Back to South America I Happily Go

In 12 hours, I will be pulling up to DCA in a taxi, ready to take on my next big adventure. I am tremendously excited to be going back to South America tomorrow. Colombia to be exact. A country that fascinates me in more ways than one. I'm not sure if there is really a true pattern to my traveling, because countries are often selected based on the best airfare deal to be had, but I have a strong desire to visit, photograph, eat and see countries that are not on the average American's checklist, are seen as a tad bit dangerous, are full of natural beauty and, last but not least, have the ability to provide for endless delicious meals. Colombia definitely fits that bill - bring it on!

Food grabs the first focus of this trip, especially since I'll be traveling with my good friend, amateur chef and food blogger Dan Tompkins (aka Kitchen Geeking). I've written on WeLoveDC.com a few times about our epic local food journies and we also have a history of tasting the best ethnic food each city around the US has to offer when we traveled domestically. But this time, for the first time ever, we get to take our culinary foodventure abroad. It is not by chance that we chose a Latin country, the home of the empanada. Empanadas, arepas, platanos...I am so hungry I can't stand it. We are happily joined by my quickly-becoming-an-ethnic-foodie-and-lover-of-plantains girlfriend Danielle as well as Dan's fellow foodie friend Stephanie (who Dan refers to as #TheQuietOne). Nobody is going hungry on this trip, that is for sure.

True to style, only the infrastructure for the trip is already planned and reserved. The details and internal travels are yet to be solidified and will be based on some great local advice as well as anyone we happen to have a conversation with on the street or in a bar. Or more likely, in a restauarant (or food cart?). While my Spanish is nowhere near what I want it to be, I have a feeling I'm the translator for this trip. Let me apologize in advance, Colombia - please bear with me.

We fly to the cosmopolitan capital of Bogota tomorrow (via Miami) and have reserved 4 nights in a super fancy hotel which happened to be super cheap because of hotel points. It's supposedly one of the best in Colombia so I'll be traveling just slightly differently from my previous South American adventure in which I slept on concrete beds in 100 degree hostels that only had cold water. But regardless of 0 star hotels or 5 star hotels, my goal of experiencing the culture, food, people and sights of the country will absolutely be realized. It just may be in comfort this time, that's all. After Bogota, we hope to get flights to Cartagena on the coast to enjoy a historic colonial town and a little white sand beach time. A lot of delicious fun awaits and you can bet there will be something new on the menu at Pound in the coming months!

Well, packing is calling. I've got the iPad with me on this trip so chances are good that pictures and blog posts will be frequent. Adios.

Karl

From Istanbul to Athens and Beyond

This is one of those posts where it's impossible for me to take the time I need to adequately describe the last few days. Since visiting Asia, I've explored more of Istanbul by foot, flown to Athens, Greece, visited and hiked to the Parthenon and the Acropolis and all of the surrounding temples and monuments, sailed off to a nearby Greek island called Aegina, spoken with countless locals in little cafes, taken a very brisk swim in the Aegean Sea after jumping off nearby volcanic cliffs, had dinner at a restaurant on top of a tall hotel with the absolute best possible view of the Parthenon at night (most amazing dinner view I've ever had), danced in a couple of crazy Greek nightclubs in Athens until 2am (including one with a live techno "band"), and now, as of today, walked through thousands of Greeks loudly protesting the restrictions placed on the country by the IMF bailout terms. All that in really less than 72 hours.

Right now Athens is getting major international attention as parts of the city are supposedly on fire. Even a few protestors have died either in clashes with police or because of the fire. Riots have broken out and people are smahsing bank windows. Fortunately, life is relatively sane where I am right now. I'm in an internet cafe in the Plaka, a big, historic bazaar and market like area with endless picturesque cafes and little shops. We are all safe but the mass labor strikes have shut down the airport and ferry docks today. My friends were not able to fly out today so they were able to spend another day exploring the city, but the strike has not been quite so kind to me. I am unable to get out of the city today so my Mykonos plans are now on hold. If the ferries are running tomorrow, then I will be able to sail away to Mykonos tomorrow and have just one night to spend there (it is a 5 hour ferry each way from Port of Piraeus), which is fine with me as long as the docks are open tomorrow.

I have so many pictures from both incredible countries and I am really excited after getting a little look at some of them. Some of them came out really well! I can't wait to share them with everyone. There is so much to tell from these experiences over the last few days but I certainly don't have the time to expand on them now. So I will leave you all with a few choice pictures of mine. Many more are on Facebook, and a few thousand will be coming to Flickr when I get back.

OH, and how could I forget. The gyros are ridiculously delicious! I've had two so far for snacks, more to come for sure. Bye!

Turkey! Greece!

In exactly one week and one hour, I will board my United flight from Dulles (IAD) to Istanbul, Turkey (IST) via Munich, Germany (MUC). As you can tell by the last blog entry, it's been almost exactly a year since I left the country. Far too long! The catalyst for this next exciting trip is my good friend Rod's birthday. He's turning 30 and wanted to celebrate in a big way!

Along with about 10 other friends, we'll be in Istanbul for 5 days - all staying in a flat we've rented there. Because my life has been beyond crazy the last few months between my day job and all the new work associated with getting my restaurant and coffee shop, Pound, to a good, profitable place...my planning for this trip has been severely lacking. But this I know - I'll be in Turkey from Wednesday to Monday and then flying Monday morning to Athens, Greece. Only about half the group is making the second leg, but even then they're only staying for two days. Since the Greek islands are a-whole-nother world from Athens, I've extended my trip two extra nights aside from what everyone else is doing.

So many things to see, do and, most importantly, EAT! I just watched Bourdain's show on Turkey a few weeks ago and I'm still hungry from it. I am going to eat well on this trip! As if I don't on all of them. Right.

Hopefully I will get another update in before I actually take off, and I haven't decided how I'm going to do updates from the road. But most likely, my writings will be limited to the time I can find to hang out at net cafes around the area. I will definitely be taking tons of pictures and will be packing my new, super special Nikon D-SLR!

Now I just need to find the time to get as excited about this trip as I should be. I've got the Lonely Planet Turkey book, so I'm half-way there. TURKEY HERE I COME!