April 7 2010
Alas, we are home after 19 days of travel. We headed out to San Francisco on the 19th of March leaving the house around 2:30 a.m. Neither of us could sleep anticipating the journey and worrying about oversleeping. We arrived in San Francisco mid afternoon the same day 26 hours later. Nothing like flying against the clock to confuse your head and body!
San Francisco was wonderful. We had excellent weather the entire time with lots of sun, yeah California! We stayed at the Mark Hopkins Hotel on top of Nob Hill, a very luxurious hotel. This is where the Treasury held its four day meeting that didn’t start until Monday. Friday is a blur but on Saturday we met our friend Wendy at the farmer’s market at the bottom of the hill. She was shopping with her friends Steve and Robert. I have heard about Steve for years so it was a real treat to finally meet him. He is quite tall and his partner Robert is much shorter so they make a great Mutt and Jeff team. I have known Wendy since she was 16 when I administered her GED. I was in my mid 20’s at the time. The market was fabulous, located at the Embarcadero. Steve and Robert gave us a great trip for dinner. Later Wendy and the two of us drove over to the Presidio and walked along the shore and ate a yummy lunch sitting outside. After saying goodbye to Wendy, we headed over to the Flour +Water restaurant. We were told to get in line by 5:00 or forget it. It takes a couple of months to get a reservation. We arrived three minutes before five and were the third people in line. Tim Grewe, the man Ron replaced in Tbilisi, joined us. The doors opened at 5:30 and some people didn’t get seated. We had been introduced to the chef that morning at the market so waved to him as we were eating. He came to our table and we reminded him how we knew him. He is 25 years old and already a raving success in the restaurant scene in SF. Our meal was fabulous of course!
Sunday we were treated to a tour of Marin County across the Golden Gate Bridge by Dee Michener, the mother of one of our Embassy friends in Tbilisi. Dee is an 80 year old spitfire! No moss is gathering under her. She drove us to Muir Woods and after walking through the woods we headed for Stinson Beach and Reyes Point. We had taken the ferry over but she drove us home, above and beyond the call of duty. In between squiring us around, she entertained us with wonderful stories of her life and family. We had a delightful time.
Monday Ron headed off to his meetings and I went shopping with two other wives, one of whom is Patty Culpepper, a good friend from Tbilisi. I discovered that my lowly Lee Jeans aren’t available in the city and would require me going out of the area to find them. Bummer. I did manage to go to a pharmacy and a grocery store and get many of the items we needed in Tbilisi. Shopping in the US is so easy due to the availability of goods. I went to the deYoung Museum with Dee on Tuesday to see an Amish quilt show of quilts made between 1900-1930’s. What a treat for my eyes. Some of them were real gems. We ate lunch at a Jewish deli and waddled out afterwards. On Wednesday I went to see a show of Cartier jewels with Patty and another friend. Talk about gems, oh my goodness. Some of the items displayed had belonged to the rich and famous: people like Liz Taylor and Princess Grace of Monaco. It was amazing to see all the items that had been custom made for celebrities.
On Thursday I took the ferry over to meet Dee and pick up Kirsten’s tax return to bring back to Tbilisi. Dee took me on another excursion to Sonoma, a charming old California town with lots a real cool shops and a lovely town square.
Friday we flew to LA to see Sonia and Bob, Ron’s mom and her partner. We were very fortunate in that Ron’s sister, Sandi and her husband Bill from Rhode Island were there also. Ron only gets two weeks vacation so being able to see family is a real treat when we are so far away. We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone and regretted that our time was so short.
On Monday afternoon we flew back to SF and caught a 9:00 p.m. flight to Munich where we stayed overnight for a 24 hr layover. This time we were flying with the clock so we left SF on Monday arriving in Germany on Tuesday and left late at night on Wednesday arriving in Tbilisi on Thursday at 3:00 a.m. In Munich we had fun taking a self guided two hour of the neighborhood. I spied an amber shop and my dear husband brought me a honey amber pendant to go with the large cuff bracelet he had gotten me several years ago when he had a study tour in central Europe. I stayed home on that trip to save money as it was quite expensive. It was a decision that we both regretted and now rarely do I stay at home on these long trips. We left Munich late at night and got here at 3:00 a.m. OY! Not a good schedule but welcome to Georgia. We waited a long time for luggage because the kiosk said our luggage would be on carousel 2 and it was on carousel 1 along with another flight’s luggage. It was after 6:00 before we got to sleep and I was up at 9:00 as Kirsten was coming by to pick up her tax forms. I never went back to bed. Nino, our housekeeper was sick the entire time we were gone so the house was a mess. We repacked for Turkey and got on a 5:00 p.m. flight for Istanbul. Guess you could call us jet setters or just plain nuts…
I forgot to mention that 24 hours before our flight to Istanbul our hotel cancelled our rooms. This was a major problem as we were out of the country with limited access to computers and Istanbul is swarming with tourists on Easter weekend. Laurie headed out to the Embassy and got us a room that morning using the travel agency. Our hotel had a super location although it was somewhat seedy. Our room had three single beds, a hole in the wall as though there had been a fight, a hole in the bathroom door as thought someone tried to put their fist through it and the oddest thing was the hole someone had cut into a painting. Go figure. Rooms cost a small fortune due to the popularity of Istanbul at Easter. Normally we would pay about $300 for four nights in a three star hotel but we paid $544.
An ever so brief history of Istanbul. The foundation of Istanbul dates to 667 BC when a Greek colonist, Byzas, led an expedition from the overcrowded cities of Athens and Megara to establish a colony on the European side of the Bosphorus. (The Bosphorus is a body of water that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara then the Aegean and Mediteranean and is the dividing line between Europe and Asia.)This colony known as Byzantion grew to a successful independent city-state. In 64 BC it was subsumed into the Roman Empire and became Byzantium. In 324 Constantine become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. He moved the capital from Rome to Byzantium. Later the city became known as Constantinople. The ruler was instrumental in the spread of Christianity. The 6th century was dominated by the extraordinary genius of Justinian (527-65) who developed the city into a thriving city and re-conquered lost provinces. At the time of his death the empire had expanded to its greatest size and covered Syria, Palestine, Asia Minor, Greece, the Balkans, Italy, southern Spain, parts of northern Africa including Egypt. Jumping ahead, The Ottoman state was born in 1301 when Osman I, a leader of warriors who were fighting for the Muslin faith declared his independence. The new state quickly expanded. By 1453 the Ottomans had captured Constantinople. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Ottoman Empire steadily lost territory thorough wars with Russia and Austria. In WWI the empire was on the losing side. The peace treaties rewarded victors with Ottoman territory and as a result stimulated nationalists to take over power from the sultan. Mustafa Kemal Pasa, known at Ataturk ‘the father of Turks’ set in motion an ambitious program of political and social change. The sultanate was abolished in 1922 and religion and state were formally separated when the country was declared a secular republic a year later. His reforms included replacing the Arabic alphabet with a Roman one, allowing women greater rights, encouraging western dress (the fez was banned) and obliging all Turks to choose a surname! Needless to say, I skipped over 299 pages of my history book but thought it would be helpful to know that three distinct civilizations ruled here for long periods of time.
Our first night was walked across the street and ate a late meal at an outdoor café. It was not memorable but was edible. Breakfast at the hotel was Turkish: sliced hard boiled eggs with raw onions and fresh dill, bread, tahini sauce and others I didn’t try, cucumbers and tomatoes, sliced deli meats and feta cheese. There were some dry cereals also. Again it wasn’t memorable but it was edible and held us until lunch. The coffee was instant, sacrilege in Turkey I would think. Our first day we visited Topkapi Palace, built in 1459-65 by Sultan Mehmet II. We were lucky enough to get there early and not have to wait in line (last time I was there I waited a very long time to buy tickets.) Once inside we scored tickets for the harem section of the palace. Last time they were sold out. I found this section fascinating as it gave us insight into the lives of sultans. Some had as many as 1000 concubines. Oy! Think about that one folks! Before going I read a 300 page history of Istanbul and the palace intrigue, political maneuvering, etc were brutal. Lots of beheadings. Lots of siblings killed so the sultan didn’t have to worry about his next of kin usurping the throne. Later this practice changed to imprisoning siblings within the palace in an area called the Cage.
Right across the way was Haghia Sophia, one of the world’s greatest architectural achievements. It is 1400 years old and is known as the ‘Church of Holy Wisdom’. It stands as a testament to the sophistication of the 6th century Byzantine capital. It was inaugurated by Emperor Justinian in 537. In the 15th century it was converted into a mosque and the incredible mosaics were plastered over. Minarets, tombs and fountains date from that period. The mosaics are now being restored.
We also visited the Blue Mosque, named for the incredible blue Iznik tiles inside the mosque. It is one of the most famous religious buildings in the world. It was built in 1609-16.
We ate lunch at a place within the spice bazaar that had been recommended by a friend in Tbilisi. It is always fun to note weird translations and this menu was no exception with ‘write rice’ and our all time favorite ‘burnt bottom milk pudding of chicken breast’. Do chickens have milk? I don’t think so. Anyone who can give us some insight into this dish will be rewarded…with a free serving of the above! In the Spice Bizaar we purchased a box of Turkish Delight that Ron will share with is office.
On our last full day we visited the Basilica Cistern. This cavernous vault was laid out under Justinian in 532, another beautiful piece of Byzantine engineering. The roof of the cistern is held up by 336 columns, each over 26 ft high. It is enormous but only two thirds of the original structure is visible today. In one corner there are two columns that rest on Medusa head bases: one is turned sideways and the other head is upside down. No one knows the reason they were placed at these angles. We were able to walk through the structure on raised walkways. It would be the perfect setting for a movie like the Da Vinci Code. It is dark, damp and there is the sound of water dripping throughout. For a century after the conquest the Ottomans did not know of the cistern’s existence. It was rediscovered after people were found to be collecting water and even fish, by lowering buckets through holes in their basements.
Later that day we went to the Church of St Savior in Chora. Some of the finest Byzantine mosaics and frescoes are here. They were exquisite. There were several domes with the finest mosaics I have ever seen. Given the age, it was all the more impressive. This church was located on the edge of town. We took a light rail train then walked for about 20 minutes to get to it. “In Chora” means in the country. The church dates from the 11th century and between 1315-21 it was remodeled and the mosaics and frescoes were added by Theodore Metochites, a theologian, philosopher and one of the elite Byzantine officials of his day.
Afterwards we ate at a hotel nearby. We sat outside on the terrace as the weather was wonderful everyday we were in Istanbul. This was the nicest place we had dined in Istanbul. Excellent service and Jock said his meal was the best of his life. Laurie agreed. I told the manager when I went inside to use the restroom and he said it was their signature dish. As a thank you he gave each couple a jar of their homemade apple jam.
Later that day we visited Rustem Pasa Mosque that is noted for its Iznik tiles. ‘There is no mosque in the city adorned with such a magnificent blanket of tiles.’ It was built in 1561 and rises above the busy shops and warehouse around the Spice Bazaar.
On the way to visit a church I asked if I could pop into a shop that sold carpets and textiles. Three and a half hours and three cups of tea later, we had bought four village textiles with lovely embroidery and the Conly’s out spent us by buying a carpet, a wall hanging and a lovely bedspread. It was too late to visit the church but we made it there our last morning. Below is a picture of the happy seller and the happy buyers.
One day we visited the Grand Bazaar. It is gianormous built by Mehmet II in 1453 shortly after his conquest. There are literally 1000’s of shops, each with a hawker or person asking you to come into his shop. Two hundred thousand visitors a day flow through here. It is exhausting and I find it difficult to shop in this kind fractured loud setting. Bangkok also has such a bazaar. Haggling is a definite must here. This also makes me uncomfortable. Although we spent time looking at carpets, copperware and bedspreads, we walked away empty handed.
We tried to visit a carpet museum but it was closed for remodeling. We did make it to the Mosaic Museum. This museum was created by roofing over a part of the Great Palace of the Byzantine Emperors which was discovered in the 1930s. In its heyday the palace had hundreds of rooms, many of them glittering with gold mosaics. The surviving mosaic floor shows a variety of animals which made us wonder: were there lions and leopards here at some point? The palace is thought to have been built in the late 5th century.
Our last morning we went to visit the “Little Hagia Sophia, Saints Sergius ad Bacchus’ Church. This church was built in 527, again by Justinian. It was converted into a mosque in 1453 after the conquest. It was a real beauty with white walls and a blue and soft green decoration. The original marble carved frieze remains intact.
All in all it was a great trip. Ron divided vacations into three categories: vacations of obligation (this is when you visit family), tourists on speed (you may never pass this way again so you had better see and do everything you can with the time you have) and PMB (Park My Butt: sleeping in, lying on a beach under a palm tree reading a book and taking a nap after lunch). This trip to Istanbul was definitely tourists on speed. Although we were tired when we came home, we wouldn’t change anything about the trip. The best part was traveling with Laurie and Jock. It was fun to discover how similar we are in terms of interests, values and a sense of play.
Saturday we are going to David Gareja on the border with Azerbaijan. There are 15 old monasteries spread over a large remote area that looks like a lunar semi desert landscape. The oldest monastery was founded by Davit (David) Gareja, one of the 13 ascetic ‘Syrian fathers’ who returned from the Middle East to spread Christianity to Georgia in the 6th century. Manuscript were translated and copied and a school of Georgian fresco painting developed. The monasteries were destroyed by the Mongols in 1265 and revived in the early 14th century. They were later sacked and in 1615 on Easter night 6000 monks were killed and most of their artistic treasures were destroyed by Shah Abbas of Persia. In 1675 King Archil initiated some restoration and gave monks a small stipend. They remained working until the end of the 19th century. During the Soviet times the area was used by military exercises. Some of the earliest demonstrations of the perestroika period in Tbilisi were protests against this vandalism. Davit and his disciples lived in caves here. Frescoes from the 11th century still exist and it is now a working monastery once again. We will be able to hike around the area for about three hours before heading back to Tbilisi. We have to visit in the spring as in the summer the area is infested with snakes, yikes!
It rained the entire day yesterday so we only got to see the lower monastery of David Gareja. It was very foggy on the drive up to the monastery so we could see very little. It was cold (60 F). The complex is truly fascinating with most of the structure built into the rock or carved out of the rock. We look forward to going again in better weather. Nino from the Embassy Community Liaison Office said this was her 18th trip and the first time it had been this wet. This region is considered a desert with very little rain fall. Not so today! As it was we were an hour and a half late getting back to town so we walked in the door, showered quickly and changed clothes and headed out the door at 6:40 for a quick stop by at Rami and Patrick’s open house and then on to the charity dinner/dance. The food was the worst I have ever had at a large event. The meals were stone cold. Ron and I had different entrees and both were cold. I won’t linger on this because the rest of the evening was great. We enjoyed dancing to a band that played Beatles music and the auction was quick. The raffle prizes went on forever but we got through it okay. Ron danced almost every song while I only like to dance to slow tunes anymore. Fortunately there were four women at our table who loved to dance and he kept them busy. One of the single women said ‘Ron is such a gentleman’. If she only knew how wonderful he really is (see below). I can only say ‘gentleman’ hardly describes this guy. I count my lucky stars daily and feel blessed among women!! 
