ok so as of now i am in istanbul and having a great time! but first a recap...
Left Goreme on an overnight bus headed for the souther coast of Turkey. Sent one day in Antalya enjoying the sun and the great views of the blue water and hazy mountains.
Left Antalya for Olympus just a couple hours down the coast. Olympus is famous for its tree house accomadations which were closed for the season so we stayed in nice room with beds and tvs and were sheltered from the torrential downpore during the night and into the morning. but being from washington megan and i were not detered and to the great ammuesment of the workers we left wearing big blue plastic garbage bags over our rain jackets and back packs. great hike and the sun even came out not long after we left. hiked up into the hill sides to see the Chimnera, one of the craziest sights of the trip. as we climbed up past an old church ruin we started to see fire just burning out of the rocks in the side of the hill. these little fires have been bursting forth from this stop for over two thousand years and no one knows why. apperently the gas composition ignites when it comes in contact with the air so the flames just lick the rocks and acouple spots boil (at least after downpores). Really crazy sight.
hiked and bouldered along the beach and enjoyed scramblbing around on amazing ruins. some of the best ruins of the trip, in amoungest trees and vines, a lot like coba in the yuctan. castel on the cliffs above the water and an amazing citadel with towers. also saw madrona like trees and pitcher plants which excited us biology kids a lot.
after three days we moved on to Kas (pronounce cash). Very nice town in a little cove. this was the location of our thanksgiving with involved turkey sandwiches for those who ate meat on our hike during the day and then a really nice dinner at a cozy little restaurant where everything was made super freash and local. not a bad substitution but man i missed yams and stuffing!
After Kas megan and i headed for iznik for two nights. this was a town linnea and chris had recommened and we loved! it is a beautiful little town on a lake, famous for it's anazing tile work, mum you would have gone nuts. it is in a super fertile valley and it is olive harvesting season so loads of people were out and about on tractors filling boxes and boxes of olives. we walked to a near by little tiny town and were waylayed by three 14 year old boys who proceeded, with the help of their turkish to english dictionary, to lead us around the little village, introduce us to their family, invite us for tea and popcorn and pick us tons of flowers, figs, corn cods, tomatoes, olives, and grapes. at one point we had about 15 kids following us around, it was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.
from iznik took a bus and then a ferry to istanbul. the blue mosque and aya sophia are two of the most amazing buildings i have ever seen. i cant put in to words how huge, elegant, and detailed the insides of these two buildings are. there are 555 shades of blue used in the tile work in the blue mosque and the mosaic of Jeszzie Chrizey in the Aya sophia is beath taking. we also went to a small church which had hands down the most amazing mosaics i have seen.
met the godfather of the carpet mophia (can describe that silly meeting when i get home) and worked through the very tame bazar and visited the turkish and islamic art museum. the city itself is very very european, can tell we crossed contients. very modern and clean, not excactly how i pictured it but just as beautiful.
we have one more day to explore the city and then board an overnight train to greece. it feels very werid to be leaving turkey and leaving islamic countries for the time being. call to pray has become a part of our lives and now we will be leaving it behind. however very excited, sue i will be in meteora in two days! cant wait to talk to you about it.
hope everything is great at home, will be flying in in less than two weeks and cant wait to see everyone. love you all and talk to you soon!
