Fifteen Minutes Before Supper

A chance to get to the heart of Old Istanbul. A dash to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia which we will not and will see tomorrow respectively.

There were vendors selling roasted chestnuts and roasted corn. I am not sure the combination is about a tasty combo but rather, "Hey, I can roast stuff on my cart. What do people eat roasted?"

Just a Taste.

The back side of Hagia Sofia as we walked back to the bus. Tomorrow is full on day of site seeing in Sultanahmet....the oldest part of Istanbul and my most favoritist.

Istanbul.

Long day of travel that ended on arooftop terrace restaurant right under the Galata Tower built by the Crusaders.....Seriously?!?!

Travel is the theme of Summer 2012.

Am at the airport again. I feel like I just got home. Also, my legs look weird and alien-like in this picture.

Heading to Turkey and am really glad to not be responsible for high school kids and head counts and bed checks on this trip. Also, am ecstatic that will not be responsible for the cute small fry cherub in the picture for the eleven and half hour flight Chicago to Istanbul.

Ruminating.

You can see that I have quite a blog list of blogs that I follow....pretty much on a daily basis.  Often, I wonder whether I have a blog to write or a blog to have easy access to my blogs I check in on....all in one convenient spot.  Some days it is a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B.  Today,   I  read something in  C. Jane Kendrick's post that resonated with me.

"I want my desires to take up less space in my reality."

I have a wonderful life, a wonderful husband, a wonderful dog and I don't know that I stop to view it as wonderful as it all is...as often as I really should.    I am a confirmed  daydreamer.  I won't ever stop this activity, it is part of my nature, who I am.  Plus, I enjoy it.  But the risk in daydreaming is that it can lead to a sense of unrest;  there is an unspoken ambition....correction: a potential ambitiousness.   The implication  is that you will discover a kernel of what you want and then make it happen.    And then you will be done/happy/complete???

But there is the rub, no?  Daydreaming often does not become reality.  Isn't that sort of the definition of daydreaming?  All the What If's, the dream of what your life could be like?  There are many things that I have daydreamed about  that have come to fruition: joining the Peace Corps, travel in general, iplanetude.com,  becoming a teacher, losing weight,  the list is  one that I am proud of----I have made some of my dreams a reality.

I think it is human nature to have desires, to want.  One of my umbrella wants has been and most likely will always be to travel.  It isn't about seeking something that I am missing in my life.  At one time, it probably was---more than I would like to admit.  Seeking a life, seeking drama, seeking adventure.  But the one constant in my attraction to go other places, whether it is across the ocean or across the state, is  a curiosity.  I just want to see  how it is somewhere else.  Just because. With maybe a dash or sprinkling of Raccoon Babyness in as well. 

The side effect of this curiosity is a good one for me.    It becomes a confirmation that I do love my life and it is a life that I have chosen and created because it is what fits for me. I can daydream about what my life might be like in a new location if that were the life I were to choose. I can try it on for daydream size.  In the daydream, the life is perfect.  There are no problems, or bills to pay, or dogs that get sick or language barriers or dissatisfaction or arguments.  That is not reality. 

Ultimately, I choose the life I have. Travel creates an appreciation for what is in front of me....directly in front of me.  Not in in front of me, far off, just out of reach.  

There will always be desires  in front of me, just out of reach.  And I don't think that is a bad thing.    I just needed to be reminded  that what I have  directly in front of me and who I am  is what I have chosen.  I missed my boys while I was gone.  When I traveled as a younger woman, I didn't have that base, that HOME. It feels good to be HOME.  This is my reality and it was a timely reminder in her post today.  I can't let my desires for travel crowd out the fantastic-ness that is right in front of me.  The daydream of travel can't hold a candle to my reality that I have chosen.  It may not fit for someone else, but it fits just perfect for me.

Home.

I am glad to be home.  Glad to be with my boys.  Content to have a place I belong to and can return to.....content to have my wanderlust sated.

Vaticano and the heat that belongs in August, not June.

Arrived in Rome mid afternoon and drift around to various sites: Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps.....ah, Roma.

Piazza Navona is always a favorite. My first visit was Palm Sunday and we stayed in Mauro's sister's apartment for the weekend. Down one of the small alleyways leading from the piazza....no more than a half block from the piazza. I had no idea what a great location the apartment was in or that I have no hope of ever being in that central of a location for a home base again.

It was Carnivale time as well, and kids were dressed up in costumes to celebrate. It is similar to Halloween here, but less horror based and more whimsical.

The next day on this trip was packed with activity and HEAT. 40 degrees centigrade.  We saw the Vatican, the Sistine chapel, the Colosseum, and the Roman Forum....and five hours of free time while others in the group chose to go to the catacombs. Underground. Underground and away from the sun and heat.

I ended up using my umbrella to shade myself; I was surprised and quite pleased to find that it made a huge difference. A dry heat is so different from a humid heat that is common in Minnesota. Shade provides no relief, you just swelter. But under my umbrella, the heat was surprisingly bearable.