I spent the day working with Kyle on his basement renovation project. We managed to complete all the remaining framing work and did a provisional layout of the kitchen counters and appliances. I paused en route to his house to enjoy the fall colors which are approaching peak in our area. After working, I met up with my sister Alissa for dinner. She is passing through Boston on her way to California for a work function.

Jeanine has sent me several lovely photos from Belgium and it sounds like she is having a wonderful time. I look forward to her return and will invite her to complete this post with the details of her visit.

Guest Blogger: Jeanine Calabria

Forty years ago Frances Verstraete spent a year living with my family attending my local high school and graduating with the class of 1981.  I spent one month with her family in August of 1984 accompanying them on a car trip to Stockholm from Leuven where I learned how to drive a standard transmission and then spent time with my own Swedish relatives on their farm.  So this visit was long overdue and it was wonderful to see each of her siblings this time. Instead of launching their studies/careers they were retiring and tending grandchildren!   I enjoyed spending time touring Leuven by foot and electric bike and appreciated her taking me to the nearby Flemish historic towns of Bruges (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruges) and Mechlin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechelen).  After my barrage of questions about historic buildings, she invited her sister Benedicte, who is a local guide of the city and former high school history teacher, to accompany us by e-bike .  Most notably, I learned that the city of Leuven is transforming all the old breweries/factories, military barracks and significant historic sites into housing – complete with affordable options for students and refugees.  Major destruction included the French Revolutionists that removed all religious statues and World WW I & II bombing of entire neighborhoods.  The University of Leuven Library was burned down in WW I and US higher education institutes were the major financial backers of the reconstruction. I recognized many universities that family or friends have attend; University of Cincinnati, Union College, Indiana University, and the Middlesex Boarding School (in Concord!) inscribed into the stonework.  I felt proud that my country had assisted with the rebuilding of this amazing structure. The tributes to victims of the Holocaust were sobering as I contemplate today’s rise in violent racist acts.  My favorite part of my week with her family was playing with her new grandson “Fil” and taking our morning walk with Bélan, her 10-year old Vizla rescue hound!  I left inspired by the complete transformation of the transportation system to promote biking over cars and how universal childcare subsidies makes a two-parent-working-family possible.

There are some things one does not expect to see in a grocery store. I think a shopper dressed as a chicken qualifies as one of them. At first, I thought the chicken was part of some kind of promotion. After trailing it for some time, I concluded that it was simply at the store to buy groceries. What I found most entertaining was how other shoppers were not the least bit curious about the chicken and went about their business as if there was nothing unusual about the situation.

After catching up on some work items for one of my clients, I jumped in the car and took off on a three-state road trip. Fall foliage and weather conditions were near perfect although the sky clouded over by late afternoon which diminished the color intensity of many of the photographs. Fall color closer to home should reach its peak this weekend giving Jeanine a chance to enjoy it when she returns from Belgium.

The effects of jet lag caught up with me today and I decided to take it easy. I spent a little time working on the River House and took a break to enjoy the fall color. In a future year, I will use the time-lapse camera I am using now to document construction to capture the entire fall foliage season as seen from our home.

While we were in Turkey, progress on the house continued. The basement walls were waterproofed for a second time; the first application did not have time to cure before rain washed some of it away. Drainage tile was installed around the exterior and interior perimeters of the foundation, the later terminating in a sump pump basin. The initial plan was to connect these loops to each other and to have a sump pump discharge to a location outside the 100 foot river boundary (per stipulations of our natural resources permit), not a very elegant solution. After excavation, however, we discovered that the foundation will be surrounded by clay on three sides and sand on the river side. Clay, I have learned, is almost entirely impermeable which means that three sides of our foundation, if properly graded, should never come into contact with water. The fourth side will naturally drain through the sand into the river. Due to these conditions, we have decided that it will not be necessary to install a sump pump at all. The exterior loop will drain any water that makes its way past the clay down to the river side where it will filter through the sand and down to the river. This is a very ideal passive drainage system. There is, however, one scenario we needed to plan for. During a severe flooding event, should the river rise above the level of the basement floor, it will pass through the sand in the other direction and start to exert hydraulic pressure on the slab which, at some point, could cause it to buckle. In this case, water will enter the interior drainage loop and come up through the sump basin which will serve as a pressure relief valve. This will protect the slab at the expense of letting water into the basement. This may seem counter intuitive, but repairing water damage is far easier than repairing a failed foundation slab. Should the river ever reach this level, which is 22 inches above the 100-year floodplain, we will use a high capacity gas powered pump (20,000 GPH) to evacuate the sump basin. This should buy us another several inches, possibly a foot of margin. Hopefully, we will never have to find out how much. In a time of global climate change, however, it only makes sense to plan for more severe flooding events. Also completed while we were away was the installation and compacting of the Glavel base on which the 6″ basement slap will be poured. This morning I visited the site and insulated any remaining gaps in the ICF while excavation for the garage foundation was completed.

The Golden Boot is awarded to the top goal scorer in the World Cup. Nico officially scored 8 goals in 7 games. Had his first goal against Indonesia not been ruled an own goal (his shot deflected off an opponent before going in), he would have shared this year’s award. Nonetheless, he had an outstanding tournament by any measure and is universally regarded as one of the top players in the world today. There are several professional amputee soccer leagues in Europe and Nico is thinking about using the remainder of his leave of absence from teaching to play professional soccer abroad.

The USA faced perennial rival Mexico in its final match. We most recently lost to Mexico in the World Cup Qualifying tournament. That was not the case today as we scored the game’s only goal in the final 10 seconds of the match. The kids and I watched the live stream from the Brussels Airport while waiting for our return flight connections. It would be hard to script a more dramatic ending to the World Cup for Team USA which finished in 15th place. Had either of the tied matches gone our way in overtime, the outcome would have been very different. In my opinion, the US now has a starting team that can compete with the best in the world. We will need a deeper bench, however, to place higher in a World Cup tournament where teams play 7 matches over 9 days and where so many outcomes are determined in overtime.

Our trip to Turkey proved to be a wonderful wedding anniversary celebration, a thrilling World Cup tournament, and a family vacation that will be remembered forever.

All the mosques in Istanbul are very beautiful. The Süleymaniye Mosque, however, is the most lovely to my eye. Although I already photographed it from the river side, I decided to capture it from the opposite side this morning at sunrise.

In his match against Poland this afternoon, Nicolai scored his eighth goal of this World Cup. It tied the score at 1-1 before the half. In the second half, the coaches gave our backup goalie a chance to play. While he made some amazing saves, he also committed a pair of rookie mistakes at the expense of two easy Polish goals. The entire team is rather banged up and bone tired with one more match to go on Sunday. Tomorrow they will have a much needed day off. Although he has seen little of Istanbul, Nico just wants to rest and take it easy.

Jeanine and Maya took a Turkish cooking class while Kyle worked from the hotel and did some solo touring. Alissa left for her return to the states. All watched the live stream while I attended the match in my capacity as the sports action photographer. Here are links to all of the media that is currently available.

USA vs England Photos

USA vs Argentina Photos

USA vs Indonesia Photos

USA vs Haiti Photos

USA vs Japan Photos

USA vs Poland Photos

USA vs England Highlights

USA vs Argentina Highlights

USA vs Indonesia Highlights

USA vs Haiti Highlights

USA vs Japan Highlights

USA vs Argentina Video

USA vs Haiti Video

USA vs Japan Video

USA vs Poland Video

USA vs Mexico Video

Finally, here is a link to a nice article about US Amputee Soccer.

The USA faced Japan today and once again came from behind to tie forcing the match into overtime. Japan scored within the first minute and again in the eleventh putting the US in a dire situation. Nicolai scored to bring the game back into reach and Japan responded with a third first-half goal. Things looked bleak at half-time with a 3-1 deficit to overcome but the team battled back. Nico had an assist and the match equalizing goal to force overtime despite the fact that he was often double or triple marked by Japan whenever he was within striking range. Unfortunately, Japan scored once more handing us our second overtime loss in as many days. Nicolai and most of the team is pretty beat up and their match against Poland, third ranked in Europe, tomorrow will not be an easy one.

Each day we spend about an hour and a half traveling from the heart of Istanbul to the Turkey Football Federation Training Grounds where most of the World Cup matches are being held. The trip involves a combination of metro trains and a taxi van ride. On the metro today, I took this picture of brother and sister sitting side by side and realized I was doing the same with my sister. It has been great having her join us on this trip to share in Nicolai’s exploits, support team USA, and enjoy Turkey together with our family.

We returned from today’s game in time for some golden hour photography and I chose the ancient Yeni Cami Mosque as my subject for the evening.

The Turkish Museum of Archeology was our first stop this morning. Once again, Kyle had to work so it was just Jeanine, Maya, and my sister Alissa who made the visit. We could have stayed for much longer but had to make our way to Riva where all preliminary games are being played. We hop the metro and take it to the other side of the Bosphorus (usually about 15 minutes depending on the snafu of the day) where we pick up a taxi van to complete the 45 minute remainder of the journey.

The game was a nail-biter. Haiti scored first with a lovely flick on goal. The US responded when Nico buried a penalty kick near the end of the first half. Haiti opened the second half with another fine goal. Once again, the US battled back and found a way to put the ball in the net to equalize with only seconds left in the match sending it into overtime. Overtime consists of two ten minute halves which is a lot after a full match. Haiti scored first putting pressure on the US to find another goal. We pushed our team forward to press the attack but left ourselves exposed to the quick counter attacks Haiti is known for. Once they had a two goal lead in the overtime period the game was out of reach and for every attempt we made at scoring, Haiti countered with another goal of their own. Although we tied in regulation time, Haiti scored 4 unanswered goals in the overtime period and thus eliminated any chance the US had for a place in the top eight standings. Although the team left the pitch feeling dejected, they played a hell of a match, left everything they had on the field, and showed a ton of grit down to the final seconds. Haiti was the stronger team today and deserved the win. The US played with great composure and intensity and can be very proud of their effort.

Today, all teams have been given a day off before the elimination rounds commence. I was up with the sun and down to the Galata Bridge where I launched my drone for some nice views of the Süleymaniye Mosque, which is one of the most impressive buildings we have seen so far. After breakfast, I joined Jeanine and Maya for a tour of the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar. Jeanine purchased several spices and Maya, a lamp. Kyle had to work and stayed behind at the hotel.

In the afternoon, we rendezvoused with the team for a 5-hour cruise on the Golden Horn and Bosphorus River. It was a most relaxing experience providing excellent views of the famous palaces, mosques, and exclusive homes which line the water’s edge. We anchored for about 30 minutes during which most members of the team enjoyed high diving from the boat’s top deck into the chilly water which separates Europe from Asia.

With a 5-0 win over Indonesia this afternoon, the USA advances to the knock-out round of the World Cup and will face Haiti on Wednesday. Nicolai scored 4 goals and had 1 assist. One of his goals was ruled an own goal but if you watch the video, there is little doubt that Nico’s shot was what created the goal. Haiti defeated the USA 6-0 in our last international friendly but we were playing without our full squad. During the World Cup Qualifier’s we defeated them by a one goal margin so it should be a very competitive match.

Nico emerged from the day’s match with an assortment of painful looking injuries. Whether they were inflicted intentionally or not, the result is a reminder of how rough this sport can be.

Earlier in the day Jeanine, Kyle, Maya, Alissa and I toured the Topkapi Palace Museum. I was blown away by the clock collection where we saw some incredible mechanisms that would be marvels by today’s standards. We learned that some of the clocks represented an entire lifetime of work for the maker. The weapons exhibit was also quite interesting and we had to send in a retrieval party to extricate Kyle. The Imperial Harem  contained more than 400 rooms and was home to the sultan’s mother; several hundred concubines and the four wives of the sultan; and the rest of his family, including children; and their servants. The men touring this exhibit seemed to agree that it was a pretty nice arrangement, an opinion not shared by the women.

Pictured above is the main greeting area within the Harem. The Sultan would have welcomed friends and guests here surrounded by his wives, children, and concubines. Formal state visits would have taken place in the Audience Chamber located in the Third Courtyard.

I set out for the Hagia Sophia this morning before dawn so that I could position myself for a good photograph at sunrise. Drones are not permitted within the tourist complex’s cordoned-off grounds but are allowed outside. Skies were overcast which made for a slightly muted shadow-free scene. I am really pleased with the result. I then toured the interior of the mosque which was equally beautiful.

By the time I returned to our hotel it was time to wake Kyle and Maya who arrived late last night. After breakfast, we left to watch the USA vs Argentina match. Nicolai scored a thunderous goal early in the game and immediately ran to the sidelines to embrace his siblings. Unfortunately, Argentina battled back with three unanswered goals. Torrential rain preceded the game and continued through the opening minutes leaving the field incredibly slick. Limited crutch traction put a real damper on the US athletic style of play and favored the Argentinian short pass game.

After the match, we returned to Istanbul and toured the Blue Mosque, the Mausoleum of Sultan Ahmet, and the Basilica Cisterns.

Even though many areas are currently under renovation, the Blue Mosque is still an amazingly beautiful example of Ottoman-era architecture. For the shot, I launched my drone from the rooftop terrace of the nearby Sirkeci Mansion where we are staying while in Istanbul.

The primary reason for our visit to Istanbul is to watch Nico compete for team USA in the Amputee World Cup. In our opening match, we faced England, second place finisher in the European championships and a highly regarded side. Cheered on by a small but highly vocal contingent of US supporters, the US managed to better the English squad with a 1-0 result. Nicolai had the assist for the winning goal and just missed what would have been a very pretty goal using a reverse flick (the equivalent of a bicycle kick in amputee soccer,

When the match ended the team’s exuberance was borderline hysterical. The win demonstrated that the US has graduated to a premier level of play. Although our roster is not deep, we have strength in every position. We play Argentina tomorrow and based on how they dismantled Indonesia, I would say we have a very tough match on our hands.