Troy

Trying to imagine the sea lapping at Troy is difficult as the sea is now far out.  It takes imagination to envisage buildings on the site but it must have been incredible. The views are spectacular and the ruins impressive.  It is so old; there are nine layers of excavations. Gladiators pose with visitors wearing rented costumes. A riot!

After Troy we went out for a boat trip and swim in an area of summer houses and ruined monasteries.  Our hotel for the night is a converted Ottoman house for the night.  It is so beautiful. All the stairs, nooks, and crannies are intriguing and the rooms lead into one another.  Huge shared bathrooms with both Turkish and western toilets, tiled shower rooms with lots of pressure and hot water. Baskets of soaps.  Even Turks do not drink the tap water, but there is no such thing as low pressure. Massive amphoras are placed around the house.  Many of the older houses are being redone in either Greek (stone) or Turkish (wooden) style.  They are very expensive to do as restorations have to be done properly or not at all.  No fakes are allowed.  The Government reimburses for work to the facade only. 

Supper was lentil soup with lemon; rice filled squash blossoms with dill and Turkish ravioli.  All of it was incredible especially the soup and it cost $10 for both of us!

Aveylik to Setluk

I was expecting to be eating different food, but not such consistently wonderful fare. Examples include Jellied Turkish Delight covered in icing sugar, thicker Turkish Delight pistachios, soups of tripe, sheep’s head or lentils, olives and salads of lettuce and red cabbage, cucumber and tomatoes and incredible olive oil with every meal. Breakfast today was olives, cheese, bread, tea, coffee, eggs, jams, tomatoes, cucumbers, all served on a terrace overlooking the town.

I ran to a market this morning and bought fresh cherries and oranges. They were probably picked yesterday.  Where we have maple trees along the roads, Turks have orange trees. While touring we went to a carpet co-operative and watched them being woven.  The process takes four to twenty four months depending on whether silk, wool,mixture, carpet or kilim.  Gorgeous work.  It will take about five weeks for my chosen one to be delivered. 

Roses and oleander are blooming everywhere.  There are lots of greenhouses and the tiniest plots outside of apartment buildings given over to roses and veggies.  Huge fields of onions and more peach trees than in Niagara.

Dinner this evening was in the mountain village of Sirince which is full of restaurants, tourist shops, beautiful handmade lace, pottery, dream catchers and fruit wines.  Everyone agreed mulberry was the best.  The setting was incredible.  Wild olive trees are all over the mountainsides with hotels and houses tucked in between pines and olives. Sirince was a Greek village before the great migration of Turks back to Turkey and Greeks back to Greece after the breakup of the Ottoman empire.  

Scenic Tours and Emerald Waterways

Scenic Cruises currently offer an "all inclusive" River Cruise experience to clients and have introduced a new product "Emerald Waterways". One innovation on their ships is a heated swimming pool with retractable roof which transforms into a cinema in the evenings. Accommodations on these ships range in size from single cabins at 130 square feet to the owner’s one bedroom suite at 315 square feet with most cabins being 180 square feet. The variety of sizes allows them to market to clients travelling at different budgets.

Gallipoli

Gallipoli is a long journey through hills and the never ending suburbs of Istanbul.  The apartment blocks go on forever for its 15 million people.  We saw everything from highway construction to hay fields (some already mown), fields of wheat and other crops, tractors and women in long coats and scarves weeding. There are lots of roadside cafes and picnic areas full of trees for shade.

Gallipoli is big, crowded and beautiful.  Monday is a national holiday so there were lots of Turks as well as Aussies and New Zealanders.  The cemeteries are beautiful, full of flowers and well kept. The whole experience was somewhat emotional. Women in the washroom washed their faces, hands and feet to cleanse themselves before praying in the Turkish Cemetery.  There is a monument with the words of Ataturk telling Allied mothers that although their sons are buried far from home, the Turks do not regard them as enemies and they will be looked after as respected and loved comrades and sons.  I found it all very moving.

After visiting the cemetery we went on a ferry to the Asian side and Canakkale.  We walked up and down the seafront with everyone else. The older women were in patterned harem pants and headscarves, some women dressed western attire and others wore long fitted coats or looser chadors, mostly of fine, light material because of the heat. On their heads everything from tight black scarves to hijabs of every colour and pattern making a fashion statements.  For dinner we had Turkish fish and chips with salad which was delicious.

Istanbul

Istanbul is amazing! We feel that the Turkish people are incredibly friendly, kind and helpful.  We waited an hour for our car at the airport and other tour guides offered to help, lent us their cell phones and made the 'Where are you calls?' on our behalf. On the way to our hotel our taxi driver stopped his vehicle, ran to a stall, and then opened the back door to toss bottles of cold water to us. These are examples of the kindness of the Turkish people we have met.

We are in staying in the old city which is full of narrow streets, shops, stalls, roadside vendors of plums and chocolate covered pastries. I do not think our feet have touched the ground and I have eaten plenty of Turkish delight.  Supper was lamb stew with honey, roasted almonds, apricots and I do not know what else.  It was delicious! I did not have the wine, but everyone else said how good it was.  And Turkish tea in glasses.  The best part?  Half the price of a meal in the UK!

Praiano

We really liked the Praiano on the Amalfi Coast: both Sorrento and Positano are larger communities but we preferred the smaller town. While at the villa we visited Paestum: an archaeological that features three Greek temples that are well preserved. Even though the local bus service in Praiano was good we found that organizing tours from that location was difficult in comparison to a larger urban centre like Sorrento.

London

Paris' Gare de Nord is an incredible space. The Eurostar took two hours and fifteen minutes to go from Paris to London and at St Pancras’ Station there is a one hour the line up for a photo set up at Platform 9-3/4. London’s black cabs now come in every colour, many with ads.  Our hotel is an 1860 townhouse divided like a rabbit warren and the original staircase remains absolutely gorgeous.  I pity the person who has to polish the brass banister! We use the wifi in what might have been a drawing room it has ceilings which are at least 12 ft. The hotel room is twice the size of the one in Parisand the bath is long enough to lie down in!  

Thursday was full of activities. The Paris hotel's version of a continental breakfast was croissants, breads, pastries, ham, cheese, scrambled eggs, fruit and cereals.  The London hotel's version is basically breads and cereal. This morning we walked to a Spanish Cafe where we sat in the sun and dug into grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, egg, toast and tea.  It was so good!  Then we headed off to the Tower of London for a tour by a humorous Beefeater Guard. Never mind the bling of the Crown Jewels; the workmanship on the swords of state and the armor in the White tower is jaw dropping. All of it was done by hand with tools we would regard as primitive.   

After our tour we walked over the Tower Bridge to Shakespeare's Globe and then to Fleet St.  We were so hungry by then we did not do the Globe tour; instead we had lunch at El Vino in Fleet St where I ate my annual treat of cheese.  A fabulous Ploughman’s Lunch of French bread, delicious picked onion, salad, and three different cheeses (an English blue, a French goat cheese and an old cheddar).  El Vino is so far the only bar where the barman has an English accent.  We think Toronto is multilingual and diversified. London is even more so. We rounded out our day with tickets in the top balcony for Les Miz which was very good.

On Friday we walked down Kensington Gardens Road, it is a real embassy row made up of beautiful old stately houses.  No photos allowed and police are set up at both ends as well as the middle. Then we went for a quick tour of Kensington Palace state apts, which were interesting. A display of dresses really brought home how tiny Queen Victoria was and how tall Diana of Wales was.  We had tea in the garden; unfortunately the Orangery was booked for a private function.  It looked like a gorgeous building so that was a shame.  Then we walked through the park watching people lying on the grass, walking babies, and groups of children's birthday parties just like at the Palais Royale gardens in Paris.