Been a while since I've posted on this blog, so I'm going to quickly publish a few entries to get myself back in the habit. I'm not sure why you stop doing something like writing in a blog - it's been sitting there annoying me for quite a while. In any case, a while back I decided to go to the cricket with 3 guys from work - this may sound like a NZer's idea of hell - going with 3 poms to a test match at Lords, when our top 4 batsmen tended to average around 22 - but in any case, going to Lords was something I'd wanted to do since being in the UK.
After another looong London winter, it had finally started to warm up - with the week before the game being particularly steamy. However, the day before the test was due to start the weather broke - leading to many jokes about "was that the UK summer this year?". Couple of days patchy play ensued, with the Black caps well on the back foot (although having recovered from being 100/5 in the first innings).
Predictably, day 3 dawned grey and although it wasn't raining when we got to the ground, the signs were ominious. After around 10 overs of off and on again play the heavens opened just in time for lunch. We waited for a while, and when it got heavier, headed to a local pub and watched the FA cup final between Portsmouth and Cardiff.
The rain continued, so we didn't even go back to the ground. Annoyingly, the following morning dawned sunny and fine - so looks like we picked the wrong day. Nevermind, at least I crossed Lord's off my list of "things in London I must do before leaving"!
We heard Bron was going to be in Turkey for the first May bank holiday so we organised a trip to meet up with her and do some sightseeing around the west of the country before she came and joined us in London.
Korina and I flew out at the ungodly hour of 6am from Luton, meaning we had to leave home around 3am. Although it was Easyjet, I lucked out, and got the front row - meaning I could stretch out and have a nap. Once we got there we met up with Bron and checked out some of the main sites in Istanbul - the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia and the Grand Bazaar. After that we walked back to Taksim.
Next day and we were on the road again early down to Gallipoli. It was interesting to have a look around, considering the historical significance that the area had in both New Zealand and Turkey's history. In some ways, the horrors of the battle forged a feel of nationalism in both countries that endured until today.
After Gallipoli, it was 2 days of solid ruins - at Troy, then at Ephesus. As is normal in these things, I became aware about how little I knew (or indeed cared) about classical sculptures and art - however, the sheer age of the towns was impressive in itself.
What I did enjoy most about going down to Selcuk was taking the locals on at backgammon - basically, a guy from the hotel saw me teaching Bron at the local pub, and decided to school me at the game! Although I came close to creating a major upset, in the end, he was too good for me...
After that, it was a quick flight from Izmir back to Istanbul - amusingly, we got "adopted" on the plane by a Turkish lady who insisted on giving us a lift back to our hotel. It was interesting hearing her talk about the Turkish Government as a professional woman living in the country (she was an electrical engineer). It really gave us the impression of a country with two opposing, and conflicting trends - a drive towards European modernism in addition to an opposing trends towards a more fundamentalist, conservative Islam position. My feeling was that the country could go either way, and whatever direction it shifts, there will be a hell of a lot of unhappy Turks.
After a refreshing night at our great Istanbul hotel, we then met up with Bron fresh off her overnight bus (sucker!) and finished sightseeing around Istanbul by checking out the Sultan's palace.
