2024 Feb Trip: Day 11 - The Great Table

I've now been to Cape Town seven times. After today, I've been to the top of Table Mountain four times. It has some of the greatest views in the world - both of Cape Town the city below it, and the long expanse of rocks and peaks and beaches that extend southward to Cape Point behind it. It has some great hiking trails on top of it. It's one of the great tourist sites of the world. That's not hyperbole either. Somehow though after going to the top in 2018 and doing the hike across the flat top over to Maclear's Beacon, I got somewhat disallusioned to it. Maybe I felt myself to be "above" Table Mountain, too much of a faux local, and so did not go in either 2020 or 2022. 

That changed last year when I came to Cape Town with my parents, and seeing their endless mouth agape in glory reaction to Table Mountain - from the second the cable car took off, to every moment at the top, I relearned the magic of this incredible site. I declared then that I would never not do Table Mountain on a Cape Town visit again.

Anyway, after this lengthy preamble, needless to say Table Mountain was the centerpiece of my day on the Cape, but far from the only memorable moment. The day actually started with a waltz through Bo Kaap, seeing the various pastel colored houses. I stopped for a coffee there as well, but the real beauty is the colors, brought out well in a partly cloudy day that still very much had a great deal of sun. 

From there I head for lunch to the Neighborgoods Market, housed in the Old Biscuit Mill, which also is the home of Salon (dinner Friday Night) and The Pot Luck Club (lunch tomorrow - a last gasp attempt to dull any sensation of depression that will undoubtedly be approaching). The Market is only open on weekends and while there are some stores and wares, the real key element of the market is the giant food market section, fit with live music, beer and wine stalls, and a whole host of food options. I have no idea how I never came here on any trip prior to last year, but after coming for lunch last year it has become now a staple.

Some of the stalls seemed familiar, but others definitely new. It is marketed more for locals, so many of the stalls unsurprisingly feature non-African food, with multiple Mexican stalls, multiple BBQ, a Korean, a Japanese. All of thsoe looked good, but I wanted something more special to this part of the world, and ideally two half meals (or more realistically, two stops that would get me 1.5 lunch's worth of food). The first was a set of four pork spareribs in a Ghanian glaze sauce, which were excellent. The ribs were perfectly fall off the bone tender. The seoncd set I got was a braised beef stew with chapati from a Tanzanian stall, that again was cooked really well. More than the food though, what i love more is the vibes of the place. Just a ton of people enjoying good food, some music, some drinks and having a great time. I'm sure many cities have something like this - but how many have the shining mastiff of Table Mountain overlooking it?

Speaking of, from there I went to the aforementioned mountain. I was a bit worried what the clouds would be like when I got to the top. All day there have been clouds over Table Mountain - luckily in this case over and not enveloping it / spilling over its face, which happens super often. For me today it made the top quite cold but the pictures from all sides were left unaffected. I did a mini hike - wanting to go about halfway to Maclear's Beacon, as from my memory from 2018 the second half of hte hike is quite tiresome and the views aren't that great (or at least no better than what you have at the start). It's a fairly good route, starting out moving southward getting views of the Twelve Apostles, further extended peaks behind it, various slivers of things like Hout Bay and Simons Town, and then swing back aroun to the front side that has the city view.

In the middle of the mini hike you have to cross the very top bit of Platterklip Gorge, which is a small slice between two parts of the mountain that does have a trail that extends basically from ground level up to Table Mountain. From what I understand it takes about 2.5 hrs, doesn't require equipment or anything, but far more arduous than I have any uinterest in. I'll gladly just take a quick photo of the gorge, and go on my way. 

It is hard to describe just how great the views from the top of Table Mountain are, similarly it is hard to describe how good the views of Table Mountain are from the Waterfront, where I did a third walk around the waterfront shooting photos of Table Mountain from various angles. At least today with the mix of clouds the pictures will look a bit different than the cloudless ones from Thursday and Friday. The stroll through the Waterfront, including another walk through the Watershed, getting a beer from the TimeOut Market (still not a fan, but far more lively today than Thursday), and imbibing people finishing their weekend makes me already a bit emotional and nostalgic for these trips. 

You'd think I wouldn't feel this way given this is the seventh time here, and the fourth in five years, but if anything knowing how quiet Cape Town can be on Sunday Nights is what is getting me down. What I really should do is fly out on Sunday and come in a day earlier, but usually I'm flying United back from Cape Town to Newark, which runs every other day and is on Monday Night, not Sunday.

Anyway, let's get out of depressionville and back to real stuff, and in this case new stuff with dinner at La Colombe - a beautiful restaurant high up a hill-side winery in Constantia. The setting is beautiful, though admittedly too dark to really see much. The setting was pristine, as you would expect from a white table cloth, white plate brilliant restaurant. Each dish was made with such care and invention, from the bread course where the spread was made to look like various fruits or vegetables, in my case a red pepper andouille sausage spread made to look like a tomato. Or the incredible qual two ways, teh second of which was qual breast stuffed with crayfish with a bit of sweet seafood bisque as a sauach. To of course the final main dish of lamb. 

La Colombe is run by the people who also run Pier, Foxcroft and other top class restaurants around the Cape. Pier is more seafood focused, while this was more refined I would say - but both quite amazing overall. I don't know if this meal was better than Salon, but about as good and a more than great way to have a last dinner on this trip.

Cape Town is super quiet on a Sunday apart from quite seedy Long Street places. I've long complained about this. In 2020, I was able to find respite with one last great night at The Dubliner (RIP). In 2022, it was a place called YOBO Wine Bar, which was near The House of Machines (closed on Sunday), and YOBO has since closed. Last year, it was with my parents and we went to Cause Effect, which is open on Sundays but super random with its closing time. This time I reached the Waterfront aiming to go there but arrived at 11:25 as they were doing last call (the stated closing time is 1am).

So I had to go next door to Mitchell's, the one bar (restaurant) that was staying open till 1:30. Now, Mitchell's was a place I went to a lot back in the day, especially before Cause Effect opened (for my 2018 trip), It had a great people watching spot in the edge of the Waterfront, with views of Table Mountain. They used to have their own beer, one of which was called Milk & Honey and I loved it. By my 2020 trip they had taken most of their own beers off the menu and became more of a standard pub, which was super sad. Well, not only was it a welcome respite, but the IPA I ordered tasted just like what I remember Milk & Honey to be.

The crowd was decent, and I had a long chat with a couple from Ottawa who had flown in that afternoon. They were starting a 3-week trip to South Africa. I put aside the jealousy of their trip being just starting and mine effectively ending to give them some advice on palces to visit, eat at, drink at, and them having come to Cape Town once before in 2018, we could trade stories. It may not have been my planned Sunday Night, but ended up being quietly a great one and a great way to end night in Cape Town.

2024 Feb Trip: Day 10 - Chasing Clouds

Today was the wild card day, all week long the forecast for the day called for clouds with a period of 3-4 hours of rain. When I started the trip, the rain was supposed to be from say 7-10pm. By yesterday, it seemed to be 2-5pm. As I start writing this sitting at Cause Effect at 5:15pm - the rain finally did come with the skies opening up at 4pm. Looks like Cape Town is almost off the grid as every weather site I could find would say things like "it is currently cloudy" when I can visibly see the rain. Anyway, it seems like it may end up being 4-8pm, which isn't too bad (assuming it does end by 8-9 or so). Because of this wild card, I had planned a noon hike of the Contour Path ending in Kirstenbosch, and then indoor activities in teh Waterfront - from a trip to the Two Oceans Aquarium (haven't gone since 2020) and a more thorough than normal traipse through the Watershed.

Everything went off without a hitch. The cloudiness enveloped Table Mountain from teh start of the day, and I was worried when there was a light drizzle on teh drive out to Constantia Nek (where the hike starts), but by the time we reached the sun was poking out between clouds, and it actually ended up being fairly lovely weather for the hike - a cool breeze and enough cloud cover to avoid the sun-drenched pain at times yesterday with the Pipe Track. 

Prior to this I had a quick "toastie" grilled cheese with mince and caremalized onions at Bootleggers, got a couple meat pies from Woolworths, and then went on my way. The Contour Path hike is so different in terrain to the Pipe Track it is crazy that this is the base of what is effectively the same mountain (table mountain) but on a completely opposite side. The views start with the towering Table Mountain backside on the left - today with clouds covering the top - and a changing series of beautiful lush green views on the right. It starts with well manicured wine and farm rows on hills. Then it becames the East part of the city, super green with houses poking in and out. And finally becomes an aeriel view of Kirstenbosch Gardens, both a closed to public preservation and research area, and then the park itself.

The lasting upside of the hike is it ends in Kirstenbosch, basically giving you free entry to the Botanical Gardens as a present for the 90 minute hike preceding it. Granted, you enter at kind of a random part of the gardens, super far away from the entry, so it does make it suboptimal if you were using it to see the park proper, but brings you to the section of rows of open space and protea and roobois flowers - teh msot South African of flora. 

From Kistenbosch, I flipped over to the Waterfront, with teh skies darkening by the second - taking respite indoors at the Two Oceans Aquarium. On a busy Saturday, there was about a 15 minute line to get in, seemingly a bunch of locals and kids and couples, all enjoying the fish. I hadn't gone to Two Oceans since probably my 2020 trip, and while probably not much has changed, it seemed fresh. It's a tight 45 minute walk through various exhibits, the centerpieces being two large tanks, one with a classic glass tunnel to walk through with rays and tuna and a bunch of other fish, and the other one being two levels with tuns of fish and sharks. There's also a really nice penguin area with classic South African penguins and Macaroni Penguins. 

The other exhibits were great as well, the one that seemed new or at least I didn't really remember from 2020, was a dark hall with various columns with types of jellyfish. It was really cool to see them floating around and lit up across all the darkness. Overall the aquarium is a really nice experience, especially when the skies fully open up outside and you could walk around the fish inside.

I took a quick jaunt through the Watershed on the way to Cause Effect, getting a bit wet as I stupidly left my jacket with a hood in the AirBNB, for some reason thinking I had escaped any rain. Luckily the rain did subside in time for me to walk back to the AirBNB fairly unscathed and get a quick rest up before Belly of the Beast, which has been a tradition now for all trips since 2018. 

Belly of the Beast is on the "other side of town" in a sense - an area that is getting gentrified but isn't really a normal tourist stop. The gentrification is working, in that there are more bars and restaurants popping up in teh streets around Belly of the Beast than there used to be. Anyway, for Belly of the Beast, as always it served its seven course tasting menu featuring new takes on their classic formula: oyster and mussels to start, bread with two insane "dips" (in this case their version of babaganoush, and antelope tataki), tuna sashima, chili & beer fried hake, a great lamb main, a cheese course and then a dessert. What I love about the place is that their dishes are just so composed and, frankly, tasty. It isn't the craziest preparation, and in their open kitchen you can see the team plating all of it. It is just a super dependable spot, that has also kept its price of around $50 constant over the past four years.

Belly of the Beast only has one sitting at 6:45, and even though the meal takes about two hours, it gave me ample time to hit up a trio of night spots - first Cause Effect, then House of Machines and Modular. The last two were great as always, though I will say that Modular was surprisingly less crowded tonight compared to yesterday. Cause Effect was pretty full but luckily had one stool at the bar. Various people came in and out, a lot knowing the scene well. I got some of their classics, a gin-based cocktail served in a terrarium, a cocktail served in a plastic replica of Table Mountain. Most of their drinks change year over year, but those few classics remain. Similar to my views on Cape Town in general - some classics change, some spots come and go (RIP The Dubliner, as mentioned yesterday) but net net ir remains as good a spot as any conceivable.

2024 Feb Trip: Day 9 - The Sun

It was another cloudless, startingly blue skied day in Cape Town. I think from my memory a good 70% of my days spent in Cape Town have been like this, with another 25% being generally sunny with some clouds that stroll and roll across the top of Table Mountain. This won't always be the case. Tomorrow it is supposed to be cloudy most of the day with some showers in teh afternoon, which is hard to believe given how cloudless today is. Just a one afternoon hiccup, as the rain should be gone by 5pm tomorrow, with the clouds lightening ahead of similarly sunny days on Sunday and Monday. 

Anyway, I got up a bit lazily (no surprise when one goes to bed at 3:30, by far the latest so far on the trip), with not too much planned other than my "first whole day in Cape Town" standard of hiking The Pipe Track trail that traipses along the side of Table Mountain base towards the 12 Apostles. Why is this a standard? We'll get to that.

First, I had a quick coffee at Bootlegger's a Cape Town chain that has a location at the foot of the road my AirBNB is on. Then off to an early lunch at Between Us, which is a great lunch spot (they serve dinner as well) half the way from the Waterfront area to the turn-off towards Table Mountain - where the Pipe Track Trail starts. Between Us hasn't altered its menu much over the years, but arguably has no reason to - the dishes are all quite good. I got a ricotta and marjoram gnudi as a starter, which was tasty but not at all what I expected visually - being more just quinelles of ricotta cheese and diced marjoram, with full leaves of marjoram to add a final kick. For the main I got the oxtail ragu parpardelle, wihch I've had before but wanted primarily due carb up before the hike.

The hike starts literally at the meeting point on Google Maps of the large green expanse marking Table Mountain, and the smaller green expanse marking Lion's Head (the second most famous peak in the area). One day I may hike Lion's Head also, but today was not that day. The Pipe Track follows the side of mountain, with incredible views of Table Mountain (though from the side, so not the famous flat-top view), Lion's Head, the glistening Atlantic Ocean, Camps Bay town adn beach, and the series of peaks that are visible for a few miles before slightly turning inward and down, ultimately ending at Cape Point.

It's not the most arduous hike, and if anything the main issue is the lack of shade. There are the picturesque shaped-by-wind trees at spots, but generally you are exposed to the sun. That same brilliance of a fully blue sky doesn't help so much now. What the path does have is just endless moments where you have a feeling of (1) it's just insane being here, this far away from home, staring at the beautiful Atlantic and (2) it's just too beautiful. Truly, it's an amazing visual experience, and ends at the rows of amazing houses built into the lower cliff-face above Camps Bay. Often I've looked at the prices of these houses - given exchange rate they're not outrageous, but also probably not worth it if I'm here just five days a year!

After was my first go at ambling around the waterfront (I guess second, since I did a bit of that yesterday). Again, no real object in mind, just strolling through the lifeblood of Cape Town, just as post work on a Friday mood setting in for the locals. Again, without a cloud in sight I couldn't stop myself from taking even more pictures. It might be the best view in the world from anywhere in a major city - except maybe beaten by the view from Signal Hill in Cape Town itself. After a couple more cocktails at Cause Effect, including one of their classics of a honey gin lime drink with frozen nitrogen and stuff, I was ready to go to my first tasting menu meal of the time in Cape Town.

For years, the most prominent restaurant in Cape Town was The Test Kitchen, run by Luke Dale Roberts. It was a notoriously difficult table to snag, and I never had luck in my 2018 and 2020 trips. By the pandemic, it shut down, with him keeping on running the sister tapas style restuarant of The Pot Luck Club (been 2018, 2020, 2023 and going again Monday for lunch). Well, I guess Mr. Roberts, through a combination of the world economy recovering, and the itch for brilliance, opened a new space called Salon - an 11-course tasting menu journey across all types of cuisines, but all places that Roberts worked or lived. Three of the dishes were South African, but the rest went as wide as Mexico, Lebanon, Philippines, Korea, France, Germany. Usually I wouldn't trust a place to try to give you such disparate cuisine. But I should've realized that there's no reason to ever doubt Mr. Roberts.

The meal was incredible - I think the best I've ever had in Cape Town (though Pier is close). The dishes were all so well crafted - delicate, super flavorful, inventive, and true to each cuisine. My favorite was probably an immaculate take on duck l'orange as the first main, or what was called a "tuna ceasar" from Mexico which ended up as an undescribably concoction of differet types of Mexican cooking featuring tuna tartare. They also had an affordable drink pairing that was primarily wine but also featured a tequila cocktail for the Mexican dish, and a sake for teh main of kalbi short rib and maitaki mushroom rice. My other meals will be I guess more South African, but hard to expect any to be better.

For my post-dinner time, I essentially just replayed the same routine from the day before at The House of Machines and then Modular. I was initially hoping to go back to Cause Effect, but didn't have realistically enough time after the meal at Salon took 2.5 hrs - will save Cause Effect for tomorrow post-dinner. Both House of Machines and Modular were busier than the day before - including at least ten people I ran into at Modular that were at House of Machines before it. Maybe on my next trip I'll get more inventive with bar options aside of House of Machines - or as early as Sunday as Cape Town is notoriously (to me at least) quiet on Sundays. But House of Machines has the advantage of being walking distance from Modular. I'm sure there are a bevy of other places, like the series of them higher up on Kloof Street, that are as good as House of Machines, but why tkae risks away from something that works.

Modular was the usual level of crowded for a Friday, which is great. I'm always a bit of fearful of what Saturday may bring - generally at least a line to enter, though its more to process the cover as there's rarely been any sort of crowd control. It was a fun night had by all - another set of good DJs, quick pace bartenders and the rest. Walking by Halo - the Reset replacement - as it is on the way from the House of Machines to Modular and I'[m thankful Modular has kept its true belief of being a top notch spot for techno and EDM. Cape Town needs it.

2024 Feb Trip: Day 8 - Hello Old Friend

In my aisle row of the middle set of three in the plane, I couldn't see the gorgeous rolling moutains turn into karoo plains on teh descent into Cape Town. I did see enough craning my neck to see that there wasn't a cloud in teh sky. It would be this way for the next two to three days, turning a bit cloudy Saturday night into Sunday afternoon, before clearing back up. No rain. Cape Town weather almost never disappoints. The city never really does either, and I needed that after an interesting, but not alltogether bad, experience with Turkish.

For a quick run through, I had paid to get what are essentially Premium Economy seats for the 11-hour journey, about $175. I got a text soon after I checked in that due to an aircraft change my seat had radically chagned - still to an aisle seat but now towards the back of the plane. Panicking, I had no less than four different Turkish Airlines agents check the system, reassuring me every time that I am still in my assigned seat of 09D. Of course, what they neglected to tell me is that there was an aircraft change, and on this version of Turkish Airlines's A350-900, 09D is the first row aisle seat in economy (not in Premium Economy).

Some may see this still as a win, and the extra legroom was appreciated to help me sleep, but what wasn't great is the seat was no wider or better than normal economy. Also because it was first row I was reprimanded into keeping the video screen down for take-off and landing. Then for whatever reason my video screen had a weird "sleep mode" type setting on where it would go off every 20 min or so. Again, no idea why. The food, service adn flight as a whole was fine, and had I not paid to get into a premium economy seat, I wouldn't have cared about any of this, but it was a bit of a misdirection.

Not a misdirection is Cape Town man. 30 minutes after landing I was awaiting my Uber - immigration and baggage claim was a breeze. Because of this, I almost reached too early to my AirBNB - about two buildings further up the same road that I stayed with my parents last year. This whole start of the trip is giving me a hint of nostalgia for that one. Even if most of my activites on Day-1 (especially post dinner) would be things I would have done solo last year, it's a change being here alone again.

My first stop was to Woolworth's grocery to pick up some puffs to have throughout the weekend - probably needing to go back again since their volume was a bit limited today. Then was a trip to my favorite craft beer spot in tity, Ukharba Brewworks, which is on the far end of the Waterfront area. It was a nice first stop, though I will say this particular part of the Waterfront - a large building called Maker's Landing, which is a portion if the cruise terminal, really hasn't further developed in the last two years.

On the other hand, the Waterfront continues to change, for both better and worse. The better is that it is just a whole lot cleaner - if anything the city as a whole seemed that way, a nice sign of continuous improvement over the 11 years of me coming here. The worse is, and not surprisingly, things get increasingly corporatized. The biggest version of this is the now opened Time Out Market, in what used to be the V&A Food Hall. The general sense is the same - a bunch of stalls selling various types of food, with a couple bars - but now it has the overly tidy set-up of the Time Out Market. This isn't a terrible thing - the Time Out Market in Lisbon is excellent, but it does seem a bit too sterile.

Before this though I had done one new activity - in going to the MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art), with is housed in a beautiful old silo tower near the Waterfront. It's a building I've walked by countless times without ever stepping foot inside. The building is six floors, though the top is just a terrace with some amazing views. Every other floor has 1-2 exhibits. Frankly, some of them while pretty and captivsting were a little too "modern" for me, a couple being more video art than actual paintings. The ones that were more traditional modern art (oxymoron very much intended) were more my scene, and all in all it was a worthy pit stop and one of the few out and out new things I will be doing on this trip to the Cape.

The constant in the Waterfront though is the views. Those endless different angles of Table Mountain, with Lion's Head and Signal Hill aside it. On a cloudless day like this, with an almost hilariously clear blue background, there may not be a more stunning view in the entire world. In my one walk traipsing aroudn the Waterfront to Cause Effect (of course), I took probably 40 photos of Table Mountain, with teh city in teh foreground. They're at different angles in theory, but showing the same thing, but I tell you adn trust me, there are not ever too many angles of this incredible sight. The rest of the Waterfront remained fairly unchanged, with the Watershed as interesting to walk around as ever.

Cause Effect hadn't changed too much other than having a new style of menu, which I think they've done basically every time I've come here. This time it is under a label of "Bar Terroir" - a menu easy enough to steal back home, which I don't think I had done for one of their menus previously. I tried a couple new cocktails, the more interesting of the two was gin based with fermented shitake mushroom and sisho paste, both liquefied for something funky and great.

Dinner was at Miller's Thumb, the place that has somehow kept its reputation for years, if not actually now decades. Same Mom (front of house) and Pop (chef) run joint, with its humorously garish orange and green painted walls that stick out like a sore thumb. Same menu concept. Why change if it works so well year after year. For a starter, I got calamari "moroccan" style, which was really nice - for calamari they usually serve just the tubes which is an interesting twist. For the main, I got geelbek "Cape Malay" style, which was excellent. Again, this place knows its game. Your presented with a giant butterflied filet of the fish, covered in cape malay chili sauce, with a side of flash grilled veggies. No fuss, no bells and whistles, just great taste.

My post dinner adventures first started with a walk down Kloof Street which turns into Long Street. As I've written about a few times, my days of running up and down Long Street have definitely passed me - partly age but also partly it leans way more into hip hop. Kloof Street has built up a lot, more with social bars and cocktail spots, none all that well reputed but all packed. My goal was House of Machines which is off of Long Street a few blocks after the crazy part. House of Machines had a DJ spinning interest stuff, and a great collection of all types of people - from bikers to tourists, to a bachelorette party that stopped by for a bit. Just a great way to time waste and have a couple barrel aged cocktails (their specialty). This was to get me to midnight, which was my planned time to head over to Modular.

In the end I probably should've given myself a bit more time at House of Machines, as Modular was shockingly nigh empty at 12:15. Thursday is a quieter night than Friday and Saturday (which is a madhouse, usually), but still usually busier than this. I perservered though, and by the time I left aroudn 2:45, it was busier than I'd seen it on previous Thursday's - just a great time all around. Cheap drinks that are poured fast and well, good DJs, great air conditioning and ventiliation, a great crowd as always. They put stickers on the cameras on the phones to enforce a no picture policy and while I'm sure there are times I would love to take a video, I think that policy jus sets a great energy and mindset for the place.

Before I wrap, I do want to hit on two related point on Cape Town nightlife. First to continue the theme of the ruination of Long Street, one of my old haunts used to be Dubliners, an Irish Pub that usually had live music in the nights. I memorably had one of my favorite nights in Cape Town ever there on teh last night of my 2020 trip, being one of the few places that stayed open late on a Sunday. By 2022 and 2023, it was still open but turned hip hop heavy. Now, it has turned over into "TAO Cape Town" - unclear if connected to the TAO group, but I would think not since a peek inside made it seem the same interior decor.

The second one was even more annoying. During that same 2020 trip, there used to be another techno/EDM option in that area named Reset. It was a two-level space with heavier stuff downstairs and lighter upstairs. It was a great spot, from my memory preferable to Modular today. The space that it was in laid empty in my trips in 2022 and 2023 (it closed during Covid). Now, it's been reopened as a place called HALO - which in theory is advertised as a similar spot, but from a peek inside seem more like a velvet rope club, or at least a space pretending to be one. Not a fan at all. Glad for me Modular still exists and even if it took an hour to calm my initial fears, it remained a great spot to close down a night.

2024 Feb Trip: Day 7 - The Palaces

There's a nice symmetry to what I did on my first full day in Istanbul (Saturday) and what I'm doing on my last (Wednesday). The first day I saw two of the key sites to visit in Istanbul - it's most famous mosques in the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. Today, I'm ending it with seeing two of the other key sites to visit in Istanbul - it's palaces, in the Dolmabahce Palace and the Topkapi Palace. You could credibly say these are the four main tourist attractions in Istanbul, and I segmented them fairly well. Now, granted I had planned to do the Topkapi Palace on Sunday, but weather got in the way. Helps that today was a gorgeous, clear day in Istanbul.

I awoke not wanting to leave the lovely Renaissance Bosphorus (which ironically isn't that close to the Bosphorus - though with great views of it), but I got myself out the door by 10am and at the Dolmabahce Palace by 10:15. Being a Wednesday, the lines weren't too long, but there were a half dozen school groups about which was fun to see but did at times get in the way. The Dolmabahce Palace is perfectly situated on the banks of the Bosphorus, a large complex housing one giant palace building split into three sections in the middle - the Semalik, where the functions of the state were held, the Harem, the personal living quarters of the Sultan, his wife, his mother and various concubines, and a back area converted into an art museum. It was a lot, in that it was great.

There is only one big downside in that they don't allow photographs inside the buildings. There area  bevy of security people, who smartly stick most to the msot gorgeous rooms, and there are a lot of those. While super annoying, it probably did save me about 200 further pictures. I managed to sneak in a few, in unsurprisngly some of the lesser rooms, and the views from outside with the ornate carving, the well kept gardens and the Bosphorus to the side, were still quite good to capture.

The Selamik and the Harem both had probably four to five just stunningly beautiful halls - well painted, great furniture, absurd roofs and chandaliers. The only thing close I've been to was Versaille, and it wouldn't shock me if this is just better. The Dolmabahce became the seat of the Ottaman Empire for it's last 60 or so years, and as I would learn from the Topkapi Palace, the Sultan glowed up in a big way. Truly it may have saved the best for last, as in the deep recesses of the Harem sat the Sultan's Great Hall, with a blue toned theme, giant painted porcelain vases, myriad chandaliers, and museum-like paintings on walls and ceilings. It had about five guards just itching to tell people to not take photos.

The Painting Museum at the back serves essentially as an art museum, with about 20 rooms showcasing Ottoman era art - from a hall room converted into portraits of all of the Sultan's, to rooms showcasing art of the court painters, to ones of battles. It was quite good and maybe the single best lit art museum I've ever been to - each room fairly dark except for perfectly aimed lighting shining perfectly on each painting. Truly it was stunning. The whole Dohlmabahce experience was something else. The Sultan of the empire must've gotten jealous of hearing how every other European monarchy had far better digs than him - in this case a great example of Better Late than Never.

For lunch, I made a quick stop to Ayasofya Kebab House - another parallel to my day last Saturday. Truly their Adana Kebab is the best I've had in my life. So juicy without going to the point of soaking bread or leaking. So perfectly spiced. A great sides of herbs, greens, red cabbage and onion all with a great sprinkling of turkish chili flakes. I'm sure anyone I recommend the place to would be surprised that I'm picking something that is in a true tourist trap location - just a five min walk from the Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace, but the place deserves its 4.8 rating on Google.

The Topkapi Palace - where the Sultan lived from basically the founding of Istanbul in the 1400s through to the completion of the Dolmabahce, if anything serves more as museum than a palace. The wonder here is the openness of the grounds, the great tilework and calligraphy in teh rooms, halls, mosques and towers (a stark contrast to the more secular grandeur that was the Dolmabahce), and then the exhibits that doubled as a history museum for life of the Ottomans. 

There were some jewels strewn in - one case being literal jewels with a nice collection of the finest jewerly, gold-work, chalices, swords and the like of the Ottamans. They may have waited a while to live in resplendent glory, but they dressed like it far earlier. The place is laid out in an easy to follow format, with three courtyards with areas on the sides that were either living quarters, special exhibits, or mosques. The Harem being a separate ticket off to one side. The last courtyard featured some excellent little "pavillions" (basically small rooms decked out in tile to honor various victorious campaigns), and views of the city.

The Harem was of course far less grand than the Dolmabahce's, but nonetheless quite nice with open courtyards, halls and again a bunch of very intricate tilework. I think I would have been better off seeing this first - end it with a bang with the Dolmabahce, but in a way it is nice to go backwards in time as the day pressed on. The Topkapi also had a really nice audio guide - didn't bash you over the head with information, but gave good support on key atreas. Such as the large collection of Ottaman finery (dress, swords, jewelry, etc.) they picked abuot 10 items to give 45-60 second soundbites on.

From there, I got an uber back to the hotel, quickly packed up my things (the 4pm late checkout matching well with teh 4pm closing time of both palaces), and found myself with a lot of time to spare given the flight to Cape Town is at 2am. I had a dinner at 8 that would be my final stop prior to the airport, so realistically had about 90 minutes to kill (given the driving times). I chose to go to the Craft Beer Lab once again - it being a less than 10 min drive from teh hotel and being a place that truly offered a wide selection of craft beers, even if none are on tap (seems like a common thing to be honest). I had both a nice dry IPA, and a stout, soaking in the last bit of Turkish drinking / socializing culture which I've come to enjoy quite a bit. 

Dinner at Alaf was a unexpected joy. First off, it got me to a new part of the city - Kurucesme, well up the Bosphorus but on the coast. Bright lights, cool bars, a lot of fancier clubs. Definitely seems like a pricier end of the city, but one that housed some great views and great places, Alaf being one of them. A more earthy restaurant looking to showcase old cooking styles from across the entire country. I went with a tasting menu option which on its face looked like a 5-course meal, until I realized what I thought were a bevy of ingredients in one dish often was 2-3 dishes separate.

The food was incredible - I truly think better than either Mikla or Neolokal (not to say either of those was not good or not worth it...). The place really was more inventive and playful say than the other two. I don't know if the tastes were as delicate or refined, but just as gastronomy forward. Couple of my favorite dishes was a kokorec (normally an offal wrapped in beef or lamb skin) turned into a mini burger, or a camel meat nata/pie, or a dessert served as a large chili but that really was chocolate and chili ganache coverd in a triple layered and frozen phyllo. Just incredible stuff. It was a great way to end my time in Istanbul and Turkey.

I'll cover the airport and my flight to Cape Town along with the whole entirety of the rest of that day in Cape Town separately.

2024 Feb Trip: Day 6 - Bye, Bye Beauty

As I write this from the Turkish Airlines Lounge at Izmir Airport (quick sidebar: better quality than the one in Istanbul's domestic terminal, and still having the weird coach bus to the airport setup...), I once again gave way too much time for transit to the airport and thereafter security and what-not. Izmir is the 3rd biggest city in Turkey, and the airport is quite large, but from what I can tell there are eight Turkish Airlines flights left in the day, seven to Istanbul and the first is two hours later than mine. Needless to say, I wasn't fighting foot traffic.

Anyway, because of this I had a pretty limited window to do things in Izmir before needing to head to the airport. The AirBNB owner allowed me to stash the bags in the AirBNB while he was having it cleaned, but also needed me to pick them up by 2pm - effectively the time I was going to do so anyway. This was helpful since the only left luggage place I could find on AirBNB that seemed credible was smack dab in the middle of the consumer center (the main area I've eaten in and went out at night), and the two sites I wanted to see were both walking distance from teh AirBNB.

The first was their version of the Blue Mosque, which is way smaller than the Istanbul one, but if anything more blue, having about three different shade of blue tiles on the outside walls, dome and ceiling. The only negative being the inside was closed, but from outside it was pretty and situated at the top of the cliff right before by road a series of twists down to the sea level. From this high perch, the view of the city around it was quite picturesque. 

Similarly so at the next site, which is the Izmir Elevator (Asansor) which takes you roughly from the level of the mosque, if not a bit lower, to about 200 feet higher (I entered from the bottom). It is crazy how hilly this part of Izmir is and any time you go up, there's always seemingly another daunting series of steps that could take you higher if need be.

The bottom of the Asansor was interesting in its own right, a weird little bohemian village of 2x3 blocks that randomly popped up aroudn the elevator - truly out of nowhere given teh blocks surrounding it were all relatively residential. The places were all empty (it was about 11am) but looked intriguing were I had more days in Izmir. From the top you can once again see the true size of Izmir, extending seemingly endlessly on both directions. What's a bit sad is from most of these common vantage points, be it up top here 

The last stop in Izmir was lunch, but on the walk to Tavaci Recep Usta (the lamb spot I went to my first night), I went past a small pottery shop with the owner/potter in there workjing the wheel in the back. In the end I bought to small espresso cups, $9 each - far more reasonably priced than I was expecting. A small last gift from this wonderful place. Lunch itself was great too - knowing it would be a while before my 9pm dinner, I ordered their version of Adana Kebab (excellent, just the right amount of spice) and their braised lamb over a bed of rice dish that they served with this lovely hard to place sweet salsa that worked perfectly well. Tavaci is undoubtedly a popular place but has earned its reputation.

So did my dinner at Mikla - one of Istanbul's other michelin starred spots (if you're wondering why the jump straight from lunch to dinner, realize that again I ended up at the airport too soon, then from landing to taxiing Istanbul's giant airfield, to a traffic filled drive to the hotel, not much went on between these times). They have a 7-course listed tasting menu, with snacks and petit fours thrown in. It is on the top floor of an office building, with a great view of the part of Istanbul featuring the Blue Mosque lit up well.

The menu much like Neolokal's was heavy on Turkish ingredients made in incredible ways. What I really loved about this place, as a nice comparison to Neolokal, was it was fairly easy sounding dishes just made to perfection. I should say, I'm not saying this is better than Neolokal's more haute cuisine. But like say Mume in Taipei, or even Pujol in Mexico, these are dishes that when I receive them I coudl conceivably make a version of - it just won't be as precise, as flavorful and as complex in ingredients or taste. My favorites were their monkfish over a bed of lentis and other seafood in a sauce, the main of the braised lamb with basil cream and their desert, humorously titled "Birdshit" that had pomegranete and pistachio gelato with a single phylo layer of baklava fried perfectly. A really nice meal, worth the price I would argue.

After dinner was two cocktail stops, first a last go aroudn at Flekk, where the bartenders knew me by this point. It was surprisingly full for a Tuesday night, but there was a barstool at the bar, which anyway I prefer to a table given I can interact with and watch the masters at work. The other was Geyik, which is what was too busy on Saturday night - and only say 50% less busy now. Again just a solitary barstool available, though the crowd thinned out a good amount by 12:30 (1:30 being last call). Geyik is probably a little more buttoned up - more intricate drinks, more variety. Flekk I think going for more fun and vibrancy - again two nice complimentary spots both situated at either ends of Taksim's lovely late night scene.

Before I wrap, I want to talk a little about Izmir. One thing I will say: in the city limits itself there is not all that much to see. The sights are limited, unless we count Ephesus, or Pamukkale - both about an hour away. Now, both fall within my radius for counting them in my city rankings, but where Izmir nevertheless shines is the vibes of the city itself. If anything, it is more polished, more welcoming than Istanbul (though less choice, I geuss). The restaurants in the main area are great. There were various other neighborhoods of more family style or doner restaurants as well (including a great Lahmacun spot - O Lahmacun - that I went to yesterday). The nightlife is fairly contained in one part of town but has everything you would want. A great place to just spend time in. Till next time, Izmir.

2024 Feb Trip: Day 5 - Ephesus

Today was Ephesus - a great memory from our tour in 2007 that has wisped away with the winds of time in the seventeen years since (it still astounds me I consider Turkey a trip I took basically as an adult - maybe the first one - and it was 17 years ago). The day started with needing some audibles, as I found out the day prior that my Viator booking was cancelled as the tour operator didn't have enough people. I got a lesson in economies of scale as that tour which was $90 included transit to and fro, plut the guided tour of the site and the entry fee - stuff that I would've spent double booking independently (in the end skipped the guide for the audio guide which sufficed). My first google was "can you visit Ephesus for a self-guided tour?", as that came back a resounding yes I swerved to that approach.

The plan initially was to Uber there and then go bus back (requiring a quick taxi to Selcuk - the nearest actual city). Instead, just as we left Izmir proper the taxi driver proactively looked to make a deal - for basically what amounted to the price of my tour, he would drive me there and back and wait. This actually was less than 2x the fare (taxi is far from the best option) but more of course than if he were to just drive back solo, so it was a decent compromise option.

Anyway, Ephesus - the old Greek turned Roman city that has been uncovered but left mostly to the imagination apart from some amazing sculptures. I remembered really liking it in 2007 without a great memory of what it was. Certainly, the fairly staid entrance area and parking lot, with far less shops and stalls than I would've expected (more than made up for at the exit...), and the middling ruins right past the exit, got me a bit worried. Luckily, the place is more than that initial area.

One interesting aspect of Ephesus is the myriad signage in the place expertly tells you what used to be there but then has renderings, both 3D and floorplans, of what that old structure is. In most cases on parts of that remain so it requires a bit of imagination - but I am glad they've resisted any urge to recreate them unfaithfully or quarry newer rock to make them more complete. It makes the areas that are complete all the more special.

Anyway, the first fun site is an amphiteater which I thought was cool until I saw the map and saw the outline of the far larger amphiteater to come. Anyway, this one was nice too, and then we arrived at the long colannade down to teh main area, with the Celsus Library tri-level facade gleaming in teh distance. That was the first image I truly remembered of the first trip - it was still about 300 meters away, but the excitement was then growing.

On the way was a weird box structure into the hill, marketed as the "Terrace Houses", and when you enter into that you go into another world. It's a large area of about 4-5 levels built into the hillside, that were all houses of the wealthy in the Ephesus days. Some areas were quite well restored with wall and floor mosaics and frescoes and paintings and the rest. This area was intentionally well preserved to show what the life of the people really was like, given that most of the key sites elsewhere are business and cultural buildings.

The Celsus Library itself aws incredible, three story facade with statues and intricate marble work everywhere. No idea why they put so much effort into a library, to be honest, but it resulted in one of the more memorable and picture happy spots. Next to it was a large open area with half-ruined columns along the borders of a square which was The Agora. Here is where you wish they maybe took a bit more liberties reconstructing stuff, but it still worked 

Down another colannade was the Odeon Theater, the real amphiteatre, which is just spectacular. It's imposing enough from the groudn level, but when you go in and start walking up the rows of semicircles and get a sense of what a tremendous sight it must've been 2500 years ago. I would put the capacity at say 8,000 or so. You could climb a long way up and they still cordoned off the top tranche of rows. It is crazy that this exists and I'm sure was sold out often.

Next to the Odeon theater are more ruins of this and that, and a newly built musuem that basically offered the same AV-tied experience I got in Istanbul for the Hagia Sofia, but this time recreating life in Ephesus during Greek and then Roman rule. It was quite cool and really well done, my only complaing being it was way too short for the price (20 minutes, $20). It did do a nice realistic version of what the main drag must've actually been like during the heyday of Ephesus, and similarly the Amphitheater and the Terrace Houses, but I would've loved a bit more on the Library and a few other sites. Still, it's a really cool concept that Turkey has really leaned into.

From there we exited the main Ephesus area and my taxi driver took my up a ton of twists and turns up to the House of Mary, the purported last home of Mother Mary before the assumed into heaven. There's admittedly not a whole deal of confirming details around this, but Catholicism has more or less agreed on this (cimapred to Orthodoxy, where there is a house in Jerusalem that purports the same). It's a small location, quaint in keeping with it being just the place Mary lived out the end of her life, but it was a nice pilgramage all the same.

From here we headed back to Izmir. I was hoping first to get lunch in that area but because this was the low season (granted, there were quite a lot of tourists) the restaurants near Ephesus were closed and the taxi driver was itching to get back to town. I had him drop me off on the main seaside drag in downtown Izmir (Alcanscak neighborhood), heading for Balikci Hasan, a fish restaurant. One of dozens that line this street, but from really quick research seemingly one of teh better reputed ones. 

The place was empty (it was 3pm) so I got the food out quick, a really nicely, calmly, grilled bream, skin-on, with salad and a really nice sauce you could put on the fish. This is helpful since I was surprised at the restraint of the grilling - not much spice, just the fish grilled to close to perfection. I was already planning to go to one of these spots later in the day, but Izmir is known for its seafood, so I didn't feel too bad going to the same type of spot twice.

Following this was a nice stroll on the shorefront road, which has been turned into a thin park with bike lane, jogging lane, a bunch of sculptures and great views of the giant Bay of Izmir, with another neighborhood (Bostanli) seen on the other wide (admittedly you can drive there on a ring road). Izmir is every bit as beautiful as I remembered it being. It is also a lot more cosmopolitan, as my first stop after the walk would attest to.

La Puerta may sound like some Spanish-themed bar, but go inside and its a large, perfect little gastropub, with a beer garden type setup in the back, brewing its own beer and selling more Turkush craft beer on draft. I tried two of their IPAs, neither was amazing but both plenty good enough. The scene, given it was post-work on a Monday, was also quite interesting to watch and observe - just young (20-40) Turks enjoying life.

Same with post dinner, where I mostly replayed my night the day before, but prior to that I went to Deniz Restaurant, arguably the most famous, popular fish spot no the drag (at least from my Google research). It was much like the lunch spot except bigger (it sits at a corner of a block), and way busier - granted I came at 8:45pm. Same type of main course where you go pick a fish, they weigh it and then prepare it for you. This time I went a bit bigger with a seabass that they grilled and served butterfly style, with a turkish chili oil on the side, and it was again just really fresh and well grilled. They don't overwhelm with fanciness, just a place that knows certainly well they can cook fresh fish great.

Replaying the rePUBlic Beer Bar and Studio House wasn't the most inspired choice, but given what they offer is what I wanted most it worked perfectly. Both were consdirably more full than the night before despite me getting there later. I had two half pour beers, one stout and one winter ale, at the craft beer spot - both were excellent. Sadly, I can't seem to find a craft beer store that sells beer bottles or cans to go in Izmir, but I've slapped it on my list for Istanbul. At Studio House, I went more conventional withc cokctails, taking their take on a negroni and old fashioned, both excellent. The place really is surprisingly upscale and exact for what is the mdidle of an alley in the party/late night drag.

The final stop on my last night in Izmir was at Adres Belli Irish Pub, on the same alley as RePUBlic - packed with people again just having a great time - some playing darts, four couples alternating at foosball, and drinks and food flowing at what was by then 12:30 on a Monady. I had a couple more craft half pours, did some people wataching, chatted to a couple interested locals and then went on my way, another fun night in Izmir down. I have to say, despite coming here for what arguably are teh two worst nights of the week to judge a city's late night scene by (Sunday, Monday), Izmir held its own easily. If anything, makes me more concerned about how rough it may be on a normal weekend.

2024 Feb Trip: Day 4 - Travel Day

So, one of the few things I hate most about any part of a trip is if there's a period of unknown. My biggest unknowns on this trip were the massiveness of the Istanbul airport. It's located 40-min away from teh city with no traffic. It seems huge, on its face - and it very much is. Granted, the flights chronicled in this past are domestic in nature, but I had no way of really predicting the (1) security on the way there, and (2) the wait at baggage claim on the way back. 

For this purpose the days got a bit squished. Not that I didn't do a lot and enjoy every bit of it, but as I sit here writing the first part of this after my first experience with domestic travel in Turkey, I definitely gave too much deference to it. 

Anyway, the day began with a misty morning, and with me doing reverse math back from a 6pm flight which had me needing to get the cab at 3pm. This was tough - especially since my planned site for the day was the Topkapi Palace which given potential wait times couild be rushed. Instead, I decided to defer that to Wednesday, couple it with the Dolmabahce Palace on teh same day. The mist forced me inside as well.

The main tourist activity of this day was the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, based in the shadow of the Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace. The museum is well laid out, and even despite having a couple of exhibits closed, was a very good time. The ground floor had a series of Sarcapohogi picked up from around Turkey and Syria (oddly), and then a long stretch of sculpture including room after room of busts from Ancient Greece adn Rome. The top floor also spoke to this part of Turkish history. The museum basically stops at the fall of the Roman Empire.

And why not, if anything Istanbul's long history as an important part of this world under its past names of Byzantium and Constantinople get often overlooked. This museum was a testament to that era, from the sarcaphogouses, to a room of all types of tiny coins that was quite cool to see, to a great exhibit around the 10 layers / iterations of Troy in the bedrock, fit with a (fake, I'm assuming) giant stone in teh middle with the layers visualized for everyone. 

The sculpture section was something else though. You can right up close to them in a way that is more intimate and fun than in the large museums of a London or a Paris where they're all on a pedastal. Sure, none are world famous, but many so intricate. There was a wall of busts of various emperors, including 4-5 of good old Augustus Caeser, teh one at the time of Christ. The museum as a whole was excellent.

As was my lunch ad Hocapaca Pidecisi, a whole in the wall family run Pide spot that is super well reputed in the travel blogosphere, and for graet reason. Simple place, simple picture menu of their various Pide's, with what I assume are lifelong business partners if not outright family making them in a giant tile oven in the ground floor. I got one with minced lamb (the standard) plus bacon, aptly titled the "Sinner". This is a special spot.

It was also on the path back towards my AirBNB that took me near the Egyptian Bazaar, which is basically a giant spice market. Now, it was a nice stroll but my one question is that each stall sells basically the same thing. The same collection of 15-20 spices, plust 10-15 herbal teas, plus various desserts. They're all interchangeable. How any differentiate themselves is super lost on me. 

The time at the airport was quite sad, if only that I needn't leave that much time. The domestic check in counters and security were fairly empty. It left me an hour in the Turkish Airline lounge, which was strange. The lounge was fine but nothing special (assujming this is because it is the domestic one). The weirdest part is that they have a system where you can board from teh lounge by bus that takes you to the gate. Which is nice, except they take you basically at the last possible moment where everyone else had boarded. Luckily I had space for my carry-on. Not a fan of this service, less so the fact that there was seemingly no other option.

Soon enough we were landing in Izmir and after a weird AirBNB address probloem, I had checked in and ubered to their main restaurant & bar area, which borders the sea. I had vague memories of really enjoying Izmir 17 years ago, and so far this was more than proving itself. The calm air, the suniness (after two dreary weather days), the great life in the city even it being a Sunday.

Dinner was at Tavaci Recep Usta, which is a white table cloth, giant hall serving lamb in about 40 different ways. I had two styles, one a take on an Adana Kebab but crunchier, served with a great sauce to make little pita's with. The second was a braised lamb on a hot griddle with light veggies. Super interesting, not at all what I would've pictured as Turkish, but it worked nevertheless. \

After dinner was getting lost ambling around various alleys that go from the seaface road (all restaurants) to a open esplanade that is pedestrian only two streets in. There is about 4-6 alleys in a row that are all a series of bars of all types. One road is primarily clubby, which I'm going to pass on (too much Bangkok going on in these bars, if you know what I mean...), but the others were quite lovely. First a place called RePUBlic Beer, which was a beer bar that served about 50 various Turkish craft beers. They have a pretty good craft scene going on, even if it is hard to find the stuff conventionally. Had both a "cold IPA" (not sure what made it col - other than it was very chilled, but so is most beer), and a really nice Stout. 

They were closing early (Sunday), so I ambled a couple alleys over to Studio House, which was a multi level bar that had some good cocktails - a rarity from what I could tell in Izmir. The place was giant, with a large downstairs (like below street level) at the back end with an open cieling. A really nicely adorned spot deep into teh alleys, not what I would've expected to be hidden down these alleys of Izmir.

Similarly was my late night food, which was a kebab rapped in pita with yogury and a red sauce on top - so simple but so good, and a five minute walk from my AirBNB (which is a 10-min uber drive away from the main night areas). Super iunexpected, but a great way to end what is probably a late night given its a Sunday (1am in bed). Big day tomorrow with Ephesus ahead, but a great start to my little jaunt through Izmir.

2024 Feb Trip: Day 3 - The Mosques

In the end I don’t have all that much time in Istanbul itself – leaving for Izmir tomorrow evening, and heading back on Tuesday night. That said, it’s not like there’s a week’s worth of stuff to do in Istanbul anyway. Today was the day for the mosques, and a few other places of interest. The two imposing, regal, hauntingly beautiful domed mosques that rise up from the Bosphorus. I remembered going to each of them last time I was here in 2007, but not well enough to not be surprised by their beauty again.

The first stop was the Blue Mosque, noted for its light blue giant dome and six minarets. There’s no fee, but a winding line to get in. Once inside though, it is among the most beautiful places of worship. Non-Muslims are kept to one side, but enough area to walk around and stare at too many to count vantages of the ceiling artwork. It is truly hard to describe. The multiple levels of domes, the insane amounts of calligraphy and artwork on each, the brightness of the colors. It is all quite intoxicating, craning your neck upwards and taking it all in.

From the middle of the area where we can walk there is the courtyard, where you can get a truly up close look at the minarets and the imposing nature of the Blue Mosque. I’m a person who takes too many pictures by default, but probably never more so than here. I never want to forget the beauty of this building. Now, I’m sure I felt something similar in 2007 and then very much did forget the beauty of it. But now with probably 80 photos of evidence, I for sure won’t again.

The next stop after a walk through Sultanahmet Square was the Basilica Cistern, a giant underground Cistern that served as a primary source of the city’s potable water for centuries. It has been excavated and turned into a haunting museum of Istanbul’s past. The place is really well laid out with a winding steel grate path over the remaining bits of water, and through the hundreds of columns. It may seem a bit repetitive, but there were two cool aspects of how they laid out the space that kept it lively. First was the flood lighting which was turned into a mini show, changing colors every 4-5 minutes, from very dark with a hint of white light, to green to orange, making it where you got different views at different times. Second, they had interspersed a bunch of sculpture work by local artists throughout, turning it into a mini-museum. Overall, a really nice experience for what is a fairly staid spot (given most European cities probably have/had a similar thing).

Next was lunch, which was ,e taking a bit of a risk. There’s a bunch of restaurants in this area, but it is a heavily tourist area so the restaurants are generally similarly so. You know the set-up – some outdoor and indoor seating, a picture-card menu facing the street, 2-3 men hounding passerby’s (I exaggerate, generally less hounding here than other places I’ve been). Hard to really tell one from the other. One spot caught my eye though. The Ayasofya Kebab Restaurant was the place, with its staggering 4.8 rating on Google, with 3000+ regiews. Now, I was of the opinion that this was probably some stuffing of the ballot box, but the real reviews (the ones with actual sentences and pictures) all talked about how great the food was.

They were right. I had an adana kebab plate, which may have had the best adana kebab I’ve ever had. So juicy, so perfectly spiced, so well grilled. It was inconceivably better than adana kebabs in the US that are generally overcooked and dry. They also had really nice salad, herbs and onions, with cuts of pita that you could make into mini wraps. All around great. The whole menu looked appealing. I played it down the middle and was rewarded big time. The only disappointment was the Kunefe dessert was merely good but not great and nowhere near as good as Kunefe I had in Jordan. The brilliance of that adana kebab was good enough to make up for it though.

The last strictly touristy stop of the day was the Hagia Sofia mosque, the oldest and most famous through its history. I did remember this one, but even this was overwhelming on a second visit. What has changed in the interceding 17 years is that it is a fully operational mosque and to enforce that the ground floor is now limited to only Turkish Citizens – I guess the thinking being limiting it to only Muslims is hard to police. Everyone else goes straight to the second floor that overlooks the cavernous mosque. Of course, the Hagia Sophia for centuries was a Catholic begat Christian church, so they’ve nicely left/recreated some of the mosaics of Jesus and Mother Mary, along with the again giant, stunning Islamic calligraphy. The walk around the Hagia Sophia gave countless views of the cavernous atrium and main area. It’s not as stunning as the Blue Mosque, but you can almost feel the history of a building that dates itself basically back to the founding of Constantinople as the head of the Roman Empire (granted, the original building from those times was knocked or burned down a few times).

The ticket for the Hagia Sophia Mosque comes with a ticket to the Hagia Sophia museum. That was an experience, even if I don’t know if it qualifies as a museum. The star bit was a 30-minute audio tour through the Hagia Sophia’s history, done in a group. Basically you go through a series of about 20 rooms, all with giant video screens playing out the images, while batches of people hear audio (in their required language) concurrently. It’s a weird, but ingenius set-up that results in a really nice AV-enabled tour of the cool history of the building, through its first being built and then rebuilt under Justinian, to the conquering of Sultan Mehmet and the Ottoman Empire. It was certainly strange, but super effective of giving you the history both of the building, and of Byzantium begetting Constantinople begetting Istanbul in parallel.

From there, the tourist part of my day was finally done, in theory. Not sure if you call strolling through the buzzing, giant, maze-like Grand Bazaar to be tourist or shopping or what. Certainly there were a ton of tourists along with me, but more locals (it is a Saturday, after all) and I was there to shop - get a few souvenirs for back home. There were about 4-5 different types of stalls, each having seemingly hundreds of options. There was one with spices, deserts, teas, ones with tile & metal work, ones with artwork, ones with stone handicrafts, and ones with jewelry. Maybe an additional one where they were selling Turkish lamps (something I'm curious about getting but don't know realistically if it will hold up). The sheer vastness is quite awe inspiring to experience, same with the little niceties like a team vendor strolling through giving people tea. All in all, one of the better giant bazaar/shopping experiences I've had.

Continuing the good experiences was dinner at Neolokal, one of the finer Istanbul restaurants. Perfect setting, in the second floor of an old converted bank building, the space had modern touches and floor to ceiling views of the Bosphorus, with what I think was the Hagia Sophia shining brightly. The space was packed, and the meal super professional and tidy. Eight courses, all well presented and plated and tasting excellent. 

The place leans into its name, with all the ingredients coming from different parts of Turkey, which the waiter was happy to explain each time. Baby shrimps from the Adriatic Sea, larger shrimp from the Aegean Sea, lentils from here, chilies from there, lamb from the next one. The place really just featured, focused and stressed Turkish nature and abundance. None of the dishes were that revolutionary, except for one mushroom dish that featured mushroom ravioli (as in the ravioli is made from mushrooms, and stuffed with mushroom) with lightly grilled morel mushrooms and like eight other preparations of mushroom, served on a plate made of soil. Top notch stuff. The rose-flavor inspired dessert was also a favorite as well.

After dinner, I attempted to go to another cocktail spot, Geyik, but it was packed more than any spot I've seen. Seemed like a great place, it was seemingly all locals (I shouldn't be surprised about this given Feb is not tourist season), and no discernable way to order despite pretty clearly people being able to drink in the area outside the space. So instead I did what I normally don't like, and went back to Flekk. It was more crowded than yesterday, but less than Geyik and the bartenders remembered me and brought me to a seat at the bar where I tried a few more of their concoctions. From there, went to a couple clubs, neither packed but both good (one being Temple Club again, which was, glad to report, about double the crowd of yesterday but still less than the crowd should be). This will probably be my last super late nigth till Cape Town, so I enjoyed it well and ended with an Adana Kebab wrap as a parting gift, as one should.

2024 Feb Trip: Day 1-2 - Turkey Awaits

This is a weird one. After last year's trip to Cape Town, where I tacked on four days at Victoria Falls with my parents, I realized that there is a great bit of luxury in adding a few days on to my normal President's Day trip to the Western Cape. Make it a week, make it a full vacation rather than a perverse, singularly weird version of a long weekend.

This year, I had a hard time picking where those additional days would be. First I tried for Madagascar, but that wouldn't work. Then Dubai, but that seemed too surface and didn't get the approval of friends. Finally, we settled on Turkey - Istanbul and Izmir namely. 

I had gone to Turkey - 17 years ago. There's a weirdness in saying that, both given (a) how little I remember of that trip given I was 16 (turned 16) and (b) it was more than half my life ago. I should remember it more, I guess. I remember Istanbul enough that when I first did my Top International City rankings in 2013, I ranked Istanbul #3. I've kept it number three, despite not having been there since. More than anything in this trip, I'm super curious if that ranking and feeling will get reinforced, or if I will realize I was way off on it.

Anyway, the trip started with a late upgrade to business class, and a quick trip to the Polaris Lounge in Newark. It was nice as always, just wishing I could've had more time. My only regret with picking Turkey as my first stop, and a route that takes me first to Frankfurt - my dreaded Europe red-eye. Luckily I have a three hour layover in Frankfurt, and a short hop to Istanbul to try to sleep enough. The flight was great, with a nice set of wines and and my choice of a schnitzel-type main for our 3-course meal hitting well.

The second fligth from Frankfurt to Istanbul (with a brief trip at a nice, but stripped down Lufthansa Club) was pretty harmless. In a full economy flight, but a nice meal of a turkish beef kebab with some veggies as the food, and decent movies to watch. Adding in some sleep and before I knew it we were landing at Istanbul's massive, and I mean truly massive, airport. What was funny is the airport is giant and we walk down these cavernous hallways from teh gate to the arrivals area, and the immigration area is "be careful you might miss it" small. Once past there and to the baggage claim and again you are in a cavernous hall.

The first impression of the drive from the airport to Istanbul was quite mixed. Mostly because of the weather, a misty gray that would remain for the night (but not really bother anything from occurring). Also your passing mostly empty fields and industrial area, but at some point you get over a hill and see the giant city of Istanbul splayed out in front of you, and it is quite mesmerizing. The endless minarets from the various mosques – the giant Blue Mosque standing out among all of them. The maw built into the hills around the Bosphorus. I got an up close and personal view of this on the drive to my Airbnb, which is up the hill from the river level. What I would soon learn is that there are two levels, essentially, the river level and then everything else. While there are some ups and downs in the everything else, it si more or less flat after you get past the 300 steps.

My dinner the first night was at Murver, an upscale a-la-carte spot about a 20 min walk (from river level). The walk over was nice, past the posh Galataport mall / open area, which was really well lit and shiny. Murver was on the rooftop of the Novotel, and had a really nicely designed menu of about 10 starter options and 10 mains. This is where coming alone has its drawbacks. I took two of the starters, a confit duck in harissa mix, which was nicely sweet and really good as a dip for bread, and then a fire roasted celeriac which some tangy Turkish sauces. Both great, and not too big to where I could still enjoy my main of braised beef cheeks with beet root, which was out of this world. Even the dessert, a black cumin and tahini ice cream with pumpkin cake, was awesome. These are the types of places I don’t go to enough, favoring the combination of tasting menu spots w/ food markets to balance cost, but it hit the sweetspot.

Also hitting the sweetspot was Flekk, a bustling cocktail bar on the edge of the buzzing Taksim neighborhood. Taksim is a bit mainstream (but also where a lot fo the clubs are), but Flekk was a bit off the main drag, next to a bunch of other bars & coffee shops. At first it was too crowded where I had to get my first cocktail outside. Wasn;t an issue since there were about 3-4 groups waiting, like me, and a slew of smokers coming in and out (lot of smoking in Turkey). After about 25 min I got a spot at the bar, which was great to watch the Flekk mixologists work. Nothing too fancy or crazy – just really good cocktails all featuring their homemade bitters of every conceivable flavor. My favorite was a mezcal based horchata type cocktail – too sweet to have more than one, but that one was the best glass of milk I’ve ever had.

From there I went to Taksim proper, getting to walk down a massive promenade that is made pedestrian only at night. It was a buzzing place of life – tons of people of all ages mixing (this was around midnight). I went to two places mainly, both of which were really well set-up with great music, but sadly too empty. The first was called Temple Club, which had all the elements of a great EDM spot. Basement of a restaurant, with a dark but super airy room, with an affordable bar and a great DJ. At most there were 20 people, but usually less. I asked the bartender what was up and she said that despite it being a weekend, Friday is just generally far less crowded than Saturday.

After going to another spot called The End, I think I have to agree. Granted, The End is closes at 8 am while most other clubs close at 4am, so I think it si truly catering to people looking for a last stop. Same setup with a good DJ and a good space, but not enough people. Running into random people in both spots and around that main Taksim drag gave some vitality to the night anyway, as did the perfect doner to end it off. I lived off doner kebab and adana kebab on my list time in Istanbul. I waited until 2:15am to have one this time, but man was it so damn good. After seeing it in Korea, Japan, Bangkok – Doner/Kebab/Gyro is the world’s late night drunk food, so there’s a certain bliss in having it in its true home.

2023 NFL Playoffs: Super Bowl LVIII Review

Player of the Game: Steve Spagnuolo (DC, KC)

Ok, not a player, but this Chiefs season is defined by Spags and his defense every bit as much as Mahomes. In the AFC Championship Game on the road and then the Super Bowl, the Chiefs went 17 straight possessions without a TD. In that time, their defense gave up 13 points. That is absurd. Spags's defense was brilliant all game. His blitzes in the closing downs at the end of regulation and then OT won them that game. Period. Every bit as much as Mahomes. He's now the first coordinator to win 4 Super Bowls. His magnum opus will always be Super Bowl XLII, but 1% behind is what his defense did these last four games against four of the best offenses in the NFL. Masterful stuff from top to bottom.

Runner-Up: Patrick Mahomes (QB, KC)

Mahomes was damn good though. It took a while to realize it, but the second that the 49ers front finally slowed down in the 3rd quarter, Mahomes exploded. Game ended TD-FG-FG-TD, with some incredible late down moments. Mahomes read each blitz perfectly. He used his legs excellently. He had a few fuck you throws like the 52-yard bullet to Hardman. He was in total control. He hadn't yet had a great Super Bowl - last year's came close but also involved big punt returns and defensive TDs. His first win was arguably his 2nd worst playoff game of his career except for that 3rd and 15 and like two other throws. This was about as good as it gets.

Goat of the Game: 49ers OL

For maybe the fourth time in five years, the Super Bowl really didn't have a true goat (the exception was the Bucs win over the Chiefs). Every unit played reasonably well. Why I'll single out the 49ers OL is they lost all day against the Chiefs front, and then the times Spags dialed up blitzes, in clear blitz situations, they left unblocked man after unblocked man. Yes, it is tough to read through the muck at times, and Spags unleashes some diabolical shit, but they were overmatched at key moments. Also, while people will point to the 49ers "abandoning the run", in reality they were getting very little push.

Runner-Up: Kyle Shanahan's Game Management

I don't even think the biggest issue is his decision to take the ball first in OT. By all analysis the choices is basically 50/50. But this was not Kyle's best effort otherwise in some game decisions. It isn't surprising he basically threw in the towel on the drive right before the half - but 20 seconds and two timeouts is absolutely enough time to get a FG opportunity. The Chiefs, quite memorably, did it with 13 seconds and two timeouts. Then was his inability to adjust to the blitzes which lead to the play that would've probably won them the game - had they picked up the 3rd and 4 at the 2:00. Honestly, I think maybe they should've run the ball twice in that spot, as the 53-yarder wasn't a gimme either. Would force the Chiefs to take one of their remaining timeouts anyway. Then there's the call to kick the field goal on 4th and 4 in the OT drive. Arguably you should go for it there, being the downside leaving the Chiefs just needing a FG, but backed up at their own 9.

Surprise of the Game: Chiefs Receivers

They weren't great, but other than MVS's weird dance to turn a 6 yard gain into a 4-yard loss, that was about the cleanest, best game the receiving core has played in a long time. MVS caught his other targets. Hardman caught deep balls and the game winner. Rashee Rice continued to be dependable. No drops, no misread routes. The receivers were certainly capable enough, and gave just enough more to add to Kelce's great 2nd half to pull it out. There's something so poetic that the two TDs were by MVS and Hardman.

Runner-Up: Chiefs Linebackers

The Chiefs defense is great. Their front is great (more to come on that), with guys like Pennel stepping up alongside the constant of Chris Jones. The secondary is dominant (more to come on that). The forgotten unit is the linebacker core, but they were amazing today. Nick Bolton led the team in tackles and was a side by side force. He picked up Kittle well in coverage. Leo Chenal forced the fumble on the first drive, after the 49ers had to that point gone right down the field. They were great agaisnt the run all day. Understandably so other parts of the defense are more hyped, but this was a solid game by the entire 11.

Disappointment of the Game: 49ers Injuries

Let's rewind to the moment Dre Greenlaw took that ill-fated step that cost him his achilles. It was right after the 49ers downed the ball to the 2-yard line up 10-3 with the Chiefs not doing much and Travis Kelce having one catch for one yard. Immediately on the next play Kelce goes for 9 yards. They abused anyone who wasn't Dre Greenlaw, after he and Warner were flying around all over. It was beyond Greenlaw though, with Kittle hurt midway through and seemingly playing teh entire game at half pace. Deebo missed some moments. The 49ers were supremely healthy coming into the game, playing basically every expected starter back from Week 1. Their injury luck turned at the worst moment.

Runner-Up: The OT Coin Toss Discourse

I don't get the criticism here at all other than just relying on tropes like "Mahomes is guaranteed to get a TD" or whatever. All the analysis says it's about a 50/50 call, and in thsi game will the Chiefs had scored on three straight drives, two of those were field goals. The 49ers defense had just been on the field for a long time. It was defensible. The only thing I'll note is the logic of "we'll get the ball 3rd" isn't super true if both teams score TDs - in that case the Chiefs should go for 2 for the win (or loss). But this is a 50/50 call, though I'm sure because of this huge failure the next few times a team is in this spot in the playoffs, I'm sure they'll choose to kick.

Team Performance of the Week: Both DLs

Both teams fronts were dominant - though each notably slowed late in the game after a draining five quarters of football. The only real separator is when teams had to turn to the blitz, the Chiefs shredded the 49ers blitzes and the 49ers couldn't handle the Chiefs. But back to the lines. Chris Jones was dominant, but Karlaftis was excellent and Pennel stuffed a ton of running plays. The other side though was even more shocking for three quarters - this was the 49ers DL we expected when we see Bosa-Hargrave-Armstead-Young. All four were dominant at times, locking down the Chiefs in the red zone, forcing Mahomes off his spot. Rushing with so much discipline. It wore out in the 5th quarter, but can't blame them for that.

Runner-Up: Chiefs Secondary

Finally let's get to the last element of the Chiefs defensive brilliance - their secondary which was great apart from basically two plays (Sneed's personal foul, and McDuffie's holding penalty). The Chiefs secondary was amazing, locking down Deebo and Aiyuk, doing a number on Kittle, and only beaten by surprising games from Jauan Jennings on the depth players. McDuffie and Sneed were incredible. One of my favorite clips was McDuffie basically running a Deebo inbreaking route for him, requiring Samuel to very clearly interfere with McDuffie to avoid a pick. Just an incredible performance by probably easily the league's best secondary.

Team Laydown of the Week: The non-specialist parts of the 49ers Special Teams

When we think about Special Teams, we fixate on the kicker, punter, gunner and return guys. Those guys were all good. Wishnowsky punted great. Moody drilled two 50-yard field goals, including for a moment the Super Bowl record. Chris Conley as the gunner was exceptional, with the coolly downed punt at the two, and a blistering hit on another punt. But the other parts? Disasters. The blocker that had the ball hit his leg to fumble it back to the Chiefs was bad enough. The blocked extra point was even worse. There was no outright bad unit, but half of this unit was truly awful.

Runner-Up: Nothing...

Truly, I have nothing for you here. Overall just a great game, even if it took a while.

Storyline that will be Beat Into the Ground: Mahomes GOAT Talks

You would think, one of teh leading Brady haters, would love the fact that people are starting to ask the question in real terms. And yes, Patrick Mahomes is very much on the track. But also, I'm more annoyed because it's becoming a quick distillation of "The Ringz" argument again, with Patriots fans and idiots staking ground on the "Brady won 7!" position. But can't we just enjoy Mahomes without having to make GOAT comparisons already? He's an insane player, he's way better than Brady was at this same stage of having three rings in their career. He has put together the best 6-year stretch of QB-ing ever. These things are not debateable. The GOAT claim won't be certain for another 8 years at minimum, so let's just enjoy the damn ride.

Storyline that Should be Beat Into the Ground: Andy's Place on Mt. Rushmore

Andy Reid is 4th all time in wins for coaches, behind just Shula, Halas and Belichick, with 284 wins (Belichick is at 334, Shula at 347, Halas at 324). This is a ridiculous run, which was well aided a long time before he got Mahomes that kicked his legacy into overdrive. But more than the wins, and now the rings (tied with Walsh and Gibbs, with just Noll and Belichick with more), we should remember all of it. The offensive innovation that was clear from his Eagles days. The incredibly deep, strong, successful coaching tree he has. And yes, now those three rings. Andy Reid is one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. On rings alone he'll probably never match Belichick, who certainly had higher highs, but it's really hard to make the case for anyone other than maybe Don Shula as being better than Reid in teh Super Bowl era. Others had similar playoff success (Walsh, Noll) but not the sustained run. Where Andy Reid is now is incredible.

Storyline that Should be Beat Into the Ground, Pt. 2: The Snakebit 49ers

Finally, Andy Reid should give Kyle Shanahan hope that there may be better days ahead - as his reputation now is quite similar in a way to where Andy Reid was in the Eagles days - a guy who lost all teh big games, had memorable coaching issues in big spots. He found his talisman in Mahomes. Shanahan still needs that. But more tahn anything, this run for the 49ers is so tough to look through. If we go back five years, we have two Super Bowl losses where they led by 10 in each game. Two more NFC Championship losses, of which they led by 10 in one of them, and had their QB injured on the first drive in the other. Extend further back and the 49ers get three straight years of making the NFC Championship in 2011-13 only to lose twice in heartbreaking fashion, and lose the other year in the Super Bowl by three. Yes, they were rough in the middle, but that's 13 years with seven trips to the NFC Championship Game, going 3-4, and 0-3 in the subsequent Super Bowls. No team has gone so deep so often in a sustained period without winning a title. It's shockingly now been 29 years since their last ring. Longer than the much more mocked Cowboys. Yes, they've gone deeper way more often (going back that far adds another NFC Title Game loss in 1997), but it's been three decades and a bunch of heartbreak along the way.

Insanely Early Super Bowl LIX Prediction: Ravens 27  Packers 21

Re-Post: The Nostalgia Diaries, Pt. 16: Super Bowl XLIII

It's 15 years since this game happened - meaning it's also 15 years since I graduated high school. It's 15 year's since I became an "adult". Not sure why this is hitting me harder than when it was 10 years since all that happened - but maybe it's because 15 years before 2009, I was three years old. I don't remember that time. I'm old man. I write below how my interest/obsession/love with the NFL peaked in the 2008 season and maybe reached it's true apex in that Super Bowl. There's definitely truth to that. What's a weirder question to ponder is did my life in a weird way reach an apex as well. I don't think it did, but I'm also not ashamed to say that at that specific moment in 2009, with school effectively an afterthought, a solid group of friends, and yes the addition of alcohol, things were pretty damn well perfect.

______________________________________________________________________

On paper, Cardinals vs. Steelers was a strange Super Bowl. The Steelers were undoubtedly a good team, but a bit underwhelming one given how the AFC tturned out after Tom Brady's week one injury and Peyton Manning's soft end.

The Cardinals were the first 9-7 team to make a Super Bowl since 1979, a team that outscored their opponents by one point, a team that lost games by stupid-bad scores in the second half of the season.

I've talked many times about my love for the 2008 season, a year defined by imperfect teams, flawed units, with a few great ones (like the Steelers and Ravens defenses) sprinkled in. What I haven't done much, however, is talk about the playoffs that capped that season. Probably because it didn't feature that many special games before Super Bowl XLIII. There were a few nice ones - be it a fun NFC Title Game between a 6 seed and a 4 seed (neither won ten games), and the defensive bash-fest that was Ravens @ Steelers, Pt. 3.

But that Super Bowl, then. A great capper to a great season of football, a season that would forever change my connection to the game, and a Super Bowl that would be a memorable experience for all different reasons.

I think in my larger piece about the 2008 season, I mentioned that it was my senior season of high school. I had about as serious a case of senioritis as possible, touting my (relative) freedom to drive where I want, flout the system when I want, and do what I want. Ironically, I got better grades that year than my Freshman or Sophomore years, but that's a story for another day.

One of the benefits of being a senior, especially in an era before there were online systems that tracked grades and attendance that parents could watch over, was the concept of Senior Cut Day. For us, it was two days that the senior class would decide to take off. I completely forget when the first day was. The second day, I will never forgot. It was the Monday after the Super Bowl.

I was sick the couple schooldays the week before the Super Bowl. I think it was a regular flu or head clod. It was bad. I was barely recovered when Super Bowl Sunday hit. I probably should ahve just sat at home. I didn't. I enjoyed a great game, great friends and a truly great time. It was the conflience of a great year at school, and a great year of football, both memories that will never leave me.

I won't get into all the details,. but my firends and I all went to one of our friends houses for a party. This wasn't some raging kegger with people getting drunk and passing out and banging and all the rest. It was a relatively tame 10-15 friends get together, have a few beverages, watch football, light fireworks, and all the rest.

I don't truly remember what we drank. I remember fighting with myself if I should, given the sickness I was just coming out of. But I knew the next day was off, a surprisingly great Super Bowl was on, and there was no better time.

The game was wonderful, with so many 'holy god' moments. Be it James Harrison's interceptipon return, something I think we debated the merits of for the entire halftime show. Be it Larry Fitzgerald's amazing second half, especially that catch and run splitting the middle of the field. And then of course that final drive. By the time Santonio Holmes made his tiptoe catch (which I still haven't seen one definitive view of), we were all a bit tipsy, and just spent a long time hoo-ing and hawing at what ridiculousness we just saw.

After the game ended, 10pm EST, the real fun began. Though looking back, my interest, my love, of the NFL might have hit its peak in that single moment.

I probably watched more football, or at least loved watching football, more in 2008 than any other year. Be it the Ravens vs. Steelers regular season games, or the Titans run to 10-0, or the great Week 16 'Win and your #1 seed' Giants vs. Panthers game, or the Colts amazing run from 3-4 to 12-4. The whole season was great, and it ended with a bang. At that moment, my football life was as happy as it would ever be.

In some ways, so was a lot of my personal life. Sure, the luxury of being gainfully employed, continuing friendships, etc., has its spoils, but so too with those things comes their associated challenges. Here we were on a lonely February in winter, a Sunary of all days, as far as lonely as possible, living in our personal dream with no school to wake up to the next day.

We set off fireworks that night. Real fireworks - big ones. Fireworks that definitely woke people up - pity those that did not have senior cut day the day after teh Super Bowl. We ran back to our friends house, staggered, humoured, elated. This was life. Football was a part of it. Maybe too big a part of it, but the greatness of the moment helped fuel an amazing night.