Greece Oct. 3-13, 2012

Greek Journal Oct. 3 – 13, 2012

(more photos here)

Getting here turned out to be easier than I anticipated. The flight was fine and the airport in Athens was easy to negotiate, certainly compared to the departure from Istanbul where I got lost trying to find where to check in.

I got a cab right away in the taxi line and when we got into Athens the driver pointed out a few landmarks, including a statue of Harry Truman. He did not know why Truman was honored with a statue, but speculated that it might have had something to do with World War II.

I checked in, organized, handed over some things to be washed and ironed and set out to explore. There were a few places I wanted to visit the following day and thought it would help if I found out where they were.  I did, but only after getting pretty lost. I asked a whole lot of folks to show me on my map where I was and everyone was very helpful.

I had read about a folk arts museum and found that.  It seemed like a nice way to spend a bit of time so I went in and spent a bit less than a half hour looking at old costumes, old weapons, old handcrafts. It wasn't what I had expected, but it was sort of interesting.

After that I was just wandering. The concierge had given me the location of a bookstore, but it was closed. I was sort of trying to head back to the hotel when I saw a shop that had owl and amulet potential. And indeed I found both. I asked the shop owner if there was a bookstore in the area where I might find poetry and she directed me to the one I had read about - literally directed me! She wrote the directions down and walked outside to make sure I headed in the right direction. Eleftheroudakis on Panepistimiou Street just past Syntagma Square. It was about a 20-minute walk away. There were no anthologies and no dual language books, but I bought “Penelope Says” by Katerina Anghelaki-Rooke, the god-daughter of Nikos Kazantzakis. The book has a good introduction that defines her a feminist poet in the tradition of Adrienne Rich and talks about her using Greek mythic figures such as Penelope and Helen as filters for her own statements about the role of women.

Then began the adventure of finding my way back to the hotel. By now I was pretty well oriented on the map and starting to recognize a few landmarks - Hadrian's Arch, the guy hanging out on the corner of Amalias and Lyssikratous Streets – things like that. I found my way back onto Makrigianni, the street filled with cafés that leads right to the hotel. I decided I was hungry and set out to find a little snack. But first I found a little jewelry store, and bought a nice pair of Greek key design silver earrings. And I had a snack - a spinach pie and a bottle of mint iced tea. And I found my back to the hotel. So I fulfilled all my souvenir quests on day one - owl, amulet, poetry, earrings.

I went up to the roof restaurant in the hotel for dinner. The restaurant has an amazing view of the Acropolis. While in general I am opposed to the idea of spending time in my hotel when I could be out walking around in a new city, the fact is that I walked around for about 2 or 3 hours Wednesday and for nearly six Thursday, saw a ton of fascinating stuff and I was tired!

The next morning I set out for the Jewish Museum at a little after 9:00 and got there with no trouble thanks to having scouted the route the day before.  The museum is small and wonderful. It is beautifully laid out with excellent information cards in Greek and English at each display point. There is a very moving section on the Shoah with a statue showing a man being crushed between two rocks and number, possibly a concentration camp ID, across the front. There are also lovely displays of ritual items, period clothing and generally what you would expect. They had a very interesting free leaflet on the history of the Jews in Greece dating back to the early 1st century C.E. At the desk, when I stopped to tell someone how much I had enjoyed my visit, the volunteer on duty turned out to be an ex-pat from Chicago, coming to NY at the end of the month before taking an Amazon cruise. Small world!

The museum is small, as I said, and my visit took only a bit over an hour. Since I had seen a bulletin posted in the hotel lobby saying that the Road Scholar group was meeting at 6:00 PM, I had plenty of time for more exploring. The Rick Steves Athens book had what looked like an excellent city walk that would get me to a variety of places I might not get to see with the tour, so I set off.

The walk started at Syntagma Square facing the Parliament Building. I had passed that on my way to the bookstore so I knew the way and felt very much like an old pro as I strolled up Amalias Street without needing to consult my map. :-)

I got there at 10:30 and saw in the book that, although the big changing of the guard takes place at five minutes before the hour, there is a crossing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the half hour. There were Evzone guards in traditional uniforms - caps with long tassels, pompoms on the shoes, pleated skirt-like tunics - standing at guard posts on either side of the tomb and a soldier in camo fatigues standing around in front. When it was time for the crossing the soldier in fatigues shooed everyone out of a rectangular area marked off in the pavement in front of the tomb. He came to attention with a snappy stamp of his right foot and saluted the tomb for several seconds. Then first one guard and then the other banged his rifle butt on the ground and they turned to face each other. The crossing is a fancy, tightly choreographed event with high kicks, raised left arms and a tricky walking pattern that has them cross face to face, circle back to the wall, circle again to cross back to back and then return to their posts. The whole thing took several minutes.  At one point the soldier in fatigues stopped them to adjust the cap and tassel of one of the guards and then they continued. I suspect he was in for a tongue lashing at least and maybe some punishment duty.

The rest of the walk took me along shopping streets and narrow alleys, past churches and ruins and modern hotels, up and down hills and step streets. For a while I walked and chatted with a young woman from the Philippines who was traveling alone (her friend was supposed to come with her but couldn't make the trip) and who seemed to have an amazing sense of direction. Without the book and its clear directions I would have been hopelessly lost.

Eventually I got back to Syntagma and sat on a bench to eat the salad I had left over from last night’s dinner. It was a little soggy and pretty messy to eat with my fingers, but still tasty.  Since I had a smallish breakfast and just the salad for lunch I felt I deserved some dessert so I stopped at one of the cafés on Makrigianni Street for baklava and iced tea. It was the biggest piece of baklava I've ever been served – the equivalent of about five portions and I ate it all! It was delicious. :-)

I still had an hour and three quarters before the group orientation meeting and I felt rested after my morning hike. I thought I might spend a little time in the National Garden.  I walked out to a stretch of the main street I hadn't been on before and crossed over right near Hadrian's Arch. I had a nice view of the arch from behind and also a view of the columns in the area behind the arch. As I continued to walk up toward the garden I passed an excavation of a Roman bath.  It was discovered fairly recently when they were digging for a new Metro station. Like in Israel, Turkey, Egypt and so many places in the Middle East especially, this must happen all the time.

I did continue to walk along the National Garden, although I didn't go in. It looked like a place I could get lost. However, further up, there was a big, broad promenade leading in. I saw the Zappeion (a large exhibition hall) and some lovely trees and other plants. I also saw homeless men sleeping on benches. On my walk earlier today I was struck by the fact that Athens looks run down. There is graffiti everywhere, lots of places are in disrepair, lots of store fronts are empty and in many cases it looks as if that happened recently. Sad.

On Friday, the first official day of the tour, we started with a talk outlining the various ages of Greek civilization from the 6th millennium BCE through to the Ottoman Empire. Then, in answer to a question from one of the men, our tour leader Loula shared some information about how Greece found itself in the economic crisis it faces now. She was very emotional when talking about the lack of opportunities for young people like her 28 year old daughter with excellent educations but no prospects. There are more Greeks living in other countries than in Greece!

Our excursion started at the Acropolis Museum. It is fairly new and built on pillars.  There are excavations going on underneath and you can see them as you enter and also at certain places inside where there is a glass floor. The collection is very interesting, but Loula kept making the point that the best and most beautiful pieces are in the British Museum and other foreign museums. I know the Met has an excellent Greek collection. We heard this in Turkey as well. I know some of the people who took antiquities thought they were protecting them, but too many were just collecting goodies and now they have been elsewhere for so long that it is difficult to arrange repatriation.

After the museum we climbed up to the Acropolis. It was a difficult walk. Some of the exposed marble stones are very slippery and at times the height made me quite uncomfortable, but the views of the city and the ability to get so close to the temples made it worthwhile. It is pretty amazing to be at a place I've seen pictured so many times. It is like being at the pyramids, Masada, the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China...you can't quite believe you are really there. Since I was such a mythology buff in my childhood, this place is very special.

We ate a quick lunch before going to the Agora as the Agora and Agora Museum close at 3. When we finished lunch it was about 2:15 or so and we hadn't even started yet. We did a quick walk through while Loula pointed put some highlights and a very quick – 10 minutes – in the small, but interesting museum displaying articles found in graves. The guard tried to kick us out and Loula argued a bit, but then they started turning out the lights so we had to leave. Since we had done a lot of walking and climbing, Loula bought us metro tickets for the return to the hotel. The stations were bright and clean and the trains were comfortable. It was nice to get the chance to try out the metro system.

We were on our own Saturday morning and Loula had suggested a couple of museums we might want to visit. I got off to a nice early start and arrived at the Benaki Museum a little after 9:00. The museum is small, beautifully laid out, with clear, helpful information about each item exhibited. I spent about a half hour looking at pottery, jewelry and other items. There was a decent collection of Byzantine icons that looked very nice, but I skimmed over those and still felt I had done the place justice.

From there I walked to the nearby Museum of Byzantine and Christian Art. It is much larger and also very nicely done. The museum rooms are laid out chronologically which was interesting because it made it possible to compare the art of one millennium or century with the next.  It is also beautifully lit. As you approach some of the displays, especially some of the icons that have a lot of red and gold, they seem to glow.

As I was returning to the hotel I spotted three guards in the uniforms of the Evzones guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was a few minutes before 11 so I knew where they were headed. I walked a little faster and got there just in time to see the changing of the guard. It's impressive. The two being relieved and the two coming on duty do a very complex pattern of walking with kicks, and stamps along with raised fists and slide steps to bring the feet together. It is similar to what I saw a couple of days earlier when the guards just crossed, but It was even more impressive to see four of them doing. To add to the enjoyment of the ceremony, there was a little boy, maybe 4 years old, imitating every move and calling out commands after the officer in charge. It reminded me of my poem about reciting the manual of arms in the living room with a ladle for a weapon when I was four.

Back at the hotel, we gathered in the lobby, saw our luggage loaded onto the bus for our drive to Piraeus, then set off for the National Archaeological Museum. En route we stopped at the stadium where the 1896 Olympic Games took place, and had some interesting buildings pointed out. We also some passed some political graffiti in English, one supporting immigrants and one that seemed to be condemning both capitalism and fascism.

At the museum Loula took us around and pointed put the pieces she felt were the most important and, in a couple of cases, the ones she liked best. I was particularly struck by a succession of three large, male figures. The first was fairly primitive with long hair that also served to support the head, fully attached arms and little anatomical detail. The next, only 600 years more recent, was considerably more sophisticated and the third, only two hundred years later, was quite realistic looking with clearly defined muscles and other details that made it very lifelike. It was interesting and surprising to me to see so much development over a relatively short time span.

We then headed for the port, boarded the Star Clipper, found our cabins and settled in before reporting for our first lifeboat drill. It was the longest and most detailed drill I have ever experienced. We were told there would be a second drill the next day.  

After a very nice dinner we went up on deck to watch them raise the sails. I was pleasantly surprised that they did that since I expected the whole trip to be by motor and not by sail at all. In fact, most of the trip was by sail.

The next morning I found a place for tai chi but it was still too early for breakfast, so I explored a little and chatted with one of the men in the group for a while until it was time. After breakfast we had the first part of our lecture on early Greek history - 8th or 9th millennium BCE to 5th or 6th century BCE. It was interesting and I did take notes, but I'm not sure how much of it will stay with me after this trip is over. I’ve come to the conclusion that some of the information I get on these trips sinks into my brain and will reappear when needed, while the rest of it floats out of my head as soon as I’m home.

At 10:00 we had a second safety drill. We didn't need life jackets, but we did all have to report to the Tropical Bar for a bit more Information and a quick quiz to see if we remembered what we were told yesterday.  The main points seemed to be that you should not return to your cabin unless it is very close, but should report directly to your station. You should await instruction and assistance before getting into the lifeboats. You should jump straight down into water with one hand holding down the life vest and the other protecting your face. Peter, the cruise director, did a good job of switching back and forth between English and German, although his French made my ears hurt.

He reminded us of the Costa Concordia disaster and explained that it resulted in the rules being changed, so that now there is the usual pre-embarkation life vest drill and a second drill after embarkation. Then we met the captain, who is Swedish and the various senior crew who are German, Filipino, Montenegran, Argentinean, Russian, British, and a few other nationalities I missed. The passenger list also represented 17 different countries.

I spent the day at sea reading, chatting with fellow passengers and generally killing time. I understand that cruises involve time sailing from one place to another, but I would have preferred an excursion to a full day sailing. I think I’m not really cut out for cruises. J

At 6:00 Peter gave a talk about the ship, about clippers in general and somehow segued into geography and a little mythology. When I knew that Daedelus was the father of Icarus everyone was very impressed. And I got a good laugh when he asked why was Icarus flying so close to sun and I answered, "Because he was a teenager and didn't listen to anything his father said."

The following day, Monday, we visited Ephesus.  I had missed the chance to see it when I was in Turkey because I was sick, so I was excited to finally be there. And it is amazing. The temple building is gorgeous and very well reconstructed/ refurbished/reassembled or whatever is the proper term. We also walked though an excavation/ restoration in progress of the terrace houses. It was fascinating to see the areas that were covered with tumbled down rubble, the long tables where the jigsaw puzzle of pieces were being fitted together, the remains of frescoes with colors still pretty vibrant.  I can't imagine the skill and patience it takes to put this back together again after earthquakes and years of just falling down or having pieces taken by stone masons to use in other buildings and so on.

After Ephesus we were taken as a captive audience to a rug place. I don't know if anyone in our group bought a rug, but a few people seemed to be looking seriously. Since I already had bought a Turkish rug, I started back to the ship with one of the couples. I stopped to buy a bottle of water and promptly got lost until I found two others from the group who knew where they were going. The route back to the ship took us through markets and the duty free shops with salespeople trying to entice us every step of the way. We managed to escape unscathed, however.

The night before the captain had joined part of our group at dinner and they all said he was reticent, gave one word answers to direct questions and didn't volunteer much about himself.  This night he sat at my table and I expected the same thing. One of the men in our group did an excellent job of drawing him out, though.  He told us a lot about himself, starting with the fact that he went to sea when he was 16 years old, talked about sailing, about Sweden and generally was very nice to dine with and talk with.

After dinner we had a folkloric music and dance show.  There were four girls, three young men and a belly dancer. The girls and two of the guys were adequate technicians, but nothing special. One of the guys was special. He made eye contact, he moved beyond his extremities and he was a pleasure to watch.  If the performance had been an audition I would have hired him in a heartbeat. The belly dancer was not young but had an incredible body and moved it in impressive ways.

The next day we left the ship early to take tenders to Patmos and spent the rest of the morning into the early afternoon visiting the Grotto and the Monastery of St. John. Both were small and very lovely with beautiful icons. The church of the monastery has a gorgeous gold leaf altar. I'm not that crazy about icons and religious art, but the work here was quite beautiful and in very good condition, dating from the 11th century through the 16th or 17th.

After that we took a long drive for some reason to a little place on the beach where we had a cold drink.  I had a lovely glass of mint iced tea, but I have no idea why we went all that way just for a ten minute stop and a drink. The scenery along the way was pretty spectacular, though, so I didn't mind the drive too much although it seemed like a waste of time we could have spent exploring. And since the place was right on the beach I got a chance to walk down to the water and touch the Aegean. So now I can add that to my list of oceans, seas and major lakes.

Our bus driver recommended a couple of places for lunch for those of us who wanted to stay on Patmos for a while. Most of us stayed and we all went to lunch. I ordered taramasalata and octopus. Both were delicious and I shared the taramasalata with everyone else. Some people ordered fish and other main courses that took a very long time to arrive. We kept asking when the food would be ready and kept hearing “soon.”  That led to some discussion about the American definition of “soon” versus the Mediterranean definition. By the time we were done it was after 3 PM and we were aiming to catch the tender back to the ship no later than 4:30. I wanted to look for some art so I set off with one of the other women to explore the back streets. I found a very cute pottery plate enameled in red with a whimsical owl on it. Perfect! This was the kind of day I like best when I am traveling - a fairly early start, some interesting guided visits and the free time to roam around for a while and see what there is to see.

The next day we visited the small island of Amorgos. Loula had been talking about 300 steps to get to the monastery and I don't know what I was visualizing, but when we got there, having driven a narrow road filled with hairpin switchbacks and steep drops along the side, I could see that the steps, while broad and low at least near the bottom,  wound up to a very high spot and had a wall next to them on the outside that was not even up to my waist. I went a very short way up and realized that this was not for me. I had plenty of company at the bottom since four others chose not to make the climb, and the view was lovely once I got comfortable enough to appreciate it.

Our next stop was a walk through some narrow, twisty streets in Chora. Chora seems to be a generic name for the largest town or village on the island. We saw it before on Patmos and I had seen it in Turkey. The houses are all bright white, many with blue or green doors and shutters, many with large pots of geraniums or Bougainvillea adding splashes of red to the white of the houses. It was very lovely, very picturesque.

On Thursday we visited Delos and Mykonos, very different not only from each other, but also from the other two islands we had visited earlier in the week. Delos, birthplace of Artemis and Apollo, is entirely an historical site. No one lives there except for archaeologists in temporary quarters during digs or research. The island, at least the side we visited, is covered with ruins in varying conditions, covering several centuries of habitation by various groups. We saw remains of shops and residences, a couple of mosaic floors in good condition, faint traces of frescoes, a few standing columns and lots of tumbled down marble chunks. The museum has some lovely pieces in decent condition that were found on the site. There is a very funny statue of Priapis flashing his genitals at whoever passes by, although his penis has broken off.

Ephesus has things that have been restored or reconstructed to better condition, but this site is just as amazing when you think about the many, many different groups of people who lived and worked here over so many centuries and so many centuries ago. How many hands have touched these stones? How many feet have walked these narrow alleyways between blocks of homes or stores?

Legend says that no one was allowed to be born or to die on Delos during a period that began around 3000 years ago. I have to wonder what happened if someone died suddenly. Were they not declared dead until the body was transported to the nearby island of Rinia or was there some sort of purification ritual that had to be performed.

After a few hours in Delos we took a ferry to Mykonos. It could not be more different! Mykonos is totally commercial and touristic. It's a very pretty island, with bright white buildings and bright blue doors and shutters.  Occasionally there is a touch of red or green, but mostly one sees blue and white. Although I had a good idea what the answer would be, I asked Loula what would happen if someone wanted to paint their house pink or yellow. She laughed and said the fine would be more than the house was worth. We had lunch, strolled around for a bit, and snapped some pictures of Petros the Pelican, a sort of mascot for the island. (In fact, we saw two different pelicans.)

On Friday we had two special activities. The first was that they raised all the sails on the ship and took us out on the tenders so that we could take pictures. It was really quite a beautiful and thrilling sight. The lines of the ship under full sail are majestic and graceful at the same time and we were given lots of time to take lots of shots from many different angles.

The second was our excursion was to Monemvasia, a medieval town on a rocky promontory. One can only enter by one gate (hence the name, which means "one entrance") and no cars can enter. The houses and shops, unlike the buildings we saw elsewhere, are natural stone with red tile roofs. The only buildings that are plastered and white are the churches.

We visited one church and got to see an 11th century icon of the crucifixion that was stolen in the 1980s and subsequently recovered. It is kept in a special, climate controlled room but we were allowed in to see it.  After that Loula led us through some narrow alleys, up and down some rocky steps until we came to the town plaza, a large open area bounded on one side by the sea wall. We heard a bit about various invasions and various groups that occupied the area and then had a chance to wander on our own.  I set out with two of the women from the group and we found a cafe with a great view of the sea and a very limited selection of cold drinks. We relaxed for a while before heading for the main street and the shops.

This was our final day of touring.  The next day we gathered our belongings and were taken to the airport.  I had a lot of time to kill before my flight to Frankfurt and passed some of it chatting with others from the group who were also making connections.  The flight was uneventful, although when I landed in Frankfurt it turned out that the gate for my flight to JFK was about as far away as it could be and still be in the same airport! But I got to the gate just as boarding was starting and got home again, safe and sound after having been away for almost a month. The thing I had missed most during my travels wasn’t my bed – it was my shower and it was as good as I remembered. J

All in all it was another wonderful experience. I really enjoy seeing ancient sites and marveling at the skill – both technical and artistic – that created these buildings, monuments and statues. This trip was particularly exciting because I had devoured so much Greek and Roman mythology when I was young and had taught it as an adult. Somehow, despite the fact that places like the Acropolis, Ephesus and Delos are now in ruins, seeing them in person made them come alive.

Turkey - Sept. - Oct. 2012

Turkey journal - Sept. 17- Oct. 3

(more photos here) 

This was a long trip, mostly due to a three-hour plus layover in Munich. The flight from NY to Munich was about 7 1/2 hours, then the layover, and then a second flight of about 2 1/2 hours. I dozed a bit on the first leg flight and on the second I fell asleep twice for maybe 45 minutes or an hour each time without even trying!

I got excited when we approached the hotel because there was a big bookstore right around the corner. Burcu, our tour leader, was sure I'd find poetry there.  I had a half hour or so after we checked in before our first meeting so I bopped on over. First I asked the guard at door where I'd find books in English. He sent me to the 4th floor. Lots of books, no poetry that I could see and no one working up there. So I went back down and tried to explain what I wanted. The girl at the desk got hold of someone else, explained in Turkish (or so I thought) and they took me upstairs to the section about politics.  So I tried again and mentioned Rumi. That led them to a shelf of books about Islam. After all that it turned out that they did not have what I wanted.  But it was only the first day, so I still had hope.

We only had one day in Ankara and it was packed! We visited two sites and had an interesting lecture.  The Atatürk Mausoleim was very reverently laid out with lots of his possessions and lots of displays depicting historical events, including some impressively done dioramas of battle scenes. It turned out that today was a previously unannounced celebration for Veterans' Day or Martyrs Day.  After some delays and some negotiation on Burcu’s part we were allowed in.  The courtyard was filled with school groups and military groups. It really added to our visit to see all the groups in attendance. Atatürk is virtually a figure of worship. His statues, pictures and name are everywhere and his tomb is treated like a holy shrine. People talk in whispers if at all and photos are not permitted inside.

After that we returned to the hotel for a lecture by a professor of international relations.  She was very critical and really bitter about the present government and their attempt to reestablish Turkey as a Muslim rather than a secular country. It was interesting listening to her and, at the same time, hearing how journalists who say negative things about the country are jailed. One odd expression - she referred to the women who dress in traditional garb with headscarves, long skirts and long coats as "the raincoat brigade." For the rest of our time in Turkey we commented on how uncomfortable these women must have been, all bundled up in some pretty hot weather.  And it wasn’t even summer!

After the lecture we had a lovely lunch at a restaurant near the Museum of Civilizations.

The museum itself was interesting.  The exhibits trace the various groups that occupied the area that is now Turkey from the Neolithic Age through Hittites and Assyrians, to Lydians and on. The exhibits are standard for this sort of museum: fertility goddesses, grave goods, pottery, carvings, etc. There was small exhibit of items from Troy, which is quite near where Burcu grew up, so she was pleased.

Then we began a very long drive to Cappadoccia. We made two rest stops, one at the Great Salt Lake. The ground where water has receded is really covered with salt.  I tasted it! And in places there is black, salt mud.  Some people were filling bags with it.

One of the men on the trip had s a small kite that he has flown in many places around the world.  He had it out and flying on the salt flat.  Fun.

We got to our cave hotel in Cappadoccia around 8 and went straight to dinner.

The next day I was signed up morning for a hot air balloon ride with 10 others from the group.  I was scared to death with no idea why I decided to do this, but the hot air balloon ride was totally amazing. I was terrified until we got into the air, imagining it to be something quite different from what it turned out to be. We floated so quietly, except for the occasional roar of the burners, that there was almost no sensation of movement. We stood in a chest-high basket, divided into four compartments with four or five people in each.  The landscape was breathtaking with fairy chimneys that reminded me of the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon, except these are white and gray. There are also mounds of snow-white tufa and cliffs of the same rock, many with cave homes that have been hollowed out. We were surrounded in the air by dozens of other balloons and the view, especially as the sun was rising, was amazing.  I was not a bit frightened and will absolutely do this again should the occasion arise!

After the balloon ride we returned to the hotel for breakfast and then set off for a day of photo opportunities in various places.  The scenery here is astounding! One of our visits was to the Göreme Outdoor Museum, a collection of small chapels carved into the tufa and decorated with frescoes in various styles dating from around 700 CE to maybe 900 The chapels are very small and the 16 of us filled them. Groups are limited to 3 minutes inside each one. Burcu managed to convey a tremendous amount of information in the allotted time.

Toward the end of our visit there, we had 15 minutes or so of free time. One couple was into geocaching and there was a cache in the immediate area.  They set out to find it while some of us went into other chapels and others to the gift shop. This was the first of several geocache searches that took place during our time in Turkey.  By the end of the trip I think everyone in the group was excited about each find and eager to hear details of exactly where it was placed, how hard it was to find, what exactly it looked like and so on.

Then it was on to lunch.  We ate at a former cave home, now turned into a restaurant and gift shop by the family that had lived there for four generations.  The government doesn't permit anyone to live in these places anymore, but this family had found a way to stay connected to their ancestral home, even if technically they no longer own it.  It was quite lovely and very interesting to talk to them about their lives in this place that is so different from anything I had ever seen.

The next morning we visited the Underground City.  If I understood correctly, this was used as a shelter in times when the community was under attack in the 12th century. At first it sounded as if we would be crouched over in narrow spaces the whole time and I had some reservations about subjecting my back and knees to that kind of abuse. At the entrance there are signs warning that people with heart trouble, high blood pressure, asthma and a bunch of other conditions shouldn't go in. It turned out that there were some fairly long, very narrow and very low tunnels, but they connected to rooms where just about all of us, even the two tallest men, could stand up. It was impressive to realize how hard it would have been for enemy forces to come in after the people sheltering there.  They would have to walk single file, would have had trouble carrying weapons and would have been picked off as they emerged from a tunnel. In one stretch we saw two huge, round stone doors that could be rolled into place at each end of an area, trapping anyone caught between them and condemning them to starve to death. Brutal but very good tactics.

After that we visited a world-renowned potter named Master Galip. Besides designing and creating beautiful ceramic pieces, he collects hair from women, which he keeps in a museum noted by Guinness as the sixth most peculiar museum in the world. It started with a French woman who lived with him for a while and gave him a lock of her hair when she returned home. The next woman in his life did the same and so it went. We watched him make a lovely teapot on a kick wheel, saw how the clay can be fired covered with straw to change the color and also saw how the ceramic pieces are decorated. His shop is like a museum. Each piece is truly a work of art.

We ate lunch at a little restaurant run by a women's cooperative. Burcu said it was fairly new and she had been wanting to try it. It was not only delicious, it was very cheap. We were given cheese and spinach pie on the house. I had a köfte filled with ground meat and walnuts, a bottle of water and a piece of baklava, all for 6 lira or a little less that $4. After we ate Burcu found out that the women had received a letter from Trip Advisor, but they didn't know what it said or what it meant. She explained, and we all watched and applauded while the Trip Advisor decal was put on the front window.

After lunch we visited the village of Ibrahimpasha. Burcu said she first discovered it with her parents. We walked around, talked with a few people, played with a couple of adorable children, with the usual observation that in the US not only would there be no kids that small roaming around alone, but anyone who approached a kid the way we did would be arrested!  The village looks poor. Many of the houses are empty and many of those are crumbling.  At the same time, some of them have lovely decorative touches. It was an interesting slice of life off the tourist path.

Our last activity was a visit to see a Whirling Dervish ceremony. It involved a lot of walking, bowing, playing music on a flute, drum, and two stringed instruments. There was chanting in Arabic and toward the end the five dervishes whirled. They mostly had their eyes closed and traveled in slow circles while they whirled, both counterclockwise. It was interesting, but the dim light and repetitive music made me feel sleepy.

Dinner was in an interesting restaurant on the river and our main course was a beef and eggplant dish with each portion prepared in its own clay pot. The pot is struck in a couple of places to lop off the top. The food was delicious. Dessert was plums and figs covered with tahini and molasses (or, as we came to call it due to Burcu’s prounciation “mah-low-sis”).  We all expressed the desire to lick the plates when we were done.

On Saturday we drove from our cave hotel in Cappadoccia to the first of two one night stays.  Before getting to the hotel in Konya we made a couple of stops. The first was a visit to a caravanserai that dated back to the 12th century. It is built around a central courtyard and looks like a fortress from the outside.  Inside there are animal shelters on one side, small chambers on the other, a mosque in the center - raised so it will not be on the same level as the animals wandering around the courtyard.  Burcu explained that there would be a doctor, a vet, a barber and other amenities available.  She also explained that the doors were bolted at sunset and not opened in the morning until each traveling trader attested to having all of his goods and gold. Pretty nifty system if you ask me!

Our next stop was at the tomb of Rumi, referred to by his real name, Mevlâna Celaddiin-i Rumi. He is buried in a large room along with several of his relatives and followers.  The room is filled with holy relics and there were many visitors praying. In one area there is a small ornate box in a glass case.  Burcu explained that it contains Mohammad's beard.  People were kissing the glass and praying there as well.  It reminded me of some of the things I saw in Jerusalem at Christian holy sites.

The rest of the museum mostly consisted of small rooms with dioramas depicting the various activities of the Sufi center.  For example, we saw the kitchen and the person designated to buy groceries at the market.  He carried something that identified him as coming from the Sufi center so that he could jump to the front of the line and also get the best prices. The gift shop had a nice collection of Rumi's love poems in English so, of course, I had to buy that.  I still wanted a book of contemporary work, but at least I had something.

From there we went to the house and school of a dervish to learn about the philosophy and the rituals.  His students demonstrated as he explained.  One person, the master, sits in a special chair, wears a different type of hat and receives obeisance of various kinds from the others.  The dervish selected one of our group to act as master.  He is tall and rather imposing and played the part well.  We heard a lot about love, about losing your ego, about the oneness of the universe. I asked what led him to choose to become a Sufi mystic and got a very surprising answer.  He didn't choose at all.  His parents sent him to the Sufi monastery when he was 12. They were living in Marseilles and were afraid he would desert Islam and become Christian. He said he tried to run anyway, but the monastery was in the mountains and he didn't know the way to get anywhere else. He even said that at age 12 he had no choice and no knowledge of anything else to get in the way of accepting what he was being taught. I would have much preferred hearing that he experienced some sort of epiphany at a somewhat older age and had chosen this path, although he seemed quite dedicated to it. It was quite clear that, regardless of what set him on this path, it is the only path he wants to be on. 

The drive on Sunday from Konya to Antalya took us through some beautiful mountains There was very little traffic, maybe because it's Sunday.  Our first stop was a Roman amphitheater, very well preserved, not much different from every other Roman amphitheater I've seen in my travels, but Burcu told us a cute story about two architects who were competing for the hand of a wealthy aristocratic girl. One designed the aqueduct and the other the theater. The one in the theater was mumbling to himself that he would win the girl and acoustics were so good that she heard him and he won.

After lunch it was on to Perge, another Greco-Roman site with baths, a chariot racecourse and an agora with shops around a central square. It's in the process of being restored and is already pretty interesting. It should be spectacular when the restoration is done.

On Monday we set out to board the gulet, but first we stopped at two archaeological sites. The first one, Phaselis, is in a lovely forest setting with three harbors, one of which is now a beach where people can swim. It was lovely and cool and interesting, although to be honest, at a certain point all the ruins begin to look alike.

From there we went to lunch at a lovely restaurant right on the water. However getting there entailed driving on the twistiest road I think I’ve ever been on in my life. The sea was on one side, sometimes several yards down, and the mountains on the other. I can't imagine what went into building that road - blasting out the rock, following every curve of the coast.

After stopping for lunch we made a second stop to visit Myra. It was also interesting, but we climbed up into the amphitheater and Burcu had the group sitting on one of the high rows of benches. Not I, said this little chickadee!  I may have managed to go up in a hot air balloon, but the kind of heights the amphitheater entailed were still way outside my comfort zone.

The gulet was charming. The cabin was small and I was very glad I brought the least amount I felt I could get away with, all crammed into my backpack and my handbag. The way my cabin was arranged, I had to crawl onto the bed. The shower was a nozzle that I had to pull from the sink. I’ve run into this arrangement before and knew that I had to remove my towels and the toilet paper before showering.  Otherwise everything gets soaked no matter how careful you try to be. I felt very worldly-wise sharing this advice with some of the others who had never seen this type of bathroom.

Tuesday was a relaxing day on the gulet. We started with a lovely breakfast and then sailed to a cove where the ones who wanted to could swim and snorkel. At lunchtime we were in the town of Kas. It is very small with a very nice street of shops.  We found a nice restaurant at the top of the street, one that Burcu recommended. When we got back to the boat we sailed for a couple of hours and then put down anchor and had tea and our five o'clock conversation. Our conversation today was about the Kurdish situation. The conversation seemed to be very open and uncensored. I was struck again, as I was in our meeting with the professor early in the trip, by hearing outspoken criticism.

We started the next day with a visit to a school in the town of Kalkan. The town and type schools are obviously fairly comfortable.  The building is new, the equipment and books are plentiful and in good condition. We began with a long question and answer session with the principal and a couple of teachers. It seems that the school system in Turkey is like the one at home in many ways. Funding is different - they seem to rely more heavily on donations.  And, of course, now under the current government the kids get religious instruction in school. Teachers are underpaid, the principal had complaints about parent involvement - sometimes too much, sometimes too little - there is a move to rate teachers based on student test scores... All the same as home.

The kids were adorable and friendly.  In the fifth grade English class they were learning adjectives. The teacher had them describe first one of the men in our group (“This man is tall. He has white hair. He had brown eyes. He is medium weight.”) and then a second (“This man has gray hair. He has blue eyes. He is medium height. He is medium weight.”). Then they sang "Clementine" for us and we responded with a verse of "If you're happy and you know it.”  The kids were all enthusiastic and outgoing, they all wanted to pose for pictures and they all seemed eager to show off their English skills.

Our final stop, or at least my final stop, was Kayakoy, the ghost city. It dates back to the 19th century and there are hundreds of buildings, some in fairly good condition.  It was Greek until the end of the Ottoman Empire when the border was determined and the Turks and Greeks in each others' territory were repatriated. (Read Louis de Bernières’s novel “Birds Without Wings” for an excellent depiction of this period in Turkey’s history.) There were rumors that the Greeks had poisoned the wells, so the place was left deserted. It is really awesome to see so many homes, churches, etc. left behind. In some places you can see traces of color, and some buildings look like all they need is a roof.

Thursday morning we sailed to Gemilar Island, also known as Saint Nicholas Island and climbed up past four churches, or technically to the fourth church. The view was lovely and the churches, dating back to 6th and 7th centuries, were interesting.  The climb was something else.  Not only were we pretty high up, at least by my standards, with some drop offs that weren't totally sheer but were fairly steep and rocky, the trail itself was pretty rocky and slippery with rubble in several places. I was very nervous and very unhappy for much of it. The rest of the group was very patient, especially the ones behind me since the trail was too narrow for anyone to pass and go ahead except at a few spots. One of the women cracked me up when she said I had been voted "most valuable player" for this excursion since my going so slowly meant everyone behind me had time to take lots of pictures without Burcu getting impatient with us. I didn't expect the hike to be that demanding and I'm glad. Had I had a more accurate idea of the difficulty, especially the narrow parts with drop offs, I might not have come and I would have felt badly about missing it.

The next day we left the gulet and drove to Ephesus. Our big stop today was at a rug maker.  The owner trains women of the villages to do the work, gives them a loom to have at home and then takes the work. He referred to them as contract labor. It seems like a win- win. He talked about learning that he has to open bank accounts in their names, not pay them cash, in order to keep their husbands from just taking the money. He also gives them some education in addition to the training.

The rugs were lovely.  We saw how silk cocoons were spun out into silk fiber and how various organic materials create different colors to dye the wool or silk.  We also got a lesson about the ten levels of skill in carpet making, with the simplest techniques dating back 5000 years and the most advanced the intricate designs with 300 or more knows per square inch in materials like silk or alpaca and baby lamb's wool.

I had thought about buying something, somehow envisioning a women's cooperative with nice but relatively inexpensive pieces. This place was far from that, but I ended up with a small silk rug that is now hanging on the wall. I saw one of the couples in the next room and called to them to pass judgment on the rug.  They also bought one and told everyone it was my fault. J

The hotel in Ephesus was very elegant and I had a suite! My room was right off the lobby and my first reaction was, "Oh, nuts! It's going to be noisy so near the lobby." When I walked in I saw a bathroom and a living room with what was obviously a pullout couch. Is that really where I'm sleeping? Then around a corner into a bedroom with a king sized bed and another bathroom!  I saw Burcu in the hall and told her I had to show her something. Of course, she thought there was a problem of some kind.  By the time she got to the second bathroom her only comment was, "No way!" 

Saturday was not a good day.  The stomach troubles that had been brewing for a few days finally caught up with me and I was sick enough to need a visit from a doctor. Burcu made a call and the doctor came to my room, took my blood pressure, pulse, temperature, etc. and pronounced me a victim of “touristic disease,” made worse by fact that I had been self-treating with Imodium. I knew that wasn’t the right thing to do and one should let these things run their course, but I didn’t want to miss out on any of the sightseeing.  Foolish, and I paid the price. I got a shot of a broad spectrum antibiotic, some pills for nausea and instructions to limit what I ate to bananas, tea, boiled potatoes and apples for a day or two. If this had to happen it's good it happened here since I would be visiting Ephesus again on the Greek leg of my trip.

Everyone was very sweet and concerned.  Burcu brought me a bunch of bananas that I used to supplement my limited choices at breakfast and lunch, The hotel did not charge me for the food they delivered and charged only three lira service charge for getting the meds for me. (I think the desk had no change for a 20 and I had a 10 so the concierge said that was fine.)  We were flying to Istanbul the next day and I was feeling much, much better. At the airport in Izmir they did not take away water at the first security check, but they did at the second. But Burcu told the security inspector that I was sick and doctor said I was to drink lots of water, so he gave it back! Amazing!

The following day we drove to Izmir and flew to Istanbul. Istanbul is a lovely city.  The highway from the airport has beautiful flowers planted on the median and along the sides. The old city has twisty, narrow, cobblestones streets. Our hotel is on one of those. I think you could almost touch the opposite side of the street when you stand in front.

After lunch we did our first sightseeing - first the Blue Mosque and then Hagia Sophia. Both are magnificent. The mosque has gorgeous tile work that I wish I could have gotten a better picture of. My camera doesn't do justice to the colors and details.  And Hagia Sophia has beautiful frescoes, remnants of what must have been gorgeous mosaics, lovely marble, soaring domes...all the things that make you gape in wonder.  

We spent the next morning at the Topkapi Palace. Burcu got us there just as it opened at nine so we beat the worst of the crowds. The palace and the items on display are all amazing. No pictures are allowed of the jewel-encrusted dagger from the movie, or the 86-carat diamond or the little box carved from an emerald or the little statue of a maharaja whose body is a single pearl. But in several rooms we were allowed to photograph the incredibly beautiful tile and inlay work. I couldn't help but think of the hundreds of people who made the tiles, then the hundreds more who placed them so perfectly.  And the inlay work of mother of pearl and ivory on wood is exquisite. So far this is the place that has blown me away. But at some point I had a strange thought.  There is no difference in value between a huge diamond and a pretty fake until the diamond is sold or traded.  So do you acquire it for its beauty or for its value? If for its beauty, then you enjoy that as long as it’s yours.  If for its value, then you only enjoy that when it is no longer yours.

After the Topkapi we visited a huge cistern. I didn't know what to expect, but it was pretty spectacular as well.  It is huge, lighted by reddish lights with sort of mysterious music playing softly in the background. There are huge columns supporting the top, many different and unique, including two with heads of Medusa used as bases. In one case the head is upside down and in the other it is sideways since they made better bases that way. Practical if a bit odd.

After lunch we walked all around the old city through market streets, along a wide shopping street, stopping for photographs of fish, fruit, vegetables, pearls, pickles, soap and everything else you can imagine.  Burcu turned us loose at the end of the walk to shop or look and were right across the street from Robinson Crusoe, the bookstore she told me at the start of the trip was my best bet for a book of contemporary poetry. And there it was -- an anthology of living Turkish poets! The only thing that would have made it better would have been a dual language book, but this one is just fine.

We returned to the hotel with a little free time before dinner on our own.  One of the couples had found a little ceramics shop that sounded interesting, so we set out to find it again. The shop was lovely and the owner/artist was charming and had some gorgeous pieces. I bought a small, framed tile depicting tulips, which are the symbol of Turkey. 

Burcu had suggested a couple of restaurants near the hotel, so we set off for dinner. Five of us went to one that featured fish and specialties from the Black Sea area. We took suggestions from the maître d' and ordered four appetizers to share. The main course at this place consisted of whatever fish they have that day served fried, grilled or steamed. The maître d' told us which method he recommended for each fish. While we were having our mezze, three more from our group came in. A table was pushed over to join ours and we shared our experience of ordering.

I ordered mullet. The serving consisted of nine small fish, breaded in corn meal and fried. They had to be deboned and I got quite adept at removing the spine intact with head and tail still attached. And they were delicious!  When I finished I put all the skeletons back on the plate they way they had been when first served. We all found it very funny and clever and I even took a picture of the plate.  The waiter didn't seem to even notice when he cleared the plates.  When we tried to call it to his attention he thought I wasn't finished. I said later that he probably was back in the kitchen laughing at the stupid American tourist who didn't know enough to put the bones on the plate provided.

Our final day was filled with sights, smells, sounds. First the Rustempasha mosque - amazing tiles.. This is a working mosque dating back to the 16^th century. The architect, Sinan was dedicated to the idea that buildings should fit harmoniously with their surroundings. I certainly wish that more architects in the states thought that way, especially when I think of some of the high-rise ugliness in Manhattan.

The tile work was just gorgeous, as it has been elsewhere.  Burcu told us that the tiles are designed and produced in Izmik.  They mix quartz into the material, giving the tiles a lovely sparkle and shine. On the outer wall of the mosque there is one tile, different from all the rest, set into a framed panel. Burcu told us that it came from the kaaba in Mecca.

Then the spice market - cardamom, apple tea, green tea with lemon, a pair of earrings and a proposal. This place was astounding. Many of the vendors were low key until or unless I stopped to look at something. In one case, as I walked by, a young guy asked, "spices? tea? a husband?" needless to say, I cracked up. I bought tea and spices at one vendor that I spotted shortly after we entered and returned to after scouting out the others. 100 grams each of cardamom and apple tea and 200 of green tea with lemon came to 35 TL or about $18. That seemed fair. This was definitely one of the favorites of all the different markets I have visited in different countries. It smelled delicious, looked gorgeous with all the different colors, and no one really hassles you as you walk by.

Next the Bosporus cruise. We had a boat the size of a Staten Island ferry for just the 16 of us and Burcu narrated a guided tour of the various buildings, palaces, neighborhoods and landmarks we passed. On the way out we looked at the European side and on the way back we looked at the Asian side. It fascinates me that you can be in one location and clearly see where the two continents come within a few meters of each other. It's like when we saw where the two tectonic plates meet in Iceland - things you know are there but somehow never think you will actually see.

Lunch was at a lovely place near the Chora Church. "Authentic Ottoman food," interesting mezze: a beautifully presented plate with a small tomato stuffed with babaganoush, a sort of humus thing but made with fava beans similar to some stuff I had in Egypt and humus flavored with cinnamon and tiny currents. The main course was an eggplant purée with pot roast type beef, and dessert was our old favorite helva (semolina and honey) but topped with ice cream. Several of the men especially got very excited about the ice cream.

The church has amazing mosaics. It was originally built in the 5^th century, but most of what we saw dates from the 11^th century. The mosaics depict Mary's birth, childhood, marriage to Joseph, the birth of Jesus and various events leading up to the crucifixion, although the crucifixion itself is not depicted. The mosaics, especially the ones on the ceiling, are in outstanding condition and are truly impressive works of art.

In the Grand Bazaar I hung out with two of the couples but bought nothing.  The place was too overwhelming – too many booths showing essentially the same things, too many twists and turns and potential for getting lost. Burcu said she wasn't going to count heads. If someone was not on the bus at 4:30 she would assume they decided to get back to the hotel on their own. I think everyone was terrified of getting lost because everyone was back at least 5 minutes or more early.

Our farewell dinner was lovely – a nice meal with some good conversation and I got final pictures of everyone. A representative from Baltaç Travel came and gave us each a certificate and ball shaped blue eye, about the size of a tomato on a braided cord. The blue eyes are all over the place and they are supposed to protect you from the evil eye. We saw them hanging from every rear view mirror, embedded in the cement outside shops and for sale everywhere.

Back at the hotel, we made Burcu cry with the song one of the women had written (with some help from a couple of others) extolling her skills and a terrific poem written by another of the women. We also had a song for our excellent driver, Bülent, and had sung it to him before he dropped us off for the last time before dinner.

I got to the Istanbul airport at around 8:30 or so for my 10:45 flight to Athens and then I began trying to find the check in counter for Olympic Air.  Not an easy feat! I gather that there is a board somewhere that shows you where to check in for various airlines and flights, but I didn't know where that was, didn’t see and information counter, and no one I asked seemed to be able to help. I finally went to a ticket sales window for Turkish Air. The woman there looked it up somewhere and directed me to the right place. I was a little nervous for the few minutes I was wandering around lost, but I knew I had plenty of time, so I wasn't in a panic. The lines for security and passport control went fairly smoothly. The boarding pass said we’d board an hour before the scheduled take-off time.  That seemed a bit odd, but I didn’t want to take any chances.  Slowly the other passengers trickled in and a half hour before our listed take-off time a man who had been sitting behind a desk got up and rather casually said, “OK, we’re boarding.” We all looked at each other as if to say, “Really?  That’s how they announce boarding?” and off we went. 

Next stop, Athens!