We just finished our little visit of Dublin and so far are very impressed with Ireland. Dublin is a great place to visit with kids.  It’s relatively flat, with beautiful old buildings and occasional wild life.  This bird was photographed by our older son. It has several very good museums, which are free and are

After a short 2 and 1/2 hour flight, we ended up in another world.  First thing we’ve seen were four bunnies in the field at the airport as we were taxing after arrival.  The city is absolutely beautiful and people are super friendly and nice.  Everyone celebrates “great weather” of 54 degrees F.  We complain

I’ve always wanted to go to Ikea and never lived within a driving distance of it until now.  So, couple of days ago we finally went.  What an experience it was! The store is gigantic, multi-story building built like a maze where there is only one entrance and one exit and you must go throw

We had a very nice weekend, spending a quality time with boys – eating under the open air, in our little courtyard.  The weather was perfect, the birds were singing, the flowers were blooming… We have an idea about maintaing a “floating” lifestyle even after coming back to US.  In other words, to continue homeschooling

Today we booked a one-month stay in Tuscany, after our Ireland stay.  Last time we’ve been in Europe – seven years ago- Tuscany was by far our favorite place.  It was magical – peaceful, gorgeous, with nice people and delicious, freshest food.  So, as we are wrapping up our trip, we are starting to summarize

Sevilla has beautiful squares, hundreds of cafes and restaurants, and many cultural sights to explore… People here know how to relax and enjoy life And right outside of it, it’s unbelievably beautiful.  It looks like heaven on earth. If you look closely, you will see many interesting rocks, bugs, and things that most city kids

We just bought our tickets home for November 2014.   Initially, we were going to take a cruise from Barcelona to Miami on Norwegian Epic, but after reading terrible reviews online, we decided to just stay a little longer in Italy and then fly directly home.  The funny thing about being so far away from

It has been raining for the last few days.  Our gorgeous, generous Spanish sun is hiding somewhere.  And we are cozying up in front of the fireplace.  Learning our Spanish.   Watching movies. Eating sweets that our neighbor Maria made.  Mmmm… Tomorrow we will make the lemon bars and let Maria try some.  We are

So… originally we planned to go to Scotland – since my father in law was from there and because it is gorgeous and culturally rich.  Unfortunately, the housing prices in Edinburgh are incredibly high, so we can’t go to live there, just to visit perhaps.  Instead, we considered other places, from going back to Turkey

Today we were walking around our little town looking for a bicycle pump for our new bike.  There was a couple of cyclists who stopped and tried to pump the air in our tires for close to 20 minutes, sitting on the ground, trying to fix the tires.  A neighbor came by and brought her

Someone was having another great day today

HOLA, DADDY! Last TWO days were fun: I’ve seen a BIG lizard and a TINY white dog.  I love taking baths – today I took one with mom and one with Phillipe.  I’ve tried different foods: hamburger, chicken, green beans, honey, CHEESE.  But I still like NYANYA the most, as you can see from the

With half of my friends living or being from either Russia or Ukraine, I am in the middle of a firestorm related to the recent events in Kiev and Crimea.  I always try to avoid the politics and reserve my judgment, since there are so many unknown factors there that one may never know the

Hi Daddy, Today I had a long walk to the bridge over the freeway and back.  I’ve met an actual grassHOPPER!  It held on firmly to the leaves and would not come down to play.  I still had fun, pushing my stroller downhill many many times.  I also learned to walk on a narrow raised

HOLA DADDY Today was a great day.  I had a lot of fun going shopping with mommy: we went to Spar and to that nice guy who gave me a banana.  We got strawberries and mandarines.  I then ran around the town – there were big trucks everywhere.  The construction guys think I’m amazing and

Dear Daddy, Today went by fast.  I walked around the town only once and seen that dog wearing a sweater again.  I told everyone I’ve met “HOLA” and they smiled and said “HOLA” back to me.  I ran up and down the hill and pushed my stroller which was a lot of fun. I spoke

*Since our daddy is away on a business trip, Jett decided to write a diary about the mundane life of a baby in Southern Spain. Hi, Daddy! Today was a good day.  I woke up around nine, as usual.  Had some mom milk.  Grandma skyped and ended up watching me eating/ waking up.  She can

....beautiful sevilla

For the first time in a long time, my life is perfect.  Usually, it’s pretty damn good but not perfect.  There’s something small that is amiss, something pending, something demanding attention.  But now… everything is just right and great. We are living in a beautiful suburb of Sevilla, in a great house superbly maintained by

  Yesterday we played tourists and finally visited the Bodrum Castle.  Even though cheap me questioned 20 lira ($10) entrance fee, I had to admit that it was a bargain based on the experience we’ve had there.  It was absolutely amazing and magical.  The castle is 600 years old and was used by the crusaders