Dinner in Istanbul: First Night

We did some research in the hotel lobby (using our tablets) and found a restaurant that seemed like a good idea: Grill Hause. As we approached the restaurant, we were enthusiastically greeted by an employee. He ushered us upstairs to a table and I almost felt like I was being kidnapped only to be fed copious amounts of food, then released. I wasn't so far off. We ate lamb, chicken, stuffed eggplant and hummus. It was all so good.

What I didn't anticipate is that this man who greeted us in the street is not unique. As we asked after dinner, we were approached by a man outside each restaurant and cafe encouraging us to come inside for dinner. This happened even as we were exiting the Grill Hause. It's very difficult to politely decline with a language barrier and the solicitor staring you down in the street. Now we know what to expect though and I'm sure we will come up with new techniques to brush off the advances as the week continues.

Planning out a fun day for tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Finale: Beach, Gardens and the Movies

Today was our final day In Greece. We slept in a little bit, then hatched a plan. First, we went to the market for provisions.  I got partially scolded for not stopping at the end of the produce aisle without weighing our bananas. Whoops! They do that here. We walked to the Temple of Zeus ruins and did a lap. Then, we found the tram. The city public transportation system consists of buses, subways and trams. We took the coastal tram south (and managed to pay properly!) outside of the city limits where it proceeded to rain.  We stopped for lunch at Goody's, a American style burger place that isn't particularly fast.  Then, we walked to the beach. I insisted on putting my feet in, even though I didn't take off my hoodie.  

It was nice to relax on the beach and the sun even peeked out. We knew the weather was iffy but figured the train ride would be nice. It isn't exactly beach season here yet, there were still some die hards around, fishing and swimming.  

We found our way home and wove our way through the gardens near the Parliament. They were lush and green, but there was an absence of other colors.  After a gelato break in Plaka, we arrived home to change for the movies.

I did some research on an ex-pat site online to find a movie theater that would be showing The Great Gatsby in English.  Using google maps, we found subway directions. Unfortunately, google gives Subway stop names in all capital letters and in Greek. Greeks give subway stop names in Greek with a mix of capital and lowercase letters.  Between the linguist and the mechanical engineer, we had been able to identify enough Greek letters to find our way to the Athens Metro Mall.  

The mall was typical and we found our way to the movie theater which was dead.  We reserved our seats and wandered through the mall a little before the show started. There was a wellness fair going on so before the movie, a woman was performing a stripper pole workout routine on a stage, and after the movie, there was a giant Zumba class.  The movie was good. Very Baz Luhrman. 

We are mostly packed and drinking beer in our room while watching tv. Tomorrow morning we are heading to the airport and I am heading home, while Jenny is off to Amsterdam.  

This trip was so awesome, but I'm excited to go home. I am ready for laundry and my TiVo. I think this will be my last post, so thank you for reading!! 

Photos:

Temple of Zeus

The Beach

Cheers!

Athens Exploration

Today was our first day without our group. A few people were still in Athens today between planned extensions and the nonsense with the air traffic controllers.  After breakfast and a lobby meeting (we can only really communicate via wi-fi and prearranged meetings here), we headed to the Acropolis Museum. We had heard that it was essentially everything they uncovered at the Parthenon would be there.  Even though we have been living down the street from the museum all week, I hadn't really noticed how beautiful and thoughtful the building was until we approached it on foot. The museum was recently ranked 3rd in the world. It is built over ongoing excavations and has glass floors built over it.  We weren't allowed to take photos inside, but it was really cool. I liked how the floor plan mimicked that of the original Parthenon. 

After the museum visit, the 5 of us went to lunch in the neighborhood to plan our next move.  Emma and Zach headed off to check into their hostel, while Richard, Jenny and I set out to climb Lycrabettus hill to see St. George's Church.  Thus began the adventure of navigating Athens and not speaking Greek. Google advised us to take the number 230 bus, then pick up a tram to the top of the mountain.  We figured out the bus without much incident, but couldn't figure out how to pay for our fares.  We people watched intently and didn't see many people paying, so we didn't. We still haven't stopped talking about how we got a free bus ride. Being in a city that is in financial crisis, makes free public transportation rides seem so unethical.  Upon our arrival in Ika (neighborhood), we began to search for this tram. The benefit of planning to go to a place on the top of a mountain is that you can see where you are headed, but when you can't find the tram and figure you'll just start walking in the right direction.....

We ended up "urban hiking" on the carved paths and paved roads all the way to the top. Near the church and cafe, we met a lovely retired couple from New City, NY.  They were hilarious, and also had trouble finding the tram.  When we finally climbed the last stair to the cafe, Richard grabbed a Coke Light (he is in talks for an endorsement deal) and we took pictures and visited the chapel. I can't imagine who would have ever worshipped there.  What was unclear to us before we reached the top is that we were significantly higher in elevation than the acropolis. The views were amazing and I'm glad we went even if it meant walking uphill. When we went to the WC (bathroom) we found the elusive tram and bought tickets for a ride down (€3.50 per person). 

We walked the rest of the way through the neighborhood to the subway station where we got to experience yet another form of public transportation.  Only in Athens are there relics in the subway stations. We paid for our fares on this trip, but it appeared that the turnstiles were invisible and nothing was stopping you from just walking through. Dear Greece, we have some ideas for Revenue sources.  The subway system was built for then Olympics so it is very new and very clean. 

When we got back to the neighborhood, we had a snack and I managed to FaceTime with Mom & Tess who may or may not have been in an art museum in Phillie. Jenny and I are now sitting in a Chinese restaurant (she is the only Asian in sight) and playing on our tablets. We are exhausted. Tomorrow is our last day and we are hoping for some sun! Can't believe this trip is almost over, but I am beginning to miss home.  

Photos: 

Acropolis view from the museum terrace

Coke Light! 

St. George's Church 

 

Athens: tourist day

Last night, we went to the ALBA business school at American College to listen to a talk from the CEO of the National Bank of Greece. It was interesting to sit in a room filled with business school students from Athens.  Overall, the CEO seemed more optimistic about Greece's current situation, but the Greek students didn't seem to agree when we spoke with them in the lobby after the presentation. 

Later that evening, Jenny and I explored the neighborhood near our hotel. It sort of reminds me of Rockport with all the boutiques and restaurant.  We split an appetizer (balsamic mushrooms), a salad and penne with chicken and bacon.  The view of the acropolis from our table was so pretty.  We then visited a pharmacy to pick up some cough syrup for Jenny.  Pharmacies in Europe are like little mini Sephoras. We had fun playing around with the different Greek cosmetics and bought facial treatments to do before bed.  We're so wild and crazy. Haha 

This morning, we drove to the acropolis, where we slowly walked to the top to see the Parthenon.  Standing so closely to such old old buildings was so cool. If only it weren't for the renovations, it would have been perfect.  Our tour guide, Lula, was awfully long winded, but very enthusiastic. Jenny and I also spent some time with our professor who pointed out a bomb shelter on the top of this hill from World War II. Being in Athens really reminds you as an American that your country is so young.  I've heard Londoners say "There are buildings on my street that are older than your entire country."  Since I have been volunteering this school year and studying American History with a high school junior, I get a renewed perspective on the World Wars.  It's been a nice refresher but also helps me see these places I'm visiting and studying in school differently.  The weather was perfect today. Apollo has clearly rewarded us with sunshine. 

Before lunch, we visited the National Archeological Museum. It is smaller than I anticipated and at this point a lot of the antiquities are starting to look the same.  There was a beautiful contemporary mosaic exhibit in the courtyard. Also, the temporary exhibit was about a ship wreck that had been uncovered a while ago.  It was a cargo ship from 220ish BCE carrying lots of antiquities.  Some of the sculptures had been partially stuck in there bed and had eroded unevenly.  There was also an exhibit about a mechanism they uncovered and how they have spent decades just trying to figure out all it does. It seems to be a astrological predictor of some sort and there were plenty of fun posters about gears.  

We had lunch in the Plaka neighborhood where we ate last night and then were released for the afternoon.  Jenny and I sauntered around, visiting various shops. We stopped for coffee and Greek frozen yogurt for a bit.  After bumping into some people from our trip, we discovered that the Greek air traffic controllers are planning to strike tomorrow and a lot of people from our trip are getting stuck in Athens for an extra day. We should be fine by Saturday though.  There are worse places to be stuck for a day. 

Right now we are relaxing by the pool before heading out to our farewell dinner. Tomorrow we are on our own and plan to see more of Athens.  

Photo: Jenny and me at the Parthenon 

Titan

This morning we took a drive to the suburbs to visit Titan Cement's Kamari plant.  We were greeted by Anna, the senior manager for group organization development.  She was very sweet and very enthusiastic, classic HR exec. She gave a presentation on Titan's values.  They really focus on safety and investing in their employees. Later on, another speaker clarified that their corporate values were always the same, but when they began acquiring companies outside of Greece, they really needed to be more obvious with their corporate culture.  Titan is unique in that it is 112 years old and has been on the Athens stock exchange since 1912. Since the company has survived two world wars, as well as a civil war, they are optimistic that they can weather this "crisis".  

The cement business is divided into 3 major categories: giant global companies, multi-regional (multinational) companies and small domestic only manufacturers.  Titan falls into the second category and feel that entering into the first category is next to impossible.  They are vertically integrated and ship directly from some of their plants.  They happen to have plants in the US: one in Roanoke, VA and one in South Florida. They take a lot of pride in impacting the environment around their manufacturing facilities positively. Apparently the Virginia facility is surrounded by a park and a trout farm.

We were driven around the grounds in our bus, which was mildly disappointing, but I understand getting 25 visitors suited up in proper safety gear would be overly complicated.  They had asked us if any of us were engineers, and I was the only person to raise my hand. So the guides kept trying to explain things in basic terms, that normal people could understand?? I told some of my classmates they deprived me of a full nerd experience.  

After lunch, the Strategic Planning Director presented to us Titan's strategy and explained to us more financial details of the cement industry as a whole.  She was brilliant and insightful. Overall, the visit was very interesting, but it would have been nice to get a little dirtier. :-)

Fun Facts:

-They run the Kamari plant 24-7-365

- They produce cement, aggregates, ready mix concrete, concrete blocks, dry mortars as well as fly ash. 

- Titan first started exporting in 1948.

- Greece didn't allow it's companies to acquire foreign companies until 1990. 

- Their internal mentor program is called the C-mentors. 

- 2012 was the first year Titan reported a loss since 1948.

- 200 miles is the farthest suggested distance for shipping cement. 

Athens Day 1

JThis morning we had a 9am gathering time. Our first visit was to Alpha Bank in downtown Athens. What is really fun about being in Athens is that our professor is an Athens native and has no problem interjecting into our tour guide's ongoing narrative. We met with Alpha Bank's chief economist who was significantly more optimistic than you might have expected. Overall, the Greeks seem to be on the upswing, at least in spirit.

Fun facts:

-Alpha Bank is one of the oldest private banks in Greece

-Greece's GDP is down 16% since 2009

-A lot of money was spent getting ready for the 2004 Olympics. There were a lot of short term improvements, but they need to find new uses for some of the sites.  

After Alpha Bank, we got lunch at Titania's Olive Garden, which is the hotel's rooftop restaurant. We had some amazing amazing food. We started with a salad that was mostly tomatoes. I am afraid I am going to burn out on tomatoes, didn't know it was possible. The restaurant had amazing views of the acropolis and we took some pictures.

After lunch, we headed to S&B, a mining company. S&B is in the fortunate position of having most of its customers outside of Greece, so they are mostly isolated from "the crisis". We had a brief tour of the labs, which were significantly less tidy than the labs I am used to. 

Fun facts:

-S&B did €470 million in sales in 2012.

-They are highly diversified. No customer is responsible for more than 5% of their annual revenues. Only 7% of their sales are domestic.

-S&B is family owned (61% of shares)

-Acquired NYCO (of upstate NY) in 2012

This evening, we had a Northeastern Alumni event at Athens College (actually a primary and secondary school). It was really fun and a very different experience from Istanbul.
It's 11 here and we have another early start tomorrow. Will try to elaborate on this post tomorrow!

Cruisin'

This morning we were afforded a late start (11 am) which was great. 

After leaving the hotel, we headed towards a fishing neighborhood of Istanbul I don't remember the name of. We had lunch at Aquarius restaurant which was obviously a seafood restaurant.  One of the first items they served us was mussels. When inspecting the plate, I noticed all of the mussel shells were closed, but was informed by a classmate that they were stuffed.  

After lunch, we got on a private boat for a cruise of the Bosphorus.  The boat was way oversized for our group of 23 (about the size of the Island Queen). We got to see Istanbul from the river which was gorgeous and relaxing. 

Then began our journey to Athens. Travel in Turkey is complicated, everything is congested. When we first arrived at the airport, we had to send all our luggage through a scanner. The we had to get into a line for checking in. After we received our boarding passes, we got in a line to get into a line for immigration, followed by security again. The entire process easily took an hour and a half. Then, at the gate we were very casually summoned to a bus that took us to our plane that didn't take off for at least a half hour. The flight and arrival in Athens was uneventful.  

Our hotel is a little old and apparently they allow smoking almost everywhere. They do not have wireless in the rooms as we had hoped, but the lobby is spacious. We can see the Acropolis from our terrace, which is gorgeous at night. 

Ok good night for now!

Photos: at the Bosphorus, on the boat selfie, view from our terrace 

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day everyone!!

Saturday Sight Seeing: two mosques, a church and a palace

This morning we raced out to the bus only to fight Istanbul traffic. Istanbul has been growing so fast, and even with publics transportation improvements, traffic can be crazy. It also doesn't help that we are in a large tour bus and the streets are narrow. Also, people will just pull over and park. It can be frustrating, but it has afforded us a fee opportunities to nap mid-day.

Today we visited the Suleymaniye Mosque, then the Byzantine Hippodrome. The mosque was really interesting and it is still actively being used for prayer. The ladies of our group all brought pashminas with us to cover our heads. They do have scarves you can borrow, but that creeped me out a little. We all removed our shoes before entering and I am so glad I chose slip ons instead of my sneakers. The Hippodrome is a plaza with two obelisks and a bronze statue of 3 serpents intertwined. It is interesting that even though Istanbul has so many things that are ancient and native to Turkey, they have things like obelisks that were brought in from Egypt.

We then got in line for the Blue Mosque. The Blue Mosque was also very beautiful. This mosque had more tilework. After the mosque, we got in line for Hagia Sophia. Even though we had tickets, the line stretched through the plaza. This afforded a much needed snack break, obviously. I had this bagel-thing but tried to share (so many carbs in this city) and Jenny got a pastry that was like a giant rugelach but not as good.. It was a church , then it was a mosque and now it is a museum. The mosaics are amazing and in great condition for their age.

Then it was finally lunch time. Lunch was pretty good. We had berek as an appetizer which is like a Turkish egg roll. Then we had something that tasted a lot like pot roast and was served with some mash/purée thing which I tried but obviously couldn't finish.

Then we got to visit the Topkapi palace which had beautiful courtyards and more amazing mosaics. The palace was home to most of the Sultans that ruled over Istanbul. We got to check out an exhibit of jewelry and other jeweled items owned by Sultans and given to Sultans as gifts, including a 86 carat diamond. They unfortunately, didn't let us play dress up,

On the way back to the hotel, Jenny and I got dropped off in the neighborhood near the Galata tower so we could visit a shop we had stopped in on Wednesday. We successfully navigated our way home and managed to stumble into some sort of outdoor concert, which was interesting.

Now we're repacking for tomorrow's journey to Athens.

Photos:
Outside the Suleymaniye, Hagia Sofia, Random concert, inside the Blue Mosque

Friday....

This morning we visited Bilim ilaç, a pharmaceutical company based on the Asian side of Istanbul. (Note: I thought we were staying on the Asian side, but we are staying in Europe.) As you probably already know, I love love love factory tours. The initial presentation was interesting and the General Manager met with us to discuss Bilim's many awards and its company values. They really focus on employee satisfaction and high quality. After the presentation and some tea and pastries, we were on our way.

The GMP manager (good manufacturing practices) was our tour guide. I was immediately excited because I knew he would be able to answer my uber nerd questions. We were first given a tour of the labs. They test stability (shelf life, etc) in one lab and analyze the overall composition in the other. Then it was time to suit up into our clean room suits (hair nets, tyvek suits and booties). I was surprised to see a lack of safety glasses in the factory, but didn't get a chance to ask why. We got to see where powders became pills, capsules were opened to be filled, and several of the packaging steps. I was like a toddler in an aquarium, pressing my face up against the glass looking at anything and everything. I'm a little amazed I didn't get in trouble for getting too close at times. I did get to ask some geeky questions that I'm sure none of you care about, so I will spare you. What is really really cool is that they have a completely automated warehouse. The computer program knows where's everything is and stores/picks using robotics and bar code scanners. Since there are only machines, there is no workplace accidents. After our tour, we were treated to lunch in the cafeteria. The employees are all given lunch everyday, as one of their perks.

Fun facts:
Bilim ilaç was founded in 1953 and is a family business
It is the fastest growing pharmaceutical company. but only the 3rd largest right now in Turkey
7.1% of all prescriptions written in Turkey are filled with Bilim ilaç products

After the site visit, we returned to the old city piece of Istanbul and visited the Grand Bazaar. It was way more of a labyrinth than the spice bazaar but clearly a major tourist destination. I managed to pick up a few gifts and then we were late to meet our group because we got horribly lost.

This evening, we went to the Akbank art and cultural center near Taksim square for a NU alumni reception. It was really interesting to talk to some fellow Huskies. Our professor presented a short PowerPoint about NU's growth in the last few decades. We're a much bigger deal than we were in the 80s. I spoke to some of my fellow engineering alums and I am happy to report that 2/5 were female.

This evening, Jenny and I split a pizza and now are playing in the lobby on our respective devices. Tomorrow is more sight seeing!!

Note: having trouble getting my iPhone and iPad to share pictures. I'm working on it!

Turcas, Kebabi and Akbank

I think I overdid it on Turkish tea yesterday because I found myself wide awake at 2am.

I managed to drag myself out of bed in time for a long shower and a non-rushed breakfast. We were then on our way to Turcas Petro. We were greeted by the CFO and a table full of pastries. A few minutes later, the CEO arrived. Batu Aksay is the CEO and it is shocking how young he is, he's in his late 30's if we are doing the math right. Batu presented to us about Turkey's energy market and Turcas Petro's role. He has an electrical and computer engineering degree, but was really impressive from a business strategy standpoint. Turkey is in a very advantageous "geopolitical" position due to their proximity to the Middle Eastern oil producing countries and to the rest of continental Europe. It was really interesting. Turcas is currently a minority member of a joint venture with Shell. The JV was mutually advantageous to both parties, Shell gas can be sold at a premium in Turkey since brand names are valued highly and Turcas had great gas station locations. Turcas is actually Batu's family business, but he replaced a non-family CEO two years ago, so they seem open to non-family management.

A few fun facts:
-In Turkey there are 138 cars per 1000 people. The number is higher in Istanbul, which is obvious after being here for two days. In the US we have 818 per 1000 people.
-95% of oil consumed in Turkey is imported, so they are also focusing on decreasing their dependence on foreign oil. (I keep hearing Sarah Palin saying that in my head, and thinking "does she realize how much oil we use??") Turcas seems to have realistic goals on this, in my opinion.
-70% of all cars sold in Turkey today are diesel.

After Turcas, we had lunch at Kebabi. Meals arranged by the tour company seem to just be a never ending parade of awesome food. We got a chance to roam the Kanyon mall. It was really interesting architecturally, but frustrating for efficient shopping patterns. Ultimately, it was a fancy mall and had fancy mall stores.

We headed to Akbank, which is Turkey's largest bank. This presentation was significantly less interesting to me and the speaker spoke in one of those soft voices that lulls you to sleep. I was cracking up in my head between attempts to stay awake at the photographer that was taking a steady stream of photographs for over a half hour. We were sitting in place and the speaker was standing in place. Wasn't exactly worth the disk space in my opinion. Jenny enjoyed the Akbank speaker much more than I did, but here are a few facts:
-Turkey is currently the 18th largest economy in the world. (I assume they only count countries but wouldn't Wal-mart be in the top 10?)
-50% of all Turks are 29 years old or younger
-one third of Akbank customers don't use ATMs....ever (they can use mobile apps)
-Akbank does not treat all its customers equally and if you are a lowly normal person who walks in, you could expect to wait 30 minutes.
-credit card interest rates here are between 20 and 25%
-Turkey has stricter bankruptcy laws than us and don't allow for chapter 11

After Akbank we got to change for dinner in Kumkapi district. This is the seafood area of the old town and was really interesting. We walked down one street that almost seemed like a giant St. Anthony's feast but subtract the Saint and add fish. It was lined with open air restaurants, some were equipped with Turkish traditional musicians. They were like middle eastern Mariachis. We had another amazing food parade of traditional Turkish dishes. It was harder to eat at dinner because we were just so full and tired. I tried everything but the fava beans, including the sardines. I don't like stuffed grape leaves, I just tried them for the first time tonight for the sake of adventure but they have never appealed to me. After dinner we saw the "ice cream show" where this guy dressed like Abu from Aladdin swings around this giant marshmallow thing that is actually ice cream made from goat's milk. It was really good.

It is now almost 11:30 and I am falling asleep in the lobby trying to be witty for all of you. Hopefully our hotel in Athens has wireless in our rooms and I can blog in my pajamas. Although now that Jenny and I have been to a Turkish bath together, maybe I can blog in my underwear. Will try to post pictures here tomorrow.

Note on my Facebook picture: I keep joking about wanting to take a picture with a statue of Atatürk. I also keep referring to him as "Turkish Jesus" even though he isn't a religious figure, he is EVERYWHERE. Hopefully I can pull off a selfie with Atatürk in sculpture form.

Night night!

Random things I like about Istanbul

Towels for the shower are bath sheet size.
- At the bathhouse and in our hotel, we were given large towels. Not sure if this is a coincidence, but I like it.

Brown sugar as a regular option for tea. Yum

Bathroom hooks are very common so you don't have to worry about putting your belongings on the floor, which is especially important when they don't have regular toilets.

A tower, a spice bazaar and a bath house.

Our program isn't scheduled to start until tomorrow so we had the day to explore Istanbul.

We started with breakfast in the hotel which was very good. Luckily, I like Greek yogurt. After a quick game plan session and a room reassignment, we were on our way. We decided to walk the city armed with paper maps instead of navigating public transportation. I am starting to experience iPhone and GPS withdrawals, but I feel like this will be a healthy cleanse for me.

We are staying in Taksim square which is on the Asian side of Istanbul. We headed toward the Bosphorus and stopped at the Galata tower. We paid to take the elevator to the top and took several pictures. It was a great way to see the city from up high. After playing in that neighborhood for a bit, we crossed the Galata bridge to head to the Spice Bazaar.

We arrived on the other side of the river around lunch time and found that we were again met with several initiations to eat. Us girls are getting much better at saying no. One guy even tried to block us from walking past, but I didn't have to push him, thankfully. Personal space is definitely different in Turkey. I'm almost getting used to having strangers in my personal bubble. Almost. We ate at what I would describe as a sidewalk cafe. I had an awesome lamb wrap. Jenny and Alyssa both had grilled chicken and Ayran drinks. It's like a yogurt smoothie. After eating, we explored the Spice Bazaar and purchased a few gifts for our families.

In the bazaar, we got to experience the wonder of Turkish public toilets. Each visit costs 1 Turkish Lire, less than 50 cents. We visited several of these "WC" places today. In the women's bathrooms, there are a mix of western toilets and toilets that are really just holes in the floor that flush. As a semi-experienced former Girl Scout and as a former Boston college student, I was pleased with how my squatting skills have come in handy in my adulthood. Most of these restrooms are pretty gross, not going to lie.

After the bazaar, we wandered to a park on the south end of the European side of Istanbul. The park had a lovely tiered cafe overlooking the Bosphorus. where we had tea and got to rest for a few minutes.

After a walk in the park, we trekked through the city to find the bathhouse we had scouted out the evening before online. I'm blanking on the name right now, but its almost 12:30am here. The bathhouse was an experience. For about 85 lire, we got a traditional bath and a clay face mask. The traditional bath involves lying on a large marble platform in a semi-steam room. When it is your turn, a Turkish woman will call you over to the edge for your bath. I should mention, that we are all lying around on small tablecloths wearing disposable bikini bottoms.....and that's it. The bathhouse is segregated by gender so you sort of pretend to not be embarrassed until you've seen so much nipple, that you forget it's unusual. The actual bath was interesting. You get a full body exfoliation, and then a bit of a massage. After, you are led to a sink and your new Turkish grandmother is washing your hair and rinsing you off with a bowl. You finish by soaking in the hot tubs, without supervision. The clay mask came after and it was amazing. My skin feels very soft and clean.

After the Çemerlitas bathhouse, we took a train across the river and ate dinner near the Galata tower. I had some amazing spaghetti bolognese. We cabbed it back to the hotel, and here we are. I got to Skype with Mom and Jeff for a minute, in case anyone is worried I have a ghost writer and have been kidnapped. Nope, I'm alive and well!!

Tomorrow the program starts, I expect less adventure but am excited nonetheless. Good night!!

Photos: Jenny & I at Galata Tower, the bathhouse from the train station, A selfie from the cafe in the park

Arrival in Istanbul

We made it!! The flight into Istanbul was late by an hour, but we got a good nap in. So far the hotel seems nice and is in a tourist friendly little neighborhood. We seem to only get wifi in the lobby for now, but we are making it work.

It's currently 8:25pm here and we are in dire need of dinner.

The food on Lufthansa is good, but it is still airplane food.

We got to rock out to Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" in the cab (taksi) here. The three of us giggled uncontrollably, and subsequently puzzled the cab driver.

More reflections to come later...

Update: en route!

Taking advantage of the 30 min of free wifi at the Frankfurt airport. I have made it to Europe.

Nothing exciting to report yet.

Random fact:
In the US security doesn't consider an iPad a computer, but here they do.

Frequently Asked Questions:

When do you leave?

• I am leaving Monday May 6th at 10pm out of Logan. I'm sitting with Jenny on the plane. We're stopping in Frankfurt for a few hours, but will be in Istanbul Tuesday afternoon.

Why are you going?

• As part of the Northeastern MBA program, they offer international trips every year called "International Field Studies". This is the first year they're going to Turkey & Greece. For some of the full time kids, it's a required class, but a lot of evening MBA-ers are on my trip.  It counts as a full class.  We will be visiting various businesses and doing some touristy things too.

You get credit for this? 

• Yes. I'm required to write a reflection paper and keep a diary to hand in.

What is your schedule?

• We will be in Istanbul until Saturday night and flying to Greece on Sunday. The program doesn't officially start until Weds, but we are arriving a day early to fight jet lag. 

• The program in Athens ends on May 16th, but Jenny and I are staying on until Saturday afternoon to play in Athens a little more. 

Also, I promise to be really safe and not get into strange cars. I will not wander off alone. I promise. Do not worry. :) 

Hopefully this is easier...

Hey all. I'm heading out to Istanbul a week from today, and I thought this might be a easier way to keep touch. I'm planning to have internet the whole time and we're supposed to keep a diary....so why not?

Stay tuned!