Turkey

Mom: "Cadie, do you remember that Mommy is going on a trip? Where am I going?"
Cadie (thinking very hard): "To Ham!"
Mommy (laughing out loud): "Close baby. I am going to Turkey."
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I just returned from a country named after lunch meat and I had a wonderful time. It was hard to be away from my babies, but the trip was great personally and professionally. I was gone March 26 - April 2 in Istanbul and I stayed at the Polat Renaissance Hotel. The conference that I helped organize was a huge success and included leadership from all over the world. I prepared for the meetings on Monday, we were in session Tuesday through Friday and then on Saturday I was able to go with a group of 9 colleagues on a site-seeing tour.

Istanbul is an amazing city and I got the chance to see the Byzantine Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, St. Sophia, the Spice Market and the Grand Bazaar. I went on a dinner cruise on Friday night on the Bosphorus. We passed under the bridges that separate Europe from Asia and saw the beautiful summer palaces of the Ottoman Empire. I also ate incredible food at Beyti Restaurant, The Suada Club, Fener, and Marmara.

This is the beautiful view from the hotel of the Bosphorus. It was always filled with boats. Eating salt fish at Fener. The fish is cooked in a pack of salt and is delicious!

Our group on the dinner cruise. Ram Balasubramanian, Martha Roos, Adrianne Wright, Ellen Linden, Jaime Montemayor, Annette Couch, Nancy Bittner, me, Randy Sloan.

I did not wean the baby before I left which meant pumping 4 times a day throughout my trip. It was complicated but worth the trouble. I brought home 150 oz. of milk and only had one small milk bag break. I put Jack Ranger's picture outside the cooler filled with milk so that if my bag got searched they would understand. A HUGE thank you to Bunny Mitchell for letting me borrow so much gear and for giving me all the tips and tricks that a nursing mom needs to travel Internationally.