268 Stairs? (Hong Kong)

Here we are starting the journey to the top!

Jason at the top! Regretting that he is in jeans!

One last bit of Susperstition (Hong Kong)

This lion is one of a pair that guards the entrance to the HSBC building in Hong Kong. The lions were carefully relocated from the old headquarters of the bank as the bank and its employees believe that the lions are the guardians of the bank's fortune. It is also said that good fortune will come to those who rub the lion's paws! Being very interested in good fortune, Jason and I rubbed all the paws on both lions!

Off to a new land...Lisbon

Lisbon, Portugal. By far, our favourite European city. It is vibrant, interesting, a bit of the old world, a bit of the new...everything you could ask for in one city.

How to rebuild a city! (Lisbon)

Our first day. We had no idea what to expect. What we discovered was that Lisbon, for all of her hills, trams, cable cars and subways, is a city to be explored on foot. What's interesting about Lisbon is that it was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake on 1 November 1755. This earthquake allowed the government of Portugal to completely rebuild the city. Consequently, they stole all the greatest ideas from European cities and rolled them into one! Thus, I am looking up Lisbon's version of the Champs Eleyeses. A beautiful treee lined street with cobblestone sidewalks in distinct patterns. In fact, look closely, and you can see the patterns in this picture!

See the trees, behind the man?

An Elevator to the Stars...(Lisbon)

Lisbon is filled with unique ways to travel. This is an elevator built to take you to the top of the nearby hill. Its not a tourist trap though. It was designed to bring "commuters" up and down the hill...from one neighbourhood to another. Its a cheap ride to the top and once there, you exit to gorgeous view of the city, and well, a totally different neighbourhood. (And again, my rotation skills are lacking...so refer to our Pisa post for instructions on how to view my sideways pictures!)

At the top of the elevator. Not only are you rewarded with breathtaking views of the city, you turn around and there is this burned out cathedral. It is gothic and mysical.

Stolen Monuments...(Lisbon)

Look familiar? Can't figure out why? This bridge is often referred to as the Golden Gate of Lisbon. Its the 25th of April Bridge. Only it doesn't cross a Bay, but a River -- The Tagus. Although Jason would like me to point out that it doesn't look or act like a river. In fact, it has tides and swells. And is wide and long almost seemingly unending. Notice something else familiar?

To your right as you approach the bridge, is the statue 'Cristo Rei' (literally: 'Christ King' - often translated as 'Christ in Majesty') which stands on a huge pillar and overlooks the mouth of the mighty Tagus river ('Rio Tejo'). This is a smaller replica of the even more impressive 'Cristo Redentor' ('Christ the Redeemer') statue which is situated on the Corcovado mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

An ancient fortress (for the little people)...(Lisbon)

Torre de Belem...a Fortress in the water. Accessible only by a footbridge a over the river.

However beautiful, its apparently only for very little people. Jason is only able to stand upright in the armory by standing under the sky light.

Mosteiro Dos Jeronimos (Lisbon)

Did you think we were going somewhere in Europe and you weren't going to see a beautiful church? Ha! You thought wrong! (Or right!) This is Mosteiro Dos Jeronimos.

I need a break! And frankly, the view from the cheap seats is pretty darn good. The grass in the cloisters is reserved for clergy. However, I enjoyed the cool bench and a little time to reflect.

This is what I am looking at from the second level.

Let's get back to the good stuff...(Lisbon)

Us! You may recognise the sights behind me! Depending on what city you live in!

Jason is testing my fear of heights by balancing precariously over the edge of the castle. Again, quick photo, and then "Jason, please get down!!!"

I admit. There was another couple at the castle who took this exact picture. I liked it so much, that much to Jason's horror, I asked him to go down and repeat the pose. He did. And aren't you glad? Its such a great picture! (Mental note: Steal cute photo ideas from others.)

More of the good stuff...(Lisbon)

(I have to admit -- even though we were smitten with the view, we contemplated the idea of rolling down the slope to the bottom. Apparently others have been similarly tempted as there are fences periodically crossing the slope -- preventing any fun!)

Fancy a Drink of Water? (Bath)

The Roman Baths. They are Britain's only hot spring. The Romans built a magnificent temple and bathing complex that still flows with natural hot water. There are extensive ruins and treasures from the spring that are beautifully preserved. When you are there you are immediately taken to a different world. One where men and women wore togas, and life moved much slower. Throughout the centuries Britians have thought that the water had special healing properties. Thus, people from all over the country travel their to drink the water.

By the way, the water is for sale in the cafe on the site. Straight from the spring. Lets be honest. It may or may not be healing, but its gross. Tastes as you would imagine, like sulfur. Yuck. And the slightly odd smell and its strange warmth out did any healing feelings for me. As my companions (Jason and his dad) didn't finish their glasses, I am guessing they felt the same.

In this picture Jason is standing above the baths looking out towards Bath Abbey. (Bath is also the city name!) The Abbey is wonderful, however, I am being to suspect you may be tiring of all these big, European churches. So for now, the outside will have to do!

It was all smiles before we drank the water! (Bath)

They can't all just pictures of murky, green hot water! (Jason's dad was kind enough to pose so you could see not only the water, but more Roman rocks and ruins!)

We so rarely travel with others! How nice it is to have a picture of us together!

The Royal Crescent (Bath)

The Royal Crescent was built to the designs of John Wood the Younger between 1767 and 1774. It is justly considered one of the finest achievements of urban 18th century architecture and represents the highest point of palladian architecture in Bath.

Not the best picture, but there is Jason crossing the street, its the only photo I have where you can see the Crescent. In the middle of the Crescent is a giant park. The grass is so lovely and sprawling...the perfect picnic spot!

Aren't they cute?
The park is not only next to us, but it goes down the hill past the trees for as far as the eye can see. Simply brilliant!

And a cheesy train ride home...(Bath)

(For the record, Jason wanted to kill me for taking this picture. He thought it was terribly embarrassing on the train. Now? He thinks its one of the best ever pictures of he and his dad. Ha!)

Let's Chat...(Canterbury)

When you go to a Catholic college and live in dorms named after religious icons, archbishops and other religious figures, you tend to forget that there is a meaning and a story behind the name. I had come to associate names like Becket and Augustine with parties, dorm life and geography, but certainly not religious life or history. Or maybe that's just me. Jason certainly pays more attention than I, so was not as blown away by Canterbury as I was. Notwithstanding, we were both incredibly smitten. Maybe it was the sunny day, our thoughtful nature, a beautiful train ride through Kent...whatever it was, we were hooked. In 1904, Virginia Woolf said, "there is no lovelier place in the world...and I have seen Venice too." Maybe, maybe not. But there's just something about Canterbury. Apparently Geoffrey Chaucer thought so as well. He wrote a book about the place you might have heard of -- The Canterbury Tales.

And so the love affair begins. (Canterbury)

Just a plain side street in Canterbury. Brilliant. Even the nothing streets were lovely!

The Cathedral...(Canterbury)

The Cathedral is so massive that it is nearly impossible to get in one photograph with our little camera. So instead...I took a picture of Jason!

The door to the Cathedral. The Archbishop of Canterbury remains the highest religious position in England.

Inside the Cathedral. By now, however, you already likely know what the inside looks like. Big, beautiful, ornate and full of interesting monuments and things to look at!

A Crypt for a Martyr (Canterbury)

This monument was the highlight of the trip for me. And it requires a little story. Becket and King Henry II had a major falling out over how the church should be run. (Its actually quite a bit more than that, and spanned decades with Becket fleeing to France once!) For the purposes of this story, just know it was serious. They were like father and son when they were younger, but because of this disagreement, the King called for Becket's murder. And here's the story:

"The king's exact words have been lost to history but his outrage inspired four knights to sail to England to rid the realm of this annoying prelate. They arrived at Canterbury during the afternoon of December 29 and immediately searched for the Archbishop. Becket fled to the Cathedral where a service was in progress. The knights found him at the altar, drew their swords and began hacking at their victim finally splitting his skull.

The death of Becket unnerved the king. The knights who did the deed to curry the king's favor, fell into disgrace. Several miracles were said to occur at the tomb of the martyr and he was soon canonized. Hordes of pilgrims transformed Canterbury Cathedral into a shrine. Four years later, in an act of penance, the king donned a sack-cloth walking barefoot through the streets of Canterbury while eighty monks flogged him with branches. Henry capped his atonement by spending the night in the martyr's crypt. St. Thomas continued as a popular cultist figure for the remainder of the Middle Ages. "

See? An incredible tale.

The top of the monument...representing the swords that killed Becket.

St. Augustine's Abbey and the Return of Explorer Meghan (Canterbury)

Ahhhh...my favourite! Ruins! The Abbey was founded by St. Augustine in 597 AD. Interesting, I lived in Augustine Hall for a bit my freshman year at college!

Explorer Meghan returns!

Lastly, before we depart...(Canterbury)

A little somethin' for the folks back home!

Wanna see me turn 30? (Istanbul)

Istanbul. Our first trip to a Muslim country. It is so fascinating! Here I am standing in front of the Blue Mosque. The mosque was built between 1609 and 1616 by order of the Sultan Ahmed I, after whom it is named. He is buried in the mosque's precincts. It is located in the oldest part of Istanbul, in what was before 1453 the centre of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.

In the picture above, this is what I am looking at! Aya Sofia or Hagia Sofia. Aya Sofia was built in the 6th Century to be the grandest church in the world. Yup, you read that right! A church! When the Ottoman Turks conquered Istanbul in 1453, Aya Sofia was converted into a mosque. The cool thing about it is that there are still mosaics of Jesus and other Christian themes through Aya Sofia! Its quite mind blowing really, to see two cultures come together in such a unique way. Aya Sofia is no longer worshiped in, so its open to tourists.

The Call to Prayer...(Istanbul)

As you can see from this picture of the Blue Mosque, the Turkish people do worship here. This is a locals entrance to the mosque, taken at the call to mid-day prayer. Muslims pray five a time a day, in fact.at the center of this picture is the water fountain where the Muslims perform their cleansing rituals before prayer.

The inside of the Blue Mosque. Once prayer is complete, the mosque is opened to non-muslims. As this is a place of worship, men and women are asked to cover the bodies, and I had brought along a scarf to cover my hair. A mosque is so much different than a church or a cathedral. There is no furniture inside. Instead, there is a large carpet with many squares for indivudal prayer. Muslims pray on their knees, and face mecca when doing so. Jason and I were surprised by how sparse the room was, but by how elaborate the building was. Very different from all the Christian churches we were seeing on our travels through Europe.

He's not particularly smiling, because we are feeling a bit silly for taking pictures! (As non-Muslims we were not allowed to enter the area where the Muslims pray, and so there is a little fence behind Jason that we could not pass.

Aya Sofia...The Inside Story (Istanbul)

Aya Sofia is stunning. The main room is empty and currently being restored. Since it was originally built as a church, many of the original Christian mosaics remain. Although its a bit difficult to spot the contrasts when you are surrounded by the gorgeous art, Byzantine mosaics and Islamic caligraphy.

The Mihrab. A mihrab is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the direction of Mecca. This one was added to Aya Sofia in 1934, and although there was controversy surrounding the addition, Jason and I found it breath taking. As you can see just above it, it is surrounded by many panels of stained glass that only enhance its beauty.

A classic example of the two cultures. Here is a large piece of Islamic caligraphy next to a mosaic of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus on the ceiling of Aya Sofia. Much of the restoration work is attempting to preserve all of the mosaics in Aya Sofia.

C'mon Now, Its Not That Serious! (Istanbul)

All our heavy sightseeing left us parched. There was a gorgeous cafe next to the Blue Mosque, hidden amongst the trees. A heavenly birthday lunch, indeed. (Did you forget that? Its still my birthday, you know!)

Well, let's be fair, I am a sucker for bread. In this case, it is a Turkish favorite. Looks like a pretzel, only not so twisty and covered in sesame seeds. The vendors line the streets with their variation of this incredibly yummy pastry. In fact, its so yummy, that its in the picture.

Okay, so not the best picture, but where I am standing is why I agreed to go to Turkey in the first place. Jason and I have got our bargaining hats on, and we are about to enter one of the largest and oldest markets in the world. My idea of heaven! This is the Grand Bazaar. Essentially anything you could ever want, you could likely find it here. There are so many rows of stalls inside that they have created a map of the place AND there are street names. Just so you can't get lost! It is vibrant and bustling and full of young men running back and forth with trays of tea. So cool! Only to be slightly out done by the also world famous Spice Bazaar in a neighboring borough. Here I was able to delight in all of my spice needs, Turkish delights (candies) and nuts! So yummy. We are still living off my spice purchases!

A Cruise to Another World (Istanbul)

Jason and I decided it was time to venture further than we had ever been before! To the Black Sea we cried and hopped the next boat to get us there! Something incredible happens along the way though! Something unexpected and wonderful. As you cruise up the Bosphorus heading to the Sea, you are actually splitting two continents! Europe and Asia. Istanbul is the only city to do so. And as cheesy as we thought it would be, well, it wasn't! Its a very cool feeling!

The Fortress of Asia! Ancient guardian of continent Asia and her civilizations!

And on the other side of the boat? Yup! Fortress Europe. Apparently Europe has all the money for restoration (or at least did at some point in the history) because Fortress Europe is in remarkably better shape!