Belle's Weekends in London

In Turkey, life wasn't very dog friendly. Our apartment manager didn't like dogs, often the people at the neighborhood park didn't like dogs, and even more often, people would jump out of the way when we would walk with her (on a leash!) in the streets.

Of course Belle knew no better, but I'm sure she missed the days of dog parks in Texas, running free of the leash and playing happily with other pups.

This is one of the reasons I am so happy to be in London. Having a pet isn't unusual. People walk their pets everywhere, and even on a day like today when it's 40 degrees out, I saw plenty of people sitting outside, if only for the reason that they could dine at a restaurant with their pup. In fact, Paul and I were those people!

I'm pretty sure Belle is loving life here. She still has someone at home with her all day and she gets lots of walks and outdoor time.

What did this Saturday have in store for Belle?

6:30 am - Wake us up excitedly  - let's get the day started people!

8:00 am - we actually get up and get her feed - yay food!

She knows the park already - better be prepared for some running
when you show up with Belle

 11:00 am - take a 20 minute stroll to Kensington Gardens

Kensington Palace Gardens - Belle's new backyard

 11:30 am  - run around like a mad dog, chase squirrels, birds and run wild with other dogs. Plus, if she's really lucky, roll around in some mud. Oh yeah, and check out some of the sights

While Belle loves the Swan Pond at Kensington, she is not
to be trusted here! No getting in the water and no attacking
the Queen's swans!

We trotted by Prince Albert's memorial

1:15 pm - hit up the local pub for some food, or at least food for us and Belle hoping for some table scraps

2:00 pm - take a stroll back and make a detour to Portobello - again, just hoping for the last bite of a Brautwurst

Oh, is that food I see down there?

 3:30 pm - whew, this day calls for a nap!


She loves all the green spaces here, and so do we. It's so refreshing to have a place where dogs can run around, enjoy themselves and get rid of some of that pent up energy that comes along with living in a very urban city. Not to mention for us, it's a great place to sit, relax, read a book, or maybe even picnic. Now, we just need more sunny days and warm weather to enjoy the outdoors!

Istanbul Day Trip - Princes Islands

About 20 km southeast of Istanbul are a series of 9 islands called Princes Islands. Or at least that's what they are called in English, in Turkish they are more commonly referred to as Adalar (the islands). I still don't quite get the disparity between works in Turkish and English (e.g. Boğaz in Turkish, Bosphorous in English). If they are proper nouns, shouldn't they be the same?

I digress.

These islands got their name as they were originally used as a place for ex-princes and monarchs - doesn't seem like too terrible of an exile to me. Later in the 19th century, they became popular as summer resorts for the wealthy. Even today, they are most popular in the summer. The popular goes from 15,000 to 100,000 in the summer as people flock from Istanbul to escape the heat, crowds, and cars. That's right, the islands have no cars, with the exceptions of emergency and city vehicles (like the always important waste trucks). Such a nice respite from the incessant honking in Istanbul.

The islands have been on my bucket list for a while, but we hadn't yet made it there. The most difficult part was that I wanted to bring Belle with us. Getting around with a dog can be troublesome in Istanbul, so perhaps I was just avoiding what I thought would be an annoying and irksome process of getting her to Princes Islands for the day.

Luckily, we got some good advice and a car lent to us from a friend. We drove to Bostanci to take the direct ferry to Büyükada, the largest of the 9 islands. Other than finding the ferry port and finding parking, it was easy, breezy with the dog. She was showing off her tricks to all the Turks and making friends. Not to mention, she LOVED the boat ride. So many fish to see in the water, birds to see in the sky and things to smell in the air! 40 minutes of pure bliss for Belle and we arrived at Büyükada.

Beautiful ferry building at Bostanci

Belle looking pretty at Princes' Islands

Waterfront restaurants from the ferry docks

Despite this being one of my bucket list items, I really hadn't planned in advance. I had heard there was a monastery on the island and that was about it. So, we spent the entire day moseying a bit.

We had lunch and worried about the impending storm blowing through. Luckily, it hit Istanbul but avoided the islands. Good luck? Absolutely.

Stormy Istanbul. Despite sports shutter speed and a couple
hundred photos, I couldn't quite capture the lightening

Next we decided to try a feyton. These are the horse drawn carriages that are one of the main transports other than bikes on the island. Even Belle got to ride around. This is a great way to see the city in an hour, there aren't really major sites, but you can see some of the views and enjoy/envy the new summer homes.

Old streets lined with little shops and dondurma (Turkish
ice cream restaraunts)

Our feyton carriage

Someone else's feyton carriage

While there are plenty of new summer
homes in the city, it is also filled with these
old, somewhat sad buildings.

View from the top of the island overlooking the other islands

After the feyton is where my lack of planning came into play. We had just missed one ferry and the next ferry wasn't for 3 hours. What were we to do? Well, after a nice stroll along the waterfront, we decided to hang out in typical Turkish fashion. We joined the locals bathing on the rocks, although Belle was the only swimmer; we enjoyed some dondurma and lokma (not to be confused with lokum/turkish delight). Once our bellies were once again full, we smoked some nargile, also on my bucket list, and taught ourselves how to play backgammon (Tawula in Turkish).

Istanbul views from the Büyükada shoreline

Everyone hanging out on the shoreline - swimming,
sunbathing, eating, or my favorite pastime - people watching

Dondurma and lokma - lokma was a little
sweet for my taste

Apple nargile AKA hookah

Getting there:
Check the ferry times here (fast ferry) or here (conventional ferry). You can catch the ferry from Kabataş on the European side or Bostanci on Asia side.

What to See:
- St. George Monastery - not much remains, but if you don't mind making the trekk up there, you might as well check it out
- Panoramic views - head up to the top of the island to get great views of the other islands, or check out the shoreline by the docks for great cityscapes of Istanbul
- Relaxation at work! Do as the locals do and just sit back and enjoy the quiet and sun.

A City Escape - Belgrade Forest

Just a 25 minute drive from our apartment is an oasis away from the crowded, noisy, busy streets of Istanbul.

This weekend, we took Belle for some running and playing in Belgrade Forest. This wasn't Belle's first visit - our fantastic dog trainer who watches Belle when we are out of town has taken her a few times. But I had never been and was curious to check it out and most importantly get Belle some quality off the leash time.

Driving up, you first pass through some of the cities old aqueducts from the 16th century. It still amazes me that these are regular sites which cars pass through every day, just a normal part of life.

Once we got there, we drove on the road all the way through the forest. People have pulled off to the official stops, enjoying picnics, hanging out in hammocks, grilling and enjoying time with family. People stopped just off the road and wandered to hike a bit through the forest. People were selling watermelons, vegetables and toys on the side of the road. Quite a bit of activity.

Yet, after a 2 minute walk past the picnic tables and gathered family crowds, we had the forest all to ourselves.

Belle had a ball. She'd run ahead several feet, sniff out plants and smells, trying to find a bite to eat. Just when we would think she might run off, she would stop, turn around and look at us, as if to say "Come on guys, you're slowing me down here!" We never did find the lake we were looking for, but Belle (and us) still enjoyed all the sights and smells of the forest, although maybe not the mosquitoes that come out in the summer.

I'm not sure what all there is to see here - there is a 6km trail that runs around the forest and passes by the lake where Belle usually gets to swim. There is also a beautiful arboretum with manicured lawns and lakes. We still don't know if we found the "right" place to walk around the forest, but enjoyed a couple of hours of quiet nonetheless before returning to our bustling neighborhood in urban Istanbul.

Belle's Life in Turkey

I will preface this post by saying that I started to write it from the dog's perspective.  Yes, you heard me right, a post from Belle.  After about a paragraph, I decided I just couldn't do it. I may talk to Belle, but she doesn't talk back, so who knows what she's really thinking? That and I thought it may be the first step to becoming crazy dog lady.  You're welcome Belle (and readers).

In Texas, Belle had a nice yard, lounged around all day while we were away, got excited when we got home, played and sometimes (probably not as often as she should have) got a nice walk around the block in the evenings. It was the life.

Or was it?


At first, when she got to Turkey, she wasn't so sure.  Grass? Steps? No other puppies? I think that Turkey has won her over though.  It's a dog's life.

She loves the balcony, the queen of her domain, watching over the birds and cats and water below.

Luckily for Belle, there is a cat lady who lives in the apartment next to us.
This provides hours of entertainment from her perch on the balcony

She loves the cats. I hate that she loves the cats, but she loves them nonetheless.  Every walk she is trying to sniff them out under cars, under trash cans, in the park. The other night, I sat and watched her in a 5 minute stare down with a calico cat in front of our apartment.  Someday perhaps she will finally make a cat friend.

She loves all the exercise. She gets more walking now than she ever did in Texas. I mean, the walk up to the street is enough to make me tired, not to mention the walks to soccer games, the park, the water. Pretty much walk everywhere since we have no car!

Pass it to me! I have been working out to become the next Air Bud!

She loves the people.  They may not all love her yet, but she is slowly winning them over and it gets better every day as people start to recognize her, or notice that she wags her tail, not barks to attack.  A few of my favorite stories of her new friends:

• The Valets - we walk sometimes with Paul to work or meet him over at his office building; as we walk, we pass a lot of valets. People tend to shy away but one of the valet beckoned her over to him. As Paul loves to show off her tricks, he said BANG and down she went to play dead. They loved it. That may be an understatement because they still say BANG whenever I walk by, whether or not Belle is accompanying me.  And yes, I probably walk this way at least 4 times a week. 
• The Park Manager - we take Belle everyday to our neighborhood park to play or take care of business.  If there are not many people there, we let her off the leash and sometimes there are other dogs that she can run around with.  The Park Manager seems to know these other dogs by name and one day asked me a question in Turkish. There was some shrugging on my end and pointing on his end, and finally I decided that I thought he was asking for the dog's name.  To help clarify, I answered in English "Her name is Belle." Now, he calls her "Hernameisbelle". 
• The Neighborhood Men - this may be my favorite story yet. Yesterday during our jaunt to the park, she caught some of the men's attention as she almost literally inhaled the little pieces of bread they were throwing for the birds. I was embarrassed, thinking they thought she was an out of control dog (which she sometimes acts like in the park). Instead of getting mad, they got more bread. They just threw more and more bread at her and laughed as she ran around with giant pieces of bread in her mouth. As much as I did not want her eating more bread, I couldn't help it and just laughed with them.  Goofball/spazz dog? Absolutely.

Ropes AND hot dogs? Awesome.  
Note: this toy now is just a rope.  Hot dogs have been destroyed!

Belle - World Traveller!

When we decided to move to Turkey, we knew we couldn't go without our lovable golden retriever, Belle. However, when I tried to bring her overseas in November, we had some major problems with American Airlines and had to live without our pup for awhile.

We were so happy to see her when we came home for Christmas and even more excited to have her here in Turkey. Luckily it worked out for my sister to bring her AND visit for a while.

Belle and Jenny safely made it here last week (thank you Lufthansa!!!) and this weekend we decided to bring the dog along for some Turkish explorations.

Belle, Jenny and I in front of some of the ruins in Troy (yes, apparently dogs can also blink in pictures)

One of Paul's coworkers loaned us their truck for the weekend, so Paul, Jenny, Belle and I went out on a drive to the Gallipoli Peninsula. This is the area Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand tried to capture in World War I to gain control over the Dardanelles and Bosphorous Strait for easy access via sea to Russia. The attacks lasted 9 months with over 500,000 casualties on both the Turkish and allied sides. We visited the various cemeteries and monuments.

Lone Pine memorial in Gallipoli - memorial for the ANZAC soliders who died.  The pine tree has an interesting story too - the brother of a solider who died sent home a pine cone to their mother; about 20 years later when the memorial was built, she sent a cone to be planted on the memorial)

We rang in 2012 with a seafood dinner (at least for Jenny and Paul), Raki (a traditional Turkish liquor, like Ouzo from Greece), cake and sparklers :)

Sunday, we drove across from Gelibolu and Eceabat to Cannakkale and Troy. All of us, including Belle, were able to walk around the ruins of Troy. It was city, built upon city, built upon city, literally! It also had a mock Trojan horse like the one the Greeks used to deceive them and burn down the city of Troy. Cannakkale even had the Trojan horse from the movie Troy at the harbor. It was a great opportunity for me to learn more about the history of my new home, and man, there is a lot to learn.

More as Jenny and I explore Istanbul - Mutlu Yillar (or Happy New Year to those English speaking folk) to everyone from Turkey!