Trips and Pics

What a fantastic way to start your day at 3500 meters!

Over the last few weeks my head has been consumed with work or travel. The spare time I did have I preferred to sleep, eat or read. I did however get out and about as much as I could to take some photos or just enjoy where I was. While these moments were fleeting I did get an amazing dinner with a fantastic wine in Switzerland and purchased Turkish towels in Istanbul from a little old guy who I failed to bargain with outside of asking, "how much for 2?" and then followed up with, "how much for 4?". (My shopping partner remained silent during all this, so at least I tried!). While my bargaining skills are not the sharpest, I did feel just fine with my purchase and that's all that matters. I also feel fine about my 12 pounds of chocolate purchased in Switzerland. While not all for me, I must admit a large amount will not find a new home.

Here are a few of my favorite memories through pictures of my recent travels.

At the top of the mountain in Saas Fee, Switzerland at 3500 meters there is a glacier that for 4 Swiss Francs (CHF) you can tour the place unsupervised. What they fail to tell you is that you go deep into the glacier, which is not a problem going in, however getting out at a high altitude can be a bit of a challenge, as I figured out for myself when I was ready to exit and faced nothing but up.

Me in the glacier. It's a pretty large space, but not really a great place for the claustrophobic.  I loved it and actually was down there all alone so I easily could come up with all sorts of scenarios about what I would have to do if the entrance closed due to some sort of earth quake or similar. in case you are wondering, I of course would go deeper into the mountain which would lead to a tropical place, a la Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. 

I do not know this child or his parents, but he was such a little bad ass with his glasses and fearless attitude his way down the hill, I just had to capture his picture. It made me laugh watching him go down over and over.

Freshly roasted chestnuts on the streets of Istanbul. I never actually purchased any but thought about it several times. We always passed one when we had just eaten. Oh well, the smell alone is a great memory!

When we checked into our second hotel for our tourist time, we were given a voucher for each of us to have a fruit cocktail. We thought it could be a drink, but the chances were high that it could be a bunch of fruit on a plate as well. Unfortunately it turned out to be a drink that tasted like an otter pop with vodka. I don't recommend it, however the naked lady stirrers are fabulous.

While our goal on the day this was shot was to go to the spice market, we totally stumbled upon this by chance. We just started walking down a street where there were lots of people and we found ourselves in the middle of exotic spices, dried fruits, lamps and other uniquely Turkish items everywhere we looked. The spice market may be way smaller than the grand bazaar, but I think it's a much more interesting place.