No I didn't forget it was his Birthday...

I was busy preparing for Nahro's birthday that I had little time to do much else! So even though it is a day late I thought I would still mention my wonderful husband. There is so much I can say for why I love him. I am sure none of it would make sense though! He is my protector and accepts my weird little paranoid quirks. Yes he check strange noises for me that are simply the neighbours. I love that he adores my family, almost as much as me, and that they love him back. I am simply at a loss for words. I love him and so glad that he came in to the world we found eiach other. I am also glad we finally got to spend a birthday together after four years! So to the love of my life Happy Birthday, even if is a day late on here.

Nothing is happening

Well I would like to report that life here in England is chalked full of things that I am doing...but I can't. For the agenda this week is Nahro's birthday on Wednesday and Friday our move. Sounds exciting I know. On the plus side I do get to bake a cake (I love baking) and go to the movies to see Wanted (I love the movies). Nahro has to work everyday this week, excluding Friday, from 6:30 - 2:30. So I am at home preparing for the move, but like I said we haven't really unpacked so there is really nothing to pack, besides the kitchen. My emotions have been on a roller coaster this week as well. Plus it is safe to say that I am losing it. I thought I had brought my dad's dog tags from boot camp here to England. I searched for about 1 - 2 hours for them on Saturday before calling Nahro crying that I had lost them. His suggestion was to just make new ones...yeah cause its the same. Not! He has a bit to learn about this stuff. My fear turned to relief when Super Mom found them in my purse back at home, where I suspected they may have been left. So I have not lost them and I still think that I am losing it for even forgetting them in America in the first place! I have also decided that I just may have the prettiest, and best to boot, sisters in the whole wide world. I realize that came from nowhere but I am missing home like mad right now. I am extremely thankful for my family and glad that we are in the age of Internet or else I would have next to no contact with my insane oldest niece and nephew. So for my boring week to come I will try to keep you posted (hopefully with pictures of Nahro's birthday...yeah like he won't let me take his picture!). So enjoy your day and my rattling!

Back to Reality

So Nahro and I have been back from our vacation for a week now. It was a nice escape, but it is good to be back in England where I can order food without too much confusion (remember I am still as the Brits call a Yank so there is always minor confusion). We has some trouble with the landlord here and we are moving, again, next week. I don't mind though cause we really never unpacked anything here so what is the difference! Other than that things are going okay. I still haven't found a job. I mean other than taking care of Nahro, which let's face it is a full time job! Everyone who knows him at all knows that! He is gone to work all day so I am here catching up on cartoons from the 80s and wishing time to go faster. If you can't tell I am a bit bored...and it is raining so I can't exactly go out for a pleasant walk. I do want to wish my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Tom a Happy 50th Anniversary! Also Joey is away at summer camp with Mom and Dad for the weekend. I hope he doesn't do too much damage at Park of the Pines! Keep Sonja in your prayers. She has a month to go yet before little Levi arrives and the doctor has put her on bed rest. All is well but keep her in your thoughts and prayers! Have a good weekend!

I promise no more...after this.

So Italy we had been planning since about Christmas. Istanbul was a last minute addition. I had never thought of going there, but when Nahro suggested it I thought, "why not, I love to see the World." So we added it to follow Italy. Since you can't fly from Venice to Istanbul cheaply we flew back to London slept a whopping 3 hours and left for Istanbul.

Day Nine: We were up early and on the plane by noon. Of course there were about a gazillion crazy people that made us late. Once in Istanbul, we landed on the Asian continent and had to get to the European side. (Woo Hoo I have been on 3 continents now!) I was a bit scared about not pre-planning the travel accommodations after the airport but Nahro took care of it all. We were in a bus nearly 2 hours then a taxi for about 30 minutes. Nahro could sort of speak to the Turkish Kurds (they have different dialects) the traffic was INSANE!!! It was at a standstill a lot giving people the chance to sell items like flowers, water, and Turkish bagels to the commuters. Needless to say we were exhausted and fell asleep almost immediately. (Fun first day I know!)

Day Ten: Now that we were well rested we were more able to explore things. Not far from our hotel was the Aya Sofia (a church that was slowly transformed into a Mosque). There were some beautiful mosaics on the walls. They were the only remnants that it was once a Christian place.

While the outside was not a gorgeous site, the inside was amazing and certainly made up for the rest!

After our visit to the Aya Sofia we wandered (i.e. got lost) and found the Grand Bazaar. A shoppers paradise, well this ones. You could easily get lost in there. After a two hour walk home...we got lost again, Istanbul is confusing, we hung out for the rest of the night and watched some football (soccer) where the announcing was in Turkish.

Day Eleven: Today started similar to the previous day. We headed in the direction of the Aya Sofia, as the Blue Mosque was built across from it. I, being Christian, have never been into a Mosque. I am almost sure I have ruined myself for other Mosques. This one was phenomenal! Not only was the outside beautiful the inside was filled with beautiful blue tiles, this is where the Mosque's name comes from. Some of the tiles from from Venice. Before entering we had to remove our shoes.

This is just one of the million pictures I could have put in here the whole place was spectacular!

After leaving here we headed for a cool down in the Basilica Cisterns. This place was spooky and so awesome! I hope you can see. I was standing on the walk way looking across the water to the entrance. You may need to enlarge the photo to get the full effect.

After the Basilica Cistern we, now that we knew where we were, walk around a bit. We found a sweet shop that sells Turkish Delight (fabulous) as well as Baklava (fabulous) Nahro swears the guy had a crush on me!

Day Twelve: We spent nearly the whole day at the Palace. Topkapi Palace is huge! Our first stop was the treasury of course...I have to see all the jewels. I saw St. John the Baptist's bones encrusted in jewels, a famous dagger (though I had never heard of it), and my favorite an 86 carat diamond (surrounds by smaller diamonds). This place a lot more too. Then we went and saw the Sultan's clothes. Some looked incredibly uncomfortable. I walked back towards the Harem (the private residence) and looked.

I would have loved to have lived in this place. It was so beautiful. I am beginning to think that Istanbul's buildings are made up of nothing but gorgeous tiles!

After I went through the Harem we walked through the relics of Islam. We got to see swords and other items belonging to Mohammed, the Prophet. It was pretty cool and Nahro really enjoyed it. Then we got stuck in the Armory with the a million 10 year olds! There were some pretty cool rifles and pistols though. The ceilings were so awesome.

This was one of the coolest palaces I have ever been too (Versailles is the only one that is better). We returned to our room for some more Euro 2008 football...in a language that neither of us spoke.

Day Thirteen: SHOPPING DAY!!!!!!!!!! We walked (we got lost here too) to the Grand Bazaar. The stall owners are crazy! They are willing to do anything to get you to first enter their stall second buy something form them!

Here is some yummy Turkish Delight...

I wish I could have brought ton of it home.

Day Fourteen: We returned to the Asian continent to fly home. On the way I saw a whole bridge full of people fishing and some gorgeous mountains. Turkey is definatly an interesting a beautiful place. It is crazy busy too in Istanbul!

For more pictures you can go to http://kayhamad.myphotoalbum.com

Ready for More?

Sorry I was preoccupied with putting up all the pictures on a website yesterday. Okay when I left off we had crashed for the night in Pisa.

Day Five: We woke up and started to wander into the direction that we thought the tower was in. We were right. Nahro was the first to see the tower. I had seen in it in millions of pictures and had always wanted to see it and suddenly it was in front of me...and it looked exactly as it does in pictures only better!

We were about an hour early before Nahro had to climb. So we took some more pictures and started looking at all the stalls with souvenirs...then it started to rain! Slowly at first then it got pretty heavy for a while. We took cover in a museum and that gave me the chance to buy my ticket to go inside the Cathedral. When it was time for Nahro to climb the rain had let up a touch but was still coming down. The same time I ventured to the Cathedral the look.

It was so beautiful. Nahro said he got more tired climbing Ashley's four flights to her apartment then the 298 steps up to the top. We also learned that all the building, not just the tower are leaning. I noticed it in a picture I have of the Baptistery.

We went back to see the tower at night and there were crazy guys trying to sell stuff and it kind of ruined the lack of crowd to enjoy the tower.

Day Six: We headed to Venice early in the day so we could enjoy as much as possible. To say Venezia is amazing would be an understatement. It was so magical. After we found our hotel, with hardly any trouble which is a huge deal in Venice...trust me, we headed on the water bus known as a vaporetto to the Ponte di Rialto (The Rialto Bridge) We looked at the shops on the actual bridge (it is a massive bridge!)

After which by luck found another bridge I was anxious to see, The Bridge of Sighs. It was right near our hotel stop!

Then we returned to our room for the night. The next day was going to be busy!

Day Seven: We were up early because we were going to a art museum, Gallerie dell' Accademia. No photos were aloud inside and that is a shame cause there was some beautiful art in there. Next we headed to San Marco square. I went into the Basilica and spent most of the time looking up.

We saw a bride and groom getting their pictures taken in Piazza di San Marco. We had time to kill before our Gondola ride so we headed back towards the Rialto. We managed to stumble upon and church that we spent time looking for the previous day that I had wanted to see. It is the oldest church in Venice, the San Giacomo di Rialto. It was the smallest in comparison to any other the other churches I have been in. Fascinating non the less.

Then we slowly made our way back to the gondola place, next to the beautiful Danieli which is known for its lobby. The Gondola ride was scary at first, I thought we were sure to tip numerous times, plus we were in the widest part of the Grand Canal so who knew how deep it was!

Once we got into the smaller canals it was nice. I enjoyed it and loved seeing it all. Afterwards we returned to the hotel and changed and went out for a nice meal where, wait for it...Nahro bought me two roses! I had to hit him several times so he say the guy, but he still bought them! It was a perfect night. Then I realized the sun had got me and I had a extremely minor sunburn.

Day Eight: Our last day in Venice. Our plane was leaving late so we left our bags that hotel and just wandered the city. We sat on steps on the canal and just watched. I loved Venice it is like another world. I didn't want to leave there.

I hope to be able to return to Italy some day soon. There is some much more I want to experience there. If you want to see more pictures the website is:

http://kayhamad.myphotoalbum.com Enjoy!

Have you missed me?

I know you have all been on pins and needles waiting for me to come back from holiday (Brit term for a vacation) Well we are back!!! We got back last night and I could not have been more exhausted. So I am going to give you all a run down of my time (I'll try to keep it short) and show some of my favorite photos (There are a lot!) So sit back and enjoy my holiday fun!

Day One: We leave for Rome (nothing exciting happened expect not being able to find the hotel)

Day Two: We were up early. Due to a parade we had to save the Colosseum and roman forum for the afternoon. First stop was the Spanish Steps. We climbed to the top (all 132 steps...I counted!) It was beautiful. (and yes it was raining despite was weather reports said)

From the Steps we walked, the subway system is not so good in Rome, to the Trevi Fountain. It was absolutely gorgeous! I loved it. I threw a coin into the fountain promising my return to Rome.

Then we wandered to the Pantheon. It was really cool. There was a hole in the center. We sat here and wasted time looking at everything.

Finally we stopped at a McDonald's on the way back to the subway. The floors were slippery and we almost fell going up and down the stairs! P.S. a Big Mac taste the same in Italy as it does in the U.S.A. After lunch we stood in the line for the Colosseum (the short line cause I had pre-bought tickets!) This place is so cool Nahro loved it. There was even a cat just chillin' on the second level! They even had a partial floor up to show where it had originally gone.

On the way out we ran into a gladiator who we took pictures with, Nahro's was my favorite!

Then we went to the Roman Forum, I'll spare pictures here cause I don't have just one but millions. There were poppies everywhere, it made me think of Grandpa each time I saw them. Then we slowly walked the Circo Massimo, which I later found out is where they held chariot races, to the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin to the Mouth of Truth. I am a Audrey Hepburn fan so this was a must. It was closed but we could see it through bars, plus I managed to get a good picture!
Wow day one was busier than I thought (I ended up with bloody feet thanks to my shoes that I thought would be good walking shoes...they weren't)

Day Three: We spent the day at the Vatican and the museums. I loved the Basilica it was so much prettier and more elaborate than St. Paul's. I even got a glimpse of St. Peter's grave. It was so massive and there was no possible way for me to get a real good picture, plus again it was raining...again)

Then we wandered around the Vatican until it was time for us to go into the Vatican museums. Our tour guide was really funny and though I didn't get the chance to take photos inside (It was forbidden to in the Sistine Chapel) I relished the entire thing, Nahro wasn't so crazy about hearing non-stop Christian talk. I could have stayed in the Sistine Chapel for hours. It was so much better than I thought! I also got to see Leonardo DiVinci's last painting which is unfinished. We finished the day with gelatos (Italian ice cream) which was fabulous.


Day Four: Our last day in Rome (we had only a half a day) was the only day it didn't not rain. We returned to my favorite stop the Trevi Fountain. With no rain and hot weather it was wonderful. I didn't want to leave. Sadly we had to catch the train to Pisa. From the train station we took a taxi to beautiful hotel and crashed for the night.

So that was Rome...Tomorrow I will fill you in on Pisa and Venice (It can be a bit of overload so I will bring it to you slowly!) Hope you enjoyed. Also I have about a million more pictures and I once I can figure out how to share them all I will get the address to you. So until tomorrow.