And some final comments

July 31st

What is it about Turkey?

So if I had to sum up in one word what I like about Turkey, that word would be

EVERYTHING!

We had such a great time here. But let’s get a bit more specific. First the top ten things I like about Turkey (in no particular order).

1. The people are very friendly
2. The food is very good
3. The wine is nice
4. The history is phenomenal
5. The prices are very reasonable
6. The water is crystal clear
7. The rugs are beautiful
8. The weather is warm (and sometimes hot)
9. The Canadian dollar goes a long way here
10. The people are very friendly (I know I said it twice, but it’s true)

Recommendations to others planing to go to Turkey.

• Visit Ephesus and picture yourself back during the Roman Empire
• Visit Pumukkale and swim in Cleopatra’s pool
• Visit Cappadocia and tour the caves and if possible stay overnight in one of the cave hotels
• Visit Istanbul and tour the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, the Cisterns, Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar. If you stay at the Faros Hotel, all these are within walking distance. Also consider doing a boat cruise on the Bosphorus.
• Buy a rug, the merchants will ship home and it will arrive (ours got home before we did)
• Eat the local food, it’s great
• Spend some time in Marmaris and just relax. Also take  a boat tour and enjoy some swimming and/or snorkeling
• Go with friends and share the experience

Things you don’t necessarily have to do.

• Cleopatra’s beach, you’re can only see if from a distance
• The Spice Market, it’s busy and unless you’re going to buy some spices, better to spend more time at the Grand Bazaar
• No real need to bring your snorkel gear to Marmaris (bring goggles though), the fish are close to the surface and the water is not too deep.

THANK YOU MINE!

We were very fortunate to be invited to go to Turkey by Mine and John (and Asena). Mine spent hours organizing everything and making sure everything ran smoothly. And if there was a bump in the road, she was on it and things moved forward. I know this trip wouldn’t have been the same without her. Thank you so much Mine.

And John thanks you too.

Mine, John and Asena

AND FRIENDS

We also got to enjoy this trip with our Westingham friends, Steve, Leean, Kylor and Nya

And we got to meet two new friends in Murat and Charlene. We very much look forward to spending more time with them back home.

THE MAP

So one month in Turkey and we got to see a small portion of this great country.

And we'll be back to see more of it, guaranteed!

Be sure to check out our next Blog

TURKEY 20??

One last day in Istanbul

July 30th

So our friends are on a plane back to Canada but we have one more day in Istanbul.

This morning Sheryl and Samantha did a tour of the Jewish district. Below are some photos which Sheryl has commented on.

Samantha really wanted to do a new tour called the Jewish District so we headed off in the morning.  There are not many Jews left in all of Istanbul (if I can remember only 20,000 remain) This tour allowed us to go inside the last Ashkenazi synagogue.  It was beautiful.  Samantha loved the stained glass windows and chandeliers.  An interesting fact is that this synagogue houses 21 torahs since the other 2 Ashkenazi synagogues closed.  Apparently we learned that Ashkenazi synagogues are supposed to have 7 torahs each.

  

We passed (but couldn’t go in) the synagogue above that experienced two attacks, one in the 1940’s and the other in 2003 (Al Qaeda took responsibility for this one).  It is only identified by megan davids on the on the outside.

We were taken to a monument that was built in honour of the 37 dead (34 Jews and 3 Muslims) and they explained that the 3 hands symbolize Muslims, Jews and Christians united.  To this day, all the shops in the area close for a moment of silence on the anniversary of the bombings. In this picture you can see two of the three hands and the word Baris which means peace.

There is a beautiful but small museum that have many artifacts from unique torahs, pointers, clothing and letters from several famous people.  We were not allowed to take pictures of anything inside.

 

Samantha signing the guest book.

In the afternoon I did a Turkish coffee tour. The tour was ok. I Saw the oldest coffee house in Istanbul and the oldest candy store. The tour ended with me making a cup of turkish coffee.

Tomorrow we return to Canada.