February 1 through 7, 2023
Final days in Turkey... I covered a lot of ground and will only broadly describe it here (for the sake of not boring anyone 😉). I took a few tours (mostly without Art) to see Gallipoli (memorial sites for the WWI battle primarily between Australia and Turkey), Troy (to see a horse statue and the archeological excavations; who knew it was actually a real place? 💁), Ephesus (vast ruins), and Pamakkule (hot springs and thermal pools). Learned a ton of history and even made a friend or two on the long bus rides (and gained a new IG follower on a world tour himself 👱). I got very comfortable taking in-country flights all over; I'm such an intrepid traveler! The tour guides here are pretty good although I'm afraid to say that the language/accent barrier is real. They know their stuff and if you're already interested in the topic, so much the better. If not, best to read the Wikipedia article ahead of time 😅.
We made it to the famous Galeta Tower and climbed the 126 steps for a city view; I went to a 300-year-old Hammam (Turkish bath) which was lovely and gentler than the one in Morocco 😏; we visited yet another mosque (so many of them are gorgeous inside); and checked out the shopping/nightlife throughout Istanbul.
As far as language goes, the Turkish language is a tough one for me because they are so few cognates to English. I noticed there are a lot of "k" and "z" and "sh" and "ch" sounds, so it's not as mellifluous as the romance languages. We did learn how to say thank you (teshekkur-ler) and hello (merhaba) which seemed to be appreciated by the locals 👍.
The transportation system was very good (except when it wasn't 😉), the food was inexpensive, and the shopping was great (if you don't have a problem supporting knock-offs 😎). I wasn't a big fan of the meat "doner kebap" that is ever-present but there are plenty of other options. Art was a big fan of the sesame round-bread that resembled a bagel (but wasn't actually a bagel 😕). We tried the baklava and Turkish delight (I think it's required by law 👮) and liked some of it, but not enough to have it regularly. There are about a billion different flavors 😋.
We encountered our first real snow of our journey, many inches of it, and by the next day all was slushy. But it was pretty while it lasted ❄. The temps have ranged from cold to freezing, and I barely managed with my fleece and layers. Luckily starting this week we'll be in parts of the world where it's summer!
My last tour was to Pamakkule which has gorgeous thermal hot springs/baths, but it was also freezing 🥶, so much so that my flight back was canceled (twice) and I had to take a night bus instead (12 hours to Istanbul, woo hoo!). It was tolerable and comfortable (enough 😄). I was lucky to have phone connectivity because no one announced stops in English, so I just tracked the bus on Google Maps. How did we ever travel before smartphones?
Penultimate note: While I was in Pamakkule, there was a major earthquake in southeast Turkey which is not very close to Istanbul (Turkey is a very big country by European standards). Major damage and thousands of lives were tragically lost 😔. It felt surreal to be "so close" to such a major disaster. Many of our friends and family abroad checked in to make sure we were okay (and we are 💓).
Final note: After trying valiantly in Israel to get travel vaccines for South Africa and India (and failing), we achieved success here in Turkey! No problem, just a few bucks, and a very helpful doctor at a very real clinic. Israel should take a lesson here.
Final final note: This past week we got to catch up with both our girls and hear about their amazing achievements. What an absolute blessing they both are 💝 we miss them so much 💕
Safe and sound,
Deena and Art
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