Chloeโs 8th Birthday โ Day 15
Overloaded with too much family time, I chose to take the day off and relax by reading books. I really needed some true vacation time during this three week trip! Everyone but me headed down to town to the museum, then Camille and I stayed behind while the rest went to Kusadsi and the beach.
St. Jean and Ephesus โ Day 14
Not enough sleep, too many ruins. My mom and dad went out in the morning to get groceries. Camille, Rob and I joined them when they went, literally across the street, to St. Jean’s, the “burial place” of St. John (not, as I mistakenly thought John the Baptist, but the other John). I cannot even
Pammukale/Hierapolis/Aphrodisias โ Day 13
(Monday, July 5) Barbara made a huge breakfast for us. While we were out the door early for our group of seven (which includes at least two late sleepers), we weren’t out the door by 6am, which was my goal for the long day trip. Rob drove the entire day, mostly on local roads as
Around Selcuk โ Day 12
The early morning (is 4:15am morning?) call to prayer interrupted what little bit of sleep we had. The parties and traffic and heat had made sleeping a little difficult. After breakfast, we headed out in the minivan to explore the area. After buying gas (a little bit of a comedy routine as we had no
Selcuk โ Day 11
(I’m so far behind!) Saturday we woke early in our Ankara apartment to finish packing and cleaning. The taxi arrived before 6:15 to take us to the Ankara Airport, far outside of town. He dropped us off at domestic departures, then proceeded to help change a tire for another man’s car! We passed though the
Cappadocia โ Day 10
The late night out at the Whirling Dervishes made the 4:15 muezzin call particularly unpleasant. No chance of getting more sleep as Rob, the girls, Barbara and I had to be in the courtyard at 4:45am for our outing! A van picked us up and bounced us over roads to the hot air balloon company,
Cappadocia โ Day 9
Early for a vacation, but not really early, we packed up a couple of bags and headed down to the parking lot where we waited for our tour bus to come and pick us up. As we were only the second stop, the girls were thrilled to have their pick of seats! The bus then
Anitkabir โ Day 8
Rob, the girls and I caught an early bus into the city and walked over to Anitkabir, Ataturk’s mausoleum. The list of rules, once we were allowed in, was a mile long. As some type of ceremony was starting, we were ushered into the museum so we wouldn’t get in the way. The first hallway
Roman Ankara โ Day 6
I made sure that we were up and at ’em earlier today. After breakfast, Phil, Rob, the girls and I headed down the hill to catch the bus to town. Today we were more prepared for the stop! We walked up Ataturk Boulevard towards the Column of Julian. We walked through a nice little park;
Old Ankara โ Day 5
Having had two nights sleep, I think we are finally getting caught up on sleep after the frenetic days just after we arrived in Turkey. Breakfast was scrounged from what was left in the fridge — bread, honey, cheese, cucumbers and coffee. Phil, Rob, the girls and I went down to the university bus stop
Exploring Ankara โ Day 4
I tried my best to catch up on lost sleep and stayed in bed until 10am, and I was the first up of the four of us. We showered and made eggs, toast and coffee for breakfast before heading out. All six of us walked down the hill to the bus stop and waited for
Arrival in Ankara – Day 3
I woke as the sun came up around 5:30. The scenery had changed drastically from when I had fallen asleep. We rolled on past field after field. Chloe woke quite a bit later and went to have breakfast in the dining car with the rest of the family. We arrived at the Ankara Train Station
Istanbul โ Europe to Asia, Day 2
After exploring Sultanahmet Square, we took the very crowded tram back to the funicular and walked over to the hotel to pick up our bags. We then took the funicular and tram to the ferry dock where we met Barbara who had arrived via train and tram from the airport. (Thank goodness for text messaging!)
Istanbul โ Wandering, Day 2
Due to the time change, I had a hard time waking up on our first morning in Istanbul, but managed to get up, get showered and get packed. Once all five of us were “up and at ’em”, we headed up to the terrace floor of the hotel for breakfast. Thankfully, “Terrace” at this hotel
Istanbul โ Exploring, Day 1
After a short rest and a shuffling of hotel rooms — with five of us, we had two, but only one had been available at check-in, we headed out to find some lunch. Our hotel is in a litle pedestrian area full of little shop and restaurants, so finding a place was no challenge. The
Istanbul โ Arrival, Day 1
On Wednesday, I woke up somewhere over Amsterdam, still hours away from Istanbul. Breakfast was the lamest airplane breakfast I’ve ever had, but at least it was vegetarian. While approaching Istanbul, we caught some glimpses of Black Sea and then mosque after mosque; thankfully, the guy behind me stopped counting after 15. As in Atlanta,
Photos from Istanbul
We have two short days in Istanbul before we take the 1.50TL ferry to Asia and ride the overnight train train to Ankara. There I’ll have time to caption the photos and write about our adventures. For now, here are the photos.
And weโre off!
We’re now on our way to Turkey, but first enduring a 4+ hour layover at JFK. The time is easily passed in the SkyClub where we are indulging in snacks, drinks, wi-fi and comfy chairs. We’ll head over to our gate in an hour or so and get ready to get on our long flight
and home again
Barbara woke early to repack. The girls got up a little after that, and we all headed down to breakfast. Our last in France. Not great, but not terrible. Chloe got a boiled egg, but it was part of the English breakfast and therefore soft-boiled. Blech. Barbara left for her flight; the girls and I
Vorey to Roissy
I woke early from being too cold! I could tell that we were in the mountains! The light was fantastic, too. Everyone else slept a bit later, so I read for a while. There were not many people in the restaurant for breakfast, so it was quite relaxing. We did run out of coffee and
GBK Gwyneth
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