Walking around Istanbul was interesting, we didn’t blend in as we usually do in western Europe. But we felt very comfortable and welcome, very safe too. Our next stop was the Grand Bazaar, it was huge with lots of gold, leather, and carpet shops. The shopkeepers would say: “Hey, lady” “Yes, please” or “It’s my turn.” I learned to make eye contact with no one and to just keep walking. I was amazed at how well the shop keepers spoke English.

 We went back to our hotel to meet our tour group at 5:00. Our group seemed to be a nice mix of people. We met our guide Meli and learned the rules of being part of a tour group. Next Meli took us to the Hippodrome and explained the ancient oblesk form Egypt. Then we went to the Blue Mosque, which dates to the 1400’s. Our group had dinner together near the Blue Mosque.

 Sunday, May 27

We had our first Turkish breakfast today. There were rolls, bread, yogurt, olives, tomatoes, and cheese. It was delicious. Our first stop today was the ancient cistern which was really neat with all of its marble pillars. We also got to see the upside down head of the medusa. Our next stop was the museum of Islam. For lunch we went to the Pudding Shop, my beverage was Ayran which Meli had told us would keep us healthy, it is a salty yogurt drink.  Next we went to the Ayasofya which was built in the 5^th Century as a Christian Church and later converted to a mosque. The Christian art and icons were basically left intact, an altar alligned with Mecca was added along with shields with Islamic writing. We went to Topkapi Palace and then were given time on our own before meeting with the group again for dinner. We ate dinner in an area near the sea with a  lot of restaurants selling fish dishes. Neil and some of the others tried roke, and anise flavored liquor mixed with a little water. it tasted a lot like Nyquil. Some gypsy musicians stopped in the restaurant and Meli danced along with some of our group members.

Monday, May 28

I awoke to the call to prayer at 4:30 AM, later in the day we heard another call to prayer; it’s amazing how in a city of 15 million you can hear the call to prayer almost everywhere. Our first stop of the day was the Grand Bazaar, we got there just as the shops were beginning to open. Shopkeepers were washing the floors in front of their shops and men were bringing tea to the shopkeepers. Neil and I looked around at the different shop windows. We tried to ignore most of the leather salesmen and rug hawkers. I ended up buying a Byzantine ring with rubies and emeralds. Back on the bus we all showed each other our purchases.

We went to the Chora Church with its beautiful Byzantine mosaics. Some Americans at the church recognized Meli and asked if we were part of a Rick Steve’s tour. She invited them to listen to her explanations. Next we went to Taxim, the modern downtown area of Istanbul. We had a few hours on our own to shop and have lunch. Neil and I walked through a fish market and bought some Turksh delight at another market that we shared with the group. It was rose flavored and really good. For lunch we had Doner kebap and a deset called propheter which was lady fingers with a deep chocolate pudding on top. We met back up with the group to go to the spice bazaar, we bought saffron, cardamom, and sumak. Neil and David were sprayed with musk ox oil, which ended up being more of a deterrent than pheromone to draw the women in.

The group met on dock for a cruise of the Bosphorus, we made a short stop on the Asian side. Looking at the city from the river gave it a whole new perspective. We went to dinner after the

bosphorus cruise. We had a rice and eggplant dish, then beef, and chicken pudding for dessert. the pudding was sweet with small pieces of chicken in it. Our night train to Ankara left Istanbul at 10:30 . The comparments we had were really nice with 2 bunks, a small refrigerator. We had some wine with Amy, Becky, Alicia, and Pat.

Tuesday, May 29

The train got into Ankara around 8:15 , Metten met us with the bus and Zilly (Meli’s dog). Our first stop was the Anatolian Civilization Museum which is housed in an ancient caravan serai. Neil and I walked to the market and bought some apricots and pistachios. For lunch, the group had Iskender kebap which is beef  with tomato sauce and butter on a grilled sliced pita. Yum!

We went to Ataturk’s mausoleum. Ataturk means “father of the Turks.” He brought about amazing changes in Turkey before he died in 1938. The Turks have a wonderful love for Ataturk and their country.

Wednesday, May 30

We arrived in Cappadocia in the dark last night, so we didn’t see the spectacular scenery around us. Our first stop was at some fairy chimneys which we got to explore along with a small market. Some purchases were made and camels ridden. Next we went to the open air museum at Aelve, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The carved out rocks once housed 1500 people. We explored some of the caves during our free time. We went to the Ottoman Hotel in Goreme for lunch. We had lentil soup, stuffed green pepper, and chicken in a tomato base. Dessert was a delicious apricot walnut tart on whipped cream. The hotel had a really neat “Harem Bar” which had pillows on the floor and weavings hanging from the walls and ceiling. After lunch, we visited a local woman, Fatema, who libes in a carved out house in the rock. Fatema served us tea and cake and answered our questions. We went to another open air museum that housed a monastery with numerous chapels hollowed out of the rock. Next, we went to the Turkish carpet weaving demonstration at the state run carpet shop. The girls study there for one year. The girls make $180 per month and higher depending on their skill. We saw them weaving carpets, how the silk is extracted from the worms, and the dye process. We saw wool on cotton, wool on wool, and silk on silk carpets. The salesroom is quite a production with rugs flying and being unrolled before your eyes. The silk rugs were really works of art. Neil and I looked at more rugs with a saleswoman but didn’t see anything we couldn’t live without. Several people in our group bought rugs.

Thursday, May 31

Our first stop of the day was at a pottery demonstration at Chez Galip in Avanos. He made a teapot and 2 other vessels on his potter’s wheel. He is a true craftsman and is a representative in pottery to the Turkish Cultural Ministry. We were shown beautiful museum reproductions of 16^th Century pottery made by Galip and painted by Fatema, who just happens to be Fatema’s daughter in law from Goreme. Neil and I bought a beautiful plate in a cobalt blue floral pattern. Next we went to a kilim ship, where we met Galip’s mother. She showed us how the wool is combed and cleaned. Kilims are flat woven carpets with no pile. Several kilims were purchased by our group, Neil and I actually bought a Turkish carpet at the kilim shop. We saw schoolchildren heading home from school. They were very friendly and liked to have their picture taken.

Our next stop was the underground city at Kaymakli, which was used by Christians to hide from persecutors until the 11^th Century. The original caves date back to 1800 BC and were used to house animals and to store supplies. We traveled to Belisirma, which is the poorest village in the area to visit a local home. The women welcomed us with tea and cookies. They were helped by 2 young boys who had the happiest faces. Two younger boys and a girl came later, it was fun to visit with them and the women. The boys had fun looking at their pictures in several of the group members digital cameras. It was interesting to hear the women say they liked President Clinton better than President Bush, even though they are in a poor rural village, they still know a lot about world politics, perhaps more than many Americans. Tonight we are staying at the Otel Karballa in Guzelyurt. We walked around the village this evening, it was neat to see children playing soccer, cows walking themselves home, the men gathering at tables in the town square, and the donkeys around town. There was a real feeling of community.

Friday

We went to the home of a local family for breakfast. He is the town busdriver and makes approximately $150/month. Their home was very comfortable and had arched ceilings which are typical of the region. Everything but the bread was produced by the family’s animals or garden – butter, honey, eggs, tomatoes, and cheese were all homemade. Next we hiked to a spot overlooking the houses carved into the rock. We sat and listened to the sounds, chickens, roosters, people, donkeys and cows. Meli said that in 2 years no one would be living there since the government would make them move for safety reasons. The homes in the rock that people have lived in for hundreds of years would be condemned. We stopped at an old church in the rock and sang a  few songs. Then we went to the “Christian Mosque” in Guzelyurt and met with the Imam. We asked him questions and found out that his salary is paid by the state. We had lunch at the hotel before driving to Konya , which is a very conservative city. We stopped at an ancient caravan serai at Sultanhanai. We went intot he huge structure that was used as the stable area for the animals, it looked a lot like the traditional church layout. Meli explained that Christians used designs from the caravan serai in their churches. We drove on and had a bonus stop at another caravan serai which was pretty much in ruins. We walked through and saw how they recycled marble and pieces of stone from other structures. The view from the far end of the serai was of a beautiful blue lake with calcified cliffs. Becky wanted to swim in it, but was persuaded otherwise. Once we reached Konya , we could tell it was a more conservative city by the dress that some of the women were wearing. they covered their heads with a scarf and wore dresses that were more like long coats. We stayed at the Otel Sifa and had dinner across the street at their restaurant. We had delicious beef kebaps. We heard Konya was a dry town, but Neil had read about a store selling beer in the Lonely Planet. A group of us set out to find beer and an internet café. Neil led us to the beer shop, as we turned the corner we saw an Efes Pilsen sign abobe a door – we figured we were in the right place. A man stepped out of the shop and said “Can I help you,” Amy at the lead of the group said “I don’t know.” He said “if you want beer, I can help!” He had a small storefront with an old fashioned cooler with a slide door on the top and there were lots of plastic cases stacked. We bought beer in tin cans for 70 cents each. Amy, Becky, and Megan received lots of stares and attention in their tank tops and shorts/skirts. Back at the hotel we played gin rummy with Pat, Amy, Becky, Chadd and Ebru.

Saturday

Neil and I had breakfast on the terrace at the hotel. We walked to the shopping area, which were geared toward locals. so we didn’t see much to buy. As we walked past a pharmacy or “eczane” in Turkish, a man said “Hallo” so we decided to go inside. We are both pharmacists so we like to visit pharmacies when abroad to see the similarities and differences.  The young man was very nice and showed us the various drugs and let us look at the boxes. He didn’t speak English, so we conversed in our limited German. We saw Norvasc, Monopril, Cipro, Cardura, Cleocin, Vioxx, Lodine, and Claritin. The brands are all imported but the Turkish government and pharmaceutical industry also manufactures the compounds. We bought loratidine (Claritin) and omeprazole (Prilosec) for $7, this would have been over $100 in the US . We met the group back at the hotel and went to a mosque where Meli taught us about Mevlana and his teachings. At the mosque we taked with 2 fundamentalist girls who were wearing the scarves and cloaks, they call it being “closed.” We asked them questions and how they decided to become closed. The one said she woudn’t become a teacher, because the state would require here to remove her scarf. She was studying math and would work in private industry instead. Next we went to Mevlana’s tomb, it was beautiful with Arabic writing in gold on a blue background. There were also old carpets. It was a very busy place.

We drove toward Antalya over the Tauras mountains. It took about 6 hours. On the way we saw several shepherds and their flocks of goats. We stopped to take pictyres. There were hundreds of goats and one huge gray one, the shephard said he was the husband of all the others. We had a bonus stop at the ancient city of Perge before we reached Antalya . The ruins were excellent, we could see mosaics on the floor of the agora. We could also see the ruins of an aquaduct coming down from the mountain and an ancient coloseum. There were giant arches and a colonaded strret. It was excellent! Our pension in Antalya is more of a Rick Steve’s back door style. The penison has a beautifyl inner courtyard with vines, a well, tables and chairs scattered about, and a resident tabby cat along with several turtles. Half of the group went to the Haram tonight and the other half will go to the bath tomorrow. Neil and I went to dinner with Rod, Toy, and Speck along the harbor. Some fireworks went off over the harbor to celebrate the local soccer teams victory.

Sunday

We fed the pensions turtles some cucumber at breakfast. Today was our fun day on the boat cruising the mediterranean coastline, it was very hot 38C so we were happy to be spending the day at sea. We jumped off the boat and swam in the blue water. We stopped at about 4 different places during our cruise. Twice when we anchored, men came up in dinghies to sell us ice cream bars. Our group had developed a real taste for Magnum bars on the trip. At one of the stops, a few of us went with Meli to the ancient city of Olympus . We saw a great entry way. We departed our coast tour at the ancient city of          . It was neat to see the ancient streets and columns. There were also remnants of an aqueduct.

Chadd took the second half of the group to the Turkish bath tonight. This is what happens in the ladies bath, first you strip and they give you a towel. Next, you pour water on yourself out of the marble basins that faucets on the wall fill. The room is very hot so the cool water feels great. When it is your turn, the lady calls you to the large rectangular raised area. She scrubs you with a loufah which sloughs the dead skin cells and turns them into “tootstie rolls” as Meli described them. She rinses you a little and then you go back to your basin. Next the soap lady scrubs you which feels great. She massages you a bit too. Again, you go back to your basin to rinse more. The final step is the hair washing, the ladies shampooed and massaged your hair and scalp. Finally, we were given towels again to cover with and were led back to the locker area. We were given rose tea which tasted good. We felt very clean and relaxed when we left the bath. Neil and I went to an internet café close to the bath to send some email. We eventually ate dinner around 10:00PM . We ate at a small outdoor restaurant, our chicken kebaps were excellent. I had fresh squeezed orange juice and Neil an Efes Pilsen. The entire dinner was a little over $5,

Monday

We left Antayla enroute to Pumakkale. We stopped at a nomadic tent. The family has about 200 goats that they tend. We were given tea and a tortilla like bread filled with feta cheese. For lunch, we stopped at a restaurant that specializes in mushrooms, which they grow in a cave. All of our courses were mushrooms prepared in different ways. The dessert mushrooms were flavored with clove and honey. The weather was really hot so were glad to get to our hotel in Pummakkale which had a swimming pool. We stopped at the Necropolis or city of the dead, then we went to Hierapolis , an ancient city. Our next stop was the mineral pool at Hierapolis , we got to swim in the warm pool among ancient columns and ruins and the water had a little fizz to it. We took the path down the travertines back to town. You had to go barefoot which was painful at times. The water cascading down the travertines is from the mineral spring and when it cools it calcifies and turns the cliffs white. We met the group around the hotel pool. We celebrated Rod and Toy’s anniversary with a glass of wine. Dinner was a buffer at the hotel, it was Meli’s birthday so we had a belly dancer stop by dinner. Meli joined in the dancing, she looked like she had been a belly dancer before a tour guide. We also had a birthday cake to celebrate her 53^rd birthday. Neil and I drank wine with the 4 engineers (Becky, Amy, Alicia, and Pat). Rod, Toy, Jayne, and Karen came back from the internet café feeling no pain.

Tuesday

We passed the Meander River and through its valley after leaving Pumakkale. For lunch, we had grilled spicey sausage to start, then grilled vegatables, and grilled meat. We also go Auran with our meal. We stopped at Didyma, the most complete ancient temple. The pillars were carved beautifully and we saw some faces of Medusa too. Many of us got Magnum bars, I had my first Cherry Magnum – delicious. Next we stopped at Miletus , an excellent example of an amphitheather. It was neat to walk through the corridors and to seee the carved lions feet at the ends of the rows. Next we headed to Kusadasi and to Meli’s house. Meli served us all wine, she it was more appropriate for our group than tea. She also served us a chocolate roll dessert. We all enjoyed the visit to Meli’s house, she has it decorated beautifully in 17^th and 18^th Century Ottoman pieces. We all will remember the beautiful stonework too. We checked into the Hotel Barbados which is near Ladies Beach in Kusadasi. We met Amy, Becky, Pat and Alicia in the lobby to take a dolmus (mini bus) to the shopping area of Kusadasi near the caravan serai.

Wednesday June 6

Our first stop was the museum of Ephesus . We saw statues of Artemus and Prius who is a symbol of fertility. We stopped at the Virgin Mary’s House, she is believed to have spent the final years of her life here. Jayne had her first Magnum bar and said it was better than the first time she had sex. Our tour of Ephesus started at the Upper City , the excavations were amazing. We saw ancient temples, remains of the hospital, a carving of Nike, the public toilets, and colonaded streets. We also went to the excavations of the houses. It was neat to see the frescoes on the walls. Only about 12 percent of the city is excavated. We all stopped for a Magnum bar before seeing the spectacular library. it was the third largest library at its time. We next went to the theater which sat 24000. On our way out, we bought Meli’s book on Ephesus , which she later signed for us. We had dinner at the hotel’s buffet before our final farewell meeting. We all received a postcard with the Turkish flag and an award on the back. Neil received the Midnight Express Drug Runner Award for his excellent dispensing of pharmaceuticals and I received the Confused Consumer Award for purchasing a carpet in a kilim shop. We bid farewell to Jayne tonight since she is the only tour member not going to Samos .

Thursday June 7

We said our farewells to Meli and Chadd at the ferry dock at Kusadasi. We arrived in Samos and got a Greek stamp in our passports at customs. We checked into the Hotel Samos and got a waterfront room. Neil and I walked around Samos Town and ate a real Greek gyro at a small counter restaurant. We took the bus to Pythagorio, which is a smaller and more quaint village than Samos Town . We took the bus back to Samos town and laid by the hotel’s pool. Toy and I went jewelry shopping, but didn’t buy anythign. Neil and Rod were waiting  for us at the hotel

s terrace along with a beer. Other members of our group were there too. Neil and I went to Restaurant Dias for dinner, the house white wine was good. Neil had lamb chops and I had chicken souvlaki and a Greek salad, total for dinner was 8500Dr. Back at the hotel we said farewell to our group members.

Friday June 8^th

We shared a cab with John to the Samos Airport . It took about 20 minutes to get there and cost 4500 Dr. Our flight to Athens was smooth, we bid farewell to John, Karen, Ed and Gayle at the airport. Neil and I flew on to Santorini, our prearranged taxi was waiting for us, The fare was a flat 5000Dr to Oia. Our driver drove fast down the narrow winding road. We tailgated some scooters, which made Neil and I decide not to rent scooters on Santorini or a car! A man from Esperas met us in the lot where the taxi dropped us off. He carried our bags and led us through the winding walks and stairs to Esperas. Yvonne showed us our room which was really nice with a great view of the Aegean . Neil and I walked around Oia to look around and have lunch. The town had a lot of nice shops, especially jewelry shops. We ate lunch at the Blue Sky Taverna. I had pork souvlaka and Neil had fried cheese along with lamb with pasta. We went back to Esperas to swim in the pool. The view overlooking the sea from the pool was spectacular. We watched the sunset from our terrace, it was a gorgeous red. The sky was reddish-orange for at least half an hour after sunset. We went to a Taverna in Oia for dinner, we both had shrimp which were good.

Sunday

Neil and I slept in for the first time in 2 weeks! I tried yoghurt with honey at breakfast, it was good. We walked the stairs down to the port below us, Amoudi Beach . There were several tavernas there, we walked along the rugged coastline until the path ended. We had hoped the trail would connect us with Armeni Beach , but it just ended. We climbed back up to Esperas, what a work out that was! We had planned to take the bus to Fira town, but instead I shopped in Oia and bought a Hellenistic style ring at Ona Jewelry shop. Neil and I had lunch at Thomas Restaurant , which was recommended by our hotel. We had Greek salad, fried cheese, and garlic dip. We relaxed by the pool since it was hot. We met an American woman who lives in Virgin Gorda, BVI at the pool, she recommended the yellow restaurant at Amoudi Beach . I wasn’t relishing the idea of hiking down and up the stairs again! An Englishman, John, offered to drive us down when he and his wife went for dinner. We drove with them and ate at the Amoudi Taverna. Neil had goldenfish and I had snapper which was delicious, we also had the house wine, fries and a Greek salad for 12000Dr. We drove back up to Oia to watch the sunset. Neil took lots of pictures, we also went to the castle ruins and saw a cute little cat that reminded me a little of Winkelfritz. The staff of Esperas left us somebread, jam, meat, cheese, coffee, juice and hard boiled eggs in our room since we would be leaving very early to catch our flight to Athens .

Sunday, June 10

We got up at 4:30 to get ready, the baggage man from Esperas carried our bags and walked us to the parking lot to get our taxi to the airport. We took the Express Bus to Syntagma Square , it cost 1000 Dr each and took 45 minutes, but traffic was light since it was Sunday morning. Neil and I checked into the Electra Palace at 9:30 . We walked back to Syntagma Square to watch the changing of the guard in front of the Parliament. We took the metro to the Acropolis, the metro was really nice, brand new and sparkling clean. The Acropolis was already busy by 10:30 , we purchased our tickets for 2000 Dr each and looked around. It was really neat, we found a few shady spots to get out of the heat. Neil and I walked down through the gardens toward the Agora to the Plaka. We had lunch and I looked at jewelry shops. I ended up getting two gold chains for $110. We went back to the hotel to cool off by the pool. We walked around the Plaka some more and looked for a restaurant for dinner. We stopped by Hotel Adrian were Rod, Toy, and Speck were to stay and left a note about dinner plans. Unfortunately, when we went back at 8:30 to meet them, they still hadn’t checked in. Neil and I decided to do dinner on our own since it didn’t look like meeting the others was going to work out. We went to Minisikleous Street to find a taverna for dinner. We ate at Taverna Kritikou, the stuffed grape leaves were good, but my chicken souvlaki was nothing special. Neil and I shared a Greek salad, bottle of wine, and Neil had pork souvlaki – the bill came to 15000 Dr, our most expensive meal but certainly not the best. The restaurant had live Greek dancers which were very nice and the rooftop garden had a view of the Acropolis.

Monday June 11th