Thank you to everyone!!!

July 19, 2007
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

After almost 11 months on the road, we have returned safe and sound to our family, friends and home in Toronto. It was a thrilling, albeit not always easy, time for both of us. We recommend it to any of you who are so inclined.

THANK YOU!!!

To all those who fed us, gave us accommodation, or treated us nicely during our travels in and outside of Canada, we thank you. To all those who treated our children nicely during our absence, picked up our mail, took care of the house, did our tax returns, wrote to us or generally thought of us during our absence, we thank you. And to all the travellers we met along the way, we thank you for making our travels a wonderful and unforgettable experience. And to those we leave off the list, we apologize. That’s the danger of “thank you” lists.

First part: A rough geographic/chronologic order of our travels
Second part: Torontonians

Yaron G. and Sue R. (Toronto, Canada)
Sylvia and Frank W. (Winnipeg)
Darren and Wai Ming E. (Winnipeg)
Rena and Yachin S. (Calgary)
Marg and Blair W. (Calgary)
Nadine and Hartley W. (Calgary)
Corinne and Phil Y. (Vancouver)
Katya and Aaron W. (Courtenay)
Sharon W. (Courtenay)
Clare and Chuck W. (Victoria)
Jan N. and Brian Y. (Victoria)
Jodi and John DeM. (Victoria)
Dahlia and Rafi B. (Victoria)
Leah and Uri L. (Victoria)
Lara T. and her housemates (Berkeley, USA)
Susan S. (Berkeley)
Syma E. (Los Angeles)
Naomi D. and children (Los Angeles)
Edith and Joshua E. and children (Los Angeles)
Bette and Gerry T. (Palm Springs)
Joy D. and Aviva E. (San Diego)
Joan and Murray G. (Los Angeles)
Maureen and T. Lister (Auckland, New Zealand)
Sue and Tom R. (Whangamata—pronounced “Fungamata”)
Sue and Ron J. (Wairoa—pronounced “WhyRoa”)
Ian and Jean G. (Masterton)
Emma R. (Auckland)
Robyn and Jim R. (Sydney, Australia)
Aliza and Gary J. (Sydney)
Nick W. (Melbourne)
Carol and Barry R. (Melbourne)
Peter, Marilyn and Linda B. (Adelaide)
Gregg and Denuda (Bali, Indonesia)
Ita and Laila (Solo, Central Java, Indonesia)
Chris B. (Singapore)
Virak and Leak C. (Phnom Penh, Cambodia)
Mr. Baly, Sam and Peter (Bangkok, Thailand)
Charmi and Tushar K. (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
Zayid and Shanoona Al B. (Muscat, Oman)
The Brothers (Wadi Rum, near Petra, Jordan)
Racheli and Elazar A-H. and family (Jerusalem, Israel)
Ofra and Bobbi E. and family (Jerusalem)
Nirit and Michael L. (Jerusalem)
Ruthi and Shmulik A. (Jerusalem)
Pnina A. (Jerusalem)
George and Dorin S. (Jerusalem)
Rena Shimoni (Jerusalem)
Dahlia and Rafi B. (Haifa)
Mona and Yacov G. and family (Na’an)
Orit G. (Tel Aviv)
Orna and Maurice S. (Monson)
Iris and Aviram S. (Rosh Ayin)
Yosefa S. and Eli (Yakum)
Hatace, Sema and Unal (Istanbul, Turkey)
Amy and Jeff W. (Canton, USA)
Kevin T. and Arden R. and Sue (Boston)

TORONTO

Jason D. for taking care of our loveable dog, Casey
Glenda M. for mail pick-up and sorting
Millie B. for mail receiving
Robbie and Daniella R. for income tax preparation
Benita and Gary F. for child-attention
Cindy and Mario F. for house repairs and plant care
Sue R. and Yaron G. for child-attention, pickup-services, and vehicle-lending
Gwen and Milt Y. for purveying their son Steve’s energy mints
Rhonda W. and Israel B. for putting us in contact with the Sue and Ron in Wairoa, N.Z.
Jupira M. and family (from Brazil) for living in and taking care of our house

All our friends who wrote and all the travellers we met around the world!!!

Please come visit and stay with us!! If you cannot, send your children or grandchildren.

Arieh and Val Waldman
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Ode to Mephistos

Val here.

How can we resist our cousin Ron White's urgings that we talk about our Mephisto sandals! These wonderful sandals that have seen - how many? - towns and cities, battered landscapes, and towering ruins?

Our Mephistos have plodded through ruins that are wonders of the world! Cambodia: Angkor Wat - tens of gorgeous temples that gleam at sunrise and glow with pink reflection at sunset. Israel: we climbed the 250 steps of Bet She'an - to view from above the ancient city complete with amphitheatre, Greek temples, dwellings, and a magnificent cardo lined with Greek columns.

Jordan: Petra's huge boulder rocks have impressive striations caused by former earthquakes as well as remarkable buildings of Lost Ark fame which are carved into the rose rockface.

Our sandals avoided the cow poop in the old and new markets of Delhi, and jumped over the elephant and camel poop to explore the Amber Fort of Jodpur, India. They winced as they got polished and glued by a shoemaker in a tiny lane of Delhi. They trudged up the 150 stairs of the Harbour Bridge in Sydney Australia to view the gorgeous city from one of its towers. The shoes shirked our wet feet after our long, muddy trek through the hills, waterfalls, and pools of Fiji. The shoes stomped through the tunnels of Cu Chi where the Viet Cong fighters lived, fought, and hid. We explored the ancient city of Jerusalem slipping on the stone streets that overlooked excavations revealing layers of biblical civilizations.

Our Mephistos waited in a little box outside as we entered the golden Shwe Dagon Temple of Yangon, Myanmar, to walk barefoot on the marble floors that are cool in the evenings and hot during the day. They imagined themselves galloping across the huge Herodian hippodrome in Caesaria, Israel, where chariot races and gladiator challenges took place so long ago. The Mephistos tried to breathe despite being scrunched in the dry bag as they listened to the kayak paddles dip into the waters of Halong Bay in Viet Nam and down the small rapids of the Mekong River near Luang Probang, Laos. They padded through the lush terraced rice fields of Bali on a beautiful early morning walk. The wonderful battered shoes even climbed the 340 steps to allow us to peer into the active volcano at Mount Bromo, Indonesia. (We had to wear socks for that!)

Our shoes groaned up the steep hills to see the Hmong and Khammu tribes living near Luang Prabang, Laos. The shoes felt a little ashamed as they visited the zoos of Jerusalem, Singapore, and New Zealand. And they felt parched as they walked the desert sands of Palm Springs, U.S.A. in search of a roadrunner. They tiptoed through the soft grasses of Ginosar beside Lake Kinneret (the Sea of Gallilee) in Israel so we could photograph a pied kingfisher and a Hoopoe. They wondered at the huge stone floor of the Hagia Sophia church/mosque of Istanbul. They paused as they smelled the spices of Istanbul's spice market. Finally, the shoes tripped as Arieh crossed the street (against the light) in front of a streetcar in Istanbul, Turkey.

We must also mention the Magnum dark ice cream bar droppings that fell on their surface and the various beers that slopped on our toes: Kingfisher beer in India, Goldstar in Israel, Tiger in Thailand, Beer Lao in Laos, Mandalay in Myanmar, Angkor in Cambodia. And, of course, the tiny dropletss we let fall from the exquisite red wines of Australia and New Zealand which changed the colour of the leather only briefly.

We left the best for last. Our Mephistos perched under an armchair as we enjoyed the exceptional hospitality of our old and newfound friends and relatives in Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Dubai, and Israel.

Istanbul--City on TWO continents

July 16, 2007
Boston, MA, USA

Arieh here. We are now in Boston having “survived” a 12-hour flight from Istanbul to Chicago, a 2-hour stopover and then a 2-hour flight to Boston. We had plenty of time between flights and the only mishap was Val’s backpack disappearing. This was the FIRST time that any of our luggage went missing and it was delivered the next morning to our friends’ house in Canton (Boston) MA.

Istanbul was great and we almost didn’t go there. The 9 weeks in Israel was a wonderful way to end the trip and very relaxing compared to the rest of our trip. We usually knew where we were sleeping well in advance (in fact, our friends in Jerusalem were fighting with each other about us staying with them), we/I could read and speak the language, and there was not much opportunity to get lost. Public transportation was great and pretty efficient, car-driving behaviour was predictable (albeit not “Canadian”) and the weather was perfect (except for a few days here and there). Despite all the above, we were tired of traveling and we finally decided to cut out Turkey and Greece and return to Toronto around the end of July (through Boston).

Istanbul, Turkey—city on two continents (Europe and Asia). It was the only way, due to our change of itinerary, we were getting to Europe. We stayed for 4 nights. One of the days we went “back” to Asia and the rest was spent in Europe. Istanbul is a very friendly city and not just because we are tourists and have money to spend. Entering into stores one is greeted as a long-lost relative. Would you like Turkish coffee, hot apple tea or something else to drink? Even if we decline or don’t buy anything, no hard feelings. This was in stark contrast to the “guilt” feeling one got in East Jerusalem when one said “no thanks” to the store owner. One of our very fortunate experiences was eating dinner the first night. One of the young female students at the next table started talking to us (left female) and before we knew it, she and her female friend were sitting at our table. We then went out together after dinner to listen to some music in an outdoor café and share stories. The next day I went to give each of them a Canada pin (which I had forgotten to do the night before) and Hatace then suggested she and her boyfriend take us to Asia (across the Bosphorous) to show us their city. We agreed and had a wonderful time with her and Unal, a young lad who is finishing off his law studies and will be in Stasbourg for 4 months in September. (Hatace is studying communications and has a summer job with CNN). They took us to their favourite lighthouse-island watching spot and then up to the top of the highest hill in Istanbul where we had lunch and conversation. The hill-top park was full of people sitting around small low tables enjoying a Turkish coffee and picnicking. Hatace and Unal then accompanied us on a little Bosphorous boat tour. Very beautiful city and setting.

The hotel was clean, quiet (see the next paragraph) and in a great location. The picture below shows the view from our window or the rooftop café (breakfast included). We were able to see the Sultanahmet or “Blue” Mosque, the Sultanahmet Square (the Hippodrome) and we were right around the corner from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts. A further 15-minute walk took us to the Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace museum. In a different direction (about a 10-minute walk) we would reach the Covered Bazaar. What more could a body want?

The Blue Mosque is a magnificent structure built between 1609 and 1616. It is very tall, has a tremendous amount of windows and natural light and has over 21,000 ceramic tiles. Of course, there is a huge courtyard and 6 minarets. The Blue Mosque is also the mosque closest to our hotel and this is proven to the guests 5 times a day when the amplified Call-to-Prayer is played. The first one is around 4:45 AM in the summer and the last one is around 10:00 PM. It can be quite beautiful if one is not sleeping. While this may seem an easy problem to fix (move to another hotel), it is not. The city is full of mosques, playing the Call to Prayer, and there is no escape. The Hagia Sophia is a church converted to a mosque converted to a museum. It was built as a church a few times (the first church was completed in 361 AD) and then converted to a mosque by the Turks in 1453. In 1934 Ataturk declared it to be a national monument and museum and so it is today. Well worth seeing.

And the Topkapi Palace is not one to be missed. Go early or go at lunchtime and miss the crowds. Again, a very large structure overlooking the Bosphorous—a palace fit for a king. It is a museum now showing exquisite jewellery (the Topkapi Dagger), jewel and gold-covered horse-drawn carriages, an armoury with all sorts of instruments of death from all ages, a huge bakery (not functioning) and beautiful sitting rooms and reflecting pools. Don’t forget the gardens. Oh, there is a special room called the "Circumcision Room". No need to describe what goes on there. What is of special interest are the ceramic tiles (picture) that are on the wall outside.

In all we spent 4 nights in Istanbul. The last afternoon Val went for a nap and I went for my last shave and haircut. This fellow was the best one throughout the 11 months of monthly shaves and haircuts. Very organized and didn’t miss anything. After this experience I then went to a Turkish Bath—one that has been ranked as one of the 1,000 things one must do before one dies. The Cagaloglu Hamam was opened in 1741 and is still very clean. Separate facilities for women. One can buy various packages; I opted for a package with a personal attendant. First one changes clothes in a little room with a little clean bed and a lock on the door. Into the steam room, wait around for about 10 minutes and then the attendant comes in. He gave me a 10-minute massage (not as gentle as those in Bali or Vietnam) and then scrapes me down—ouch. My back tingled for a few days. After the scraping he soaps and rinses me thoroughly. Then I can sit there for as long as I want. This place was not very busy when I was there at 4:30PM but between 2 and 4 they had a private function and it was quite full. Outside the steam room, one is then sat down, brought some tea, offered the opportunity to purchase further services such as shave and haircuts, food, more drinks or merchandise. The attendant didn’t speak a lot of English, but enough to ask me if I was satisfied with his service. He did earn his tip. And that was it. Very refreshing and now I can check this off my list of “Things to Do Before I Die”.