i am so behind.

i was on such a good roll with blogging.  at most it was once a week after i went visited a place, and now it's been two months!  to be fair, i did have a lot going on now that i think about it. a week after getting back from turkey, megan and her family was in town for a few days, then i headed back to the states for a week for david and michelle's wedding, then beth and patrick came over to visit which included traveling for a few weekends together (okay, two weekends), then the next weekend the roomies and i went to paris because we found cheap tickets ages ago and now i am so done with traveling!!  first world problems, well aware.

i didn't think that i would have a chance to see megan while abroad so it was a wonderful surprise when she told me she'd be coming with her mom and brothers.  i took the day off and we did everything touristy possible in one day!  first we headed to the tower of london, which i still hadn't been to since moving here.  they had a special installation with ceramic poppies to commemorate the fallen soldiers of WWI.  i've really wanted to go to the tower most because the crown jewels are there, and boy are they something.  i can't get my head around the orbs though.  are they really necessary??  we had some afternoon tea which included free flowing bubbles, and then ended the day with a jack the ripper tour.  it was really interesting to learn more about him, and crazy to think that they still have no clue who he was!

 the tower

 with megs and mama clark

 meg and nick

going back home was great even though it was short.  it was just so nice to be able to make it for david and michelle's wedding.  it was such a beautiful wedding.  true to michelle's roots, there was a mariachi band and her grandma, who used to be a famous singer in mexico sang a few songs which was amazing!  the only downside was that it was in chico and about 100 degrees which meant we were sweating underneath our fancy garb.  i was the genius who thought it would be cute to wear a long sleeve dress.  on second thought, i feel like that might've covered some of the smell, haha.

a trio of bright dresses!

 the gang with the newlyweds!

there was good lighting, so we had to take pics!

 hair is already dying from the heat

 breeden is PUMPED to be married :)

 cutest couple ever!

 

after party!

on my birthday back in april, beth sent me an email that to tell me she and patrick were coming in september!  next thing you knew, it was time for them to arrive!  i took the train to amsterdam and met them there for the weekend.  amsterdam is such a charming city with canals running throughout.  because of all the canals, the preferred mode of transportation is biking which means in addition to watching out for cars when you cross the street, you also need to avoid the bikers.  it got a little hairy at times but we left the city unscathed.  we were able to get into the anne frank house which is something that i've always wanted to see.  it's crazy to think they spent about 2 years in hiding before someone betrayed them.  you could still see the cutouts that anne put up on her wall as decorations. 
of course being in amsterdam, we had to check out the red light district.  it was something alright.  the girls rent rooms there for i think around €200/night and if you walk by and see a curtain, it means they are occupado.  otherwise, they're open for business.  most of the prostitutes are from eastern europe and when we were there, it seemed like everyone had on some version of a naughty school outfit.  i guess that's what sells?

 can't leave amsterdam without one of these pics!

 bike tour

 canals galore

 beth and patrick

the next weekend, we flew to copenhagen since that's where beth and patrick were flying back to the states from.  copenhagen is one of the happiest countries in the world, and you could sense that when you were there.  everyone we spoke with was very friendly, easy going and gave off good vibes.  we had a great time exploring on bikes, though beth had a tougher time because they are so tall there that they don't have ones that fit her!  copenhagen is home to noma which is arguably the world's best restaurant right now.  we didn't eat there, but ate at a restaurant (bror) which is owned by a former noma chef for a fraction of the price!  it was definitely a solid meal.  the nyt just published an updated 36 hours article on copenhagen that adam sent us (thanks babes), so we used that to find some cool hidden bars to spend an exorbitant amount on cocktails :) 

 scandinavian food = dill dill and more dill

nice little shadow of the guy taking the pic for us ;)

 the most photographed statue in cph: the little mermaid

fancy drinks at tucked away lidkoeb

 cute house we found behind the design museum

 so many chairs in the museum. so. many.

 strolling in the city

 more strolling

 boat tour!

then there was paris!  this was a nice change of pace because the roomies and i were taking the train there which meant less traveling!  we had all been to paris before, so this was a nice laid back trip to wander and eat!  we headed to a cool jazz bar for brunch that my coworker recommended.  the live singing was cool, when it happened, but the food really left little to be desired.  who knew b. spears' toxic could be sung in a jazzy tune?  despite having all been to paris prior, we still hit up the eiffel tower and sacre coeur in montmartre because why not!? 

 brunch at le réservoir

 pedicab squeeze

le tour eiffel

 gorgeous sacré coeur

 the view from sacré coeur

 pierre and lisa

 the 17 eckford street family

 afternoon tea & desert at angelina with a side of bitchy waitress

now this leads me to some bigger news, though i feel like a lot of people already know.  i've resigned from adap.tv.

so bittersweet.

so...scary.

and exciting.

my visa runs out on 11/28 so i will work until then, travel all of december then head back to the states on january 7th!  it's been a rewarding 3 years of being at a company filled with super smart people, seeing it grow and being part of an acquisition.  for a multitude of reasons, it's time for me to move on.  i'm not sure if it will still be in the same industry or not.  it's no secret that i am a wee bit passionate about food, so maybe i'll be able to find a job that combines food with technology.  i'm not going to lie, i'm scared.  i've been in the same industry since i graduated so it's scary to step outside of what i know.  wish me luck!

oludeniz, turkey

i managed to convince jerome shortly after becoming friends with me that it would be a good idea for him and i to head to turkey for the bank holiday in august.  turns out that aussie was in need of some serious beach time and so was i!

oludeniz is on the south west coast of turkey on the mediterranean sea, and overrun with british tourists (more on that later).  we got into dalaman (nearest airport) at roughly 3am and was greeted with extremely humid and warm weather.  perfect.  we were picked up by our airbnb lady and her husband (we assume) and were off to fethiye.  after getting in at 4am, we allowed ourselves to sleep for a few hours before forcing ourselves to get up.

our airbnb place was great minus the lack of wifi and any maps which made it a bit tough for us to get our bearings straight.  olga was nice, and spoke some english, but by no means did she prepare us nearly as well as other airbnb hosts have in the past which just made it more interesting!  for example: olga gave us directions on how to get to the famous oludeniz area via dolmuş (aka mini bus shuttles), but not how to get back.  one could also argue it was our own fault for not asking which direction to return, haha.  but i digress...

the first morning, we made it our way to the town of oludeniz which is where the famous blue lagoon is.  after arriving, jerome and i saw the water and headed straight towards some umbrella chairs after getting the first of several doner kebaps!  after paying for our chairs and laying there for an hour, we had come to the realization that we were not at the right place!  we both had distinctly read that you had to pay to get into the area where the lagoon was, and it didn't look like the pictures i'd seen online.  low and behold, had we read some signs, we would've walked about 5 minutes more westward and would've found it.  i blame jet lag for this.  regardless, we were very happy to lay there for the afternoon soaking in some sun, when bearable, and then cooling off in the water.  it was a high of 100 that day!  oludeniz is also famous for paragliding so we watched tons of paragliders soar by ahead and land just a few hundred meters from where we were.  this was really exciting to see, since we were going to have our go at it the next morning

paragliders everywhere!

that night, as we headed out of the flat to find some dinner, we were stuck behind our gate for about a minute which was happenstance because one of our neighbors was just returning home and was a huge help!  i asked if he could kindly point us towards the happening area of fethiye because at this point, we still had no clue what was where.  he gave us a quick run down of what was around and sent us along with his business card in case we needed any help later on in the night!  after finding the promenade at calis beach (15 min walk from our flat), we decided on some seafood for dinner, then went home and passed out.

the next morning was an early wake up call because we were getting picked up at 8am for paragliding!!  i've been skydiving once before, so i wasn't too nervous about paragliding.  we were driven up mt. babadag and were taken to the take off point where all paragliders congregated.  when it was our turn, my pilot, dennis, basically told me that i needed to run when he said run, and don't sit until he told me so, even if that means roadrunner in the air.  they strapped the seat cradle to us, then we were attached to our pilot with the parachute and next thing you know you were in the air after taking only a few steps.  i was hoping there would be more running off a cliff action involved, but there wasn't!  we took off smoothly and then were up in the air!  the turkish had been really laid back about this whole thing, as in, by the time we took off, we hadn't paid, or sign any type of liability waiver, so i decided i'd bring my point and shoot along for the ride.  no one said anything!

 near the take off point!

 jerome is not a fan of heights, yet he has been skydiving...

 the view of the coastline from mt. babadag

 the take off point! nice and steep :)

 cradle pack on!

 jerome getting ready

jerome taking off!

while in the air, i got a few good pics while they attempted to take pics of us with go pros attached to long sticks.  it got kind of annoying quite frankly.  i was trying to enjoy the amazing view of oludeniz and the lagoon below while they kept telling us to look into the go pro at every angle possible.  at one point during the 'flight,' i began feeling a bit nauseous but dennis said he wasn't surprised because there was some turbulence in the air.  apparently he's taken his wife out 5 times and 3 times she's puked!  i hope they carry plastic bags just in case!  when dennis asked if i wanted to try any 'acrobatics' i politely declined!  after being up in the air for about 20-30 minutes, we had a very smooth landing by the beach!

 take that, typical feet at the beach pic!

 the view while gliding

 selfie! 

 selfie with the lagoon below

 we ran into jerome! not literally...

 jerome's landing

after that, we finally found the lagoon and hung out there the rest of the afternoon.  since the water is still, it was jam packed with families.  i can imagine it would be nice having some peace of mind for parents with kiddos.  we were by the edge of a hill, so we rented some snorkel gear for a whopping $2.50/day but sadly didn't really see too many fish. other than that, it was the same routine that we had practiced, and would continue practicing through the end of our trip.  sunbathe, swim, repeat.

that night we headed back to the promenade again and found where the locals partied!  at one end of the strip, we came across a tented restaurant that had live turkish music playing in an area decorated with turkish rugs, tables and pillows for people to relax.  jerome and i found ourselves a table and had a great time hanging out with the locals.  no brits to be found!  it was mostly turkish mamas dancing a combination of belly/shoulder dancing and then a lot of men just hanging chilling at the tables by the side.  i guess men not being into dancing as much is a universal thing!!

finally the last day, we hung out at the calis beach which was very nice.  for once it didn't feel like i was being baked in an oven because the sea had a nice breeze to it, but it also resulted in some slight burning action.  the beach was much more relaxed the ones we'd been to in oludeniz so it was a great way to spend our last day.  i alternated reading the fault in our stars (great book) with a dip in the ocean.

 the big market near our flat on sunday

 gozleme, aka turkish pancakes.  amazing!!

 calis beach

 

this trip was definitely the most relaxing one i've ever had where the agenda rarely strayed from 'beach'.  i was really looking forward to getting away from london for a bit, but as i mentioned above, this place was overrun with british tourists. you really couldn't go anywhere without hearing the accent, or finding a place that served a full english breakfast!  no thank you--didn't come to turkey for a jacket potato.  despite that, i had an amazing time and was really grateful for all of the extremely friendly and helpful turks that helped us along our trip!  i will be back.