Ireland- countryside

Ireland -Guinness storehouse

Guiness! So thick and creamy !

Off to Ireland

Off the Ireland today ( Monday ) to stay with Martin, Louise and their two boys. Fingers crossed this pans out! I am sure it will as he has been extremely enthusiastic about your pending visit and has organised 4 days of sightseeing and things to do. Even a pick up from the Airport, travelling in style - Sounds fantastic to me.

Wicked - Stage

Awesome singing and acting.High energy and thoroughly entertaining !

Forward planning

What a work out !

Carrying my back pack..... everywhere..... ! Reality check and everyday kicking in here (just teasing!) Great workout getting on and off transport, up and down flights of stairs and trying to sit down with these packs on. Thanks Macpac! Seriously now they are getting easier to pack and know where everything is. I’m still trying to beat Mark at re packing them every time we move on- he’s too fast for me, but then again he has less stuff !
Marks learning alot about patience, waiting and deep breathing. Not that I am slow by any means, he’s just too fast! Stretches him a bit!

London- Plan B !

Although the last 3 days were not we had planned everything has worked out well and we have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in London. The accommodation we stayed in was new, trendy , had great services ( WiFi, bar, restaurant – Japanese, back yard beautifully landscaped) and a wholesome breakfast each morning: pastries for MARK , cheese, breads, sliced meats , muesli yoghurt toast and a variety of juices – yum!

We had some huge days out and about, on and off the underground. It is such a well organised city compared to Istanbul and there are so many things to love about this magical city. The public transport is fast, regular and covers a huge area allowing you to travel from the West side to the East in less than an hour. The inner city appear quiet to me compared to Istanbul and there were fewer cars but alot of black taxi cabs.

Walked through Soho, along the Thames, Westminster, Covent Garden’s and ended up at the Stage show Wicked in the Victoria Apollo theatre. Wow! What a fantastic show. Amazing singing, humour lighting visual effects and props . Well worth the money. A night to remember.

The pubs are so visually appealing and welcoming. They are focused on family and people of all ages and other activities besides just drinking. Quiz nights, curry nights, board games to play and menus that cater for gluten free diets, calorie counters, nutritional meals for children and a range of prices to suit most budgets.

The English lost against Germany! (I am sitting in the airport and need to cover the screen for fear of being glared at !) We watched the game at the local Ealing pub and everyone was fired up ,dressed in red ( even us , but this was purely coincidental – when you are together 24/7 you start to dress like without knowing or possibly it is limited choice of what to wear ) . Anyway all was going well until the second goal scored by the English was disallowed- what a commotion in the pub! It was all downhill from there until the lost 4-1. The front page of the papers is full of it, the analysis and post mortems . You can liken it to when the All Blacks lose- which happens .

English tea and breakfast, curry and being let down

After 4 hours on a plane to London which was delayed we arrive at Heathrow airport. We catch the Underground, change over several times and then take British rail to stay with Marks friend in Raynes Park. Tired ....we wait and wait and eventually call him, no reply , order a curry in the pub below his flat and eventually he rocks up , says hi and then heads up to his flat saying come up when you are ready. We finish our pub meal head up , he disappears again for some time . returns , sits and talks for 30 minutes and then retires to bed saying he was tired he is leaving in the morning for a job interview. He is also shifting out of the flat on Monday so most 'things' are packed and what is left should probably be disinfected of disposed of. You can pre arrange things , semi prepare yourself to a certain degree but sometimes people are on different wave lengths and live completely different lifestyles . 20 years makes alot of difference in a "friendship" .Unfortunately not what we had envisaged and a luke warm welcome and alot more that is best left unsaid.
Leave in the morning after little sleep to head for a Starbucks with WiFi to find some more suitable accommodation . Underground to Waterloo and out to Earling where we are now in the lovely Hotel 55 , clean and some home comforts - yahoo! Drinking blue sapphire gin now , watching BBC News and heading out for a curry. soon .
Booked for Wicked Saturday night and plan to watch England play Germany in the world cup on Sunday at a local pub. Should be fun. PS Mark is still alive! ( smiling now !)

Carpet weaving and many more stories

Unravelling the silk in the silk worm, 'government weaving schools" - a long story.
Retail rug shops - another Murat or cousin, relative of . The big sell- almost got stitched up !

Reflections

Snippets of Turkish life

1 Turkish ( 1TL) lira = $1 NZ.

It costs .50kr( 50c) – 1TL to use the Bay or Bayen ( Male or female toilet) and you have the option of standing and squatting or a sit down job if you are in a tourist area. In old Istanbul you cant put the paper down the toilet . You dispose of it in a rubbish bin beside the toilet . What with 14 million people and poor sewerage you can appreciate this.

Petrol is 3.70 TL per litre! We hired a car in Cappadocia and used ¼ of a tank and it cost $40 TL to refill! Mark lost alot of hair that day after driving on the wrong side of the road!

Water is .50Kr on average for a small bottle and it gets cheaper the larger the quantity.

Being an agricultural country the food is fresh and reasonably priced. Strawberries 1 TL / kg. They eat alot of eggplant, tomato, cucumber, lettuce, peppers, bread ( ekmek) and yohurt( many types and very cheap and tastes great) . We have had some good meals and some not so good meals in restaurants , sidewalk stands , and a home cooked meal ( Seljuk Homeros Pension) . Personaly I dont find the food very flavoursome and it is becoming rather monotomous . I am really looking forward to english tea a cooked breakfast and a curry !

The Turkish people have been kind and helpful even thought many do not speak english. They make every attempt to communicate by wrting things down , pointing or using hand gestures. The men seem overtly affectionate toward each, walking with arms around each other, hugging and kissing when they greet each other . I find this refreshng to see. Young males apparent ly make up 85% of the population in Istanbul ( according to someone I meet on the ferry ) . He also informed me that the average salary per month was $400-$500 TL . All young males have to do a period of complusary military training ( conscription ) which is evident as there is a strong military presence here. The guns they carry can be rather intimidating at times especially on the bus. Some of the tourist places say no camera’s , no flash , no guns!

The Turkisk flag is seen everywhere – on the balcony of the apartments , stalls and on top of shops etc. Very partiotic people and very proud also of Ataturk whose picture is displayed all over Istanbul with pride.

They drive all over the road even when there are lanes.They politely toot when approaching or passing ( except Mark – tee he) and I haven’t worked out who gives way to who at roundabouts , some even have traffic lights as you go around them s! Motor bikes are common and some people wear helmets and other do but they are not fastened. I have seen 4 people on one motorbike , none with helmets – 2 adults and 2 children. I even saw a lady on the back holding a baby and another holding a child asleep whilst traveling along the motorway – horrors!

People with disabilities working the road side stalls with a power chair beside and a pair of back up crutches , a young man walking a blind man down the hill and everyone rallying around an elderly man with parkinsons whose wife was traveling with him on a ferry. An inclusive society displaying acceptance and willinness to assist. The gradients of the ramps into public bulidings leaves room for huge improvement s though .

The salesmens and the networking ie THE CARPET DEALERS - everywhere ! We had the pleasure on more than one occasion of sitting drinking chai watching the carpet rugs roll out , the kilims, sumaks and suzannes ? all piled high on the floor - let the bidding begin. Overload - no purchse today !

We are resting up today prior to flying to London tomorrow. Parked up in Hotel WOW close to the airport. My swollen rashy legs and kankels are ready to move on after experiencing a diversity of culture , having increased my knowledge of history ( History 101 for me! ) and seen some amazing architecture and landscapes. Gule Gule ( goodbye) Turkey !

Cleopatra pools - mineral water -health benefits

Swimming in the Cleopatra thermal pools in amongst the ruins - columns and architraves .

Hierapolis-Roman Health spa

The City well preserved under the calcium and deposits of lime. Living well in Roman times

Pamukkale- love this place

Travertine features .

The Latrines at Ephesus

A new meaning for Group Sitting

More Ephesus

The Buses

Overnight buses- 10-13 hours each trip. To date ( today being our second to last day in Turkey) we have done 3 overnighters. Exhausting but the most cost effective and direct way to travel. The most recent one had personal TV’s and sound ( all in Turkish of course, but when you are desperate to watch something even foreign is ok) and Wifi- great if they would only avoid the pot holes in the roads / highway. Great service, hot and cold drinks, biscuits, cakes, snacks and cleansing wipes after 12 hours of little sleep. They stop every 3 hours in these huge bus stops with restaurants and shops. The buses are washed down( in the we hours of the morning) and off we go again. Its all organised as you go as to what shuttles you need to get on and at what point and when you get off , no point stressing as it all seems to fall into place and eventually you arrive where you planned after several changeovers.

The spiritual questions -Mary

The big question- Did St John bring Mary back to Ephesus? Did she live and die here? The church of St Mary ( Virgin Mary - mother of God or Jesus ? ) . The Pope thought so .

Ephesus- Efes ( beer named after this )

Mark at the 'theatre' . Ruins everywhere. Inspiring .
A whole city reconstructed .

A beach that you dont have to pay to swim at !

Foxton beach looking good at this point - cleaner water!. Mark being brave. Me.... up to the waist only - dodging the weed and whatever else is floating in this murky water . Very warm and it cooled me off .

Homeros Pension -home away from home ?

Our Pension - small room with eclectic decorations- an explosion to the eyes . Home cooked meal, breakfast - more tomato and cucumber - a boiled egg as well - yahoo!
A complimentary wine on the roof top with amazing views in the evening . Friendly people and lots of travellers

Seljuk

A small place near Ephesus.

Cave house -our accomodation

The outside temperature is hot but inside it is great. A great place to stay -Urgup. Vivs house .