Turkey, Greek Isles and on to Munich

Turkey.. might as well be heaven after India. We stayed in an area called Sultanahmet, cobblestone streets, pensions, kitty-kats running around everywhere pausing only for a stroke and a purr, souvenir shops, jewellry stores and carpet sellers EVERYWHERE. Our room in the Noble Hotel is a little haven with a wee courtyard and a nice wall heater that we made good use of. After coming from 40+ heat everyday, Istanbul is cool - some days even cold but the people's warmth more than made up for the climate. Everyone we talked to was kind and sweet and by the day's end our teeth were floating from all the apple tea we consumed. All the shop owners and just folks along the street would offer demitasse of tangy apple tea in which we were more than happy to indulge.

I must say, for the girls reading this, Turkey has the best looking men! Charming and dashing, all meticulously GQ dressed with smoldering dark eyes and they certainly aren't shy with their charm. Funny thing is, when we were in India the women were captivatingly beautiful with almond eyes and ruby lips and dressed exotically in saris and gold - lovely. But the men were a bit on the meager side, thin and a bit worn looking, I didn't find them much attractive. India was Ivan's treat whereas Turkey was a smorgesbord of dashing dudes. Ivan says he can't wait to see the Turkish women as there are none working in the shops or cafes, they all stay home and the men do the business so, we head to the mosque area and there they are, all clad in garish head scarves, no make up - very plain looking ladies. It seems that while the ladies produce some very handsome boys, the girls are a bit left behind in the race. However, once we headed into the chic area of Istanbul, we did see some lovely ladies.

The blue mosque, The Topkapi Palace, The Grand Bazaar, The Bosphorous and all things amazing are within arms reach of our accommodation. The Four Seasons hotel is in this area built on the foundations of what was once the notorious prison of "Midnight Express" fame. It is now one of the highest voted hotels in the world. We took a tour of the Bosphorous by boat one day, the Bosphoruos being the only body of water that has Asia on one side and Europe on the other, as we floated by the Sultan's palaces and stunning homes along both the Asian and European shores. I don't think I have ever been more charmed by a city and it's peoples in all my travels. If anyone wants to know where to spend their summer holiday, I say Turkey, unequivocably. From Istanbul we took a bus to Cappadocia where the villages are carved into caves and the rock formations tower into mushroom shapes and camels and as far as your imagination will take you. This is Star Wars stuff, everything looks otherworldly. We stayed in a a cave hotel and Ivan had his birthday in a cozy little dining room overlooking a rock fortress riddled with caves. From here we headed out on an overnight bus to Pamukkale and the sight of ancient ruins. Have I ever alluded to the fact that I hate buses? I believe I have and the sentiment has yet to change. I loathe them. The seats are never comfortable, there is always music playing that I am prone to dislike, and it makes for a sore back and a grumpy demeanor but sometimes there are no other choices. And so we ride the loathesome bus. Pamukkale is a series of calcium pools cascading down the mountainside but they were not full of water so we only saw empty basins of calcium formation. Oh well.

On to Ephesus, the amazing ruins of an ancient city replete with an enormous coliseum. Onto the stage walked two little Japanese tourists who began singing in harmony the hymn, How Great Thou Art, the hair on my arms stood up and tears came to my eyes. It was a definite moment. From Ephesus we travelled to Selcuk where we enjoyed a lovely evening and in the morning hopped a ferry to Samos Island in Greece.

We spent one night in Samos which was nice but the real treat was heading into Mykonos the next day. The glistening all white and blue houses set against the hills floating in the jewel-like sea was dazzling. 2 nights in Mykonos and on to Santorini which was the most impressive of all. There is a volcano off the island that last erupted in the 50's and reformed the coastline of the island. Lean your head back and look to the sky and there cliff-top sits the village of Fira. It seems to float in the air it sits so high above the sea. Getting off the ferry we meet our driver who drives up and up and up to the top of the island. Once above you can look in either direction and see the ocean on both sides. It's hard to tell where the blue, blue sky ends and the blue, blue water begins. We eat fresh red tomatos and green cucumbers and black olives topped by thick slabs of crumbly feta cheese topped by golden olive oil - the heavenly Greek salad. I can't get enough. Red wine, gooey pizzas, sticky ice-creams. Oh, it is heaven.

After 2 days in Santorini, VERY EXPENSIVE, we catch a direct charter flight to Munich and here we are staying with our handsome, lovely host, Matthias, who works for Lufthansa and so was waiting for us when we got off our flight. It was so nice to see a familiar face coming off the plane. We are in Bavaria where beer is considered a food! We go directly to the beer garden and quaff some steins with Matthias and his colleagues and then take the train to his home. Funny here, as we get on the train, one of the guys we met handed me a beer. Drinking on the transit system is not frowned on at all as it's a food. Go figure, Germans DO love their beer. Ivan is reunited with his guitars here and is a happy boy. We are off to explore the city tomorrow. Auf Wiedersehen!