Our last days in Turkey roar up on us, like a Turkish minibus driver, and we fly back to Istanbul from Cappadocia. We never really had a plan on how to get from Turkey to Croatia, and Bernard’s options came down to a 2 hour flight, or a 36 hour train ride in a second hand Turkish train, now run by the Bulgarians. Despite the close contest, the expensive air option gets the green light, so we manage a few more days in Istanbul, curiously named “European Cultural capital 2010”. Turkey has been incredibly engaging. We cannot begin to suggest that we understand this complex country at all, but many things have proved fascinating: 1. This is a big and proud country with feverish national pride. Flags are everywhere, on buildings, on cars, on factories
... read more
