Europe Fall 2025 Highlight #4

From Malta, Newton and I flew to Istanbul, Türkiye. This is the spelling that "Turkey" prefers, with the extra syllable at the end.

Istanbul's history is rich. From Greek Byzantium to Roman Constantinople to Ottoman Istanbul, Pagan to Christian to Islamic, it literally straddles the line between Europe and Asia by way of the strait of Bosphorus. Istanbul is built on two continents! 

              

The city is bustling with people—ubiquitous bearded men who smoke profusely—others, clean-shaven and tobacco-free; head-scarved to bare-headed women, families, tourists. And cats. They are everywhere, healthy and lovingly indulged by the populace.

Our brief stay featured a daily stroll past side streets full of eateries to the crowded pedestrian thoroughfare. A winding downhill street of charming stores, restaurants and cats ended at our tram station.

         

Tram with Sultan Ahmet Mosque

HONORABLE MENTION: The Sultanahmet neighborhood was our repeated destination. History is stacked on top of itself here with the infamous Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace—home to Ottoman sultans for 400 years—and hidden gems!

Hagia Sophia was built by the Roman Emperor Justinian I in the 6th Century as the Cathedral of Constantinople, the center of the Eastern Orthodox world. Its enormous dome was considered an architectural miracle. The Greek name means "Holy Wisdom," though Europeans mistakenly dubbed it, "Santa Sophia," not realizing the church was dedicated to divine wisdom, not a female saint.

The Ottomans converted it to a mosque, with the signature minarets.

The call to prayer that emanated from Hagia Sophia was the only live voice we heard marking the five daily pauses for prayer during our two weeks in the country. Sadly, many were marred recordings full of static. A favorite passage from a favorite book will always come to mind regarding this one of the five Pillars of Islam...

Patrick Bringley, a brilliant writer, sought the refuge of becoming a guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York while grieving the loss of his brother. His incredible account of the healing experience in All the Beauty in the World recounts his impressions when assigned the Islamic galleries. Regarding the "mihrab"—a niche facing Mecca used for daily prayers, he wrote:

“I think about what it must be like to return five times a day to a ritual designed to fix the mind on oneness. I belong to no particular religious tradition, but I often feel the need to be tied-back—reconnected—as the roots of the word re-ligion connote…to brush away trivial concerns & commune with something more basic. I stare into the mihrab not as a pious worshipper, but as a worshipper nevertheless.”

We visited the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Mosque) that sits opposite Hagia Sophia. Headscarves are required for women and no shoes required of all:

The exquisitely beautiful Arabic calligraphy in which the Qur'an is written all over the world. 

These panels of blue Islamic tiles—full of the sacred geometry and vegetation that adorn Islamic art rather than the forbidden images of the Prophet Mohamed— were this textile designer's dream!

HIGHLIGHT #4: 

A poster with the image of "Basilica Cistern" intrigued us, so we descended to this underground wonder.

What a vision immersed us: over 300 marble columns salvaged from ancient Roman ruins and pieced together, lit in subtly changing colors, rising around 30' from the shallow water under walkways. You can see why this other-worldly place got the 'Basilica" name. Emperor Justinian built this in the 6th Century as a cistern—water reserves for the city. There is something mysteriously enveloping about the air, the quiet, the changing shadows that made me want to stay and stay. 

                  

         

     

Still savoring the hauntingly beautiful Basilica Cistern, we got in line to pay for entry into Hagia Sophia. The Cistern had cost $85. There was comment about extensive construction underway inside the mosque; we were hungry...so we left the line. Regrets, I've had a few, but this decision is a big one. Newton and I briefly enter every church that's open on our path as we travel through Italy. Each is inevitably unique. I had to resort to online photos of the interior of one of the most famous religious structures in the world that was merely some money and some yards away. Here's one:

Later, we entered these two Eastern Orthodox churches, serving the small percentage of Christians.

                                   

Of course, the compulsory Istanbul market could not be avoided...

My gigantic bar of olive oil soap is now down to a sliver; I'll start the almond soap soon. The perfect Kilim pillow cover called out "take me home!" The only other thing we bought was a tiny Sufi Dervish figure to hang on the Christmas tree. I'm haggling over it here:

                    
The spices were so beautiful, along with a mirage of items, and the Turkish Delight sample I was offered was so very pistachio and delicious that the nice man gave me another sample...even though we had no room to carry a box home. Sad. I'm salivating.

After three days of wonderful cuisine and our new favorite beer, Efes, off we flew to experience HIGHLIGHT #5...coming eventually to you! 

Hint: "High."

 

Europe Fall 2025: Highlight #3

                                                              

HONORABLE MENTION: 

Newton and I remained for a few more days in Provence once my fancy docent trip to London, Paris and Provence ended. We marked the transition by staying in a convenient home exchange with leftover exchange points. 

The beautiful hilltop towns and vistas in the Luberon Valley provided an excellent extension—Bonnieux & La Coste, Gordes, and Roussillon.

This is La Coste, the Castle ruins of the Maquis de Sade. I was puzzled about what the outstretched arms were expressing...

  Here are the stone village of Gordes and the range of sienna hues in the 

  rocks & structures of Roussillon:            

              

                                  
We flew from Marseilles for my birthday weekend in Malta...

Marseilles Harbor

Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure de Marseilles

HIGHLIGHT #3

One of the strangest moments, so far on this trip, was having to get past a beggar seated at our hotel entrance in Malta's capital, Valletta. He was muttering and moaning under his breath and shaking a cup under his purple wig. We were surprised because the hotel was rather nice.

After hurrying in past him and getting settled, we joined the happy crowds enjoying a beautiful day at the outdoor bars along a nearby thoroughfare.   

How annoying to spot the same beggar shaking his cup as he neared our happy table. "Oh no, that's the same beggar that was at the hotel," I said. He stopped at our table, ignoring Newton's waving him away. Watch to the end: 

If you don't recognize him without his wig, that is our son Jake, who lives in Austin, Texas. He is famous for his elaborate, international pranks! This is the actual birthday surprise I alluded to when the Paris waiters surprised me with the giant fake cake a week early!

His wife, Larissa, was hiding and snapped the photo by the hotel door. To pull off this second attempt, Jake first cleared it with the bar owner, having noticed there actually are no beggars around Valletta. A bar employee got so excited, he insisted that he video the encounter!

Jake explained how he thought we might recognize his clothes, so he bought the soccer jersey, hat and cup at a tourist shop. Shiny new for a beggar! Because we were trying to ignore and not encourage him, we never observed the beggar closely enough until my asking near the very end of the video, "Is that Jake?" Too bad we didn't take the chance to impress generous humanity on our son by giving him some damn money, but the guttural moaning was too creepy.

HONORABLE MENTION:
  
After the shock and delight, we all had a lovely, relaxed, sometimes rainy weekend in Malta. Jake and Larissa treated us to Birthday dinner at Valletta's Michelin 2-star restaurant, ION Harbour, open to the gorgeous harbor at night.


                                           

The  next morning we met at the plaza by 16th Century Saint John's Co-Cathedral (honoring John the Baptist). There are two Caravaggio paintings there I was looking forward to seeing. Not only was it raining, but an intrepid line going down the block of soaked, hopeful entrants discouraged us. There were Jake and Larissa ensconced at a table for four at a plaza eatery, under an umbrella large enough to play Hearts with dry cards. (Jake never leaves home without cards!) 

I was trying to meet-up there with a fellow museum docent, Gina, who was coincidentally visitng Malta with a friend. We didn't manage to pull it off, but Gina did manage to make it into Saint John's and said the long wait in line was worth it.

I did look up the 1607 Saint Jerome painting inside by Caravaggio, who lead the way of 17th Century Baroque extreme light, shadow and drama. If you look closely in the lower right you'll see a Maltese cross! Caravaggio had fled the law in Rome for killing a man in a brawl...this guy was all drama...and he painted for a while in Malta, becoming temporarily a Knight of St. John until he blew that, too and had to keep running. But he continued painting masterpieces till his early death in 1610.

We also tried to see the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, but it was closed, so no gorgeous church interiors on this stop.

We did hit some bars in the rain (hotel umbrellas!), including a top-floor bar where the dark and pummeling Mediterranean rainstorm could be observed while continuing our Hearts game inside. 

Once the rain cleared, we joined the great mix of mostly European travelers roaming the wonderful stepped streets heading down to the island's edge.

The most fun dinner was at a crowded pizza restaurant on the steps where the varied nationalities of the tourists was matched by the varied nationalities of the wait staff. Our darling waiter was from Brazil, so I got to brush-up on my Portuguese; however, everyone we encountered in Malta spoke English, and I understood why when I tried to make any sense of this street sign in Maltese:     

  

The harbor by day offered the ins-and-outs of rock shoreline and stone structures, the medieval fort of the Knights of St. John and the 16th Century fortresses against Ottoman invasion and piracy, adapted for WWII defense. A lovely water taxi ride took us to a jutting point across the bay and returned us bathed in the evening light.

We ended the day with Jake's 5-day-away Birthday dinner at an excellent Japanese restaurant, and were all flying off the next day: Jake back to Austin (double jet-lag); Larissa to join her mother for a cruise out of Athens; and Newton and I to Istanbul for a couple of weeks in Turkey.

2018 New Year's Dispatch

Our 2017 was a “war of the worlds:” the Third and the First. In truth, we called the Northeast of Brazil “the third-and-a-half world” because it does not have the sophistication of the South. While we’re quibbling, the USA is edging towards Third each day, though our new city, San Diego, is beautifully organized and feels plenty First.

At the end of May 2017, we said good-bye to our dear remaining friends in the city of Natal, our beautiful, restful house, the ever-changing light on the ocean, the iguanas, the long-stretching dollar and the bad roads.

Moon from our bedroom window

Graceful mosquito net

Do you see the iguana?

Cotovelo Beach, our paradise

Our varied group of expats, locals, macho men, girly-girls, the wise, the crazy, the young, the rich, the intellectuals, the superstitious, the rascals…and six stranded African fishermen…taught us that if you get to know people well enough, you love them. Believe this. It is my favorite gift from Brazil.

Our African fishermen with Mary & Glades

My story about The Nigerian Fishermen 

Some of our friends returned to Europe over the past four years, so we’ve already had reunions with them in Majorca, London and Lisbon. 

September reunion in Portugal

Our hilarious friends closing up the Ericeira, Portugal town square this Christmas

For those precious friends remaining in our city of Natal, we feel the untranslatable “saudades:” missing them with love and sadness:

Our brilliant biologists & soul-mates, Ali & Priscila

Graceful, accomplished, loving: Alicia & Ernesto ("wild man")

...and their fantastic children, Carlos & Alicita

Elegant, sophisticated, down-to-earth, heart of gold: Carmen & Pascal

A complete original: Flavia

A woman from whom I learned so much and her fearless husband: Rita & Fred

Saudades, indeed (sniff).

Lizard playground

Our house on Cotovelo Beach gave me such a strong sense of place, even in a foreign land. I was clearly meant to rest there after working and raising children. I loved every room. My unexpected bonus: the 'medicine' of the natural world. We left the house furnished for rental and moved with suitcases only. 

Another lizard playground

My sacred balcony

What a kick it was deciding just who, exactly, should get which clothes, shoes, craft supplies, games, books, and doodads. I remain satisfied with my choices. Betania, our cook/cleaning woman, wanted to keep the photos of children from the NY school where I had worked in the frames I was offering her! She loved hearing my story about each of them. Our caretaker, Marcos’ teenage daughter wrote us a lovely (and literate!) letter from the interior to thank us for the bounty she and her sisters received, including our Christmas decorations. Newton sold his squash racket and all electronics to friends or through an ad. 

Our suitcases were bursting, anyway.

San Diego, California is near our daughter in Los Angeles, not too far from our son and daughter-in-law in Las Vegas, and his in-laws live here! The weather is temperate. I am still longing for some rain to give meaning to all these sunny days. Apparently, rain is expected over the winter. The people are friendly and kind. The roads and highways are carefully planned (we’re wondering if anything inside the city limits is more than 11 minutes away?), and I love the way everybody signals and drives in their traffic lanes!

Our move started with one week to find a rental in San Diego. Bingo! A cozy adobe house with apple, orange, lime, tangerine, kumquat, persimmon, fig, cherimoya, and macadamia nut trees, plus blackberries and grapes.

 

Next came New York, culling our most prized possessions that had been in storage for eleven years for packing into a moving van. Most everything about storage was a fiasco: the unit was filthy and had been infiltrated with insects and rodents; our six rolled up Kilim rugs were decimated; falling rain and dirt in 2007, when the facility installed a new roof that leaked over our unit, left the furniture in dreadful condition. Insects/rodents are not covered by insurance. The $2,000 possible coverage would certainly help with furniture cleaning and restoration, but in the end, the insurers informed us that the statute of limitations had passed in 2010. ZERO. If you need to store anything, better you live on the same street as the storage company.

Six months after the moving van’s arrival in our North Park neighborhood of San Diego, we are happy to say that our back-breaking work to restore fine walnut and teak pieces with steel wool, garnet paper and the proper oils turned out pretty well. Even though the packed storage boxes looked damaged, most everything inside survived. Unpacking our treasures after eleven years was better than Christmas in July!

We find picking fruit out of the garden endlessly amusing.

I found the best yoga studio imaginable four minutes away, so my sacred balcony in Brazil has been replaced with transcendent teachers! The city offers a big catalogue of free Continuing Education courses. I have four weeks to go in my fantastic Creative Writing Workshop, and there may even be a friend or two resulting.

One evening when we returned faithfully to our favorite Mexican Cantina Mayahuel around the corner, our friend Miles, the bartender, asked if we had any friends coming, in order to help us find seats. We said, “Miles, you and Jorge are our only friends in the city…except for our grandniece Emily!” It turns out Miles knows Emily, who used to sell tequila! Making friends is definitely the hard part and takes time, as we already discovered in Japan and Brazil. Newton is seeking out soccer, tennis and poker connections via the “Meetup” site we joined (we’ve both signed up for the San Diego Boomers!), so we’re hoping that will speed up the process. An old high school friend recommended a lovely guy to help us house-hunt, and the rousing Christmas party he and his wife threw added more possibilities. Patience.

In truth, the transition from Brazil back to the US seemed more of a known entity - despite the political and weather-related disasters - than the transition from our prior 29 years in New York to the West Coast. That is a thing! But I’m definitely on board with kale. We go to two street markets per week for organic produce, grass-fed anything and Newton’s favorite African, Turkish and Argentine dishes to supplement our loss of Betania’s cooking. The city has rich arts offerings. It’s just that there’s only one New York…and those winters that go with it.

We agree that we have precisely the right dose of ‘urban’ in San Diego. These city neighborhoods around the extraordinary Balboa Park have mostly one-story Arts and Craft bungalows and adobe Spanish Revival houses from the ‘30’s and ‘40’s, along with properties converted into two-story apartment complexes. Each neighborhood has its little center of bars, shops and restaurants. This offers a small town feel within the city. Most neighborhood businesses are locally owned, like the actual, real hardware store that sells nails by the handful! Seven minutes by highway gets us to the mall and the chain stores, but we usually avoid that scene.

Balboa Park Botanical Gardens

Balboa Park trail

Elise, Jake and Larissa came for the holidays, decorating the tree with those long-missed ornaments from their childhood. 

We played lots of games, though the funniest was this moment at a little bar:

And now to the business at hand: 2018. More new beginnings for all of us, or at least fine-tuning of previous beginnings! Health, natural beauty, love…we wish you the big ones that make all else better.

Our best,

Sandra and Newton