Reading about Turkey
When preparing for a trip, I always like to read. Not just the travel books, but historical books, historical fiction, travel narratives, fiction, just about anything I can get my hands on. For my own future reference, of for yours, here is a list of some of the books I read or skimmed before our
Turkish Evil Eyes
Top: Magnets for sale in the Spice Market, Istanbul Bottom: Evil Eyes in Cappadocia From the Wikipedia entry for “Evil eye”: Known as nazar (Turkish: nazar boncugu or nazarlik), this talisman is most frequently seen in Turkey, found in or on houses and vehicles or worn as beads. Apart from seeing evil eye talismans for
Photo Friday – Summer Fun
Photo taken at a street vendor kiosk outside of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul on 11 Jul 2010. Yes, I realize that it is not Friday, but Thursday. However, I’ve decided to begin submitting my weekly contribution to the Photo Friday contest (not that my photos are in the same league with the other entries),
Heading Home – Day 20
It came too fast — time to return home from Turkey. I woke early and got started on organizing and packing. After the girls finished their packing, we all headed up to our final breakfast in Turkey. We retraced our steps of two days ago – walk to the funicular, take the funicular, ride the
Around Istanbul โ Day 19
After a big breakfast in the hotel breakfast room, we headed out to Sultanahmet Square via funicular and tram. Our first destination was the Basilica Cistern (in Turkish it is called the “Sunken Palace”), which we found after consulting three different maps. In on our travels in Turkey, Camille was considered a child in most
Selcuk to Istanbul โ Day 18
After a great, cool night’s sleep, we had some breakfast, then worked on getting packed and the house cleaned up. For a break, we headed down to the Isabey Mosque at the bottom of our hill. We explored the courtyard, the we were invited to enter the mosque by non other than the imam himself!
Around Selcuk โ Day 17
It was strange to wake up in such a big house with only the four of us there. After breakfast, we headed out for a ride to Sirince. Riding in the “minibus” was a whole lot different when sitting in the front seat. Plus, I think anyone that saw us thought us to be stupid
Aqua Fantasy โ Day 16
We had a slow morning in Selcuk. After a big breakfast made from huge double-yolked eggs, my parents and sister packed and visited the Isa Bey Mosque, just down the street. Rob and the girls headed out for the day to the nearby waterpark, Aqua Fantasyland. After the driver came to get Suze and my
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
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