the turquoise trail

{Sunday November 3} We got up at 5:30 this morning so that we would have time for breakfast before we leave at 6:30. The guy at the restaurant told me I can't take anything out of the restaurant when I tried to fill my water bottle with tea, but then he said that he just has to say that because there are cameras and he let me take it.  We left the hotel at on time at 6:30. Some of the others put their luggage on the bus too so that they wouldn't have to carry it on their flight. We have 830km to go today; Dr. T says it's 12 hours but I don't think it will take that long, especially since half of it is on a main highway.  Landscape en route to Istanbul We stopped around 8 for a quick bathroom break, and then stopped again shortly after 10 for a snack and a little longer break.  We stopped at a bakery where they were making all kinds of fresh breads, and got a plate of assorted bagels and buns. And of course.. cucumber, tomato and olives. Our driver needs

{Saturday November 2} I got up around 7 this morning, had a shower and then we went to the dining room for breakfast. I was quite excited to see French toast this morning. After breakfast we went for a little walk out to the back of the hotel, where there is a really nice pool area.  We met our group at 8:15 to get our day started. We will have a very full day today so hopefully we can keep on schedule.  Fairy Chimneys of Goreme Our first stop this morning will be at the fairy chimneys of Goreme. The chimneys were formed by a volcano (2005m high) that erupted basalt stones and volcanic ash thousands of years ago.  The elements consumed the ash, but basalt is very hard so it remained.  The Christians carved out the rocks, forming churches and living in the rocks between the 4th and 14th century.  It is extremely unique landscape and really quite stunning. I feel like we barely had enough time to take it in, but most of the stops have been a whirlwind. I really enjoyed e

{Friday November 1st}  We had an early start this morning with breakfast at 5:30. Dr. T has told us all that we need to be punctual today so hopefully that goes well. We did got on the bus at 6am this morning; we have about 700km of driving to do today so it will be a long day.  Around 8 we stopped for a quick bathroom break.   Around 10 we stopped for another quick bathroom break; w e had a couple more hours of driving until we arrived in Konya around noon. The residents of the province of Konya are very traditionally Islam in comparison to where we have been. Our first stop today will be to see a mausoleum (originally a monastery for the whirling dervishes).  There are several tombs inside a mosque like structure, with concrete hats sitting on them to represent the hats of the whirling dervishes, and that it's a man buried there.  After we'd seen that, we went around the corner to a restaurant for lunch. It was quite good, mom and I shared a pizza which was

{Thursday October 31st}  We got up around 7:30 again this morning and got ready for the day. We had a slightly different breakfast this morning.. Same basics but we also had an egg and vegetable casserole. We left our hotel around 9 and headed towards Pamukkale.  This morning we started with a Turkish language lesson. The English language belongs to the Europe-indo language group. The Turkish language belongs to the Altaic group of languages.  English is an inflectional language meaning we have root words, with exceptions (for example stood; root word stand is not found within stood).  Turkish is an aglotinitive language meaning you have a root word and then many suffixes (for example root word eye, plus one suffix is glasses, plus two suffixes is optometrist - no exceptions) After about an hour and a half, we stopped at a gas station with a store for a bathroom break. I bought some really nice lotion with olive oil in it (smells amazing!) and got some chocolate for the

{Wednesday October 30th} We got up at 7:30 this morning and went for breakfast in the dinning room around 8. It was fairly similar with lots of cheese, olives, cucumbers and tomatoes, and honey.  We left the hotel at 9 this morning to head towards our first stop at the temple of Artemis.  Temple of Artemis We stopped for a 'quick' stop at a coffee shop that happened to have wifi so that was a bonus!  There is no such thing at take-out or coffee to-go here.  Around 10 we then stopped at the temple of Artemis; one of the wonders of the ancient world. It was destroyed by a crazy man who wanted to make history, but the Ephesians had it rebuilt.  Kybele, the goddess of fertility, later transformed into the goddess Artemis. To the Romans, she was Diana.  The ruins of the city of Ephesus that we will be visiting is the third city. It was built in the beginning of the 4th century bc. It is said that Ephesus was either named after an amazon queen or was the name

{Tuesday October 29th} October 29th is Republican Day in Turkey; 90 years since the Republic of Turkey was formed!  We got up this morning around 6:30 to get ready for the day and went to the dinning room for a buffet breakfast at 7am. There was a very nice variety of foods this morning, including pizza, helva, and lots of cheeses. After breakfast we gathered our things and met at the bus at 8am. Before we boarded the bus, there was a lady selling knit socks and mom bought a pair.  Once we were all on the bus, we travelled 35km out of the town of çanakkale towards Troia (Troy). Along the way we got some mythological and historical information.  Trojan horse used in the movie 'Troy' The inhabitants of Troy are referred to as Trojans, and the Greeks are referred to as Acheans.  The wife of the Priam, king of Troy, had a fire in her stomach, so she sought the advice of the oracle. The oracle advised her that the son she would bear would cause trouble, so when he wa

{Monday October 28th}  We got up at 7 this morning to pack up and get ready for the day. Around 8 we went upstairs for breakfast, which was the same as the past two mornings.  Apparently the hotel right across the street was on fire last night and there was a bunch of fire trucks but I didn't hear anything.  Our ride for the next week We met our bus out front at 9am, but by the time everyone decided to get a coffee it was actually 9:20 before we left. We will be traveling 330km to Cannakule today. It should be 5 hours of driving, however the traffic in Istanbul is the second worst in the world so one is never quite sure.  Istanbul has a population of over 14 million people and a diameter of 100km.  By some miracle, we got out of the city without any traffic. At 11 we stopped in Tekirdad for a twenty minute break at a gas station. We had to pay 1 lira to use the washroom but it was very clean.  I also got a Turkish tea and a chocolate bar to snack on. We continued o