Up, up and away....

So, the craziness over here continues, and I think we are all feeling a bit tired out at this point. For those of you who don't know, amid our renovation, choosing flooring/tiles/counters/doorknobs/cabinet hardware, we have been preparing for a trip to new and unusual places! We are now less than 48 hours until departure (with me being on call both tonight and tomorrow!)

Our first destination is:



Istanbul.

One of the jokes that we have been hearing a lot of is "Constantinople is a very hard word to spell. How do you spell it?"

For those of you who don't know the answer, it will come later on...Kind of a hard joke in writing, I must say!

Istanbul. Constantinople. Byzantine Empire. Ottoman Empire. Wow, what incredible history we are heading towards. I will be a delegate at the International Federation of Kidney Foundations, and my family will visit and hopefully relish this experience.

Tami is a bit nervous about visiting Istanbul, but in reading about the safety of the city, it seems very safe. Indeed, the biggest risk to one's safety in Istanbul is....wait for it.....crossing the street!

One item of interest I have discovered is that we lovable, huggable, polite Canadians aren't adored in Turkey! Oh, call a Royal Commission. How do I know? Well, it seems that almost every other nation pays a nominal fee of between USD 0 and USD 20 for an entry Visa to Turkey. Canadians? USD 70! And we are one of only a handful of countries. Holy identity crisis, Batman! Don't they know we Canadians are upset when someone doesn't like us. It isn't clear why we aren't the usual object of desire, but apparently may have to do with the fact that Canadians were the major peacekeeper force on the island of Cyprus (Greeks vs Turks).

Fortunately, it seems that the tiff ends at the customs line, as everyone else tells me that Istanbul is fantastic.

After Istanbul, we jump across the Mediteranean to:


Milano.

Home of 'The Last Supper,' which unfortunately one needs to get tickets to see approximately 2 - 3 centuries in advance, so we have put in a ticket request for our great, great, great, great, great grandchildren to see it.

In Milan, Mike will be attending the World Congress of Nephrology, and the rest of the family will....enjoy the city. Does anyone else notice a disturbing trend here? Hmmmm, I'm thinking that a serious bout of 'jet-lag' may take me away from my meetings....

After Milan, we have a quick 4 days of relaxation in London before heading home. I am already looking for temporary work for Tami and the kids so that they will work and I will enjoy the city. Work visas do seem hard to get for 7 and 10 year olds though.

Keep looking at this site -- I will try to periodically update our travels.

MAC

PS, the answer is 'I.T.' -- get it? Re-read the joke...