around San Antonio

some scenes from days when i'm not in uniform...

ocho lounge...at the Hotel Havana

riverwalk

sunset from my balcony

it's been a busy busy busy few weeks

and it's only going to get worse, i fear.

but every now and then,

you gotta stop and watch the sunset

or have a cocktail.

cheers!

Antalya

it's about time for another adventures-of-nick-&-emily travel post, dontcha think?

me too.

so after Göreme and the region of Cappadocia

we took another overnight bus down to the coastal town of Antalya

the ambien didn't work quite like a charm on this bus trip

hence the total lack of pictures of me.

(didn't you get enough yesterday? i thought so.)

another sneak attack shot. it's not centered very well, but it's quirky and i like it.

 we spent most of our time in Kaleici

which is the "old town" part of Antalya

so Antalya has this bay/harbor area. not bad, Antalya. not bad.

"i pledge allegiance, to the flag"

they let him out eventually.

holy deliciousness.

 not sure what those delectable treats were actually called,

but we dubbed them "honey balls"

there's pastry. and honey. and crumbled up pistachio.

oh. em. gee.

lamb cheeks. wish i was kidding. but they were every bit as good as they look.

Turkey's version of Bolognese. the Italians still have the corner on the pasta market. but valiant effort, Turkey.

i was completely bewitched by Antalya.

you can hopefully see why

not pictured:

-the massive nap we took (like i said, rough all-night bus ride)

-getting hassled by tour boat operators who kept saying Nick could bring his "girlfriend" for bery good price

-spending an evening in a Turkish bath getting "the works" (ask me what that entails. i dare you.)

-haggling with a hotel owner for an even cheaper price for an already cheap hotel #classy

-buying Sumac (look into it. it'll change your life.)

 -playing "Amazing Race" with the Canadian/Aussie couple that tailed us from Istanbul, to Goreme, to Antalya (sadly, they kicked our tails. Canadian homegirl was johnny-on-the-spot with the Booking.com hotel reservations. "flying by the seat of your pants" philosophy did not work in our favor here.)

-me.

a #blate!

last week was crazy, y'all.

i was working like a dog all week

and playing even harder all weekend.

pros: i now know how to perform life support on adults and children of all ages

(for you medical peeps, i got PALS and ACLS certified. again.)

cons: i never want to see another algorithm as long as i live.

and i still hate my uniform.

whew.

glad i got that out there.

anyway.

Saturday had a particularly bright spot!

i got to FINALLY meet this pretty lady!

she's the one on the right. obvs.

 Jenni, from Story of My Life, is practically my neighbor now

(if you consider Austin and San Antonio to be neighboring towns. which i do.)

we've been plotting this #blate ever since i found out i was moving to Texas

and now.

it's finally happened.

for those of you just catching on, a blate is a date between bloggers: blog+date=blate.

and when you put a hashtag in front of it (#), it trends on twitter.

there's like, at LEAST 20 tweets about #blate s.

 #blate is a term coined by a certain, always-entertaining, model-esque individual 

(Megan. meet her now. do it. you won't be sorry.)

and i've used it before..as i had the pleasure of having a blate with Sarah

which i wrote about here

who also happened to give me the lovely earrings i'm wearing below

they just showed up in my mailbox this week.

oh happiest of days.

earrings:Sarah; dress:F21; necklace:F21; purse:fake Fendi...chinatown NYC; lips:MAC Neon Orange

 so Jenni introduced me to this PHENOMENAL pancake joint in SA

and we ate until we looked like pretty much everyone else in San Antonio

(it's a pretttty overweight city. by and large. no offense. it's just true.)

arugula and goat cheese omelette with creme fraiche

typical pancake acoutrements

Jenni's bacon. it was all i could do to keep myself from swiping a slice.

heavenly heavenly pancakes.

J-bomb. hard at work.

the prettiest.

oh. there's me again.

all in all,

a most successful #blate.

can't wait to do it again, Jenni!

Göreme

i figured that i'd be happy to have all of my travels to blog about all summer long

since i'll be busy trying not to kill my patients and all

but i didn't think it would *actually* take me all summer.

au contrare.

at this rate, i'll still be behind at Christmas.

oh well.

at least i've been out living my life

and THAT'S what's been keeping me from blogging about it.

more on that later.

for now,

Göreme.

view of the fairy chimneys of Göreme from the window of our very own fairy chimney

 Göreme was surreal.

it's in a region of Turkey called Cappadocia

which is here:

View Larger Map

the whole landscape just looked sooo otherworldly

(which is probably why they filmed Star Wars: Episode One there. look familiar? Tatooine?)

a lil blurry view of the inside of our fairy chimney

our teensy-tiny room.

literally barely room to walk around the bed in there

totally redeemed by the 12th century Byzantine fresco on the ceiling.

not kidding.

and there's me. post-11hr-overnight-bus-ride.

sometimes i can't believe i post these pics of myself on the internet.

#myreaderslovemeanyway 

my backpacking hubby

cute tourist-trap market on the way to the Open-Air Museum. cuter hubs.

 the Open Air Museum was basically this collection of fairy chimneys

that had been used as churches and monasteries during the 10th, 11th, and 12th centuries

i can't believe the frescoes were so well-preserved

we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the cave churches

but here's a link if you're curious

camels! 

those monks must've been pretttty short.

hubs got a little crafty with the camera

prepare thyself...

 

 and so did i.

[guilty]

his head was burning. he looks like a _____. (hint: starts with a "t" ends with a "ourist")

where's waldo? (and by waldo, clearly i mean hot air balloon.)

kelebek hotel. highly highly recommend.

that's the door to our room!

 i got a little carried away...

i literally shot from the hip on this one. the turkish people don't like having their picture taken. so i just took the pic as we were walking by with the camera hanging around my neck.

 windows and doors...

 we smoked a little hookah

i'm smitten.

mulled wine.

so i know this is a pretty pic-heavy post.

but it is what it is, y'all.

i gotta start crankin out some of these pics.

hope it was at least enjoyable.

more about life in Tejas to be forthcoming...

(disclaimer: when i travel, i'm not a huge history buff about it. i'm there for the whole experience--the history, the current culture, the people, the sights, especially the food--and sometimes glaze over the historical details. i apologize in advance if my commentary about precious ancient structures doesn't seem to be giving it the credit it so justly deserves. totally my fault.)