Day 1 - 04/07/06 Fly from Denver The weather on Monument Hill was fierce - blowing snow and only 30 degrees. It had been 55 yesterday and was to be 72 on Sunday. What a difference a day makes in Colorado. We had our bags loaded and ready to go at 2 PM. As we went north the weather improved and by the time we got to DIA we had a sunny day with blue skies. There was not much ...
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Day 2 - 04/08/06 Arrive in Istanbul After a few hours of sleep, we awoke to the smell of coffee and the sounds of the bustle of morning procedures. Looking at my watch I saw we had 90 minutes before landing to clean up a bit and have breakfast. After a 9 hour flight we landed in Frankfurt at 11 AM and went right to the Business Lounge next to our arrival gate, B25. We found a ...
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Day 3 - 04/09/06 Explore Istanbul: Blue Mosque of Sultan Ahmet, Turkish & Islamic Art Museum, Hagia Sophia, and Part of Optional Tour Our room by the sea brought us the early morning sounds of fog-horns, seagulls, as well as traffic from the docks. At 5:30 we heard the call to prayer from the Blue Mosque across the street. We were up before our 7 AM alarm and took a little time to ...
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Day 4 - 04/10/06 Explore Istanbul: Topkapi Palace, Grand Bazaar, Spice Market, Cruise Across the Bosporus to Uskudar, Galata Tower, Trolley Ride, Fish Dinner. Although it was bright earlier, we met another overcast day as we went to breakfast. I uploaded yesterday's journal right away and Gennie was able to get a few messages taken care of for her class. We had breakfast in the ...
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Day 5 - 04/11/06 Fly to Cappadocia, Rock Churches of Goreme, Drive to Uchisar Our alarm went off at 5:15 and we showered and had an early breakfast. At 6:30 we left our hotel and Istanbul, the City of Tulips. Tulips originally came from Turkey but were adopted by Dutch explorers who took the bulbs to Holland. Turkish officials are now in hopes of reviving this Spring tradition by ...
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Day 6 - 04/12/06 Hot Air Balloon flight/Tour Uçhisar village Hike in Cappadocia/Whirling Dervish We had an early morning - our alarm went off at 4:35 so we could take a quick shower and prepare for our Balloon Adventure! We met Carl and Carol in the office at 5:15 and in a few minutes the representative of the Kapadokya Balloon Company was there to pick us up. We drove into ...
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Day 7 - 04/13/06 Hike Rock Formations, Visit Hadosan Carpet Coop, Hike Rose Valley We woke to sunny skies this morning. The alarm did not go off until 7:30 but we were awake and up by 7:15. The wonders of a good night sleep! Breakfast was simple; scrambled eggs, toast, bread, coffee and juice. We met our fellow travelers at 9:15 to discover our first adventure of the day. Meltem ...
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Day 8 - 04/14/06 Overland to Konya and Lake Beysehir Visit/Whirling Dervish Monastery Enjoy Village Homestay There was no sun this morning so we had a rainy departure. By 8:30 we had packed our luggage in the bus, prepared our overnight packs for the home visit today, and had had breakfast. We thanked our hosts and said goodbye to the fairy chimney region. We got back on the major ...
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Day 9 - 04/15/06 Discover Aspendos and Antalya Rise and shine, and see how Turkish villagers greet the day. Waking up to sunshine is always a good omen for travelers! We slept well, although it was chilly in our farm house room. Our family style breakfast was in the house next door where Arif 's brother and his wife lived. Now we understand why the homes are so large, because ...
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Day 10 - 04/16/06 Walking Tour of Antalya, Antalya Archaeological Museum and Perge We awoke a bit earlier than the alarm to a bright and sunny morning. As we did not have to be ready for our daily adventures until 9 AM, we had time to sort some of the clothes Gennie had washed the day before. We also were able to get on the internet and upload yesterday's journal and pictures. We ...
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Day 11 - 04/17/06 Roman Ruins at Myra & Church of Saint Nicholas Small Boat Cruise to Gokkaya Bay Board Gulet at Fethiye We packed up our bags, had breakfast, checked our messages one last time before we got on the gulet late this afternoon and are away from cyberspace for a few days. Ilkar was there to pick us up and helped the porter load our luggage. We wound our way out of ...
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Day 12 - 04/18/06 Visit Greek Kayakoy, Hike to Soguk Su, Visit Gemiler Island We slept well as the ship rocked at the dock last night. We woke up before our alarm went off and were pleased to find hot water again this morning. The ship has a limited supply of fresh clean water and only a generator for electricity so we have to be conservative and creative with both. At 8 AM we ...
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Day 13 - 04/19/06 Cruise to Friendship Cove Hike to Lydea and Cleopatra's Baths Our night in the protected cove was quiet and peaceful. We woke up to an early morning sun, but in a short time it was overcast and the wind picked up and cooled our 7:30 breakfast. Meltem again gave us an overview for the day, explaining our path on the navigational maps so we could get our ...
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Day 14 - 04/20/06 Cruise to Gocek Bay We had enough hot water for two quick "Navy Showers" this morning and are learning the ways of conservation at sea. While I had breakfast, Gennie did a little work on the journal from yesterday. This morning we had a short sail around the cove and then the Captain let us off in Gocek Bay, a center of yachting on the Turquoise Coast, lined ...
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Day 15 - 04/21/06 Cruise to Ekincik Cove By Small Boat on the Dalyan River, Explore Lycian Ruins There was a slight change of plans this morning; at 7:00AM we heard the engines start and the anchor being raised. We got up, showered with cold water, had breakfast at 8:00 and were ready for the day's adventure. We found out that we were sailing back into Gocek Bay because of a heavy ...
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Day 16 - 04/22/06 Disembark Gulet/Drive to Kusadasi/Visit Basilica of St. John Because we had packed up our luggage last night, we were able to shower and have our breakfast and then enjoy our last few hours on the Senkaya. The captain raised the anchor and we motored a short distance to the harbor at Gocek Bay, a town we are getting to know well. We commandeered another sailor ...
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Day 17 - 04/23/06 Explore Ephesus/Epheseus Museum Visit We slept well with the sound of the pounding surf and woke up a little before 7 AM. After a shower and leisurely breakfast we met at 8:30 in the lobby for our short trip to Ephesus. There were no crew ships in the harbor today so Meltem told us we could expect a relatively isolated visit to the ruins. Tourism only began in ...
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Day 18 - 04/24/06 Early Wake-Up, Drive to Izmir, Fly to Istanbul Our alarm went off at 4:15 - we were in and out of the shower and then had a light breakfast at the hotel. We then made our drive to Izmir and the airport. This is very lush farm land and as the sun came up we could see the level green fields and then the modern town of Izmir. We arrived at the airport at 7 AM but ...
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Day 19 - 04/25/06 Early Wake-Up, Fly from Istanbul, Frankfurt, Germany, Denver, Colorado, Home EARLY! Way too early, but much better the original OAT travel itinerary of spending the day in Izmir by ourselves, flying at 10 PM to Istanbul and then spending the night at the Istanbul airport before we could catch the flight to Frankfurt and then home. We woke up before our 2:45 ...
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