Three days to take off! I've posted a map of Turkey and a general itinerary of our trip--the exact dates may be off by one or two days for the locations. We will start in Istanbul, the only city in the world spanning two continents: Asia and Europe. We arrive the night before two holidays collide in one day: Victory Day, a fixed holiday celebrating Turkish victory over it's invaders in 1922 and Eid-al-Fitr, a three day celebration marking the end of Ramadan, the dates of which vary year to year. We understand we're in for quite a party! The official religion of Turkey is Muslim, although the state itself is secular and the country is known for its religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
After a few days of sightseeing in Istanbul, we begin our travels. Using a ferry to cross the Marmaris Sea, we'll head first to the Gallipoli penninsula, site of the famous WWI battle. The next day we'll ferry back to the Asian side visiting the famed city of Troy befoe spending the night in Assos, a coastal town on the Aegean Sea. During our time in Assos we'll visit the Greek Isle of Lesbos. We'll spend the next night at another lovely Aegean town, Ayvalik. On leaving Ayvalik we'll visit the historic and religiously important cities of Izmir and Ephesus before landing in Sirince for the night. The next day we're off to the Mediterranean, spending the next four nights in the lovely resort town of Bodrum. We'll spend a day aboard a small sailing vessel exploring the coastline and other days just enjoying the beautiful Mediterranean waters. On leaving there we'll continue eastward on the southern coast to a night in Fethiye, where Nancy will leave us to head home. Finally, before flying back to Istanbul we'll spend a night in Antalya. I encourage you to google these towns where we'll stay--the pictures are breathtaking!
On arriving back in Istanbul we'll spend a day then ferry over to one of the Prince Islands--no cars allowed--for an overnight adventure before returning for our last night in Istanbul. We'll obviously provide more detail as we visit each location, replete with pictures galore! Let us know you're reading....one always wonders if the blog is just entering a digital wasteland!
Finally, I encourage you to visit the following website and listen to a discussion heard on NPR today about Turkey's response to all the unrest and democracy movements in the Middle East.
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