on the beach - Sasha loved all the shells, and I loved that she didn't try to eat them. She must get enough Calcium, as well she should with all the cheese she eats. At first she ignored the water, but soon she got curious. She has never seen the waves before, so she thought it was a game and didn't hesitate just to walk straight in. Shoes and pants and all. She got mad when I wouldn't let her sit in the water, but all in all, she loved it. Afterwards she kept licking her hands with surprise, probably tasting the salt.
Yesterday my mom flew in from Denver, and it's been such a treat to have her. Sasha just loves her, and she is more than happy to hang out with her, take her for walks, and let Jeremy and I go out. It's been an amazing treat. J and I had tapas and wine on a deck overlooking the ocean last night. It was very romantic - would have been even more so if the music was not cheesy American 90s and we weren't eating Octopus. But I am not complaining, it was our first night out without the baby in almost a month, so no Octopus can ruin it!
The language barrier is a bit more of an issue here - since it's so rural not too many people speak English. In fact right now we are at a cafe, and Jeremy is drinking a non-alcoholic beer. He asked for dark, she named it, he said ok, and there you have it. 0% alcohol. Hee hee hee.
I'll upload some pictures soon, so stay tuned...
written by  vita on August 7, 2009 from Santiago de Compostela, Spain

hike
Santiago de Compostela, Spain
roman bridge on the hike
Jeremy and I went on a hike yesterday. Ok, since we’ve done some driving here now we realize that Spaniards are not big on street signs. But I didn’t realize that the same goes for trail markers. So in addition to going through beautiful forest and by a peaceful creek (things you will see in the pictures), there were some things we didn’t photograph – asphalt road under the scorching sun, burned down ladder we climbed on, angry dogs Barking at us, Jeremy hiking in wet shoes for 3 Miles because he fell into a creek… With all that said, laying in the sun on a large rock in the middle of a mountain creek was the most relaxing couple hours I have ever had.
written by  vita on August 10, 2009 from Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Santiago de Compostella
Santiago de Compostela, Spain
We took a half day trip to Spain/Santiago-de-Compostela– a gorgeous little town, but completely overrun by pilgrims. It was interesting to learn that it is believed that James, one of the 12 apostles, was buried here. Hence all the craziness...
written by  vita on August 10, 2009 from Santiago de Compostela, Spain

the beach
Today we discovered an amazing beach. About 20 min away from us, right on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, is the Sand Dunes National Park. And the beach has the most pristine sand I have ever seen. Although the water is a bit cold, Sasha absolutely loved it. She pretty much ran around naked except for a sun hat, squealing with delight.
I know she will kill us for this picture when she is older, but we couldn't resist...

porto parks
Porto, Portugal
While the city of Porto is impressively dirty, local parks are just stunning!
written by  vita on August 14, 2009 from Porto, Portugal

oporto
Porto, Portugal
Porto has been a city of contrasts for us. It is striking from a distance – high banks of the river, castle like city walls, overhanging bridges. But upclose you can’t help but see the disrepair of the buildings and the dog poop on all the streets. It’s the same with the food – even though there are amazing pastries and good coffee, their dinners have been very disappointing. And port – we haven’t had much, but had some really bad, and some pretty good (never even new there was white port, yummy).
written by  vita on August 16, 2009 from Porto, Portugal

bird market
Porto, Portugal
it is always surprising to me to actually see a bird market. May be I am just used to America where you can go to Petsmart and get any animal you want... But the number of birds and other small animals was just amazing. And really kind of sad to see all of them caged. But Sasha, who is just learning the words for fish and bird, just loved it.
written by  vita on August 16, 2009 from Porto, Portugal

madrid
Madrid, Spain
Sasha's initial impression of Madrid
Well, we got to Madrid last night. Holly shit! this is a big city, and we are smack in the middle of it. If Barcelona was like San Francisco, Madrid is more like New York. Except we haven't found the Central Park yet. And who really wants to go to New York in the middle of August?
Our apartment, Plaza Espana II, does have a lot of local charm, just as advertized. It features such local flavors as bathroom separated from the bedroom by a curtain, rustic furniture that falls apart when you just look at it, and a couch that hasn't been replaced since 1960's. The building itself is also very authentic - it has an old marble and very slipery stairway with rickety railing and we are on the third floor (british system, so actually 4 flights as the ground floor is 0). And no no, not safe to leave the stroller downstairs, must bring it up all the way. But at least we feel safe - there is a police station and a jail on our street, right next to the bail bonds and a few strip clubs.
All right, more on Madrid later, these are just a few of the initial impressions...
written by  vita on August 19, 2009 from Madrid, Spain

Madrid
Madrid, Spain
Today Vita and I Split up to go to a museum called the Prada. The Prada is a huge collection of painitngs of mostly italian and Spanish painters dating to the 1500's. It was amazing to see these works from "El Greco" or The Greek, Velasquez and Goya. Goya in particular went through a despondent period right around the 1800's called the black period where he painted in exile in france. It was all amazing works, I was blown away and actually moved to tears!
Well Madrid has looked up since we arrived. Tomorrow we are headed to the original capital of Spain called Toledo, as in Holy Toledo!
written by  vita on August 20, 2009 from Madrid, Spain

cappadocia
Goreme, Turkey
Cappadocia
Oh Turkey... We've been here for almost a week now, but haven't had internet at our house so have been slacking off on the blogging. To quickly summurise - we love it here! We have had a wonderful time so far. We flew into Ankara from Madrid - somewhat painful of a trip since Sasha is just too excited to sleep while we travel. But we made it, and after just an overnight stay in a hotel by the airport we hired a car to take us about 3 hours south to Cappadocia.
It is an amazing place, with crazy rock formations due to a volcanic eruption centuries ago. In 11th century some of these rocks were used by Christian Monks - they have build caves in them to hide from persecution. They have whole cities that you can visit, with churches in the caves and frescas dating back 10 thousand years.
We are staying in a tiny pretty touristy but charming town. Tons of delicious cheap outdoor restaurants and cafes, great areas to hike, etc. Our house is amazing - it's actually build partially in a cave!
Turks are very friendly and welocming, and oh my God, do they love children. People go out of their way to see Sasha. And just seeing is not enough - this is a country of cheek pinchers! They love her, and she loves all the kids. The other day a small but loud crowd of 8 year old girls swarmed on us, pretty much took the stroller away, and were all about giving her kisses.
Yesterday David and Patricia joined us! It's been such a treat! Sasha was shy at first, but quickly recovered and now has them wrapped around her little finger...
written by  vita on August 30, 2009 from Goreme, Turkey

Puppet show
Madrid, Spain
written by  vita on August 23, 2009 from Madrid, Spain

attempting to make pottery
Goreme, Turkey
Pottery in Avonos
We did a little side trip, using public buses, to a neighboring town famous for it's pottery. we went into a shop/studio, the owner claimed to be 4th generation pottery maker, some of his items were just amazing. He demonstrated at first, and then he let me try. My creation is not one of those pieces. But luckily my child has no experience, and was fascinated by the whole process and clapped at the end.
written by  vita on September 1, 2009 from Goreme, Turkey

The baby assault
Goreme, Turkey
Sasha with a gang of town kids
In Turkey our child seems to feel that she is finally getting the attention she deserves. No Turkish person seems to be able to resist walking up to her, and at the very least give her a smile. She usually gets her cheek pinched and sometimes head or foot patted. Older children fight over who is going to push her stroller. People rush to her help if she falls down or drops (well, to be honest, throws) something on the ground. It is now Ramadan, so around the Blue Mosque in Istanbul there is a huge celebration every evening, with tons of people and food and music. Our Sasha interprets it as an opportunity to dance and run around. People offer her food, candy, and sometimes even take her photograph. It will be a rude awakening for her when we will return to our puritan WASPy culture
written by  vita on September 1, 2009 from Goreme, Turkey

Istanbul
Istanbul, Turkey
Turkish coffee
Enjoying Turkish coffee in an outdoor cafe! Delicious!
written by  vita on September 3, 2009 from Istanbul, Turkey

street candy
Istanbul, Turkey
enjoying freshly made candy
street candy maker
All around the Blue Mosque there are food stands. This one is where they custom make hard candy on a stick for you. At the end they pour a little fresh lemon juice on top to give it a little tang. Yummm
written by  vita on September 4, 2009 from Istanbul, Turkey

the spice bazaar
Istanbul, Turkey
spice market
The bazaars here are as grand as expected. Crowded, all the haggling and bargaining in multiple languages, very vibrant. As expected, we needed nothing but walked out significantly more poor.
written by  vita on September 7, 2009 from Istanbul, Turkey

Last day in Istanbul
The Blue mosque - built in 15th century
Sasha demonstrating the use of a pillow for granddad
Today was our last day in Istanbul and it rained periodically. I think Vita and I are both done with the press of the city, the traffic and all of the people. We went with Sasha to the grand bazaar and bargained our brains out and ended up with a beautiful 6 tile piece very representative of the early tiles in Turkey. it is a handmade piece that I will have to frame on returning to the states. Luckily I will be getting my chop box and biscuit cutter from Denver very soon.
Sasha has suddenly started to talk in the last several days. She now says 'No', 'More' and 'Milk'. She has the cutest little voice, which I am sure will change once she gains some confidence.
Tomorrow we are taking a ferry across the Bosporous to a smaller town and picking up a rental car and then travelling to Iznik. Iznik is a small town that has been making the tiles I mentioned since about the 15 or 16 th century without much change. I am looking forward to checking it out. We are then taking 2 days to make our way to the coast and we will visit the ruins at Euphesus.
Well we had a great time with David and Patricia and I hope they will recover from the intense Sasha time within a few months. They may need counseling.
We will blog it up as soon as we can although we may be out of touch for a few days.
Jeremy

Pergamon
Bergama, Turkey
We left Istanbul just before the floods started, so timing was perfect for us. We slowly made our way south and stopped for a day in Bergama, where a little drizzle didn't deter us from visiting Roman ruins. This is a picture from the Acropolis, where Jeremy and Sasha are standing in the amphitheater that was built about two thousand years ago!
written by  vita on September 15, 2009 from Bergama, Turkey

Sasha with a gang of town kids

Breakfast at the hotel in Goreme

Ayasophia

enjoying freshly made candy

wisconsin

Sasha is making friends with local kids and dogs

arc de Triumf

Plaza Mayor

Cappadocia

walking 5 blocks away from our apartment by Arc de Triomf

downtown cafe

locals playing bocce ball

street candy maker

Sasha with Veniki

Patricia and Sasha in Istanbul

crazy wall garbage disposal

Mila's house

in the sand dunes national park

parents will burn in hell for this pictures

Turkish coffee

Crystal park

they love their pork in Spain

Watching a puppet show