So nice to come home to a clean house, sons waiting to hug and welcome me, and a dog who was so excited I thought he would shake apart!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Home!
Ah... It feels sooo good to be home! My only complaint is the heat! I thought I had left Turkey?!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Quick Note
Time to leave the beautiful hotel on the sea (The Adonis).... sigh.... Tonight I catch a two hour flight from Antalya to Istanbul, catch a nap, then my next flight at 5 am.... then its 7 hours on a plane to Germany, a five hour, then another 2 hours flight to Boston.... See you all soon! After I recover that is.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Out on a Cliff
Hello Again!
Here I am in Antalaya and the world is looking much better. Izmir was not a fun city at all. As I said before the hotel was a nightmare but thanks to exhaustion, once I was able to wind down, I slept like the dead.
It is 6:41 here and I am in the hotel lobby as the wireless internet doesn't reach all the way to my room. Our morning went smoothly. Our flight uneventful. We visited Aspendos today and will dine with yet another host family tonight- in 15 minutes in fact.
As for the cliff.... this hotel is right on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea! the view is stunning and tomorrow we are free to amuse ourselves until noon. I will most definately be down the cliff to the sea below. I MUST get into that water!
Here I am in Antalaya and the world is looking much better. Izmir was not a fun city at all. As I said before the hotel was a nightmare but thanks to exhaustion, once I was able to wind down, I slept like the dead.
It is 6:41 here and I am in the hotel lobby as the wireless internet doesn't reach all the way to my room. Our morning went smoothly. Our flight uneventful. We visited Aspendos today and will dine with yet another host family tonight- in 15 minutes in fact.
As for the cliff.... this hotel is right on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea! the view is stunning and tomorrow we are free to amuse ourselves until noon. I will most definately be down the cliff to the sea below. I MUST get into that water!
Friday, July 1, 2011
I'm not even sure where to begin. Today has been a disaster all around. First the lack of sleep for several nights in a row with last night being the worst. I was up and moving at the literal crack of dawn. We waited outside for our driver who never did show. With only 15 minutes to our deadline we called a "Taksi" and hauled butt to the airport. unlike Mahir, this guy did not try run every other driver off the road but got us where we needed to go in record time. There were the usual battles with Turks who do not understand the concept of lines, but with my developing skills in line management,I managed to keep up with my travelling companions and not get left behind.
The flight was uneventful and our new driver, Murat, was right where he should have been. In fact, our tour guide was even waiting there too. Much to the distress of myself, Dan, and his girlfriend Krista we did NOT go to the hotel to check in but immediately headed out for sight seeing. Tired and dragging we all decided to just go along and enjoy. So off we went. First stop, BREAKFAST!!! We were driven to a very nice roadside place with of course an outdoor cafe right on the boundaries of a peach and olive orchard. We ate a terrific breakfast of fresh bread with honey from the beehive in the orchard and pita bread with spinach and feta cheese inside and of course tea. The toilets were semi permanent porta-potties, but hey, what can one expect in the country side of Turkey?
We drove off to Ephesus where we spent several hours tramping around the most amazing ruins- lots of wild cats, a giant grasshopper the size of my hand (I do not lie!!), fig trees, and more dust than can be found in the middle of the Arizona deserts. You definitely get a sense of the magnificence of the place when you see the two story remains of the library and walk up the steps of an arena where gladiators once fought. From the tops of those steps you can see the paved road leading off to what used to be a bay of the Aegean sea. Of course the sea still exists, it just doesn't come inland as far as it used to. By the time we reached the end of the ruins there was a revolt in the making as the three of us were so exhausted and hot (90 degrees here today) we just wanted to go to our hotel.... but no. The new guide insisted we simply could NOT miss the wonders of the Virgin Mary's house where she was reputed to have lived out the last of her days. So, off we went. From there, the ruins of Artemis' temple, and the Ephesus museum. A tiny open air museum with a few of the requisite wild cats lounging about. Wild cats, by the way, are not like our ferals. Though they are feral to a degree they all appear to be relatively healthy and some are even friendly. People feed them scraps and they wander freely about.
So.... lunch at yet another outdoor cafe.... with a cat of course strolling through..... and off to the beach in spite of us all begging not to go. We just wanted to go to the hotel. But, nope. "you MUST see the beach. ...sigh..... we arrive at the Aegean sea, walk to the water, dip our toes, and turn around and say.... "take us to the hotel." but wait... you MUST have your 57th cup of tea for the day..... sigh.... as we sit with Hakan, our new tour guide, our new driver and some guy we don't know but appears to be a friend of the tour guide when one of us realizes that we are scheduled to eat with a family tonight... on four hours sleep, sun burnt and sweaty, and dead tired... PLEASE, can we at least go to our hotel and change our clothing? "Sure, of course" one hour later we arrive in the depths of Izmir to the announcement... "Here is tonight's host family! Time to eat..." and have a 58th cup of tea.....
We arrived at our hotel to walk in to a place under construction!!! Dust on the floors, an elevator door that opens up to two workers and the cab piled with potato sacks of ripped out and broken tile. They tell us it is a mere 30 minute wait (at 8 pm in now 80 degree weather and no air conditioning) until we can use the elevator. We decide we can walk up the 4 floors, no big deal right? Besides, they have assured us that the construction work is not on our floor AND that they are done for the night anyway. As we walk up the flights each and every floor is clearly under construction. There are wires hanging from the ceiling and we reach the fourth floor sweaty, disgusted and beginning to anger. We are greeted by construction workers trying to hastily sweep up all kinds of dirt and dust from the hallway floors and are directed to our rooms which smell like smoke and are dirty..... sigh.... our hotel rooms are directly above a busy New York type street with cars beeping and constant conversation below. The window are thin so every sound carries.... I actually checked to see if a window had been left open because the noise is so loud....guess sleep will be a mere wish again tonight. Gotta be up and ready for that 8 am flight to Antalya.... sigh... the beauty of Turkey is beginning to wear thin.
The flight was uneventful and our new driver, Murat, was right where he should have been. In fact, our tour guide was even waiting there too. Much to the distress of myself, Dan, and his girlfriend Krista we did NOT go to the hotel to check in but immediately headed out for sight seeing. Tired and dragging we all decided to just go along and enjoy. So off we went. First stop, BREAKFAST!!! We were driven to a very nice roadside place with of course an outdoor cafe right on the boundaries of a peach and olive orchard. We ate a terrific breakfast of fresh bread with honey from the beehive in the orchard and pita bread with spinach and feta cheese inside and of course tea. The toilets were semi permanent porta-potties, but hey, what can one expect in the country side of Turkey?
We drove off to Ephesus where we spent several hours tramping around the most amazing ruins- lots of wild cats, a giant grasshopper the size of my hand (I do not lie!!), fig trees, and more dust than can be found in the middle of the Arizona deserts. You definitely get a sense of the magnificence of the place when you see the two story remains of the library and walk up the steps of an arena where gladiators once fought. From the tops of those steps you can see the paved road leading off to what used to be a bay of the Aegean sea. Of course the sea still exists, it just doesn't come inland as far as it used to. By the time we reached the end of the ruins there was a revolt in the making as the three of us were so exhausted and hot (90 degrees here today) we just wanted to go to our hotel.... but no. The new guide insisted we simply could NOT miss the wonders of the Virgin Mary's house where she was reputed to have lived out the last of her days. So, off we went. From there, the ruins of Artemis' temple, and the Ephesus museum. A tiny open air museum with a few of the requisite wild cats lounging about. Wild cats, by the way, are not like our ferals. Though they are feral to a degree they all appear to be relatively healthy and some are even friendly. People feed them scraps and they wander freely about.
So.... lunch at yet another outdoor cafe.... with a cat of course strolling through..... and off to the beach in spite of us all begging not to go. We just wanted to go to the hotel. But, nope. "you MUST see the beach. ...sigh..... we arrive at the Aegean sea, walk to the water, dip our toes, and turn around and say.... "take us to the hotel." but wait... you MUST have your 57th cup of tea for the day..... sigh.... as we sit with Hakan, our new tour guide, our new driver and some guy we don't know but appears to be a friend of the tour guide when one of us realizes that we are scheduled to eat with a family tonight... on four hours sleep, sun burnt and sweaty, and dead tired... PLEASE, can we at least go to our hotel and change our clothing? "Sure, of course" one hour later we arrive in the depths of Izmir to the announcement... "Here is tonight's host family! Time to eat..." and have a 58th cup of tea.....
We arrived at our hotel to walk in to a place under construction!!! Dust on the floors, an elevator door that opens up to two workers and the cab piled with potato sacks of ripped out and broken tile. They tell us it is a mere 30 minute wait (at 8 pm in now 80 degree weather and no air conditioning) until we can use the elevator. We decide we can walk up the 4 floors, no big deal right? Besides, they have assured us that the construction work is not on our floor AND that they are done for the night anyway. As we walk up the flights each and every floor is clearly under construction. There are wires hanging from the ceiling and we reach the fourth floor sweaty, disgusted and beginning to anger. We are greeted by construction workers trying to hastily sweep up all kinds of dirt and dust from the hallway floors and are directed to our rooms which smell like smoke and are dirty..... sigh.... our hotel rooms are directly above a busy New York type street with cars beeping and constant conversation below. The window are thin so every sound carries.... I actually checked to see if a window had been left open because the noise is so loud....guess sleep will be a mere wish again tonight. Gotta be up and ready for that 8 am flight to Antalya.... sigh... the beauty of Turkey is beginning to wear thin.
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