AandW

Day 11 Cappadocia We have a smooth landing into a tiny little airport when we arrive in the Cappadocia region. It seems like the entire staff of the airport comes out to the tarmac to watch our arrival. I am guessing they do not see very many private jets come in and out of this airport. In fact, our airplane is the only one in the entire airport. I bid the other passengers goodbye for now. A short time later we load into a small shuttle bus and head out to our hotel. Some of the streets are well paved and others leave a lot to be desired but the landscape of the mountains is amazing. We can see why this place might be a popular destination. We arrive at the hotel and initially think we ... read more

Day 9 This morning we head for the restaurant breakfast instead of the executive lounge in search of better food. The restaurant does have much better food and we find out that it is included in the price of our room. Lesson learned. We hop in the cab and set out on another Mr. Toad's Wild Ride as we make our way to Topkapi Palace. Topkapi Palace is massive! This monument was the home of the turkish Ottoman rulers from the 1450's to the 1850's. It is the home of many ancient artifacts as well as an 86 carat diamond. One of the rooms is considered the circumcision room and still holds vials of removed foreskin. As we walk towards the Hagia Sophia there are more street corn carts but some of them are now offering ... read more

Day 7 Tonight we leave for Istanbul. We will be sad to leave this beautiful island. Most of the day we hangout having lunch, drinking iced coffee's, and lounging at the beach. We found a shop selling the notorious 2 litre glass boot and have to purchase one. I do not think we will be drinking beer from it again but who knows! In the evening we return to Le Gourmet for our final dinner on Rhodos. The hostess/owner Maria is sad to see us depart the island and so are we. We have an assortment of appetizers, giant prawns, and lamb, a fitting farewell dinner. A taxi takes us to the airport and we ready the airplane for the other passengers. The flight to Istanbul takes 58 mins. By the time we arrive we are ... read more

Day 5 We wake early, now that we are caught up on some needed sleep, head to breakfast, and then make our way to Old Town Rhodos via taxi. The taxi driver is very nice and recommends that he drop us off at the top of the hill and we make our way down the hill through town. Old Town Rhodos is a pedestrian only town with no cars allowed inside the walls. The town is surrounded by ancient stone walls for protection. The architecture is very medieval however the majority of the town is filled with souvenir shops and restaurants. We walked in a large circle from the top of the hill, down through the city, around the outside wall, and ended up exactly where we started. The water is such an amazing mix of ... read more

Day 3 Today our plan is to watch the ceremony of the changing of the guard in front of the Athens Parliament and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The changing of the guard happens every hour however, on Sundays at 11:00 a.m. they have a large processional including the military band. After breakfast we take the hotel shuttle downtown once again. Today it is already very warm by 10:30 a.m. and feels very muggy. The shuttle drops us off two blocks from the parliament. Across the street from the parliament we pass a park filled with tents and protest signs. We, of course, do not know what they are protesting because all of the signs are in Greek. All the tents remind me of something you might see in the river bottom of Ventura or ... read more