Great Rivers of Europe, part 2

We are now off the ship, having finished our wonderful cruise two days ago. We are in our final "home away from home", an apartment in the little wine village of Sablet, in Provence, France. I am finally able to do a post about the second half of our river trip which was from Vienna to Bucharest.

As I ended the last post, we had arrived in Budapest. What a wonderful city! It is beautiful with many bridges, interesting architecture and many sights to take in. Jon and our friends Chris and Dennis spent a morning at the Terror Museum - their wives Pat and Eileen and I decided that we'd had enough of the Nazis and communists for the moment. The guys said that it was very good, with lots of handouts in English and interesting displays. I enjoyed a peaceful morning which included a chat with my friend Madeline, a fellow educator. Of course during our time in Budapest we also had a half day bus tour and we also took some optional tours including one to several sights in the Jewish neighborhood. Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved 35,000 of the city's Jews during WWII by issuing them Swedish passports, is one of my personal heroes and there were several memorials to him in the former ghetto. On another tour we went to Esztergom, a town which stands on the site of a Roman fortress and has a beautiful basilica. From the hilltop, we looked down on the Danube Bend where the river is the boundary between Hungary and Slovakia. After seeing Esztergom, we continued to Visegrad where we also had beautiful views and watched a recreation of a knight tournament which demonstrated the weaponry and combat of the 1500s and enjoyed a delicious medieval feast. On yet another optional tour, we went to the nearby town of Szentendre which had wonderful shopping! We found several items that we couldn't do without. The timing was perfect since most of our treasures went into the last box that we mailed home later that afternoon. We also went to the baths in Budapest with Eileen and Dennis, which was an interesting experience and one that we very much enjoyed. We wore our swimsuits and didn't see any nudity, although there were areas where it was allowed. That evening our ship left Budapest at night so that the captain could show us the lights of the city. It was lovely! We went past the huge Parliament building and under several bridges - breathtaking!

On Saturday, June 26, we stopped at Kalocsa, a rural town on the Great Hungarian Plain, where we saw a horse show, went to a paprika factory and saw lots of beautiful, ornate embroidery items and listened to an amazing organ concert performed on the third largest organ in Hungary where Franz Liszt also played.

The next day we crossed into Croatia. Unlike our earlier visit to vibrant Zagreb, the city the ship stopped at, Vukovar, is in the extreme eastern part of the country, in a rural area where the Danube is the border with Serbia. This location was the sight of a prolonged Serbian attack during their war in the 80's. The Serbs won the battle and there were many atrocities committed. It still looks like a war zone and was quite depressing. On the other hand, we experienced a wonderful home-hosted lunch with a Croatian family. The food was plentiful and delicious. We had soup, pork meatballs, cole slaw, rice, green beans and two kinds of dessert. We were also served homemade plum brandy, elderberry juice, white wine and water. We rolled onto the bus later!

The next stop was in Belgrade, Serbia. We had the usual city bus tour and then free time. We ventured out to do some shopping and had an adventure involving the city buses, but managed to get back to the ship just fine. Late in the afternoon, two young college students came on board for an interactive discussion. They were articulate, bright and just about ready to go out on their own. The discussion was lively and thought-provoking.

From the beginning, we had found it interesting, in view of this area's recent history, that we had a Croatian captain and several Serbian crew members. When I asked one of the tour directors about it, the answer was that the captain set the tone and that everyone got along just fine. Hopefully a sign of things to come.

For the second half of our cruise, we had two new tour directors. Helmut stayed on board with us, but Cristian and Reka joined us and were the leaders of the other two small groups. Reka is from Hungary and Cristian is from Romania. On the 29th., they presented a fascinating discussion regarding life under communism. Cristian lived under communist control until he was in college. Reka was younger but still remembers it well. Helmut, being Austrian, did not have many memories since the Russians left Austria voluntarily about 10 years after WWII but he did have some insights to contribute. The onboard movies also offered documentaries on Tito, Stalin and Ceausescu, which were extremely enligtening. In 1989, the Iron Curtain fell and there were revolutions in all the former communist satellite countries. That's only 21 years ago. Each country has tried to find it's way forward and some have made more progress than others. There is a huge difference between these nations and western European countries, but they all want to catch up. Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania are part of the EU and so have some financial advantages that the others don't. We wish them all well and hope that the lives of all the people will improve quickly.

On Thursday, July 1, we docked in Varna, Bulgaria. From there we took a bus tour to see fortresses and the general countryside. It was very interesting to realize how much influence the early Greeks and Romans had on this area. The museum had many beautiful items created in ancient times, especially gorgeous gold jewelry.

On the last day of our journey, we docked at Ruse, Bulgaria. At 8:15 we got on a bus to journey to the Black Sea. It was a warm day and when we got to a resort there, we had a fantastic lunch and then could swim or wade in the sea. We waded and the water was surprisingly cool, not cold, and pleasant! There was a beautiful golden sandy beach. We spent several hours and then left at about 3:15 for the return trip to the ship. Jon and I were scheduled for an early morning flight the next day (my fault) so we took a taxi after dinner to Bucharest and stayed in the hotel there that the others would use the next night. The next morning, the same driver picked us up and took us to the airport for our 8:30 flight to Heathrow in London. Helmut arranged for the taxi driver and let the hotel know that we would come a night early, for which we thank him.

Once at Heathrow, we had to transfer to Gatwick for our flight to Marseille. That went well and then we found that our flight was delayed for 2 hours due to a problem in Rome and other issues. We finally arrived in Marseille at about 6:45 instead of 4:45. After more delays, we picked up our rental car and headed for our hotel in St. Remy where we were to overnight on our way to Sablet. We ended up having dinner in St. Remy at 11:00 pm, but we had made it and we happily dropped into bed at about midnight. The next morning we drove the final leg of the journey and reached the apartment here.

Here are some last photos from our cruise. From top left: bust of Raoul Wallenberg in the Jewish museum in Budapest; one of the bridges of Budapest lit at night; Hungarian embroidery, our lunch and our hosts in Vukovar; the gates of the Danube; a small Bulgarian village near one of the fortresses; finally, the Black Sea!; our farewell dinner with our friends - around the table clockwise - me, Chris, Eileen, Dennis, Pat and Jon; Helmut, Jon and I in front of River Concerto as we wait for our taxi to Bucharest.

Great Rivers of Europe, part 1

Hello! I'm sorry that it has taken me a while to do a new posting; we have had intermittent internet service available to us since we boarded our ship, "River Concerto", in Amsterdam. We have just completed the first half of our latest adventure with Grand Circle Travel and it was great! We have travelled from Amsterdam to Vienna, through many (at least 30) locks, in all kinds of weather and have seen fascinating sights.

We started in Amsterdam and went to Cologne, Koblenz, Mainz, Frankfurt, Wertheim, Wurzburg, Schweinfurt, Bamberg, Nurenberg, Regensburg, and Passau. We saw sights such as Marksburg Castle, the Lorelei, the quaint city of Ruedesheim, the castle in Heidelberg, the Residenz in Wurzburg, the Nazi grounds and courtrooms of Nurenberg, the baroque church in Kelheim, and of course we've enjoyed the beauty of traveling on a river with gorgeous scenery surrounding it. We had a walking and/or bus tour of each city. We've had guests speaking on German history and Germany today as well as a glassblowing demonstration on board the ship. We've had the opportunity to taste a LOT of beer and wine as well as German foods such as various sausages, desserts, pretzels and potatoes. We had a home hosted dessert experience where we got to visit a friendly German couple in their home near Frankfurt. Each day has been full and we've gone to bed tired each night but excited about the next day.

The ship is so comfortable and pleasant! There is a dining room that seats all the passengers (about 130) at once; the tables have linen table cloths and napkins. Breakfast is buffet with an omelet/egg station and loads of cereals, fruits, cheeses, yogurts etc. Lunch and dinner have multiple courses and are served by waiters with choices of entree. There are usually choices for desserts also and there is always a sugar free cake and ice cream for those who want it. Two glasses of house wine are included with dinner. There is also a bar/lounge where couches and arm chairs are grouped to make conversation easy; many face the floor to ceiling windows toward the bow and sides so that we can see the passing scenery. This is also where our port talks (a review of the day and preview/schedule for the next day) occur every night just before dinner. After dinner, the musician on board provides music, both instrumental and vocal, and there is a dance floor for those who choose to use it.

Happily this boat has a fitness room where I have used the treadmill every day but one! Jon has been suffering from a pinched nerve in his leg but is doing much better and is looking forward to getting back on the treadmill himself. There are several other machines as well as a sauna and all are used regularly. The top of the ship has a sun deck, with part in front of the wheel house and a larger part toward the stern. When we have gone through locks, especially scenic areas or under very low bridges, many of us head upstairs to see everything first hand. Other times, it is pleasant to sit outside and watch the water and land go by.

Yesterday we left Germany and sailed into Austria. We stopped first at Melk where we took an

optional trip to visit the abbey there and enjoy a wine tasting. Late in the afternoon we arrived in Vienna. After dinner we went to the city center to enjoy a performance of classical music which was outstanding! Thirteen professional musicians played pieces by Mozart and Strauss, among others, and a soprano and tenor sang separate arias and then two duets. Two ballet dancers performed as well. It was a memorable evening! This morning we had a lengthy city tour of Vienna, including St. Stephen's church and a coffee and cake stop, and then we began sailing to Budapest. We would have loved more time in Vienna but since I also fell in love with Salzburg last fall, I would very much like to come back to Austria for several weeks in the future.

We will have several days in Budapest and then go on through Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria and into Romania. We end our trip in Bucharest. More about those experiences later.

Photos, from top left: the Rhine was quite high and we saw lots of flooding; our cabin made up for the day; our guide Helmut and one of the other two guides, Dina; the two youngest of our fellow travelers - Breno from Brazil on the left and Ted on the right; typical German scenery and sausage sandwiches; one of 66 locks we passed through; we saw many small villages along the river; and chocolates with real gold decoration on top!

Belgium and The Netherlands

When I last wrote from Copenhagen, we were about to fly to Brussels. Our flight went well and we were glad that we had flown rather than taking the 12 hour train. Brussels is a big city, very focused on history and now also on the European Union as it is the seat of the EU Parliament. It is a very old city and it's main square reflects that in it's buildings and statues. We spent our time visiting the square, wandering a few side streets, having a delicious dinner at a Michelin restaurant, and eating some delicious Belgian chocolates (mine were sugar free!). The next morning we got on to a train and traveled to Bruges.

We had heard so much about this medieval town and during our days there we were not disappointed! We much prefer small towns to big cities and Bruges is much smaller than Brussels. We stayed in a great little hotel a short distance from the main square. We stayed for three nights and truly enjoyed ourselves! We took a canal cruise the first afternoon since the weather was perfect! We also both got hair cuts and I got mine colored - it was well past due. One of the main things we wanted to see was the only sculpture done by Michaelangelo to leave Italy in his lifetime. It is in the Church of Our Lady (Notre Dame) and is a lovely Madonna and child. We also took a city bus tour and then, since the weather had cleared from cloudy and rainy to sunny, we took a tour to the nearby city of Damme. We rode one way on the bus and went back on a boat on the canal. It was a very relaxing way to sightsee and to appreciate the countryside. The city of Bruges dates continually from the middle ages and was a major port at that time. Since then, silt has filled in about 10 kilometers but the city has continued to exist. It's main commerce now is tourism. It is a beautiful city and I would recommend a visit to anyone who plans to visit the region.

Last Monday we took the train to Amsterdam. Again we are staying some distance from the central area but we like being in more residential areas. Public transportation is great here, with a wonderful tram system as well as buses. There is a subway that functions mainly to connect the suburbs to the downtown area. We immediately bought 6 day transit cards which are good on all of the above. Two tram lines run about a block away and both go to the downtown hub. They go by about every five minutes so getting around is so easy! Amsterdam is shaped like a fan, with the central train station in the north and a series of canals and the Amstel river in concentric circles around it.

We decided to divide our 7 days here between the city and the surrounding area. We spent the first day using a 24 hour pass for canal and city bus tours. There are four different canal tours which cover different areas of the city. We had time for three of the tours that day and the next morning took a bus tour to pick up whatever the canals missed. The bus tour included a stop at Gassen's diamond center; interesting but no purchases were made. In the afternoon we visited the Ryksmuseum. It is currently under huge renovation but happily the best of their collection is presented in a more compact area which makes the visit still extremely worthwhile but much easier on the feet! Rembrandt is probably the most famous Dutch painter and the collection in the museum is fantastic. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Another day was divided between Anne Frank's house, the Red Light district and the Van Gogh museum (I know - quite a contrast). We started our morning at Anne Frank's hiding place in order to beat the crowds. It is incredibly moving to walk through the rooms and see the few articles there and remember her story; hallowed ground, to be sure. After having lunch, we took a short stroll along Rick Steves' tour path in the Red Light district. We saw condoms shops, drug shops and prostitutes advertising in their windows. All of this is quite legal although tightly regulated. We didn't need to see any more. That evening we visited the Van Gogh museum which is only about 2 blocks away from our hotel. His sad personal story stands in contrast to his amazing paintings and the museum does a wonderful job of presenting both.

Last Thursday we went on a day trip to The Hague and Delft. We visited the first in the morning and spent the afternoon in the beautiful smaller town. The Hague is home to the World Court and we had hoped to go inside the Peace Palace to see it in action. Unfortunately, the building was closed to visitors which is not unusual. So we quickly moved on to Delft. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed walking through the open air market and visiting the old and new churches. I was very interested in visiting the Delft ceramics plant and we enjoyed a 30 minute tour and made a couple of small purchases before heading back to Amsterdam on the train. Yesterday we took Rick Steves' Historical Triangle trip and rode north to the town of Hoorn where we took a coal fired steam train to another small town. There we caught an old style passenger boat that took us to an open air folk museum. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time during each segment of the trip. At the end, we took the train back to Amsterdam. Today has been a time of arranging details, doing some laundry, beginning to pack etc. Tomorrow we take a taxi to join our last tour, the month long river cruise, which begins in Amsterdam's harbor.

Photos, from the top left: bicycles are everywhere here - these are parked at the train station in Delft, on the canal tour in Bruges, swans on the canal with us, Belgian waffles - yum!, Anne Frank's house highlighted on a map of Amsterdam, on a canal tour in Amsterdam, a life-size cow and me at the Delft ceramics plant, modern windmills creating energy, a traditional windmill at the open air museum, and Gouda cheese at the museum.

Sweden and Denmark

We are having a wonderful time in beautiful Scandinavia!

We spent 5 days in Stockholm, seeing such sights as the royal palace, the Vasa museum and Skansen park. The latter is a wonderful place for people of all ages. There is a zoo, beautiful gardens and fountains, a historical village with houses and shops from 100 years ago and people demonstrating glassblowing, pottery etc. We also took the hop on - hop off bus on two of it's routes in order to see as much as possible of the city. Our final activity was a 2 hour cruise through the canals and waterways of Stockholm. The city is partly on the Baltic Sea and partly on a lake, so the cruise goes through locks to move from one to the other. Everywhere there is water! Hiking trails and parks line the waterways and people kayak, sail and motor all over. Spring had arrived and the trees were all newly decorated with leaves which made a lovely scene. We found some great places for dinner with traditional Swedish food as well as some modern options. The Swedish meatballs and salmon were delicious, as was the herring (at least Jon thought so!).

We took the train from Stockholm to Copenhagen on a bright sunny day which really enhanced the journey. The Swedish countryside was green with cultivated fields and dense forests. The farms had neat houses and well kept outbuildings, and many had horses grazing in the fields. A very idyllic picture. The train was extremely comfortable and the personnel helpful in getting all our bags on and off the train. We even took brief naps!

Copenhagen is another city surrounded by water and filled with canals. On our first full day in the city we took a canal tour. It lasted about an hour and at times we had to lean over in the boat because the bridges we passed under were so low! There are some fantastic new buildings built along the water, including the Maersk shipping line's gift to the city, a $300 + million opera house. Also on our first day we went to the famous Tivoli park and had a delightful time. I even talked Jon into going on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale ride, which is similar to the "It's a Small World" ride at Disneyland. After it was over, he said it wasn't that bad! The gardens were beautiful, with tulips blooming and swans (Denmark's national bird) swimming and nesting. That day we also visited the Danish National Museum. We were especially interested in the prehistory and Viking parts and spent most of our time in those areas. Danes are very proud of their Viking heritage and we enjoyed the tie-ins with what we had learned in Ireland.

The next day we walked to Rosenborg castle, about 8 blocks away. It is part of a lovely park and was home to some of Denmark's most important kings. Christian IV, perhaps the most remarkable, chose to die there because it was his favorite. The treasury and crown jewels were spectacular! From there we walked to the Danish Resistance Museum. It tells the story of Denmark's occupation during World War II and the resistance movement that grew as the war went on. There were many Danish heroes who relayed messages, blew up railroads or hid or transported Jews to Sweden. It was very inspiring and very well done!

On Friday we picked up a rental car (with GPS!) and drove to two nearby places of interest. The first was the Viking museum at Roskilde. I wish that we could have spent the day there! We saw scale models of ships, remnants of recovered ships, demonstrations of naval skills such knot tying and rope making that were done as they were around 1000 AD. and films describing Viking life. We know them as terrorizing robbers and destroyers but northern Europe sees them as spreaders of the culture of the day and traders as well. They also settled in some areas, mingled with the local population and founded cities.

From there we drove to Karen Blixen's home in Rungsted, north of Copenhagen. She wrote under the pseudonym Isek Dineson and two of her best known works are "Out of Africa" which is really a memoir and "Babette's Feast" which is one of our favorite movies. We had been to her home in Nairobi, which is also a museum, and we looked forward to seeing her home in Denmark. Her life story is quite sad; much of it is told through photographs, letters and video of interviews that she gave late in life. She was a remarkable woman.

We kept the rental car (a great VW Golf, Albert!) and on Saturday drove to the home of new friends of ours, Karin and Stig Friis. It took 2 1/2 hours to get there and we were able to see a lot of beautiful scenery on the way. We had met Karin and Stig in a restaurant in Florence at lunch. The tables were close together and we began talking. They are both involved in education in a broad sense and we found many things to talk about. We emailed afterward and they invited us to stay with them when we came to Denmark. We accepted their invitation on Saturday! They were terrific hosts and we hope they will visit us in Seattle so we can repay them properly. They served us a lovely lunch of traditional Danish foods, took us on an interesting drive around their area through farmland, small villages and to the beach, and made a delicious dinner that evening. We talked the whole time and until 10:30 that night! In the morning we had breakfast and then went our separate ways since they had plans with other friends and we had other places to see. We drove to Legoland, which was a LOT more fun than I thought it would be! What a creative, entertaining spot for the whole family! We wandered around through the various areas, had lunch and then headed off to the city of Odense to see Hans Christian Andersen's home and museum.

He was another Dane with a sad childhood but whose creativity refused to be contained. In case you don't remember, he wrote "The Little Mermaid", "The Tinder Box" and "Thumbelina", among others. "The Ugly Duckling" most clearly presents his philosophy of life: being born in the barnyard doesn't mean you can't grow up to be a swan. His life in a nutshell. When we got back to Copenhagen, we turned in the car and prepared to leave the next day for the island of Aero.

Aero is where we are now. It is a lovely little island just 9 miles by water from Germany. It is the sunniest and warmest place in Denmark and a very popular vacation spot. Many Germans as well as Danes come here. Bicycles are the most common means of transportation since the island is very flat and, except for the wind, easy to travel around. There are many bike routes. This morning Jon and I rented bikes from our hotel. Neither of us had ridden a bike in at least 50 years so it took some courage for me, at least, to get on and try to go. After some practice, we started out and were gone for about an hour. That was enough. Boy, those seats were hard! And my thighs are not in as good a condition as I thought they were! The wind kept blowing me sideways and sometimes we were on roads with cars. But we made it with no accidents. In the afternoon we took the bus to a town at the other end of the island and enjoyed the scenic tour. As luck would have it, a group of 10 year olds got on the bus too and a "there's one in every class" Johanes sat right in front of us. I took his picture - an experienced teacher will only need a glance to know what I mean! This is a maritime community and we visited a very good maritime museum before coming back on the bus.

Tomorrow we travel back to Copenhagen via ferry then bus then train. We are meeting Jessica's sister-in-law Nelly who is there on business - a wonderful coincidence! Then on Thursday we fly to Brussels and stay overnight before heading to Bruges the next day. From there we go to Amsterdam where we join our last organized tour, a four week river cruise. I'll write more from Amsterdam.

Here are some photos: from the top left: (sorry about the repetition of the first two) me on the bike, scenery from our bus trip on Aero island, fries at Legoland, Jon on his bike, Stockholm as seen from our water tour, the "little mermaid's little sister" from Tivoli in Copenhagen, a salvaged Viking ship from the museum at Roskilde, our friends Karin and Stig and the lego fries again (some day I'll figure out how to delete duplicate photos!)

Turkey

Hello everyone! I am writing this from Stockholm, having arrived here two nights ago from Ankara. We had a fascinating time in Turkey! From head spinning Istanbul, to the curious rock formations in Cappadocia and the modern capital city of Ankara, we were surprised and delighted by the land, people and culture of this crossroads of the world.

We had a fantastic guide named Ayberk. He met our cruise ship when it first docked in Turkey and was our leader at Ephesus and Istanbul. Maria was still our tour director but he was our guide. We got to Istanbul in the late afternoon and the next day we had a very full day of seeing the Spice Market, Blue Mosque, hippodrome, Sultan's Palace, Haga Sophia, the Grand Bazaar and the streets of the city. Because traffic was terrible, we ended up taking the tram once, which was also an experience! Each place was amazing; the colors, scents, art work (from the Egyptian obelisk at the hippodrome to the colorful, awesome interior of the Blue Mosque to the glorious mosaics of Haga Sophia and lovely gardens and displays at the Sultan's Palace) combined with the panoramic views of the city and waterways made the day a whirlwind of impressions and memories. That night we had a delicious "farewell dinner" at a wonderful restaurant that overlooked the water. The food was a treat, even though every meal we had had been excellent, and the wine just kept coming. Our entire group got along so well that we truly didn't want to say goodbye to anyone. We didn't stay late however since most of the group had very early flights to catch.

The next day, Ayberk and the 8 of us who were taking the post trip flew to Cappadocia (spelled Kapadokya in Turkey). Since it was morning when we flew, we could see the beautiful landscape. We saw mountains and then large agricultural tracts. After landing, we drove straight to the area's main attraction, it's geologic uniqueness. The strange rock formations made from volcanic material are very strong but people have carved cave homes in them for hundreds of years. Some of them reminded us of Bryce Canyon's hoo-doos. After settling in our hotel ( a lovely modern complex with swimming pool that caters to tour groups) we went for a late afternoon hike. By then the heat had moderated and we were quite comfortable. Over the next 2 days, we hiked above and through the formations and visited a ceramics studio, went into the famous underground city, and spent time at a local school that is supported by Grand Circle. The school was so much fun - children are the same all over the world - and afterwards, the principal invited us to walk down the block to see the local oven where all the families in the town bake their bread. The women of one family were taking their turn and they graciously shared some fresh out of the oven with us! Yum! Of course mixed in with all the hikes and sightseeing were plenty of shopping opportunities. On Tuesday we packed up and drove to Ankara, stopping on the way to visit several Hittite sites. The Hittites were people who lived in central Turkey around 1500 BC. For those of you who have been to Egypt, they were the people who Ramses II claimed to have defeated in the most important battle of his reign. The ruins we saw were very impressive, with carvings, wall frescoes and bas reliefs. We arrived in Ankara that night and the next morning went to Turkey's historical museum that contains most of the relics found at the sites. It was amazing. We also visited Ataturk's mausoleum. He is their George Washington, having led the independence movement in the 1920s. He accomplished some huge changes and reforms in a very short time; we both want to read more about him. While in Ankara, we stayed at the 5 star Hilton hotel and our room looked down on the Iranian embassy which was quite interesting!

Thursday morning Jon and I slept in while the others took early flights. We had a leisurely breakfast and then I took the opportunity to use the treadmill before packing and heading to our own flight to Stockholm. As we reflect on our time in Turkey, we realize how much we had learned about a beautiful land about which we only had had fuzzy image just a week ago. In some ways it is very modern and in others traditional ways are still in place. It is rich in agricultural resources and in minerals. It is in a very strategic geographical location. It is a nation with a secular government and a huge Islamic population. There is great national pride in their history and their hero, Ataturk. We saw only a small part of the country but we know that there are areas of extreme natural beauty including unspoiled bays and valleys. Turkey has a great future ahead of it!

Here are some photos. From the top, left: one of Istanbul's mosques, Cappadocia, some kids at the school, a stone lion at the Hittite ruins, and our group at our last dinner together. Our guide Ayberk is next to me.

Added photos: top left: land at Cappadocia (looks like our Painted Desert, doesn't it?), one of the homes in rock (or one of the seven dwarfs?), one of the village women baking bread, in another village we found ladies selling handmade dolls, and two girls in the street in Ankara on their way to school; our friend Bob is in the background.