HOME Tuesday, May 5, 2026                                                                                                           We made it to Antalya yesterday evening, staying at the Elegant East hotel.   Our room is appointed with faux French antique furniture and there is a sitting area and dining table outside in the common hallway.   Interestingly, there is a notation in the hotel information that states “no outside food or drink”.   Just let them try to stop me w...

  HOME Monday, May 4, 2026                                                                       It was quite cold and overcast today as we set out for Aspendos.   Sleet began to fall during our photo stop at Lake Beysehir  and we learned that it had actually snowed back in Istanbul.  Crazy weather ! The Taurus mountains were visible in the background.                   Our lunch stop was a little family run café with a view of the river, swollen with recent rain.  The mulberry tree next to the balcony was loaded with fruit just beginning to ripen.                            The Aspendos theater was constructed under the reign of emperor Marcus Aurelius between 160 and 180 AD...

  HOME Sunday, May 3, 2026                Guzelyurt mosque, Caravan Serai, Rumi Tomb Turkiye has a strict separate of church and state, or in this case, mosque and state.  Yet, the government runs the school for imams, and determines where a particular imam will serve, as well as paying them a government salary.  Although this would seem to be a contradiction, it is actually a method to ensure that the religious institutions do not gain too much power over the government.  We visited with the imam of a small mosque in the village of Guzelyurt.  He was 29 years old, married, and had just had a baby girl.  He was very gracious and explained the nature of his job and his education.  He had gone to the imam vocational school during his early education, then to the university.  Twelve years of school is compulsory for everyone in Turkiye, but you can specialize in some vocations during that time.  He followe...

  HOME Thursday, April 30, 2026 It was another long bus ride, but now we are in the area of Cappadocia, staying in the small town of Mastafupasa.   Our hotel is absolutely wonderful:   it is made like a cave with niches for lights and storage, but also all modern amenities, including a spa tub.   There is even a separate little office space for me to type while Lyle sleeps – which I should be doing because I have a hot air balloon ride tomorrow at 4 am. But first take a quick look at our room.                                                    For dinner tonight we had BBQ meats and sausage, with salad, potatoes, and other veggie dishes to accompany.  Dessert was a light dish made from cornstarch phyllo dough boiled in milk and served with nuts and berries.  It sounds weird, but it was really good. Friday, May 1, 2026 ...