Disoriented!

It's Sunday and we've been up for way too many hours because our bodies don't know what time it is. Then midday I made the mistake of sitting down to watch the Indy 500 for a minute and woke up about 90 minutes later, foggy and unable to identify where I was.

I am disoriented! And in more ways than one. Here are the top ways I'm muddled:

1) I have to consciously make myself put the used toilet paper in the toilet. (As the person who empties the bathroom trashcans -- I am happy to relearn this one!)

2) I have to remember that I like tea black. My impulse now is to add lots of sugar. I really did love the Turkish tea custom.

3) I have to remember that most people around me speak English. I went grocery shopping this morning and kept wanting to say "Kalimera" to everyone.

The 32 Hour Day

[caption id="attachment_103" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Jan, Kim and the man on guard"][/caption]

We are home! I am so glad we cleaned the house before we left. We are complete noodles! Below is a post I wrote hours ago on the plane from Rome to Chicago. I thought I would make sense of it before publishing; but honestly -- I have no brain power left.  We just got a call from the airport -- good news. Jan's bag arrived. They are bringing it by taxi. We won't last till it gets here, but they understand and will leave it on the stoop. We'll post pictures tomorrow!

Today is our 17^th anniversary. It will be the longest day Jan and I have ever spent together. And I mean that literally. It will last for 32 hours; about 23 of them in daylight.

We have three hours to go on the leg of our trip that is the flight from Rome to Chicago. We left our hotel at 6:10am. We've been traveling for 14 hours and it's now 12:10pm CST. On this flight alone they have already fed us a snack, a meal and a snack. I think we still get another meal. Time is very weird. Because we are traveling with the sun, all the food has essentially been lunch. We have seen Marley and Me (made me cry), Get Smart (made me laugh) and three TV shows, in addition to repeatedly watching the video of where the plane is, where the daylight is, what the time is everywhere, etc in English and Italian. They asked for a doctor over the loud speaker right about when we got to Canada. It must not be too serious – we haven't been detoured anywhere as far as we can tell. We have about 7.5 hours until we get home.

I feel so out of it. I wonder what our garden looks like at this point. Have we missed the lilacs? Or are they in full bloom? How is our dog and will she want to come home? (Thanks Peggy!) And how is our cat? How mad is she and how long will it take us to catch her and get her back in the cat carrier? (Thanks Jill and Mike!)

In order to have something to ease reentry after such a great adventure, I am making a list of what I am looking forward to:

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  Celebrate my anniversary alone with my honey. 'Nuf said.

  
  

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  See the kids and grandkids. It's been too long.

  
  

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  Communication and conversation with all of you! We have been surrounded by people talking on cell phones for the past three weeks: Greeks and Turks like their cell phones! It's been strange to be in the midst of the technology and not be able to use it. And regular internet access will be wonderful. Thanks to all of you who sent us notes. Our internet access was sparse – so getting the blogs posted was most of what we could do. I look forward to conversations!

  
  

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  I am ready to cook and eat a home-cooked meal! Three weeks of eating in restaurants is more than enough. We have walked and walked almost every day of our trip. Jan seems to have lost weight with the combination of restaurant food and walking. That didn't work as well for me.

  
  

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  Golf!!!! I know all my friends are getting into mid-season form. I am going to have to get it together quickly. I'll be losing a lot of quarters in the meantime.

  
  

The Last Supper

This is our last night of vacation and we are listening to a street band out in the plaza through our open window. Three weeks is a long time. It already feels like a lifetime ago that we were in Istanbul. We decided not to cram a lot more into the last day, and that was a wise decision.

We got up early this morning with the intent of visiting the Acropolis again. It wasn't open when we got there at 7:10 or so, so we decided to explore the hills around it. We climbed the Hill of the Muses; which seemed to be the highest spot in Athens. We could see the entire city of Athens from there, including the southwest side of the Acropolis – an entirely different view. And it helped us coin the new name for this vacation: the trip of ten thousand steps (which I think is a huge underestimate). The top of the hill has a funeral stone for Filopapou, a royal from Syria who was a patron of Athens. We also saw Socrates' prison cell and a beautiful little church, and were glad we made the trip. We went back to the Acropolis at 7:50; and waited for 10 minutes; only to find out that our ticket was no longer any good. Oh well, it was a lovely walk and we had already seen the Acropolis anew.

After breakfast we found a street cafe that had free wi-fi. We got coffees and milked our time for all it was worth. We lounged in their cushioned chairs for almost three hours. I read, Jan loaded pictures and Jim checked his email.

Did I tell you about the frappes here? They are all the rage and I have become addicted. They whip instant coffee, milk and sugar with ice. It is wonderful on a hot day. And it had been hot here. I'll definitely be making these at home.

Jan and I did some more shopping today. The highlight was a jewelry store run by father and his daughter. The father was the third generation of metal workers. His daughter was working with beads and leather, but had not yet learned to mold metal. They were delightful. We then meandered around the Plaka (old town). At ten till the hour we realized we were a block away from the tomb of the unknown soldier and decided we wanted to see the elite guard get it right this time (after one fell two days ago). Our same two soldiers and their tassel man were there. They successfully completed the exchange today; except that one of them kicked with the wrong foot as they started marching away. (I can't even describe how they march. It looks like a combination of River Dance and the long jump.) I was glad that no one fell today.

We sat on the roof of our hotel looking at the Acropolis for a few hours and then got organized to go out for our last supper. We went back to the neighborhood we were in last night on the slopes of the Northeast side of the Acropolis. It was a perfect finale. Greek salad, broad beans in tomato sauce, spanikopita, zucchini balls, bread, lamb stew and fried snapper. For dessert, they gave us the best baklava we've had on our trip – full of whole cloves and wonderfully spicy.

We wandered around a little more, reluctant to return to the hotel. But here we are. We are all packing and each trying to trick someone else into carrying some of the extra weight we've picked up. Jim and Pat have a 5am flight and thus are being picked up by the taxi at 2:30am. Our flight is not until 9am, so we can easily walk to Syntagma Square to catch a 6:30am bus to the airport. Heading west is so odd. We'll get home at 6:30pm after traveling for 20 hours. Just look for the zombies at the airport – that will be us.

A Day Around Athens

Today we went to the National Archaeological Museum. It is immense. The relics are from as far back as 5800 BC. I was surprised to see how moved I was by the sculptures. I wanted to see the faces, and imagine what their lives had been like. The colossal kouroi (larger than life sculptures of young men) are fascinating studies of the representation of anatomy. We're trying, only partially successfully, to retain all the information about the different ages of Greece; and who took over whom when.

Then Jan and I walked on back to the hotel at our own pace; leaving Patty and Jim to go at theirs. We got lunch at a local haunt. Jan got a gyros sandwich and I had a souvlaki sandwich. Both came with everything, including french fries, right in the sandwich, at a cost of two Euros each. Everything is so expensive in Athens – it was refreshing to find a local bargain.

Just for the heck of it, this afternoon Jan and I rode the Metro to Piraeus, Athens sea port. It is the biggest port I have ever seen for passenger travel. The Metro also took us by some of the stadiums that were built for the Olympics. They really built up their infrastructure for that event; including adding two lines to their Metro. But all does not seem to be well in Athens. There is graffiti everywhere, some in Greek and some in English. The pollution is a constant. Traffic is crazy – leading drivers to make daring moves all over.

Tonight we went to a rooftop restaurant with a view of the Acropolis and got treated to some wonderful Greek music. We watched the sunset and lights come up on the Acropolis. Rick V – one of the musicians played a bazooki – which looks just like an oud. And every once in a while, people got up and danced. It was very fun – felt quite genuine. We had fun conversations with all our neighbors, who came from diverse countries: Finland, Spain, and Australia. Patty told the group from Finland that she remembered a beautiful vase she had seen decades ago when she was there. They knew exactly what she was talking about; got her address and told her they would send her one. Another random act of kindness that gives us heart about the state of the world.

Over the course of this trip I have been trying to read books that help me understand the area. (I am amazed at how little reading I have managed to do. And all my New York Times crossword puzzles remain untouched.) The book I read about Turkey is called “Today's Turks.” It was all about who was in power when since Ataturk's death. It is very dry; very dense. The book about Greece is called, “Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter.” It is all about philosophy, social interaction and warfare – told through myths and historical story-telling. It's striking how different the books are; and even with my surface level understanding, how different Turks are from Greeks. And they really (I mean really) do not like each other. I find that sad, since we have loved both places.

This afternoon on CNN we caught sight of Obama speaking on his policy related to Guantanamo. It is striking that everyone we've met on this trip has asked us about Obama. He is admired all over the world. It honestly feels like we are better received because of him. But seeing him today reminded us that we are coming home in two days. The adventure is drawing to a close.

I'm also drawn home because last night I learned that my dear friend Lupe Serrano died on Monday. She is one of the first people I met in Minnesota when I moved there in 1988. The service in Friday, and we won't be home until Saturday. My heart is broken, but I am happy that I saw her a few days before we left.

It reminds me to express how important each of you are to us. Hugs to all of you. And please hug each other!

The Acropolis is Really Big

The Erechthion Hotel (I kid you not – that is the name; the boys got a lot of mileage out of that one) where we stayed for just last night was a funny little hotel that I already look back upon with nostalgia. It was run by what seemed to be a family of women who all shouted at each other constantly. The lobby was marked by a big cabinet of kitsch. And they insisted on leaving the keys on the counter with the front door unlocked. I think the neighbors knew not to mess with them. Our corner room had a wrap around balcony and sliding doors on both walls. (Jim and Pat's room had a balcony only on one side – but they could see the Acropolis.) We thought this was great until we tried to go to sleep. The late night revelers were right under us all night. The hand held shower nozzle only spouted cold water – which encouraged us not to waste water.

For breakfast they gave us generous servings of coffee and tea and three kinds of bread with butter and peach preserves. We missed our wonderful yogurt, but enjoyed it anyway. They charged us 70 Euro, which seemed a little high for a cold shower and no internet connection. But we didn't yet understand the market.

After breakfast we decided to get our stuff right over to the Plaka Hotel, where we'll stay until we leave. It is by far the most formal, expensive place we have stayed. We're paying the sale price of 115 Euros here. The staff are staff, the window looks out on a dirty street and you pay by the hour for internet service. I miss the shouting ladies. Despite their complete lack of English (and ours of Greek), they looked out for us.

But today we did the Acropolis. We had been told to walk through the neighborhood to get there. We didn't know exactly what they meant, but of course we could see the Acropolis so just headed that direction. On the way there we made our way up a cute little street of cafes. We walked all the way around the Acropolis; climbing and descending the circuit, getting concerned that we had taken a wrong turn.

Then all of a sudden we were climbing up into the big Propylaea – the entrance to what you know as the acropolis. Then the Parthenon loomed over us. It's amazing to see something so big; so imposing. Something you've heard of all your life. Each of the pillars is at least 6 feet across. You can't imagine how the ancient Greeks and Romans got the materials up here. They are currently doing a lot of repair and reconstruction, so there is a lot of scaffolding and a huge crane. How did the moderns get the crane up here?

We took our time just imagining all the history that has taken place on that hill. Then on the way down, we found the little neighborhood path. It was literally a single file passage between houses and garden walls. Groups of school children were climbing up the path as we descended. We had to step into doorways to let them pass. The children all said “hello” (in English) to us and asked us where we were from. When we said “America,” they all said, “Wow!” It was completely charming.

After lunch, we went to watch the changing of the guard at the grave of the unknown soldier in front of the Parliament building. You may have seen the elite guards – they wear cute little skirts and pompoms on their shoes. (And something like hobnails under their soles, which they stomp on the ground as part of their marching.) Today was apparently casual Wednesday, so instead of the white puffy skirts, they had khaki dresses with pleated skirts. It was very windy today. (Spoiler alert.) I learned that they do not, in fact, wear pantyhose. They have on short-shorts and garters to hold up their long white stockings. There are two men on duty at any given point and they change every hour on the hour. On the half hour they do a ritual march to loosen up their legs. The rest of the time, they stand perfectly still. Yikes!

Today there was an officer in camouflage that kept watch over their activities. Periodically he went up to them and straightened their tassels, nudged their gun and flattened their skirts (the wind wreaked havoc on his sense of order). We posed next to them for pictures. Patty tried to be silly and do a crane pose. She got chided by the tassel man.

Sadly, as they did the change we were watching, one of the guards leaving duty (and whose legs had likely fallen asleep) fell on the marble step as they did their high stepping. I felt so badly for him. I'm sure his buddies will never let him live that down. I wonder how often that happens.

We did a quick walk through of the national gardens, but soon realized that we needed a nap/break. The striking thing is that we are just coated in dust. Our shoes are filthy. Some of it is crushed limestone from the Acropolis, and some of it is dirt. Did I mention that Athens is a dirty city? And sunny? Time in our clean, air-conditioned room is welcome.

post script: I just took my first shower since Istanbul. I have revised slightly my feelings for this hotel.

Leaving the Wonderful Marianna

May 20, 2009 post

Yesterday was relaxing as planned. We spent a few hours at the pebble beach near our hotel. The water was brisk, but nice once we got used to it; and very easy to float/tread water in. People really like to swim there. I mean swim. There were many older men in bathing caps doing distance swimming, and then hanging out with their buddies. Jan, Jim and I all treaded water in a relaxed way and took in the sights. The funny part was watching each of us try to get out of the water. The pebbles became rocks right off shore and the water dropped off sharply. All of us stumbled and acted like tenderfoots getting out of the water. (Everybody did.)

The hotel did laundry for us. The first time my jeans had been washed on the trip. That was great.

We went to lunch at a restaurant recommended by Alex and Antonia. It was old country. The old guy ordered for us, including drinks. Jim had to catch him and tell him they were vegetarian. We got a beautiful big Greek salad, really garlicky tsatiki, bread, and big hunks of lamb and french fries swimming in olive oil. It was sinfully wonderful! Jim and Pat got green beans, zucchini, potatoes and cabbage rolls that were all great too. When we paid the bill, the guy asked us if we had dollars. We all checked to see and Jan ended up giving him a ten as a souvenir for his granddaughter. We walked away wondering how we fell into that trick. But the meal was great and very reasonably priced – so Jan felt fine about it. Jim teased him mercilessly.

We stayed at the hotel for our last night there, just talking and enjoying the space. We met some other Americans from Hawaii who were really fun. And our little friends Harry (4) and Joseph (8) from England entertained us with their toy car collection. I felt the effects of all the swimming-in-oil food, but Tums helped ease that by the end of the evening.

I have to spend a few lines describing our last breakfast at the Hotel Marianna. We all agree that they have the best yogurt we have ever tasted. And we've had some good yogurt in Turkey and Greece. This yogurt seems to be made from whipped cream. It is light and fluffy and cream and rich and just plain wonderful. All of us ate it every day we were there. I had it with honey; Jan with apple/orange marmalade. To die for!

We had to leave Hotel Marianna today because Rick Steves (Europe through the Back Door) was bringing a tour there to stay. It got a little tricky – we couldn't figure out a way to get to Delphi from Nafplion, so decided to go to Athens a day ahead of plan. We couldn't get into our hotel yet, and couldn't find anywhere else to stay either. Finally we had Petros (one of the four Zotos brothers who own the Marianna) call for us. That took one call and we got a place.

We rode the bus into Athens today. It has become clear to all of us over the course of this trip that we run on different clocks and to the beat of different drummers. (I've been humming the Buffy Springfield song, “You and I travel to the sound of a different drum...” for days.) We finally caught the 11am bus and got to Athens at 1:45 or so. We caught a city bus further into town and then for some reason decided to walk the mile and a half to our hotel with all our luggage. Athens is a huge, crowded and dirty city. We were all cranky by the time we got here.

Once we got settled and hydrated, we walked the ruins below the Acropolis. The Stoa of Attalos was quite beautiful, as was the Temple of Hyphaestus. We took in all we could in about 2 hours. We were starving at this point. We had a really fabulous dinner, strolled back through all the street vendors and came back to crash.

Eurovision and Mycenae

[caption id="attachment_81" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Mycenae and orchards in the hills of the Pelopponnese"][/caption]

May 18, 2009 post.

Here's the scene from Nafplio on Saturday night around 11pm: Hundreds of people at outdoor cafes; children running and playing in the open spaces; vendors  selling bubble-makers and toys; young people are strolling and smoking cigarettes. At every single cafe they set up large screen TVs outside and people have their chairs facing them. Europop blared from the TVs.

We had no idea what was happening and were fascinated! Everyone was watching Eurovision's Moscow 2009 song competition final. Everyone! All over Europe. See news here: http://tinyurl.com/ppw42g

On Sunday we rented a car and headed out for adventure. We all had our jobs on the trip. Jim drove, Jan navigated, and Pat and I opined from the back seat. Our destinations were Mycenae and Epidavros. And lunch.

The trip to Mycenae went smoothly, only a few u-turns were required. We're pretty much incompetent at reading Greek, so would usually have to pass a sign before we realized that maybe it had some some information we needed.

Mycenae was the home of King Agamemnon, the head of the army that attacked Troy and brother-in-law of the famed Helen. That whole story happened around 1200 BC, just shortly before Mycenae's demise. But people had been in Mycenae for thousands of years before Agamemnon. That kind of history is unfathomable.

We went through the ruins pretty quickly. It was a Sunday morning and the place was crawling with Greek families and kids. The kids were boisterous and active, to use understatement. (And most of the women had on high heels.) Mostly it was powerful just to imagine the history that had taken place there. The views of surrounding orchards sweeping toward the Aegean were stunning. Off in the distance we could see a snow covered peak.

Now comes the fun part. Maria at Alma car rental had told us that we had to come back to Nafplion to get to Epidavros. (You have to get around the mountains.) But Jim was sure he could find a shortcut. During our 40 days in the desert, we saw many signs saying essentially,  Mycenaean bridge this way. It seemed like all roads led to the Mycenaean bridge, but none to our destination and food. Eventually I told him that if we didn't find lunch by 2pm he would have serious trouble. Jan said I resembled a character out of The Exorcist. Just as we were all hitting the bottom of our blood sugar, we found the town we were looking for and had another great Greek salad. Jan and I also agreed to share a village sausage -- thinking it would be a light meal. Not. It was gigantic.

We were all pretty lethargic when we got to Epidavros. It has a huge amphitheater that is still used for concerts. We sat in the very top row and listened as people demonstrated the acoustics. A woman crinkled paper and then struck a match. We heard it all perfectly.

Then we wandered through the ruins at Asklepieion at Epidavros. People went there to get cured. They were to sleep and dream and then wake cured by Asklepios, who was worshipped as a god. There were also physicians there who did surgery and there was a temple of Artemis.

We were totally drained at this point and started heading home. But Jim wanted more adventures. He thought we should find that Mycenaean bridge. After much wandering and bottoming the car out and scraping the sides of the car along plants through olive groves, we tried leaving the car and walking along a path that seemed to be directed by a sign. Nothing. I kept feeling like someone was behind a tree laughing at their big joke on us. We finally convinced Jim to head out. We nearly ran out of gas, but eventually made it back to our hotel.

We decided to sit out in the courtyard and have a cold drink. The people across the hall were also out, getting ready to go have coffee. They joined in our conversation and pretty soon they invited us to join them. Antonia and Alex do organic landscaping and sell green products from their suburb of Athens. http://tinyurl.com/AntoniaAlex

They were delightful and pretty soon we realized it was 11:30pm. When we said it was probably time to go -- they ran in and paid the bill, saying that Greek hospitality demanded it.  So gracious. Their next stop was to eat dinner and go dancing. They tried to get us to join them, but we were wiped out. It would have been fun, but how do you explain to people from this culture that we are usually in bed by 10pm? We were just proud to make it to midnight two days in a row.

Jan and Jim got up early today to go find the damn bridges before they had to turn in the car. (A google search proved them to be real phenomena, heightening the challenge.) Today we are going to take it easy. Getting laundry done and going to the beach. Happy Monday to you all!

Fort Palamidi

I am sitting in a beautiful courtyard looking up at the fort we visited this morning. We climbed 999 steps to get there. And these aren't your mamby-pamby steps. These are steps along the face of a steep rock outcropping. Those of you who know me well know that I am afraid of heights. Like I get queezy standing on a chair. So 999 steps up the face of a rock is living on the edge for me.

Fort Palamidi was built in the 1700s by the Venetians, and has changed hands several times before being taken back by the Greeks as the first move in their independence in 1822. It has amazing views in every direction. The town, the harbor, the Aegean sea, the rolling hills. It is enormous, and made up of many interior bastions -- making it strategically very difficult to conquer.

It's hard for me to understand how this would even be necessary. I walked those stairs. I don't know how an army even gets there for an attack. Once there it would take them quite some time to catch their breath. In the meantime, boling oil and archers should be able to take care of the problem.

There's a dungeon prison up there too. You have to climb all that way to get put in prison? The dungeon is seriously creepy. I walked into it and got the willies thinking of the door accidentally closing. You definitely don't want to end up in that jail.

As I explored the ramparts, I heard a couple speaking Spanish. I started talking with them, and as we described the things we had seen, they told me to go to the area over by the parking lot. I said, and I quote, "Parking lot?" They said, "Yes, the parking lot."  And I said, "Wait. Did you say parking lot?" And we continued on this way for some time. Finally they told me they had ridden their scooters to the top and asked me how I got there. I told them we had climbed the stairs. They said "What stairs?" Etc. Etc. When they understood that we had climbed all the way up from town they couldn't believe it. It was mutual disbelief.

Jan stayed quiet through all of this (except for his heaving breath on the stairs), but when we were up looking out off one of the ramparts it all caught up with him. I got stung by a bee, and jumped/yelped. He was sure I was going to trip and go flying off the cliff. he insisted I step "away from the wall!"

As we descended back to town we heard a dog barking. Soon we saw a big hairy samoyed. Behind it trailed an out-of-breath woman. She sat down as the dog played with us on one of the switchbacks. When she caught her breath she told us that they made that trip every day. The dog bounding ahead of her and barking at her to hurry up and follow.

At the foot of the climb we found a sweet little cafe with a water fall and shady trees. (That climb got hot!) We tried the local favorite -- frappe made out of nescafe over ice. It was perfect!

We can't quite get on the local eating schedule. They eat lunch around 3pm and then dinner around 10.  My stomach doesn't work on that timeline. We tried to hold out today and then had lunch too late -- at 4pm. Who knows what we'll do for dinner. But it's Saturday night and we want to catch some of the local scene. (Nafplion is a big weekend getaway for Athenians -- the cafes and sidewalks are full, even though it is early season.)

Stay tuned to see if we can shed our Midwestern sophistication and stay awake past 10pm.

Here are more pictures:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=78066&id=546859239&saved#/album.php?aid=78066&id=546859239&ref=nf

Day 2 in Greece

We are in Nafplion, Pelopponese, Greece in beautiful old Pension Marianna.http://www.hotelmarianna.gr/site/en/home.html  It has really good wifi, along with really beautiful sights and floors and feel. The building is 220 years old and right on the old city wall. This is the edge of old town and it's a postcard -- really. Very narrow passages, old stone, bouganvillea, cafes and shops.

It took us about 6 hours to get here from Samos. 2.5 hours of that were in a taxi with Vaggelis.  He brought Greek mythology to life for us -- which is great. Mycenae (The home of King Agammemnon-- think of the Iliad.)  is only 30 minutes from here. He also wanted to talk about Obama. Everyone here wants to talk about Obama. Of course we are all Obama fans, so we love the conversations. But mostly it's just fascinating how much news he makes around the world.

We stayed yesterday at a cute little family-owned Pythagoras pension (http://www.pythagoras-hotel.com/) on Samos. We ended up having dinner with three other couples; two from Australia and one from Japan. The stories were great and we have new invitations for travel. (In addition to invitations to Germany and Turkey by the German/Russian couple we met on the Ferry that morning.) Owner Stelios and his wife Vasos fed us magnicently and helped us set up the next leg of our trip.

We're staying here until Tuesday, which feels nice. We'll get oriented tomorrow. And maybe wash some underwear? More news soon!

Ephesus and on to Greece

Ya! Hello from Greece. We are on the island of Samos on this beautiful Thursday, taking a break after lunch. This is a long past -- sorry. We haven't been able to get online lately.

Our last few days in Turkey were lovely. On Tuesday we stayed close to our hotel. We lazed on the beach, did laundry and ate dinner at the resort. (Jim and Pat are vegetarians and have not enjoyed the food as much as we have. Kebabs are a pillar of Turkish food.) The Kellers were thrilled to eat at the hotel buffet, which included lots of mezes (starters), most of which were vegetarian.

On Wednesday we got up at the crack of dawn. The crack of dawn is not Patty's friend. But she managed to be the first in the shower. We had to pack and get to a nearby hotel by 6:30am, where a local tour company picked us and our luggage up to go to Ephesus. Everyone else on the bus would be returning to Bordum at the end of the day, but we had made arrangements for them to drop us off in Kusadasi at the end of the tour.

Our first stop was a parking area where they sorted us all out by language. All the people who spoke French stayed on our bus and we got sent to the one with the English speaking guide. Our bus had about twenty seats, and the group was made up of Poles, Brits, Germans, Scots and Irishmen. And us. (Everywhere we went on the Turkish Aegean, people were surprised to see “Americans.” The Turks who spoke English had a hard time understanding us – they were accustomed to hearing the Queen's English.) In particular, we made friends with a young Polish couple, Adrian and Magda. And a petulant young Irishman. That's the fun of being on an excursion – you form a family of sorts.

Our next stop was a roadside cafe where we could all get breakfast. Our tour guide Ahmet ran a tight ship and kept us moving. At each stop we were given a time limit – usually 5 minutes. At breakfast he was generous and gave us 30 minutes to go to the bathroom, wait in line for breakfast and eat.

We got to Ephesus, up in the hills outside of a small town, a few hours later. Ephesus was the final resting place of the Virgin Mary, and a bustling hub for about 500 years on either side of that. At the entrance you are swarmed by vendors. (And other tourists. For being out in the middle of nowhere, you can't believe how many people are there.) Then you push through the crush into an area that seems like a few marble slabs laying around here, a piece of a wall there. You think, this was a long way to come for this. Then as you continue on through the folds of the hills, each piece of the ruins gets bigger and better, Finally at the end you see the old library and a theater that seats 25,000 people. I can't put it into words – absolutely stunning.

It took about three hours to tour the whole site – and that's with Ahmet's 5 minutes limits. It was hot, and there is very little shade, so we were beat at the end of the tour. Then they took us all to an outdoor  lunch place with a lovely breeze and cold drinks. It was buffet style and for the second meal in a row, the Kellers got a big meal they enjoyed.

Then we were shuttled along on a few government-mandated visits to local artisan shops, between which we got traded to another bus, and said our good-byes to our tour-mates. (Even though the buses went to the same places.)

Finally they sent us with the French-speaking tour guide so they could take us 20 or 30 kilometers out of the way to our destination. The driver and the guide argued back and forth about where they would drop us off, because tourism is very regulated and they did not have permission to enter the downtown area of Kusadasi. They told us they had to leave us at the outskirts. But when we got to town their generous nature kicked in and they couldn't stand to abandon us. They drove us through the complicated streets right up to the doorway of our hotel. As we arrived, we were embarrassed to see that the other bus had followed us as well. We waved good-bye yet again to our friends as we walked inside, knowing that they still had at least three hours to travel back to Bodrum.

Kusadasi is a port city on the old caravan route. We stayed at the Keravanserai hotel, an actual old caravan stop. It looked just like a castle from the outside, with metal reinforced doors and high ramparts. Inside is a big courtyard with lovely plants, tables and chairs and settees. It also has rug merchants and a stage for bellydancing shows on weekend nights. Around the second floor there is a mezzanine and hotel rooms with old names. Ours was “Okuz.” The rooms had fireplaces and high-vaulted ceilings. And, thanks to recent retrofitting, bathrooms. It felt magical!

Last night we walked out to the fort and had a simply charming dinner overlooking the harbor. And we did some last minute shopping for gifts. It was a really nice finish to our time in Turkey. (Jan also got a call in to daughter Jenny, on her 36^th birthday. Another Happy Birthday to Jenny!)

This morning, after a nice breakfast in the Keravanserai courtyard, we switched gears and started our trip through Greece. And of course, experienced one of those weird border kind of things that you don't understand but hope will be fine. We bought our ferry tickets yesterday, where the tour agency staff told us he would meet us this morning to check our passports and get us on the passenger list. When we neared the port this morning, several different people we had never seen before came up and asked for our passports. We got a little nervous but showed them our tickets. Finally a women showed us her ID for the same tour company, took our passports, said she'd be back in 10 minutes, and left. At first we were just scared, and then Jim got downright cranky about the system being so inefficient. But a few minutes later someone came back with our passports and the boarding passes and all was fine.

We spent 90 minutes on a beautiful, sunny morning sailing over aquamarine water with some fun Germans and Belgians and voila – we were in Greece. We are staying at a little pension owned by a man named Stelios. He picked us up at the port and got us all set up. The place is on the backpacker's route, but is a step up in facilities. Our room has a balcony over the sea and a bathroom. As Jan said, you just can't describe the color and sparkle of the water.We got a bigger room that Jim and Pat – we have 3 twin beds, they only have 2. We have wandered around town, gone to the local museum and eaten gyros and a Greek salad. Everyone is napping now, in prep for finding a good dinner.

Our best to everyone. We love staying connected with you!

A day on the Aegean

We are sitting in a seaside cafe/wi fi hot spot eating french fries. I'm still in my bathing suit; just off the boat. The breeze is blowing, pedestrians in beach wear are streaming by, as are bikes, mopeds and cars. We are trying to decide if we should eat now or later.

Today we had a real Turkish experience. We spent about 7 hours cruising on a boat. Actually, much of that time the boat was moored in one of three places we stopped. The first stop was an island that had a warm spring and a deserted hotel. There is no source of fresh water on the island, so the hotel couldn't make it. It is there, with beds made, glasses and plates on a counter, and broken plaster fallen right on top of everything. Very odd. But the spring was warmish and you could swim into the cave from which it came.

Next we went to an area the locals call the aquarium. It is made up of several coves of crystal clear turquoise water. We moored there, along with a few other boats, for about three hours. I was the first to brave jumping into the water. To say it was brisk is an understatement. (It is still very early in the season.) People from each boat cheered each other on to jump! I stood there for several minutes getting up the nerve. Jim also jumped in. After we laid around on cushions for a while and got warm again, the captain's crew (a nineteen year old boy) announced that lunch was ready. We had curried chicken, salad, rolls and pasta. Jan tempted fate and jumped in the sea after lunch. He was shocked. Then we all laid around and slept, including the captain. (We think he had a hangover). As each new boat came in we watched as people decided whether to swim or not. And then we watched people lie down for a snooze.

A little boat came through selling ice cream. Another boat was offering rides on a flying inflated raft. When they got going at the right speed and in the right direction, the raft literally lifted off the water. Apparently in mid season there are hundreds of boats at a time in that area.

Next we went to another cove where there were cows sleeping and school boys playing on the beach. I got up the nerve and dove in again -- scream!!!!-- and then swam to shore. Jan also got up the nerve to jump in -- my brave honey. Finally we trundled back to harbor. We thought we'd be tired after so long out on the water, but really, the naps were wonderful. We were all refreshed when we got back to shore. In fact, Jim couldn't stand the relaxed state we were in and had to start calling people from the boat, including his clients. (Of course, now that we are on shore he can't get a signal.

Yesterday Jan and I walked into Bodrum from our hotel. It was quite a hike -- took us about 1.5 hours. Then we all went through the underwater archealogical museum. It is situated in the old castle that many of you would recognize from the harbor of Bodrum. It had artifacts from shipwreck digs, peacocks, turrets, torchure chambers and the English tower. Mostly it had fabulous views of the harbor. Here's the best moment. All the time that Jan and I were walking, he kept looking for the castle. The area is quite hilly, so we couldn't see it most of the time.  About 30 minutes into our time in the museum, as we were walking along the ramparts at the various views, he said to me, "Why haven't we seent he castle yet. I know we should be able to see it from here." I said, "Honey, we are in the castle." We laughed for a long time.

Patty spent three hours yesterday trying to find just the right hat for our boat trip. She finally settled on one. She never wore it today. Ah, the best laid plans.

We are trying to make arrangements to get to Ephesus on Wednesday. Tuesday we will probably stay around our resort, so may not be able to post any news. But we love hearing from you. Love keeping in touch!

The Aegean is beautiful here in Bodrum!

Friday, our last full day in Istanbul, was wonderful. We finally went inside the Blue Mosque. I can't put into words the majesty and beauty. The dome is about 15 stories high and painted white with blue and red and green patterns. There are lots of windows. You're walking on a plush red carpet with no shoes on and craning your neck to look up into all the light. It's very powerful. I'm glad we saved it for the final day.

We also went to an old Roman cistern – an amazing feat of architecture – that collected water brought via aqueduct from a forest 19 kilometers away; and spent some time on the rooftop garden of our place. Friday night we went to the Sirkeci station (the famed end of the Orient Express) to watch a Sufi mevlevi (whirling dervish) ceremony. I did not expect it to be as moving as it was. For them it is an act of worship, and you can see it in them; in their faces and their demeanor. Their central tenant is love and they are accepting of all. They happily share their ceremony with any who care to watch. It felt like a very generous gift. We finished our day by eating at a fun local restaurant overlooking the Galata bridge.

The trip to Bodrum went smoothly. Local airports are very easy to navigate. The timeshare we are staying at is on the outskirts of town; up a hill and with a nice view of the Aegean. This area is a tourist destination for Turks as well as international travelers. It's gotten quite built up, and the harbor is bustling; full of yachts and gullets (Turkish sailing boats).

We are much more left to our own devices here. The staff don't speak much English and are a little more bureaucratic (less creative or able to find solutions) than we experienced before. It's a good progression for us. We were taken care of at our family-owned inn in Istanbul, got a little experience under our belts, and now we have to stretch more.

We rode the local bus into town yesterday to explore and get some staples. We talked to several of the boat captains while there and decided to schedule an adventure with a salty looking guy. On Monday he will take us for a cruise around the local waters. The boat is lovely wood – as all of them are. Way fun!

Although it was a Saturday night and all the nightclubs were going to get hopping, we decided it was time to slow down and head home for a quiet evening. So we went to the store and tried to understand what we were buying. We wanted yogurt. There was an entire yogurt section-- all different varieties of unflavored yogurt. Who knew? In the end we just grabbed one randomly. Of course, along with all the other groceries and soap, etc, Jan wanted to get the twenty gallon bottle of water at the store. Did I mention that we are staying at the top of a hill? A really steep hill? And the bus stops at the bottom of the hill? That was interesting.

Our drama of the day was that Patty had understood that we would have a washer and dryer in our apartment. Not. And their laundry service is very expensive. We all got a little cranky. I decided to just do it. While Jim and Pat went up to watch the sunset, I got back into my best Peace Corps mode and sat on the veranda hand washing all our dirtiest clothes in a rubber tub. Jan was the official rinser and wringer. He did an excellent job. We hung them all on the veranda and then we finally got a good, long night's sleep. Wonderful.

This morning I am sitting in our little living room looking out over the Aegean sea. I am wearing a sleeveless shirt and am perfectly warm. We just made and drank our own Turkish tea. The power was out in phases all over Bodrum – but we got our water heated before the problem started. The yogurt was fine – though on the sour side compared to others we've had while here, whatever that means. Jim got jealous that our clothes were now clean and dry and decided he could do this. I gave him a tutorial – told him I'd wave the consulting fee.

Today is Mother's Day. Pat is thinking of Mina and Morna and hoping they have a wonderful day together. Erma – hope you got our flowers and that you are having a fabulous day. Jenny and Jill we are proud of you and how great you are as mothers.  And happy belated birthday to Dick! Love to all.

We haven't had internet access since Friday. I'm off to see where we can hook up!

Amazing Architecture, Pipes and a Crazy Fish Market

[caption id="attachment_59" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Ottoman empire period band"][/caption]

Surreal experience. I'm sitting in the lobby of our hotel and the night staff is watching "The Postman" in Turkish. The post-apocalyptic Kevin Costner one. I just realized that his love interest is one of the main characters in "Dollhouse." Weird.

Okay. On with the real stories. Today we walked along the Marmara Sea watching dolphins jump in the water until we got around the city wall and could enter the grounds of Topkapi Palace. That part of the grounds is a large park with beautiful old trees, tulips and other flower gardens and lots of secluded nooks.It was finally warm enough to wear short sleeves for a bit.

As we walked on it became clear that the nooks are well used by young lovers.It was sweet -- something I don't see much at home. Young couples everywhere holding hands and kissing.

The Topkapi palace was built in the 1400s and was a seat of the Ottoman Empire for about 400 years. It is enormous, and built on a promontory that looks out over the Marmara Sea, the Golden Horn and the Bosphorous. Stunning views. The entry gate looked just like Camelot, except with Arabic writing over the gate. It is made up of many buildings and rooms, and filled with ornate gold trim and tilework in the most wonderful colors. We saw head wear and scabbards and jewel cases the likes of which you see in old movies. Really. A chest full of emeralds, each one the size of a fist.

We also saw a parade by a band in period dress. Great pointy-toed shoes, fabulous hats and big mustaches. Patriotism is very strong in Turkey. The kids and women sang along with the bands songs. Very fun.

For lunch we went to an outdoor cafe outside the Blue Mosque. A young couple next to us was smoking a nargile (a water pipe for smoking flavored tobacco). We decided it was time for Patty to try one. The tobacco is soaked in syrup. We had our choice of all kinds of flavoring, including banana, melon and coconut. We decided to go for apple -- which is very popular here.

The waiter brought out the nargile and got it going for us. Then he gave each of us our own mouthpiece -- all very sanitary. He showed us how to smoke it.The funny thing is that none of us smoke cigarettes, and of course had no idea how to use the pipe -- so the whole things was hilarious. One by one all the tables around us got into the show -- laughing hysterically with us. The young couple practically cheered us on. I don't know whether Patty will still buy one. But at least she knows what she's in for if she does.

Next we went to the Hagia Sofia. It was initially built in the 300s and this current version was built in the 500s. It was at that point the central christian church in the world. When the Ottoman emporer invaded Constantinople (the old name of Istanbul) in 1453, he ordered it converted into a mosque. It became the model for all the other mosques in the world. It is an amazing feat of architecture and its interior is jawdropping. Incredibly high dome decorated with gold leaf and intensely colorful designs. Ataturk had it converted into a museum in the 1935.

We had a guide take us through the Hagia Sophia for a very funny reason. We were running out of Turkish lira and when we got to the front of the line we realized they would take no other form of payment. A guide who had wanted our business offered to pay our way and let us pay him in Euros. So there. Deal done. In the end it was great because he was a history and religious studies teacher and knew all kinds of fun info.

Tonight we decided to try a restaurant at the fish market. Little did we know that we were heading to a street full of restaurants all competing to get our business. It was overwhelming. We had no idea how to choose. And until we made a choice, we were bait for all their aggressive sales pitches.

Finally we just walked in to one and sat down. It was so interesting to watch how Turks ate and were treated compared to us. They had relaxed fun and seemed to eat really good stuff. We were oversold everything. It was one of those bad moments when you wish you could just be a regular person rather than a tourist. Between their reliance on foreign tourist dollars, their desire to please us, their misunderstanding of what we would really like, our inability to communicate clearly and our inability to distinguish genuine tradition from tourist pitch, it was an expensive and misfit evening. We made ourselves just go with the flow, but I kept watching the tables of Turkish men around us and wishing I could be experiencing it the way they were.

The other odd thing about the experience was that we're pretty sure that the other couples in the restaurant were men out with their mistresses. (The waiter confirmed this.) We did enjoy the folkloric group that came through and played for us. The "mistress" at the table next to us sang along with them. Hey Rick! One of them played the oud!

Tomorrow is our last day in Istanbul. We plan to see the inside of the Blue Mosque and the whirling dervishes at the Sirceki train station (the end of the line for the Orient Express). Jan also wants to go back and buy some spices at the market.

I'm starting to look forward to Bodrum, where we will slow down the pace. I'm also looking forward to doing laundry there. This packing light thing is tough in cool weather. I've been wearing everything all at once and it is time to refresh!

ps: I can't get photos to download into this blog easily. But go here to see a few photos

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=76289&id=546859239&ref=nf

Eating Well

[caption id="attachment_23" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="A good dinner in Istanbul"][/caption]

River, Palace and Market Day

Today was a long day! We went on a two-hour cruise on the Bosphorous. Istanbul is enormous. We've heard reports of anywhere from 16 to 25 million people. We cruised for an hour in each direction and saw no end to the sprawl. The houses along the river are fabulous and very colorful. Susan Kutty -- I had a great time because a Spaniard was on board with a tour guide. So I heard all the history in Spanish. Very fun!

Then we went to the Dolmabahçe Palace which served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire for most of the period from 1853 to 1922. It is also where the beloved Ataturk died.

It was designed to shine with Europeans and contains the world's largest Bohemian crystal chandelier with 750 lamps and a weight of 4.5 tons. At the front gate there is a guard who does not move no matter what you do. I saw him blink once -- but did not let him know that I saw. Poor guy!

On the way back, we wandered until we found a local lunch stop. The owner treated us wonderfully, including giving us tea and pastries made by his grandmother with our bill.

Then we caught a train back to the Grand Bazaar. Each of us bought something, except for Pat. She has in her head that she wants to buy a nargile (water pipe). Who knows why. But Pat looked at them and then never made an offer, much to the vendors' dismay. Rick Vanderwall -- we did see ouds. And once we asked what an oud is -- we had to convince the shop owner that we didn't need to bring you one. Sorry -- it doesn't fit in my bag.

We walked a long way through local shopping areas and on into the spice market. Weird to see lingerie shops amid the many women in head scarves there. (Though most women are not in head scarves. Where we are staying we see mostly young men).

Just imagine kilos of spices in shops upon shops. Saffron by the kilo. And dried figs and nuts and all kinds of things dried and honeyed. And Turkish Delight everywhere you go. Turkish delight really is a delight. I thought it would be some awful sickly sweet thing. But the good stuff is mildly sweet candy filled with sesame and pistachios. Really wonderful. And the shopkeepers give you tastes. lots of tastes. We bought snacks to last us throught the rest of our trip and decided not to eat dinner tonight.

Next door to the spice market is an open air garden and pet market. Tubs of bulk cat food next to rare herbs and bunnies and puppies. And again -- cats. Alot of them.

At the end of the 10 hour odyssey we heard muezzims from 4 separate mosques sing the call to prayer at sunset. Amazing!

Our friend Husnu made it his personal mission to help Pat buy a nargile tomorrow. We'll see what happens. I'm not sure she can pull the trigger. But we are having a wonderful time!

[caption id="attachment_47" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Pat, Jim and the man who doesn't move"][/caption]

Our Take on Nightlife in Istanbul

[caption id="attachment_38" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Pat, me, Jan and Jim on the roof overlooking the Blue Mosque"][/caption]

Good morning! Gunaiden! We again arrived first to breakfast. In fact, they didn't have everything set up yet. They said, "You always get up early!" I think that translates to , "Yikes! We're not set up yet!" The yummy sesame bread arrived shortly thereafter.

I'm having trouble uploading photos on this network, so you'll just have to hear my words today.

When Jim and Pat got here yesterday afternoon we walked back up the hill to the Blue Mosque. We saw men washing their feet and faces at water faucets along the outside wall just before prayer. Two muezzims sang back and forth for almost ten minutes.

We went up to a rooftop cafe and had our first taste of Raki (Turkish anise-flavored liqueur) and looked at the skyline of the city. There are over a hundred ships out in the harbor -- many of them Greek. It sounds like they are sitting there waiting out the world-wide recession.

Tulips originated in Turkey. (Who knew?) Thousands of tulips are planted all over Istanbul in March -- they peak in April. We are here at the tail end of the tulip festival, and many are already gone. But lots remain. The colors are wonderful!

We had dinner at yet another rooftop restaurant (everyone has them). Pat and Jan ate sea bream -- a whole fish laying across each of their plates. Jim had tortollini cuatro formaggi (I don't know why he had Italian food -- he said he was carbo loading to have energy for our adventures on Wednesday) and I had a traditional meat and veggie "casserole." Lots of eggplant here.

We heard there was a spring celebration at the beach. We walked with a huge crowd through hilly, winding cobble-stoned streets until we got to the waterfront. (Me in high heeled sandals -- dressed for dinner.) The crowd, very eager and jovial, kept flowing on, but we couldn't see or hear the party. We were not dressed warmly enough, and decided to turn back to the hotel. Are we officially old farts?

And on the way back, we got lost in a little residential neighborhood. The living rooms were five by five. An old woman in slippers sat in her doorway smoking and yelling at young men. I wanted to know what they were saying.

We are going to go for a cruise on the Bosphorous today. That is the channel between the Black sea and the Sea of Marmara -- a is the division between the continents of Asia and Europe. (Did you know that Istanbul is the only city in the world that straddles two continents?) So we will visit the continent of Asia today. Isn't that amazing?

You are sleeping now. I'll try to post pictures before you get up!

First Full Day in Istanbul

[caption id="attachment_28" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Turkish crafts on a wall of Wisteria"]

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The Blue Mosque as seen from the park

[caption id="attachment_27" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Hido and I after the deal was made."][/caption]

We slept well last night. Wonderful! And when we got up around 7:45 we thought we had slept in. When we went to breakfast around 8am, we found that we were way early. Clearly the day starts later here, and runs later as well. Trying to have an authentic experience, I had cucumbers, tomatoes, cold meats, olives and nice breads for breakfast. And of course, Turkish tea.

Everywhere you go you are served tea here. With a lot of sugar. I normally drink tea black, but when in Rome... It's a lovely custom. Very civilized.

After breakfast we went for a long walk to explore the Sultanahmet neighborhood. This area is all narrow cobbled streets lined with inns, cafes and rug merchants. One edge of the neighborhood is formed by the Marmara Sea and a wall built by the Ottomans about 1600 years ago.

We walked by the Blue Mosque, the Aya Sophia and Topkapi Palace,which are all a few blocks from where we are staying at the Angel's Home Hotel.

We walked until we got to the grand Bazaar -- the original shopping mall. It really is enormous. Hundreds of shops in big, small and tiny hallways and allies. I was going to just look, to get a sense of prices. But of course, once I entered into the bargaining, I went right with it and bought a beautiful ceramic plate and some bracelets. I was surprised to find that I liked bargaining. I thought I would feel badly about it. But I don't. It's fun banter and I get right into it.

We sat on the rooftop terrace and had tea when we got back. Then headed off to find lunch. We ate at a sidewalk cafe across the street from a 30 foot wall of wisteria. So fragrant! And a cat wandering around in it.

Did I mention the cats? They are everywhere! In the restaurants. In the streets. In the wisteria.

I had kebap and Jan had meatballs for lunch. Both dishes came on big plates with carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, pilaf and flatbread. Puffy flatbread straight out of the oven and yogurt dill sauce came as an appetizer. And of course they brought us tea when we were done. I love this food and the service.

The people here are lovely. Hospitality is very gracious and people seem very patient with us as foreigners. I have learned to say thank you (tesekkur ederim), hello (merhaba), and good morning (gunaiken). They are even more welcoming when they hear the attempt at communication. But really, we are doing everything in English.

There is a band playing traditional music in the street as part of the Spring Celebration. They stood in the street and prevented any cars from passing.

Our friends  Jim and Pat Keller just arrived. They are a day behind us, but seem much fresher. I will close now so we can go out for a drink at one of the picturesque cafes.

Getting to Istanbul

We didn't have internet access during our trip. So here are a few offline entries :

May 3 4:00pm. At the airport in Minneapolis. It feels real now that we are actually on vacation. I feel almost giddy. I was getting another project done until 20 minutes before our car arrived.

A big shout out to our daughter Jenny for bringing us to the airport! Thanks for the ride and thanks for helping us clean out the fridge! Jenny has already teased me about blogging. But she was impressed with my little bag. Yay!

I found my June book club book in a store here. “The Latehomecomer,” by Kao Kalia Yang. She's a local author writing about her family's odyssey from Laos to Minnesota. Will have plenty of time to read it, alternating with the Turkish phrasebook and New York Times crossword puzzles.(My big treat. I have saved the puzzles for the last three or four weeks and have them all ready to solve. Geek heaven!) I'm missing the May gathering, so am not going to bother reading “Nixonland.” It sounds good, but not the right tone for vacation.

Jan here, going there. Seats together on the first two flights, and we were early, so we get to watch Tiger putt like me. My first ever 3 week vacation since I got my first job at the gas station at age 15. What will it be like? I am ready to see old stuff that makes me feel young.

May 4, 10:55 am On the flight from Chicago to Frankfurt, we sat in the first row behind first class. Their seats reclined into beds. They got champagne, hot moist towels and real silverware. I was so envious. We sat upright with no leg room and tried to sleep as they showed “Yes Man” and “Horton Hears a Who.”

Now in Frankfurt with a two-hour layover and starting to have jetlag. It is 10:55 am here. But our bodies think it is 3:55am. I have been trying to review the Turkish phrase book but have not had much brain power. This is the part where we are tired and disoriented.

We are flying from here to Istanbul on Lufthansa. I'm worried that I told the hotel Turkish Airlines and that they won't find us at the airport. Yikes

Angel's Home Hotel in Istanbul. May 4 8:05 pm. We are here and feel much better. The driver paged us as soon as we got through customs and all went great. We decided to slightly upgrade our room when we got here. The first one was so tiny we couldn't walk around the bed. I got my first lesson in bargaining. He offered us a sale price to upgrade. I counter-offered and he accepted. Dang! I should have gone lower!

Now we have a balcony and robes! Of course a fun dog was in the lobby of the other building. (Someone tell Kathy Purcell to read this!) This is a boutique hotel -- a few rooms in each of two buildings. Those of you who know me know that I have to find a dog everywhere I go.  I will visit Tavlo each day when I go to breakfast, so it's okay.

The muezzin is calling people to prayer right now from the Blue Mosque. It is huge and amazing! And it is right down the street. Will send pictures tomorrow. Now off to dinner!

Thanks to all of you who are following and have commented!

Time to pack. Must finally choose!

About 4 and a half hours until we leave. The laundry is almost done. The house is clean. (Well, pretty clean, by our standards. Contrary to how I sound here, I am not a clean freak. I just like some amount of order.) My sweet Jan vacuumed and cleaned the cat box and watered plants. He humors me -- that is good.

I have not yet packed. I want to have all my options available, so the laundry must be done first. I know. Too many options just makes it harder to decide. Especially when we are trying very hard to take very small bags. What am I saying? We will take very small bags! (I have already considered six different suitcase/rolling backpack options and four different day packs. I think I know which ones are making the cut -- but sill see for sure in a few hours.)

I have many items of clothing that would like to go with me. I really want to be that person who takes 4 items of clothing and makes 25 outfits out of them. I am not that person. But I do like to travel light, in all meanings of that word. (I even dislike having hotel reservations -- I want to be free to explore at my own pace. But traveling with three other people forces me to commit.) 

Jan has already packed. He has packed all the medications, first aid supplies, ipods, netbook and I don't know what else. He is a gear head and wants to be prepared for any eventuality. He was a Boy Scout, as you might guess. And he will take care of all of us, for which we are all grateful.

But I think he will have to unpack everything and start over. He has many pockets in everything he is taking. His clothes. His daypack. His duffle. He already can't find something. I'm sure it is stashed away in some pocket inside of a pocket.  

He is running last minute errands. I am signing off to fold laundry and begin the painful process of choosing what will go and what will stay. Hasta pronto!

Turkish/Greek odyssey. D-Day minus one

This is my first attempt at a blog, or maybe better labeled a journal. I've never been particularly disciplined at writing on a regular basis. That's not true. I write every day in my consluting practice. But writing of my experiences has always taken a back seat to business writing.

My husband Jan and I are embarking tomorrow on the biggest trip we have ever taken together. We are going to Turkey and Greece for three weeks. As a colleague of mine (Hey Roger!) so aptly asked, "they make three week vacations?" Well -- they do now. It's a first for us.

There are a lot of firsts on this trip. Neither of us has ever been to Europe, let alone to these specific countries. And I have never been anywhere where I couldn't communicate in the local language. So this is an adventure. And we want to share the adventure. Hence the start of this journal. 

We are going on this trip with our dear friends Jim and Pat Keller. Jan and Jim have known each other since 1968. They are like brothers. All  the embarassing parts of being brothers. They fart at each other and giggle. That's what we're in for. 12 year old boy humor from old farts. 

Jan and I leave tomorrow and arrive on Monday. (The Kellers arrive on Tuesday.) We leave here at about dinner time, and arrive there about dinner time the next day. (Must eat a lot of fruit!) It is eight hours earlier in Istanbul than here in St. Paul. That kind of jet lag is new to me as well. (I've traveled a lot in South America and the Caribbean. But you don't really change time zones for those trips.)

On the eve of our trip, we are still only part way thorugh our to-do list. I am washing clothes, organizing all our electronic trip details and corresponding with people who helped us plan. Jan is watching the 12th inning of the Twins game. I weeded the garden today. I still have to clean house and water all the plants. Jan thinks I am crazy. He asked me if I wanted to paint the kitchen as well before we leave. I considered saying yes, but then decided against it. I can't decide what color to choose.

Jan did a lot of work today too. He is just more focused than I am -- strictly focusing on the trip itself and on what needs to happen today. I want everything to be clean and orderly when we get home tired and jetlagged.  This is our dance. 

As a prelude to our vacation, we went to the Art in Bloom exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art today. It is the most beautiful, whimsical and uplifting event. People do floral arrangements inspired by works of art in the museum -- and then exhibit them next to the source of inspiration. Some are lovely, some are silly and all are wonderful.  

[caption id="attachment_4" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Jan and I in front of the Minneapolis Institute of Art"][/caption]

It is way too late. I must go move the laundry and then get some sleep. But I look forward to continuing the story, and hope that you will follow along. And add comments too!