Prepare to Travel
Fourteen days in Turkey. I came away with so many memories and new friends. In keeping with my travel motto of Ancient. Authentic. Unique., I've organized my online scrapbook into subjects and categories rather than a daily log of 'we went here and we did this.'
Explore what interests you: People, Music, Sites, Adventures. Through these groupings, I hope you will get a taste of the Turkey I experienced and perhaps plan your own trip to this ancient, authentic, and unique land. The group of photos below serve as a preview of what's to come on the other pages. The videos throughout the site are Quicktime format.
Stag statuette from Alacohoyuk. Dated to the Bronze Age, circa 3300 B.C.
These finely wrought stag statuettes were used during religious ceremonies and
were carried on the ends of long poles by priests during processions. As seen
in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. This qualifies as ancient!
Cities and villages with names like Pamukkale and Güzelyurt definitely qualify as unique. I found myself turning to another tour member and great excitement in my voice say, "Hey! We're in Mustafapasa!" No matter the weather, I was so glad to be visiting Anatolia and be exposed to the sites and people of Turkey.
The view at Tinaz Tepe. Amid the Toros Mountains, we stopped at this cave for a cool hike into the mountainside, seeing stalagmites and stalagtites within.
Passing through the Toros Mountains.
The town of Sirençe was one of many favorite places. I enjoyed the small town life, the narrow streets that we walked, and savory lunch.
The end of the tour is Kuṣadasi, a port on the Aegean Sea.
Our southernmost stop was the Mediterranean port of Antalya, where we stayed in the walled Old Town section.
Ataturk is a well-loved leader of the Turkish Republic. On the April 24th national holiday, there were flags and images of Ataturk everywhere.
Even tour guides have to rest sometimes. Gökalp Kasim is a great guide - well-informed, fluent in French and English in addition to his native Turkish, friendly, able to balance the needs of the group with those of individual tour members, and just an all-around nice guy. Count yourself lucky if you get him for your tour. (Photo courtesy Linda and Steve Malone)
Sunset in Kuṣadasi.
Walking through the ruins at Aphrodisias, I was impressed again and again with not only these beautiful views, but also the realization that ancient peoples had walked these same paths thousands of years ago.
Eileen and Renee Barron pose on an Ephesean road. The Turkish word is Ephes, what we English-speaking types refer to as Ephesus.
The Virgin Mary lived in Turkey the last years of her life. The Turks call her Meryem. 
Traveling at the beginning of the travel season means Spring and that means lots of tulips. Although the Dutch have done a monster marketing job getting people to link the idea of tulips with the Dutch, this unique flower is actually from this part of the world. 
Steve and Linda Malone and I enjoyed a scrumptious meal by the sea in Kuṣadasi.
A beautiful Spring day in Ephes.
The familiar medical symbol carved into this ancient column in the Roman ruins of Aphrodisias.
The white cliffs of Pamukkale. I am anticipating a swim amidst ancient roman columns in Hierapolis.
The statue that originally stood here could have been posed like so. Yes?
Balloon Across Cappodocia
About twelve of us got up early one morning to catch a ride in a hot air balloon over Cappodocia. We watched as the balloon filled up, climbed in to the basket, and after learning the rules for balloon flight, lifted off. It was so quiet that I didn't realize we had lifted off until I looked over at Renee (who had stayed behind) and saw that she was getting smaller! Within a few short minutes we had climbed high into the sky.This is 30 seconds of flight.