Istanbul was very daunting when I first arrived here last week. The Turkish stand on the street and invite you to eat at their restaurants. Everywhere you go people try to sell you basically anything you can think of.
I have spent a few days before and after ANZAC Day in Istanbul and have now grown to like the city. Some of my favourıte moments:
Listening to a very characteristic carpet salesman trying to sell rugs to a group of backpackers. He explained the process of making them why they are worth so much. As expected nobody bought any but I did get my first taste of Apple Tea.
Yesterday I discovered the spice market. Hundreds of lıttle stalls selling all sorts of foods and spices. The smells and the colours were really amzing. I am going back as soon as I finish writing this.
Watching some very attractive Turkish belly dancer make their whole bodies move in time with music as we were feed a four course traditional Turkish meal.
Cracking jokes with some of the Turkish men who speak very good Englısh and love Australians.
Tonight is my final night in Turkey as I join my Top Deck crew on the tour back to London. Tomorrow night I will be in Bulgaria.
Allaha Ismarladık. (Thats goodbye in Turkish)
Monday, April 27, 2009
ANZAC Day at Gallipolli
It was very emotional standing on the ground where 94 years ago thousands of Australian men had lost their lives fighting a country they knew little about.
Throughout the night leading up to the service they showed movies and retold stories of the war. When they showed a photo of a 15 year old boy who had died fighting it really left a lump in my throught.
We had been told to prepare for all conditions and as expected it was very cold throughout the night. We all lay ın our sleepıng bags tryıng to stretch out as much as possible ın minimal space. The wind stopped ın the early mornıng and the sun began to thaw everybody out.
Following the dawn service at ANAZAC cove I made my way up to Lone Pine with the rest of the Aussies for another service.
Australians and New Zealanders were standing side by side with Turks as they celebrate the lives of the men who died.
Getting back to Istanbul was more of a mission than getting there. I waited with my tour group for almost three hours waiting for the bus to collect us and drive us the six hours back to the city.
Throughout the night leading up to the service they showed movies and retold stories of the war. When they showed a photo of a 15 year old boy who had died fighting it really left a lump in my throught.
We had been told to prepare for all conditions and as expected it was very cold throughout the night. We all lay ın our sleepıng bags tryıng to stretch out as much as possible ın minimal space. The wind stopped ın the early mornıng and the sun began to thaw everybody out.
Following the dawn service at ANAZAC cove I made my way up to Lone Pine with the rest of the Aussies for another service.
Australians and New Zealanders were standing side by side with Turks as they celebrate the lives of the men who died.
Getting back to Istanbul was more of a mission than getting there. I waited with my tour group for almost three hours waiting for the bus to collect us and drive us the six hours back to the city.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Easter in New York City
I spent four days as a tourist New York, complete with an I love New York shirt, here is a brief overview:
Easter Sunday morning I wandered through Central Park watching everyone walk their dogs on the way to Fifth Avenue where I had read there was going to be a Parade. The parade turned out to be just having the street blocked off and people wandered freely, parading their new Easter clothes.
Sunday afternoon I caught the Staten Island Ferry for a free up close view of Statue of Liberty. I was standing on the outside deck until I got splashed by some freezing cold Hudson River water.
Monday morning I spent another couple of hours exploring Central Park before walking downtown to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.
In the afternoon I attended the taping of the David Letterman show on Broadway. He gives away free tickets but you are not informed who his guests will be till you get inside. I was very impressed to see his guest was Russell Crowe. Rusty was on the show promoting his new movie State of Play and spoke for a while about his friend Steve Irwin.
After the show I went to the Comedy Lounge on the Upper East side. I had forgetten I still had my I love NY shirt on and they placed me in the front row. Meaning I copped it all night from the comedians.
Tuesday morning I again explored New York on foot and had a look some more around downtown before seeing Youth Group perform at a bar in New York. I unknowningly started talking to the bass player before the gig and I interviewed the lead singer after the show which I have written about on the previous post.
Wednesday and my last full day in New York I spent with my mate Brian who I lived with the year before last on Deakin residences. He is a New Yorker who studied in Australia on exchange. Together we had lunch at an underground Chinese restaurant in Chinatown before drinking beers in Greenwhich village.
Thats all for now....London is calling.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Youth Group in NYC
I just saw Youth Group perform in New York, I thought it was worth a mention:
On a rainy Tuesday night in New York I saw Sydney band Youth Group perform in front of about 200 people at a downtown bar, Pianos.
After the performance I spoke with the bands lead singer Toby Martin about their latest album, touring and life in New York.
"This is the second performance in a four week residency at Pianos here in New York," Martin said.
"I have been living in Brooklyn for almost six weeks now and we have been playing similar residency gigs in Boston and Philadelphia.
The bands fourth album 'The Night is Ours' was released in the US last week, six months after its Australian release.
The 33-year old said it is the bands best album to date and it was recorded over five months on a ship in the Sydney Harbour.
"We wanted to record the album in our own space and that just happened to be on the Cape Don."
The band Toby, Cameron Emerson-Elliot, Patrick Matthews and Danny Lee Allen all obtained working visas to allow them to perform in the US over the space of a year.
"We are doing some residency gigs and then we will do a tour all over the US.''
The band hit international success with their version of Forever Young which featured on the hit TV show The OC.
Tonight the band choose not to play the song.
"It is not the first time we have played in New York and it will not be the last.''
On a rainy Tuesday night in New York I saw Sydney band Youth Group perform in front of about 200 people at a downtown bar, Pianos.
After the performance I spoke with the bands lead singer Toby Martin about their latest album, touring and life in New York.
"This is the second performance in a four week residency at Pianos here in New York," Martin said.
"I have been living in Brooklyn for almost six weeks now and we have been playing similar residency gigs in Boston and Philadelphia.
The bands fourth album 'The Night is Ours' was released in the US last week, six months after its Australian release.
The 33-year old said it is the bands best album to date and it was recorded over five months on a ship in the Sydney Harbour.
"We wanted to record the album in our own space and that just happened to be on the Cape Don."
The band Toby, Cameron Emerson-Elliot, Patrick Matthews and Danny Lee Allen all obtained working visas to allow them to perform in the US over the space of a year.
"We are doing some residency gigs and then we will do a tour all over the US.''
The band hit international success with their version of Forever Young which featured on the hit TV show The OC.
Tonight the band choose not to play the song.
"It is not the first time we have played in New York and it will not be the last.''
Friday, April 10, 2009
Philly
Philadelphia is a city rich in history and national landmarks but more than anything I wanted to see the Rocky statue. So that was the first port of call when we reached the city. After posing next to the statue I ran up the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art with the hordes of others who had the same idea.
I was sightseeing with Dad and our next stop was Reading Terminal where we ate Philly Steaks. A thinly sliced steak on bread with cheese. Then visited the Liberty Bell before watching what is apparently the world's largest HDTV in the lobby of the Comcast Centre. The Comcast Experience is a 2,000 square feet television.
The highlight of the week following was wandering the streets of Indiana while it was snowing. It is the only time I can recall seeing snow fall and it was a lot more exciting for me than it was for the locals who thought winter was over.
Last night I watched Sara Bareilles perform at IUP. Her 'Lovesong' was a world wide hit last year and it was clear most of the crowd (including myself) were there to see her perform that song. She is not someone I would normally see perform but for $10 it was a cheap night out. The security checks and lack of alcohol reminded me of an underage gig.
Tomorrow I am boarding a train to spend my last few days in the states exploring the city that never sleeps, New York.
Happy Easter to anyone reading.
I was sightseeing with Dad and our next stop was Reading Terminal where we ate Philly Steaks. A thinly sliced steak on bread with cheese. Then visited the Liberty Bell before watching what is apparently the world's largest HDTV in the lobby of the Comcast Centre. The Comcast Experience is a 2,000 square feet television.
The highlight of the week following was wandering the streets of Indiana while it was snowing. It is the only time I can recall seeing snow fall and it was a lot more exciting for me than it was for the locals who thought winter was over.
Last night I watched Sara Bareilles perform at IUP. Her 'Lovesong' was a world wide hit last year and it was clear most of the crowd (including myself) were there to see her perform that song. She is not someone I would normally see perform but for $10 it was a cheap night out. The security checks and lack of alcohol reminded me of an underage gig.
Tomorrow I am boarding a train to spend my last few days in the states exploring the city that never sleeps, New York.
Happy Easter to anyone reading.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Stars and stripes
"I'll be back," are the words Arnold Schwarzenegger engraved next to his hand prints outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. When reading these words at the end of my last trip to the US I decided I needed to come back. So there I was less more than three years later staring at the same slab of concrete.
Hollywood was the final destination on my brief visit to Los Angeles. The rest of the time was spent visiting the famous beaches of Venice, Santa Monica and Malibu. Venice was the most crowded and interesting of the three with many spectators watching the street performers and artists.
Following my brief visit to the 'City of Angels' I continued on to Indiana. Indiana is a College town in western Pennsylvania, home of IUP (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) where my Dad is an Associate Professor. The town has hardly changed since my last visit here in 2005, although my Dad has moved into a much larger house on the other side of town with his wife Marsha.
I have spent my time so far exploring the town and the University as well as watching a lot of cable television. Indiana is located roughly an hours drive away from Pittsburgh, the home of the 2009 Superbowl champions, the Steelers. It is quite obvious the town is still basking in the glory of their teams win with decorations aplenty.
The University has many activities designed to entertain students many of who cannot legally drink. Last weekend Dad and I attended Unity Day where IUP students from all over the world dress in the respective countries dress and serve food and dance for the spectators. For a few hours there I forget I was in the USA.
The economic crisis is all over the news although it has not stopped the locals from getting around in their large 'Yank Tanks'. The weather has also been fairly random, yesterday I woke to small collections of snow forming outside and today was sunny shorts and T-shirt weather.
This weekend I am heading to Philadelphia to race up the stairs of the Museum of Art doing my best impersonation of Rocky Balboa.
Hollywood was the final destination on my brief visit to Los Angeles. The rest of the time was spent visiting the famous beaches of Venice, Santa Monica and Malibu. Venice was the most crowded and interesting of the three with many spectators watching the street performers and artists.
Following my brief visit to the 'City of Angels' I continued on to Indiana. Indiana is a College town in western Pennsylvania, home of IUP (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) where my Dad is an Associate Professor. The town has hardly changed since my last visit here in 2005, although my Dad has moved into a much larger house on the other side of town with his wife Marsha.
I have spent my time so far exploring the town and the University as well as watching a lot of cable television. Indiana is located roughly an hours drive away from Pittsburgh, the home of the 2009 Superbowl champions, the Steelers. It is quite obvious the town is still basking in the glory of their teams win with decorations aplenty.
The University has many activities designed to entertain students many of who cannot legally drink. Last weekend Dad and I attended Unity Day where IUP students from all over the world dress in the respective countries dress and serve food and dance for the spectators. For a few hours there I forget I was in the USA.
The economic crisis is all over the news although it has not stopped the locals from getting around in their large 'Yank Tanks'. The weather has also been fairly random, yesterday I woke to small collections of snow forming outside and today was sunny shorts and T-shirt weather.
This weekend I am heading to Philadelphia to race up the stairs of the Museum of Art doing my best impersonation of Rocky Balboa.
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