Greece Is The Word - Day 5

Day 5 - Monday, October 17

Athens

Monday morning we woke up early and had breakfast at the buffet before disembarking. We got off the ship around 7am, and were met by someone from Atlantis Tours who drove us from the port to the Key Tours office where we started our tour. We got on the bus and our first stop was the Athens Trilogy, which consists of the National Library of Greece, the Athens University, and the Academy of Athens. From there we went to the Olympic stadium, where the olympic games were held in 1896, 1906, and most recently in 2004. It was really cool to see the place that has been the center of the Olympic games and from where the flame comes for each set of games. Our next stop was the Temple of Olympian Zeus, which was dedicated to Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods, during the 6th century BCE. The construction wasn't finished until over 600 years later, under the rule of Emperor Hadrian. Of the original 104 columns, only 15 remain. It was really neat to see the columns that are still standing, and you could really imagine what the temple must have looked like in its glory. At the same site there is also Hadrian's arch, which was originally the entrance to the temple. It was interesting to see the arch against the backdrop of the modern city with its bustling traffic. From there, we went up to the Acropolis hill, which can be seen from almost all points in Athens. We started our tour at the Herodian Theater, which is still used today for performances. It used to be inclosed with a wood roof, but now is an open air theater. After a walk up the hill, we came to the Temple of Athena Nike, where Athena was worshiped as a goddess of victory in war and wisdom. From there we walked up to the top of the hill to visit the Erechtheum and the Parthenon. The Erechtheum was built between 421 and 406 BCE, and is a temple dedicated to the Greek hero Erichthonius. The Parthenon was constructed between 447 and 432 BCE and was dedicated to the goddess Athena. It originally housed a giant ivory and gold sculpture of Athena, which was later stolen. The Parthenon was constructed to be absolutely perfect. Its dimensions follow the golden rule, with 8 columns along the front and back and 17 columns along the sides. The columns taper in at the top and the center in higher than the sides in order to form an optical illusion that the temple is absolutely perfect. Each of the structures atop the Acropolis hill are being restored. The Temple of Athena Nike was finished a few months ago, and the Erechtheum and Parthenon are currently under renovation. They are using marble from the quarry originally used for construction of the temples, so its interesting to see what the marble would have looked like before it had been discolored over time. After spending some time on the Acrolopis hill, we left the tour group and walked down the backside of the hill to visit the ancient Agora. The agora was the center of life in ancient Athens, and includes the Temple of Hephaestus. We walked along the streets of Athens and came to Hadrian's library, where the statue of Nike still stands. From the library we walked along the streets until we found a nice little place to have lunch, then made our way back to the Key Tours office for our transfer to the airport (after only having to ask for directions twice). It took about an hour to get to the airport, and we were off to Larnaca for our connection back to Tel Aviv.

Overall Thoughts

Our trip was absolutely great. It was a perfect combination of sight seeing, relaxation, historic sites, and beautiful scenery. We had time to explore, time to relax, and didn't have to worry about how we were going to get from place to place. Here are a few last thoughts about Greece:

• Athens is a pretty dirty and rundown city. The archaeological sites are beautiful, but the city itself is sort of a dump. 
• The Greek Islands are beautiful. Santorini in particular.
• In Greece, lane markers and stop lights are merely suggestions. Be careful when crossing streets, as cars and motorcycles don't always stop, even when pedestrians have a green light.
• Don't step in donkey poop. It smells.

Greece Is The Word - Day 4

Day 4 - Sunday, October 16

Crete and Santorini

On Sunday we woke up really early and had a 6:30 breakfast at the buffet so we could get off the ship right at 7 when we docked in Heraklion, Crete. Our original plan for Crete had been to go to the Palace of Knossos, one of the great archaeological sites of the world. However, because of the strikes, all archaeological sites in all or Greece were closed on Sunday. So, we thought maybe the Archaeological museum would still be open, but, no dice. So, we spent our morning walking around the streets of Heraklion and enjoying the local flavor. We visited the Church of Ayios Titos where they were having Sunday morning mass, then continued exploring Heraklion. As some very ominous-looking clouds started to descend upon the city, we walked toward the water and plopped ourselves in a little cafe to wait out the rain storm. It actually ended up being really nice to just sit and watch the rain over the Mediterranean and the Venetian Fortress of Rocca al Mare and drink white hot chocolate. With a break in the weather we headed back to the ship and had a nice lunch while we sailed to Santorini.

During lunch we had gotten tender tickets for Santorini, and were on the first tender to leave the ship. Even from the decks of the ship, we could tell that Santorini is an amazingly beautiful island. Santorini is the remnants of a much larger island that was destroyed during one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history, the Thera eruption, which occurred 3600 years ago. When we docked in Thera we had to decide whether we were going to ascend the large cliffside via the cable car, via donkey, or via foot. We chose the cable car, which I think was a very good choice. When we reached the top we were rewarded with absolutely incredible views of the city sitting on the cliffside. We meandered through the streets of Thera and decided to get in a cab and head over to the city of Oia. Oia is only about 6 miles north of Thera, and is the home of the traditional whitewashed buildings and blue domes that are so iconic in Santorini. The cab dropped us off in Oia, and we meandered through the rain to the main church. From there we walked down some narrow alleyways, and were rewarded with the view that we had all be picturing in our minds. Looking out over the east side of the island we were able to see the city, with all its blue domes, the cliffs, and the water. The scene was absolutely breathtaking. After taking some pictures and trying not to get too wet from the rain we headed back to the center of the town where we met our cab to go back to Thera. We had enough time to explore the streets of Thera before the sun went down, and we explored some of the shopping areas where Arielle bought some beautiful jewelry and Jeremy and I bought a painting of the scenes of Santorini. We picked a little restaurant with an extremely interesting owner (who basically forced us to come and eat in his restaurant), and tasted the traditional sweet and dry white wines from Santorini with some delicious baklava and banana caramel crepes. We were a little disappointed that we didn't have a sunset because of the weather, but the view was still fantastic, the food and wine were delicious, and the company was great. From there we walked up to the cable car, and in the dark I ended up with some donkey poop on my shoes. Oh well. We finally reached the top and got on the cable car to head back down to the port. We tendered back to the ship and had a great last dinner with our waiter Geny. After dinner we had high hopes of going to the ship's magic show, but we were so tired that we went to our rooms and played some games before going to sleep.

Greece Is The Word - Day 3

Day 3 - Saturday, October 15

Kusadasi and Patmos

Jeremy and I slept in a little on Saturday morning while Arielle and Daniel got up early to go to Ephasus. Since we had been there just a few weeks before on our Turkey trip, we took the morning to just walk around the port area. We got off the ship and were bombarded with people trying to sell us all sorts of things that we didn't want or need. Welcome back to Turkey! We walked by the ancient Caravanserai, where travelers used to stop to rest on their journeys. From there, we walked out of the tourist part of town and around into the more local area. After walking for about an hour we reached the top of a hill overlooking the water and Guvercin Adasi, the peninsula of Kusadasi. We walked down the hill with the view of the ship and the harbor in front of us, then planted ourselves along the water for a little while to watch the fish. On our way back to the ship we decided to stop at the ice cream cart that we had seen throughout Turkey, but never got to try. Its too bad too, because the ice cream was delicious! The guy was really funny, and put on a great show. When we got back to the ship we met up with Arielle and Daniel, and had lunch in the sit down restaurant. After lunch we rested for a bit, and Jeremy and I sat on the back deck on the ship watching the scenery on our way to Patmos. 

When we docked in Patmos we tendered into Skala and immediately got into a cab to take us to the Cave of the Apocalypse and the Monastery. Patmos is a very small island - they have a population of about 3,000 on an island of about 13 square miles. Our cab dropped us off at the Cave of the Apocalypse, which is where John of Patmos (St John the Divine) is said to have received his visions that he recorded in the book of Revelations. The cave is now surrounded by a sanctuary, which is surrounded by a convent. The cave and sanctuary themselves were beautiful, but the best part of the stop was the views of the city of Skala. From the hill we were able to look out over the lagoon where we had docked and see practically the whole island. Little did we know that the views would get even better as we went up to the monastery. The medieval monastery of St John really looks more like a castle or a fortress than a monastery. The inside of the monastery was absolutely beautiful, with painted frescos and ornate decorations dating back to the 12th century. We had some time before our cab picked us up, so after we explored the monastery we walked around the little streets of the town, then just sat and enjoyed the view of Patmos. The monastery is the highest point of the island, which meant that we had incredible views of the harbor, of Skala, and of practically the whole island. Our cab picked us up and took us back into Skala, where we walked around for a while and then found a cafe on the water to sit and have some appetizers. On our way to the restaurant there was a motorcade for a wedding with everyone honking as they drove down the street. It was really fun (and loud) to see! After our snack we tendered back to the boat and had dinner at the Greek buffet. After dinner we had thought about doing something on the boat, but we were all so tired that we just hung out and discussed what we were going to do the next morning in Crete.

Greece Is The Word - Day 2

Day 2 - Friday, October 14 

Athens and Mykonos

On Friday we woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel. They had a really nice buffet - it was a great way to start the morning! From there we boarded our transfer bus to the boat terminal where we checked in, got our ship cards, and had our passports taken away from us (they gave them back, don't worry). The four of us boarded the Louis Majesty and walked up two flights of stairs to our rooms. We were on the fourth floor, with two inside rooms. They were nothing special, but totally adequate. After we unpacked and put our things away we went up to the deck to see the view of the Athens harbor. The ship left the port, and we were on our way! Soon after we left the port we had our muster drill, assembled in our station, and watched the crew demonstrate the proper way to put on a life jacket. The best part was when the crew was giving the instructions and misspoke, saying "Ladies and gentlemen, you are now in your muster stations. You will report here in the likely event of an emergency." Like all announcements on the ship, they were done first in English, then in Spanish, French, Japanese, Portuguese, and Greek.

After the muster drill we had lunch at the buffet. Overall the food on the ship was pretty good. They had one sit down restaurant and one buffet restaurant in addition to the buffet at the pool and the restaurant that you could pay extra for. After lunch the four of us went to trivia, which was much harder than we all expected. We did redeem ourselves, however, during music trivia, which Jeremy won with flying colors. We are now the proud owners of a Louis Majesty keychain and a Louis Majesty shot glass. After trivia we went to one of the lounge areas and read about our port of call for the afternoon - Mykonos. Once we figured out what we wanted to do in Mykonos, we went back to the Fireworks Lounge for more trivia games. This one had electronic buzzers, and each team had a representative who buzzed in for the team. Jeremy, Daniel, and Arielle were really good at the trivia, and kept running up to our representative to give him the answers. After buzzer trivia we went back up to the pool for tea time. Tea, scones, cookies, and cake - yummers. After tea we spent some time on the deck watching the scenery, then we docked at Mykonos. 

We were the first group to disembark at Mykonos, and were able to get on the first shuttle bus from the dock into the center of Chora. We arrived just as the sun was setting, and were rewarded with a beautiful sunset over the Mediterranean sea. We walked around the main part of the island, enjoying the white-washing buildings and the small alleyways of the city. We visited the church of Paraportiani and walked to the water to see Mikri Venetia (little Venice) by night. The apartments and storefronts sitting on top of the water were beautiful. From there, we walked up to see the windmills, which are a common landmark of the island. On our way back to the boat we stopped at a waterfront cafe and had some traditional Greek appetizers before heading back to the ship. On our walk back we saw Petros the Pelican, who has been the official mascot of Mykonos for over 50 years. When we got back to the ship we had dinner in the sit down restaurant, where we met Geny who was going to be our waiter for the rest of the trip. After dinner we went to the ship's show, where we were introduced to the different crew. Some of the entertainers started to sing, and they were so awful that we left after the first song. It was probably for the best anyway considering we wanted to get up early for our next ports.

Greece Is The Word - Day 1

Day 1 - Thursday, October 13

Tel Aviv to Athens

On Thursday morning the sheirut (shared cab) picked us up at 2am and we were off to the airport. After a short visit with our friend Jessie who was on her way to Spain, Daniel, Arielle, Jeremy, and I boarded our plane to Larnaca, Cyprus. The flight was completely uneventful. I hear they served drinks and a snack, although I slept through the whole flight. We were supposed to have a two hour layover in Larnaca, but due to the air space over Greece being closed, all flights that went to or over Greece were delayed. So, after a 5 hour layover, we were finally on our way to Athens, Greece. We had pre-arranged for transferred to and from the airport, and it was really great to get off the plane and have someone waiting to take us into the city. After about 45 minutes we arrived at the President Hotel, and took a few minutes to put our things away. The hotel was really nice, and was located walking distance from the areas of town that we wanted to visit (which was good, since because of the strike all public transportation was shut down). After settling in the four of us got a map and headed out to Plaka, the old part of Athens. On our walk we really got a sense of Athens. Because of the protests the trash hadn't been picked up in a long time, so there were huge piles of garbage all over the street. Traffic was horrific, and nobody seemed to follow the rules of the road or obey lane lines. We walked by the American embassy and many other embassies, the war museum, the art museum, Parliament house with the tomb of the unknown soldier, the center of town, and around Plaka. Our walk took us by the new Acropolis museum, and around the base of the Acropolis to Marsh Hill, which held the low court of Athens until democracy was established. From Marsh Hill there was an amazing 360 degree view of the city and the acropolis. From there we walked back to Plaka, where we had a great dinner at Daphne's, a restaurant known for its authentic Greek cuisine. The restaurant did not disappoint - we had Greek salad, moussaka, spanikopita, and lots of delicious rolls with olive tapanade. And it was VERY different than the Daphne's in San Diego! We walked back to the hotel and went to sleep so that we could get up early to board our cruise.

Video: Jerusalem March

On the same day that Gilad was freed, we noticed that there coincidentally happened to be a planned parade through the center of Jerusalem. We saw streets blocked off and lots of people getting ready, so we staked out a good spot near our house (right across the street from HUC) and took some pictures and video. The pictures are on Sarah's Facebook and the video is below. It was a truly incredible experience seeing many of Jerusalem's city workers march through, only to be followed by Christians from all over the world shouting things like, "We love Israel!" and "God bless you!" and "Stand! Don't divide the land!" Fascinating. Enjoy the video!

Video: Simchat Torah at Kibbutz Gezer

We were lucky to be a part of the Simchat Torah celebrations at Kibbutz Gezer, a community with which my classmate Rachel and I will be engaging throughout the year as part of our "Terumah Project" (think community service project). Enjoy and Shabbat Shalom!

Greece Is The Word... - The Video

Sarah and I, with two friends of ours from my program, went to Greece during our Sukkot break. Of course, the detailed journal and pictures will come soon, but we finished the video, so here it is! Enjoy!

The Epic Tofurkey Adventure: The Video

After all of the blog posts with pictures and lots and lots of text, it's finally here: The Epic Tofurkey Adventure video! Enjoy!

An Amazing Picture

Courtesy: Israel Defense Forces Flickr Feed

Caption: First Picture of Gilad Shalit After 5 Years of Captivity - SFC Gilad Shalit on the phone with his parents, after arriving Israel.

Doing Business in Turkey (The Conclusion of The Epic Tofurkey Adventure of 2011, Part 12 of 12)

As we learned from a young age, everyone poops.

And we all need places to, ya know, do our business. To paraphrase David Sedaris, even when we are old and retired, we still have business. And to clarify, I am not talking about "giving someone the business," which is a 15 yard penalty in the NFL (example video below). 

In some places, it's really nice to do your business. For example, at my home synagogue, there are contoured seats. Comfy place to be if you're skipping out on a sermon (which you should never do...;)).


Doing business in Turkey is, well, an adventure. In fact, doing business in Turkey is, indeed, an epic adventure.


Let's start with the lighting.


For some reason, many places in Turkey have motion sensor lighting in the bathrooms. No switch. You just walk in, and the light comes on. In theory, cool idea. However, the timers on these lights are often set incredibly short. We're talking about 10-15 seconds in a lot of places, and if you're lucky, maybe 30 seconds. Which makes the situation really odd when you're engaging in some very important business to have to wiggle your arms around. 


Next, the toilet paper.


Sometimes it was square shaped, sometimes it was rectangular, sometimes you got it from the bathroom attendant, and sometimes, you just weren't provided any. We learned quickly that we often needed to pack for this situation in advance, just in case. Oh, and you also have to be aware if the system can take toilet paper or not. Sometimes, there's a trash can next to the toilet. Delicious.


On to washing the hands!


Sometimes the water was over the sink, sometimes it wasn't. Sometimes it was so misaligned, I actually had to think about what the person installing the water and the sink must have been on when they came up with the idea of where to put it. I came up with some interesting theories, but seriously...who puts a misaligned sink under a faucet?!


When it came to paper towels, sometimes there were, but often there were no towels. We got really good at the waving-your-hands-to-dry-them dance. Nevertheless, we could almost always guarantee that their would be soap. But not just any kind of soap. Foamy soap(y). It was so interesting how if they had soap, it was foamy soap(y).


Okay, I left out the big elephant in the room: the toilets themselves.


As you may know, there are two kinds of toilets: ones where you sit, and ones where you squat. Squatting toilets are EVERYWHERE. And sometimes, they're your only option. Try as we might to avoid them when possible, sometimes, they were our only option. And, inevitably, each of us had a schechianu (prayer you say after you've done something for the first time) moment with a squat-style toilet. Also, when it came to flushing said toilets (and the urinals too), you often controlled the water. Instead of a flusher, there was a pipe with a valve. You open, you close, it flushes.


Okay, I understand that this post contained a lot of information about doing business. It may have even grossed you out a bit. But the truth is that this was part of our epic adventure. Even going to the bathroom was an epic adventure.

The Epic Tofurkey Adventure of 2011 - Day 10 (Part 11 of 12)

Day 10 – Saturday, September 3, 2011 – Istanbul

We arrived back in Istanbul around 7am, and took a ferry from the Asian side back to the docks on the European side. The six of us walked back to the Istanbul hostel where we dropped our backpacks with the bags we had left there earlier in the week. The boys and girls split up, and the boys went off to have a straight razor shave while the girls did a little exploring and shopping. The boys had a great time, and the girls were successful in all the things we were still looking for. We met back up at the hostel, and took the shuttle back to the airport. After a short delay, we were on the plane (beautiful and new) and headed back to Tel Aviv. This time, we were on a plane with a 2-4-2 setup, so each of us was able to sit alone with our significant other. The entertainment system was also fantastic and, because of the plane type, also included a channel where you could view cameras placed on the front and tail of the plane, as well as a USB connection where we could charge our iPods and iPhones, which was great. Again, the service was great with a wonderful meal and drinks (however as each of the three guys ordered scotch, the attendant rolled her eyes), and Sarah passed the time by watching Water for Elephants on my personal entertainment system. While it was nice to come back to Israel, our trip to Turkey was a fantastic 10 days. Definitely an epic adventure. 

Video: Gilad Shalit Celebrations

Last night, Israel's cabinet accepted a proposal to free around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in return for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was captured more than 5 years ago. The joy that we shared last night celebrating outside the Gilad Shalit tent, just a few blocks from our apartment, was electric.


Here is the video:

The Epic Tofurkey Adventure of 2011 - Day 9 (Part 10 of 12)

Day 9 – Friday, September 2, 2011 – Cappadocia to Ankara

On Friday morning we all got up early and hiked back up to the lookout point from the night before to watch the sun rise. One of the main attractions in Cappadocia is the hot air balloon rides at sunset. While we decided not to do that, it was amazing to watch the sun come up over the hills with about 60 hot air balloons on the horizon. We sat there for a long time just watching the landscape and experiencing the sunrise. With a half day left in Goreme, Jeremy and I decided to take it easy and explore the town. Daniel, Leah, Abram, and Leah all rented scooters again and went off to hike in the hills. We had a lovely morning just walking around the city, exploring some shops, and learning all about Turkish rugs. We parked ourselves at the Fat Boy Café, where we played many games of backgammon, sipped tea, and took in the sites. It didn't hurt that they had incredible nachos, topped with traditional Turkish yogurt. At 2pm we were back at the bus station, waiting for our bus which would take us to Ankara (a 5 hour ride). A tiny little van showed up, and we were all a little confused and scared that we would be spending the next 5 hours crammed into this little space. Lucky for us, the can just took us to the big bus station, where we boarded a lovely coach complete with personal TV sets, drinks, and snacks. We arrived in Ankara around 8pm, and took taxis over to the train station, where we would board our overnight train to Istanbul. We had dinner in the café in the station, which is a very old restaurant with a hilarious waiter (again). On the train each couple had their own sleeper car complete with two beds, a sink, towels, and slippers. We were lulled to sleep by the moving train, and woke up 9 hours later, back in Istanbul.

The Epic Tofurkey Adventure of 2011 - Day 8 (Part 9 of 12)

Day 8 – Thursday, September 1, 2011 – Cappadocia

For our second full day in Cappadocia, the six of us went on the "green" tour, which took us outside Goreme to other beautiful parts of the region. We met Galip, our guide, at the hostel, and piled into the van to drive out to a lookout point overlooking the city. Like all of the views we had seen the previous day, we overlooked the mounts of volcanic rock and ash that have been molded by the wind into these cones and chimneys over thousands of years. From the Goreme lookout, we drove to Derinkuyu Underground City. Going 8 stories underground, this city was used to hide, and was connected to other underground cities nearby. We walked through this elaborate connection of rooms, visiting stables, cellars, storage rooms, and oil and wine press, refectories, chapels, and even a religious school. It was amazing to see what could be built 55 meters straight down into the rock.

After about an hour of driving, we then arrived at Ihlara Valley, which is a 16 km gorge cut into the rocks of Cappadocia. The entire valley, with the river flowing through it, has homes and churches cut into the rocks where the Christians would go to escape the Roman soldiers. We visited St. Daniel's church with its painted frescos, then walked 4 km down the gorge to a restaurant where we had lunch. A few of us waded in the river, which was a nice, cool refreshment on a hot day. Belisirma, where we had lunch, is a restaurant built right on the Melendiz stream. From there our van picked us up, and we made our way to the Selime Monastery. This monastery is the biggest rock-cut monastery in Cappadocia and goes straight up a hillside. We visited the cathedral, kitchen, monks quarters, stables, and lookout tower. Like most of the trip, we also had an incredible view from the monastery. On our drive back to Goreme our van driver stopped on the side of the road, got out of the van, and bought a whole bag full of strawberries from a road-side stand. We all thought it was pretty funny, but these were the most flavorful and delicious strawberries I have ever tasted. Our next stop was at Crater Lake, a beautiful blue mineral lake hidden among the mountains. Our last stop before returning to the hostel was at Pigeon Valley, where thousands of pigeon houses are carved into the rock along with caves and fairy chimneys.

After our tour, the six of us walked up to a lookout platform on the hill above our hostel. From there, we were able to watch the sunset over Goreme and the fairy chimney landscape. The clouds happened to roll in just as the sun was setting, making an absolutely beautiful view. From there we walked back into town for dinner at a restaurant called Bidek. On our bus to Pamukkale, Abram had been sitting next to a Turkish tour guide, and he told us about this restaurant where you have to make a reservation and order the day before, because they start cooking your meal about 4 hours before you arrive. We all sat and lounged on pillows while our Testi Pots were brought to the table, cracked open, and poured onto plates. Another delicious meal. We wandered back to the hostel through the streets and shops of Goreme, enjoying the atmosphere on our last night in Cappadocia. 

The Epic Tofurkey Adventure of 2011 - Day 7 (Part 8 of 12)

Day 7 – Wednesday, August 31, 2011 – Cappadocia

After a night of interrupted sleep on the bus, we arrived bright and early in Goreme, one of the bigger cities in the region of Cappadocia. The views from the window as we drove into the city were stunning with the sun coming up over the panorama of fairy chimneys. When we arrived at the bus station in the center of town a shuttle came and picked us up to go to our hostel. Turns out it was only about 3 blocks away and we easily could have walked. We checked in and put our things down in our cave (yes, our room was built into the side of a cave) then had a brief explanation of the different tours offered around the region. After a nice and much-needed shower and coffee, Daniel and Leah decided to head off and ride scooters around Cappadocia for the day, and Jeremy, Abram, Leah, and I went on the "red" tour.

We started our journey with our tour guide, Kazban, at the Goreme Open Air Museum, which is a collection of caves, fairy chimneys, and churches. We started our tour at the monasteries, and visit the church of St. Basil, the Apple church, and the Dark Church. Each of these churches has amazing frescos preserved inside the caves that the churches are built into. Interestingly, most of the eyes and faces are scratched off of the frescos – a result of the Muslim population moving into the area and not being comfortable with the human depictions common in Christian imagery. From the museum we headed to a delicious lunch buffet which was full of meats, vegetables, salads, and incredible desserts. After lunch, our tour made a stop at a pottery factory. The Cappadocia region is known for its red clay, and the pottery made from it. Up until about 50 years ago, a man had to know how to make clay pottery in order to get married (and women had to know how to make textiles). We got a tour of the factory and a demonstration of how they throw pots on a kick-wheel. Leah got a chance to try, and made a beautiful pot. From there we went to visit an old village all carved into the mountainside. From the top, we had an incredible 360 degree view of the fairy chimneys and Cappadocia landscape. We then visited the Pasabag Monks Village and the Fairy Chimney Valley, both regions where the mountainside homes and fairy chimneys are plenty. Our last stop before returning to the hostel was n Urgup, to see the collection of family fairy chimneys. These three chimneys, which look like a father, mother and child, sometimes represent the holy trinity.

After our tour we met up with Daniel and Leah back at the hostel and headed into Goreme to rent scooters. Each couple piled onto a scooter and we headed out of town to a sunset lookout spot that Daniel and Leah had found earlier in the day. We parked the bikes and walked out onto the mountains where we found a somewhat quiet spot to watch the sun go down. The sunset over the chimneys and the moon-like landscape was just beautiful. After driving back to Goreme and returning the scooters we had a lovely dinner at a rooftop restaurant to celebrate Abram's birthday. Like all of our meals in Turkey, this one also did not disappoint. It was a great way to celebrate with a friend while overlooking a beautiful city.

The Epic Tofurkey Adventure of 2011 - Day 6 (Part 7 of 12)

Day 6 – Tuesday, August 30, 2011 – Pamukkale (and Happy Birthday Abram!)

August 30 is Turkish Victory Day, commemorating the Turkish victory in the final battle of the Turkish War of Independence in 1922. All of the country there were ceremonies commemorating the day, and we were lucky enough to stumble upon one as we walked to the bus station in Selcuk. There were a few speeches that we didn't understand, then a Turkish cultural dance show, which was really fun to watch. We had to cut our viewing short to get on the bus that would take us to our next destination – Pamukkale. The bus ride was very pleasant. It was about 3 hours long, and they served us beverages three different times along the way. The first and third time they gave us water, and the second time they gave us some sort of orange soda, which was surprisingly tasty.

Upon arrival in Pamukkale the bus company offered to let us keep our bags in their office, which turned out to be perfect. After leaving our stuff and having a quick lunch in the restaurant next door we walked up the hill to the entrance to the park. Pamukkale, which means "cotton castle" in Turkish, looks like exactly that. The city consists of hot springs and travertines and terraces of carbonate minerals that have been formed by the flowing water. We walked up to the entrance of the World Heritage Site, and removed our shoes for the walk up the hill. The entire hillside is covered with calcite pools, and as we walked up the views kept getting better and better. It was really neat to put our feel and legs in the pools and walk up the rock with water spilling down over our feet. Since we weren't in bathing suites yet we really didn't get to swim in the pools, but we did take our time walking up the hill to take some fantastic photographs. When we got to the top we walked around to see other pools that are no longer open for walking, then headed over to the ruins of Hierapolus, the ancient Greco-Roman city located atop the hot springs. Abram wasn't feeling to well so he and Leah stayed in the shade, and the rest of us walked up to the top of the ancient theater. We had an incredible view of all of Pamukkale and the surrounding regions. After spending some time in the ruins seeing the Temple of Apollo, the Plutonium, Nymphaeum, and Necropolis, we walked to the Antique Pool, where you can swim in the mineral water. We took advantage of this respite from the mid-day heat and quickly changed into bathing suites and got into the water. The pool was incredible, with old columns and ruins at the bottom to swim around and climb on. The water itself was fantastic. Warm like bath water, the mineral water was so full of bubbles that it felt like swimming in soda water.  After a small snack we split up and found spots to watch the sunset over the calcite pools. Jeremy and I walked around a little to see the sunset from different angles, then ended at the end of a long walkway watching the sun go down over the horizon and send its beautiful colors into the water of the pools. After walking down through the pools once again we had a quick dinner overlooking Pamukkale, then got on an overnight bus that would take us to our next stop – Cappadocia.

How Do You Spell Yom Kippur?

Note: This is the first post in a series discussing how to "properly" transliterate common Hebrew words and phrases. Whatever your philosophy is regarding using Hebrew in the Shul, the reality is that most people in the States (and I'm sure this could also be expanded to include most other English speaking countries as well) don't write these phrases in Hebrew, they write them in transliterated Hebrew (i.e., Hebrew words in English letters). This will hopefully serve as a guide to those who want to spell these phrases of greetings and the names of the holidays in "proper" transliteration. I also put "proper" in quotations, because I will be using one system for transliteration, but I know there are many different systems out there. This is the one I have become most familiar with and, in my opinion, makes the most sense.


יום כפור is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, outside of Shabbat. It's a day when we ask for God's forgiveness and request that we be sealed for good in the year to come. Accordingly, there are a few phrases that we say relating to this holiday.

• יום כפור - Proper spelling: Yom Kippur. 
• Rationale:
• Yud, vav, mem sofit gives us Y-Oh-M, hence, Yom.
• Kaf, peh, vav, reish should give us (with vowels) Ki-Pu-r. So why do we spell this word with two p's? The reason is that there is, what is called, a dagesh chazak, or a hard dagesh. Since the peh is preceded by a letter with a vowel, it receives the hard "peh" sound instead of the normal, easy "peh" sound. Ergo, Kippur. 
• Lastly, all transliterations, unless the word is already in the English dictionary (such as "Shalom") should be in italics. That's not a transliteration thing, that's a grammar thing from 9th grade. Also, both words should be capitalized. 
• גמר חתימה טובה - Proper spelling: Gamar chatimah tovah.
• Meaning: literally, "A good final sealing." In more natural language, "May you be inscribed (in the Book of Life) for good."
• Other usage: You can also just say "Chatimah tovah."
• Rationale:
• Gimel, mem, reish gives us Ga-Ma-r, hence, Gamar.
• Chaf, taf, yud, mem, hei gives us Cha-ti-mah, hence, Chatimah. The important thing to remember here is the hei at the end of the word. This should not be lost in the transliteration. While it does not make much of a sound in modern Hebrew, it is important to include it in the transliteration.
• Some transliterate the chaf as "kh." I prefer "ch" in this system. To me, it looks less archaic.
• Tet, vav, vet, hei gives us To-vah, hence, Tovah. Again, hei at the end means we transliterate it with an "h" at the end as well.
• צום קל - Proper spelling: Tzom kal.
• Meaning: "Easy fast."
• Rationale:
• Tzadi, vav, mem sofit gives us Tzom. Some transliterate the tzadi as "ts" like "Tsar." I prefer "tz" because I think it more clearly describes the hard sound of the tzadi. 
• Koof, lamed gives us Kal. Some transliterate the koof as a "q." While historically that may be more accurate, in modern usage, it sounds like a "k." Ergo, Kal.

Gamar chatimah tovah and Tzom kal on this Yom Kippur!

Apple Event (iPhone 4S and iOS 5) Recap for the Less Technologically Inclined

Once in a while, a technology company introduces a product or feature that not only makes using technology easier, it may actually improve your quality of life. Yes, I admit that's a very lofty setup for what was announced yesterday by Apple, but I sincerely believe that some of these new features will, indeed, make life just a little easier.

iOS 5

I originally wrote about many of the new features in iOS 5 in June (click here to read that recap) such as the new notification system, iMessage, location-aware reminders, and the new camera (if none of those things made sense, go back and read the recap :)). iOS 5 will be available on October 12 on nearly all iOS devices (both iPads, iPod touch 3 & 4, iPhone 3GS, 4 & upcoming 4S). So far, while most of the announced features make using iOS devices easier, they won't necessarily make your life better. Two new features, though, will make iOS 5 an incredibly useful tool.

Cards

Cards is a new app (although it won't be limited to iOS 5) where you can print and mail your very own, custom made and personalized greeting cards. For $2.99, Apple will print and mail your card to whomever you like, to anywhere in the US ($4.99 to anywhere in the world). Further, when the card is delivered, the sender will receive a notification. While this concept isn't new, I think its streamlined process will make sending physical cards really easy. Imagine: a family member's birthday or anniversary is coming up in a week. You get a reminder, and send a card, right from your iOS device. Cool.

Find My Friends

Raise your hand if you've ever been in this scenario: you're at a large event with a lot of people and your friend gets lost and needs to find you. Or, maybe, on the way to visit you, your friend calls and says "we're lost, and we have no idea where we are." With "Find My Friends," you use the GPS built into the phone to see exactly where your friends are. You can set it up so you're always sharing your location with your friends or you can share it for a limited amount of time. To apply it to the first example, you can set it up so that your friends will be able to see your location for as long as you're at the event. To apply the feature to the second example, you can request that your friend temporarily share their location so you can give them directions to your place. Or, alternatively, you can just get some new friends that won't get lost all the time! But seriously, I believe this feature will significantly improve the quality of life for many people.

iPhone 4S

A lot of people thought this would be the iPhone 5. It's not. This new phone is to the iPhone 4 what the iPhone 3GS was to the iPhone 3G: mostly a speed increase. It includes the same new processor as the iPad 2, it's a CDMA/GSM phone, meaning that it is a truly global phone, its antenna allows for super fast data speeds, its got a new 8 megapixel camera, but what I've mentioned so far only helps you interact with technology. So far, this would seem like an evolutionary, not revolutionary update. And then they introduced us to Siri.

Siri

Siri is so awesome, it must come with a disclaimer: it will only be available on iPhone 4S. If you currently own an iPhone (i.e., something other than an iPhone 4S), it looks like this feature will not be available to you. I give this disclaimer because when I told Sarah about Siri, she got really excited and then really mad at me that I didn't start by saying that it wouldn't be available for her current iPhone. Love you, Sarah!

Siri is a voice-activated assistant that uses natural language to give you incredibly smart answers to your questions or complete complex tasks. For example, when people ask about the weather, they really want to know how it will affect their day. So, you can ask Siri, "Do I need an umbrella?" and it will answer, "Looks like it will rain today." Or ask, "What time is it in Paris?" and it will answer, "The time in Paris, France is 6:45 PM." You can also use Siri for accomplishing tasks, such as "Wake me up at 6 AM tomorrow." And it will set your alarm. Ask, "Find a great greek restaurant in La Jolla," and it will come up with the top 25 Yelp rated greek restaurants in La Jolla. You can use it to check, set, and move calendar appointments (For example, "Do I have a meeting at 4?" "Yes, you are meeting with Sarah about Talmud at 4." "Move it to 5." "Your meeting with Sarah about Talmud has been changed to 5." IT EVEN UNDERSTANDS THE CONTEXT OF THE CONVERSATION!). You can use it to create geolocation aware reminders, such as "Remind me to call my mother when I leave school." And when I leave school, I will get a reminder that I need to call my mother. You can use Siri to search Wikipedia. You can use Siri to get directions (i.e.: "Get me home"). You can use Siri to play music. Use it to read you your text messages or emails, and then use it to respond (which will be great for hands-free texting in the car). Use it to check stock prices. Or, you can use it to make calls. But seriously, who uses a smartphone to make and take calls anymore?! Also, you can use Siri's technology to dictate text anywhere in the iPhone's system where you would normally use a keyboard. This is similar to the Android system, but knowing Apple, they really made it work really well.

The iPhone 4S will be available on October 14.

Thoughts

The combination of Siri and Find My Friends alone make the iPhone 4S an incredible tool. These features embody what good technology does: it will improve your quality of life. Am I excited for this release? Absolutely. Will I get it when I get back to the States? Maybe. It will really depend on the rumors regarding when the iPhone 5 will be announced. The latest rumors are saying third quarter of next year, so basically a year from now. If you're ready for an iPhone upgrade, though, this is an incredible machine.

It's Been A While, Why Not A Food Post!

There's a lot to discuss today. A post will be hitting here in a little bit about Day 5 (I think) of our Turkey Adventure, and I'll be writing a re-cap and analysis regarding the Apple iPhone 4S event that is happening right now. 


But for now, let's eat!


I call it a healthy everything-but-the-kitchen-sink soy vegetable rice salad.


We've got wild rice with red peppers, green peppers, onions, sprouts, carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes, topped with Tivol honey soy "chicken," dried garlic and ginger and some soy sauce.


Yum!


Enjoy with your eyes.

The Epic Tofurkey Adventure of 2011 - Day 5 (Part 6 of 12)

Day 5 – Monday, August 29, 2011 – Ephasus

The following day started early, with a shuttle from the hostel to the airport at 7:30am. We had a short flight to Izmir on Pegasus airlines, which was completely uneventful. But of course, Jeremy has some more details to share. We actually went through security twice: once when we were walking through the innards of the Ataturk airport from our shuttle’s drop-off to the domestic terminal, and once again when we entered the terminal. Surprisingly, both here and when we flew in Israel, there was no liquid check, nor did we have to take our shoes off. There was some great plane viewing which actually made us feel like we could see, first-hand, the impact of Hurricane Irene: There was a Delta plane. Delta is the only American airline to fly to Turkey, and obviously, this plane was stranded during the hurricane. When we boarded, the rush to get on reminded us of Israelis trying to get on a bus – a surprising moment in a country of very polite individuals. Although this was a discount airline, they still had gorgeous and stylish uniforms. And of course, because it was a discount airline, everything other than access to the bathrooms onboard had to be purchased.

After arriving in Izmir and finally finding our shuttle (after about 40 minutes with an incredibly nice local who called the hostel to find out where the driver was and then kept calling him until he arrived at the airport, and then wouldn’t take a tip) we were off on ah hour-long drive to Selcuk. We arrived at the Boomerang Guesthouse and had a lovely lunch in their gardens. The owner of the hostel was incredibly nice and informative, and he arranged a taxi that would take us to Ephasus, pick us up after our time there, take us to see the Artimus temple, then bring us back to the hostel. So, we loaded ourselves into the taxi, and off we went to Ephasus.

Ephasus, pronounced 'Efes' in Turkish, was an ancient Greek city and later a major Roman city with a population of more than a quarter of a million people around the first century BCE. Even though only about 18% of the site has been excavated, Ephesus is the largest collection of Roman ruins in the eastern Mediterranean. We explored the baths, the amphitheater, temple of Hadrian, the main streets of the city, and of course the remains of the library. We were so lucky to have our resident archaeologist Abram, who really gave us a lot of insight into the importance of what we were seeing. While all of the ruins were interesting to see, the remains of the Library of Celsus were truly amazing. The entire façade is standing, and looking at it you can just imagine what it must have looked like with the entire city built up around it. We spent about 2 hours walking through the ruins, and then went with our cab driver, Shakir, to the remains of the Temple of Artimus. Once one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the temple was originally constructed during the bronze age, and subsequently destroyed and reconstructed a number of times. Now, only one column of the temple is left at the original site. The amazing thing is that in antiquity, the temple was dedicated to the god of fertility and now, atop the lone column, sits a stork’s nest, the modern symbol of fertility. We spent some time looking at the column and at St. John's Cathedral in the distance, and found a small pond with frogs and turtles. Abram decided it would be fun to chase the ducks that were gathered nearby, and we're all just glad that he emerged with all of his fingers intact.

After our day of ruins we walked through the town of Selcuk trying to find a restaurant that had been recommended in our guidebook. When we found it closed, the owner of the restaurant across the street explained that there was a death in the family and the restaurant would be closed for a few days. But, we were welcome to try his restaurant! We ended up having an absolutely delicious meal overlooking a fountain and some ruins. With gelato in hand we walked back to the hostel where we relaxed in the garden with some tea, hookah, and backgammon. The surprising part of this city was the incredibly heavy influence of Australians, exemplified with our hostel: The Boomerang Hostel.

The Epic Tofurkey Adventure of 2011 - Day 4 (Part 5 of 12)

Day 4 – Sunday, August 28, 2011 – Istanbul

On our last day in Istanbul we decided that we'd had enough of the hostel breakfast and went around the corner to a cute little café with outdoor couch seating. After a leisurely breakfast we walked to the Fatih district to visit the Fatih Mosque. Built between 1463 and 1771, this Ottoman imperial mosque boasts true Turkish-Islamic architecture. The inside of the mosque was so incredibly beautiful. Unfortunately the mosque closed about 5 minutes after we got there for prayers, so we sat at a little café just outside the grounds and had a little snack and tea while we waited for it to open again. Like the Blue Mosque, there was such an incredible feeling of quiet and peace inside the mosque. Unlike the Blue Mosque, there were very few tourists in the Fatih mosque, and the very large space was mostly empty. We took a few pictures of the beautiful inside, then just sat, looked, and took in the space. When we finished at the mosque we headed back toward the hostel with a quick stop for lunch atop another restaurant, with views of the bazaar and surrounding area.

After a quick stop at the hostel to change, the six of us were met by a man from the Turkish bath, and he lead us through the streets of Sultanahmet to the bath house. A few people told us that we had to do a Turkish bath while we were in Turkey, and they were right. When we got to the bathhouse we were each given a little room where we could change and leave our things. We wrapped ourselves in towels, and were escorted to the main room where we laid on what looked like a hot stone alter, surrounded on all sides by little stations with basins and running water. As we started to sweat, we could use the hot and cold water to cool us off. After about 45 minutes, the attendants came and got us and the women were taken into another room for a scrub and massage. They use a rough silk mitt to exfoliate your entire body before washing you with the sudsiest soap you've ever experienced and giving you a massage. It is such a treat to not only have someone massage your body but also wash your hair and every last part of you. After the scrub and massage the girls rejoined the boys and we spent about another half an hour in the hot room, alternating with hot and cold water baths. When it was time to come out they wrapped us in robes and we sat in the lobby relaxing and sipping apple tea. Overall, the baths were incredible. I would go back in a second. Jeremy was a little sore from the rough massage he got, but other than that really enjoyed it as well. All relaxed and clean, the six of us had dinner at an outdoor restaurant near the hotel, then spent the rest of the evening lounging on pillows with tea, hookah, and baklava.