The Adventures of Bear and Butterfly

We got to London yesterday morning… first experience on London transport with big packs & other bits n pieces makes it uncomfortable in addition to the fella beside us who insisted on giving me his leather armpit & talking really loudly with THAT accent which I pray will not taint my NZ link. Can’t wait to meet up with other ex-pats who have been here for a while & test out their accents.

We’re in Hoxton now in the hands of two fantastic promoters for London life, Jono & Cecille. I think Jono was once a great pasta chef in another life, as he served us a deliciously spicy lasagne last night & then tortellini tonight. They invited us to a gig on our first night here, but after our super early morning flight from Istanbul to London via Slovenia (we slept a little in the van before waking at 3am to get to the airport) we just wanted to sleep! We feel totally welcome & are thoroughly looked after- just wish we had of thought to have brought some Blackberry Wine from Sirince to show our appreciation.

Armed with our A to Z guides & Oyster Cards, Bodra & I missioned around today & rode the underground, train & bus… A little tricky given it’s Easter Sunday & the transport is a bit muddled. Definitely fun wandering around & trying to figure out where you are. Thank goodness for signs in English which make sense!

So many different cultures & languages here… dark, dark African women with their sweeping cheekbones & eternally brown eyes. Princess daughters with their braids & their mothers beauty… I smile at them in appreciation of their Goddess representation but their isn’t much recognition- gawking gets in the way of the message! Conversing with the guys in the food store below Cecille & Jono’s flat didn’t really go anywhere- funnily enough it doesn’t seem to be a priority to understand English when you are in the convenience store business.

Tomorrow we will check out the Shepherd’s Bush area & see if that is to our (my) liking. Jono suggested Camden Town so we went there today, straight into the land of the spectacle- a busy market where tourists photographed the punks & these really unusually, colourfully dressed guys had signs strapped to their shoulders advertising cafes. Bodra & I found a 100% vegetarian Thai/Chinese restaurant where we had a buffet lunch- no peanut satay but yummy veges & noodles. Not Turkish food! Praise Allah!
Oh! There was a spot of blue sky today! Definite reason to get out on the streets! It’s not as cold as Istanbul but there is plenty of grey cloud cover. Not smog so I am told- the burning of coal is almost nil now so it’s just emissions from vehicles. Jono has been enlightening me about the whole BirdFlu thing, so I reckon once we have a bit of cashflow I’ll start stocking up on canned soup & baked beans & toilet paper. Tamiflu too if it is possible. I am in Europe now, a little closer to those pandemic things. An advantage to being in the Pacific I hope you all realise!

Bodra is snoozing now. We just talked to our parents finally- amazing how much hearing familiar voices can comfort you! I could almost feel Azaeus’s tail wagging.

Bodra took on the epic drive from Selcuk to Canakkale.  Lots of dodging horse & carts, tractors & avoiding beep crazy drivers.  I had the pleasure of nodding off from time to time only to be awoken with the frequent bumps from poor roading.  We didn’t stop at Troy- apparently once you’ve been to Epheseus, rocks are rocks.

Then the search for GOOD vegetarian food… Bodra & I took on the challenge to find tasty cuisine that didn’t consist of spinnach & feta.  They are so keen to entice us with their lamb, you’d think we would have learnt the Turkish word for vegetarian by now!

The impossible happened- an amazing meal in a completely non-Turkish restaurant.  Delicious spring rolls, tortilla with mushrooms & pasta.  Room for dessert baby alone?  Chocolate & van?lla ice cream smothered in raspberry & chocolate sauce… you’re drooling right?  The magic of smother!  It also had this weird caramel coloured candy stuff all over it too.

We all spent the night at the Yellow Rose Pension- a place the guys at Artemis had recommended to us.  Not sure why- our room had an explosive toilet, when you flushed it with the lid closed the water came gushing out; lid open the water bursts out & hits the wall a metre away.  Bodra had to sleep with his leg cramped- short bed jammed up against the wall… then we were woken by an extremely zestful Allah devotee who had so much enthusiasm for his prayer it seemed to go on for at least 10 minutes.  Then it was finished with a beeping sound like he was switching off his cell phone for all of Canakkale to hear.

Breakfast was a disaster-no matter how gorgeously tasty looking Turkish pastries are, one should never allow themselves to be deceived.  Dry & really plain tasting.  We truely wanted something more healthy (honestly mum!) but all that was available was eggs or meat.  Every hotel & pansion we have stayed at has had the same breakfast fare.  A boiled egg or omelette, bread, butter, honey, strawberry jam, sl?ced tomato & cucumber & a chunk of feta cheese with a dash of putrid olives.  I think they only ever put the cruddy tasting ones on my plate.  Apple tea or Turkish tea.  Blurrgghh!!  We can no longer handle that meal ever again, we would rather starve!

A ferry over to Gallipoli & then Russell, Alanna, Bodra & I drove around while Ez & Kim took a tour.  We went to the museum first & I took some great pictures of skulls & rifles for the lovely nephews.  Bodra thought the bullets that had collided into each other were cool.  Then we drove on to Anzac Cove & saw where the ANZAC’s had been slaughtered.  What a travesty!  Whose stupid idea was it to approach the enemy that way?  (Bloody British!)  Trying to get in safely along there from their ships & up a semi-cliff while the Turks are blazing away at you…. mental I tell you!

We drank some lovely Melon wine while sitting beside Australian graves by the Aegean Sea.  Drove on to where they have the Dawn Ceremony which had bleachers going up in preparation for the masses.  There was a rock face that incidentally looked heaps like that Mustafa General guy- the one who had a pocket watch that saved him from being fatally wounded by shrapnel (my token piece of historic knowledge in action!).

The journey through time continued, past Turkish memorial sites where guys in full millitary uniform watered gardens & mended paths.  To the trenches & the New Zealand memorial.  I didn’t walk in them- a bit creepy really.  But the view allowed you to gauge the massive task that the ANZAC’s were faced with whilst the British drank tea.  Futile.

Back to Eceabat to pick up Kim & Ez & find a bed for the night.  Suddenly the prices went up by double.  Youch!  Damn tourist season creeping in.  We ended up in Gellibolu, going from hotel to hotel until we settled for a place that resembled the hotel from Stephen K?ng’s ‘The Shining’ but it wasn’t Jack Nicholson at the desk- just an English-lacking Turk.  Fifty Lira for a room.  Yahoo- not!  We’re used to paying between 25-30 Lira.

Everyone else settled for lamb for the night, Bodra & I had semi-ok rice with cold buffet veges.  Then back to the hotel for wine & Uno!  An absolutely fantastic night!

Today the agenda was back to Istanbul for Russell & Alanna’s noon flight.  Food, gas, drive, work out where everything is & not be slaughtered on the roads.  Now we’re all killing time before our 5am flight out of here.  (Who booked that mental flight?)  We may be going to a Hamam to kill some time.  Out the window I can see the Aya Sofya all lit up.  There are hundreds of Tulips in the gardens now so Istanbul is looking quite pretty.  Ezra bought himself a Backgammon set so we’ll have something to do in the UK.  :)  Bodra is feeling very icky… I think the constant cigarette smoke has finally got to him.

Photo’s will be up really soon!  Promise!  Hope you’re all happy & healthy & enjoying your warmth.  Love always!