"It's Istanbul not Constantinople"

Istanbul is a fantastic city, although the above titled song has been in my head and driving me (and andrew) nuts! We ended up spending way more time there than expected. It's definitely the place where you could stay for weeks and not get bored.

As you all know, we were here for the first bombings of the synagogues, which was a very difficult and quite scarey time. In fact we actually attended an event for the City College of London the night of the first bombing, where we met the British Consulate General, who later in the week was killed in the second set of bombs. Andrew will write more about the Turkish / Terrorist situation in another blog. In the meantime here are some photo highlights:

The Blue Mosque (with lights up for Ramadan):


The Egyptian Bazaar:


A cool looking mosque on our tour of the Bosphorous:


On the boat "cruise" on the Bosphorous:


Cycling around Prince's Islands:


Sunset on the way back into Istanbul:

More Bombing

Just in case you didn't know, we're no longer in Istanbul, so we were not physically impacted by yesterdays bombings.

Thanks for everyone's concern and well wishes so far; it's nice to know everyone is thinking of us.

Tomorrow we are off to Pamukalle and then the Meditteranean coast in the south. We do not feel that our personal safety is threatened in Turkey, and have no intentions of changing our itinerary.

Take care,
Andrew & Mandy
Mandrew Adventures Inc

Safe in Istanbul

Hi all, by now you've probably already heard about the terrible car bomb attacks outside 2 synagogues here in Istanbul. We are safe, and as far as we are aware, so are the family of our good friend Julie Bars Culver, who live here in Istanbul.

This bombing is in sharp contrast to everything we have seen and heard about the peaceful co-existence of the Jewish and Muslim communities in Turkey.

From our limited time here in Turkey so far, we have found it to be a very secular and tolerant culture. From its history we have learned that it has not, like many of its neighbors, persecuted Jews. It has had a democratic non-extremist government since Ataturk kicked out the Sultans shortly after WWI.

Earlier this week, we spent a delightful evening with Julie's cousins Ralf and Nadia, who are very active in the Istanbul Jewish Community (a relatively small community of 25,000 in a city of 12 million). He talked at length about how well respected and politically well-connected the Jewish community is in Turkey, and how they have lived in virtual harmony here for the past 500 years. We will be seeing Ralf and Nadia again tonight, and are very interested to hear how they think these attacks will impact the relationship the Jewish community currently has with the Muslims here in Istanbul.

We are leaving Istanbul on Monday to travel around the country. We will be as careful as possible but do not believe that we are at any risk in doing so.

Our next stop will be India: we found a great yoga school on the beach in Goa where we plan to get our bellies back into our clothes (by losing weight, not through flexibility). After an Indian/American (not to be confused with American Indian ;) ) wedding and some touring near Madras, our next port of call will be Bangkok, and from there our Southeast Asian adventure begins.

Hope all is well with everyone!
Cheers,
Mandy and Andrew
Mandrew Adventures Inc
http://www.wiggenout.com/mandrewadventure.html

After a sad goodbye to our comfy pad in Rome, David (the Scottsman) and No 1 dog Blondie (who we seriously considered kidnapping for the rest of the trip), we jumped on the super-fast Eurostar to Florence, and have been soaking up Michaelangelo, da Vinci, etc.

Just yesterday we were complaining about the lack of English-speaking people in Rome, but today we're surrounded by American tourists, and wishing to meet one real Italian here... well, tonight our wish came true. While sitting quietly in an all american pizza joint, some local guy overheard us asking a question in english, and jumped up to help. Not only could he tell us where the movie theatre was, but he also walked us across town to it; then walked us back to our "2 star" (really -2 star) hotel to tell his friend (the owner) to upgrade us. We now have a TV in our room :)

Us in Florence:


The beautiful sunset:


Venice:

Now we're in Rome right across from Trestavere staying with David, a globe-trotting Scottsman, who has been enthralling us with travel stories from around the world, and getting us ready for some our future travels. We saw the Pope on Sunday and we can confirm that he is, as reported, still alive. Will keep you posted.

Photos from Rome:

Our hosts Blondie & David ;) :


Cuddles with our favourite Sudanese/Roman dog "Blondie"- who we considered dognapping:


St Peter's Sunset:


The Tiber at night:

Just a quick update to say we arrived in Rome Saturday night after a brilliant week in Paris. We leave for Florence on Thursday, Venice on Saturday, and then Istanbul late Sunday night. Then we look forward to exploring Turkey for a few weeks, and then we're off to India and then Southeast Asia.

Paris was brilliant thanks to our hosts Valerie and Fabien who live right by the Bastille in a young and hip neighborhood, and of course it is such a photogenic city it would be hard not to have a great time, not to mention all the croissants, crepes, etc.

Photos from Paris:
Our lovely hosts, Valerie & Fabian:


Rue de Lappe - The "happening" street where Valerie and Fabian live:


Mandy & Valerie getting free flowers from the gardeners by the Louvre!:


Andrew in the Impressionists section of the Louvre:


The Eifel Tower looking spectacular:


A romantic walk home along the Seine:


Some cool but expensive art, by Thomas Seliot at a local gallery:

Well, it´s been a whirlwind couple of weeks with the Zuks (Mandy´s parents) around Spain and Portugal. We tried to pack as much in as we could, including Gibraltar and Tangier, and a couple days lying on the beach on the Algarve (southern coast of Portugal). Here are all our latest photos from Europe, starting in Madrid and taking you up to date here in Lisbon...

Madrid

After a hard-working afternoon at the Sofia art museum:




Shopping for gifts at El Rastro flea market:

The Road Trip begins: Toledo, Grenada...

Placa Mayor in Toledo:




Do you think we can get this thing through airport security?




The Alhambra in Grenada, a truly amazing palace:






The view out from the Alhambra:




Typical tiles used at the Alhambra:

The original Sierra Nevadas:

This was the view from our cabin in the mountains:



An old stone bridge:

Gibraltar

There´s the big rock, the only place you can use British Pounds to pay for fish & chips on the Iberian Peninsula:




The apes of Gibraltar:

Tangier

Snake charmer with cobra:




Stalls in the Casbah:






Not sure which category we fit into ;)

Seville

Lagos, Sagres, & Ponta da Piedad

At last, the beach!




Mmmmm, Persimmons:




Ponta de Piedad, a rocky outcrop in Lagos:








Sagres & Cabo de Sao Vincente, the Southwestern tip of Europe:





Posing for the cover of my travel book:

Evora & Sintra

Tour guides in Evora:




A nice long hike up the Castle and palace. (Maybe we should´ve taken the bus?)












Azenhas do Mar, just down the road from Sintra:

Lisbon

This is our hotel balcony right in the middle of Lisbon.




Feeling at home by Lisbon´s version of the Golden Gate Bridge.




Belem Monastary and tower










Andrew with Paulo, Irene & Daniel:




Paulo's Amazing Art:




Daniel, Paulo & Irene's adorable son (playing with our camera):