I was headed into an inferno, at least, that was what the news story on the Internet led me to believe. It was old news really, I remembered first hearing about the fires burning across the Peloponnesian Peninsula when I was in Rhodes a few weeks before. I had never even considered changing my plans due to the fires, though. After all, I had lived for many years in California where forest fires were commonplace and I was only going to get one chance of ‘seeing’ six of the Seven Wonders of the World before it was time to go home. I figured that as long as the transportation was still running I was going to stick to my plan. My bus ride out of Delphi went flawlessly. We descended the slopes of Mt. Parnassus to ... read more

I woke with a start. Where was I? What was going on? It was clear that I was still in my tiny sleeper car on a Greece-bound train, but there was no sound. The rhythmic clacking of the steel rails, the grating, high-pitched squeal of the big wheels, the low rumble of the diesel engine - They were all silent. A glance out my window revealed deep blue skies over a stunning, green countryside with a few farm buildings and a distant ridgeline. It really was a perfect view to wake up to, but it was unlikely that the engineer had stopped the train for us to see it. I looked up and down the tracks as best as I could from my window. There were no official looking structures and no station, just green. I ... read more

What had been great morning was turning into a beautiful day. The wind was whipping through my long hair and the salt spray was in my face. From my vantage point on the small, portside balcony near the front of the hydrofoil, a stunning seascape stretched out in front of me. The deep blue of the Aegean Sea merged with the cobalt sky at a crisp horizon, broken only by the rugged, brown island of Rhodes, which was directly in front of us in the distance. As the island got closer, the boat’s crew started getting ready for arrival. They got the ropes ready and then they hoisted both the Turkish and Greek flags on the mast in a peaceful gesture that I had first seen when I sailed on the bark Europa. I moved to ... read more

“Mister, do you need a nice room for the night?” was the first thing I heard as I stepped off of the nightmarish bus in Selçuk. My cramped, uncomfortable seat had left me in a grumpy mood and my muscles were in the first stages of atrophy, so I was not in the mood for a long search for a place to stay. I turned to the woman that had asked the question and mustered the best smile I could. She then said, “I have a nice pension just around the corner.” We quickly discussed all of the important points, such as cost, location and amenities and they were all to my liking. I told her that I would like to see a room. She smiled and motioned to me to follow her. We left the ... read more

Slowly the bus rattled its way to the north. The rough dirt road from Fethiye, on the Mediterranean coast, penetrated the rugged countryside of Turkey’s ‘Inner Aegean’ region. The ribbon-like road hung precariously on the edge of sparsely forested mountainsides, which afforded sweeping views of the surrounding terrain. From time to time we descended into lush, green valleys where we found tiny hamlets, seemingly forgotten in the sands of time. We stopped in one of those tiny towns and took a long break in the shade beneath an ancient tree at the makeshift otogar. I sat and ate a snack that I had purchased from one of the street vendors as I watched the day to day life of rural Turkey unfold before my eyes. With the exception of the old bus I had arrived on ... read more