From the Mediterranean...

After a week in Turkey I thought I'd fill everyone in on our travels so far. First, I think I had a permanent grin on for the first three days. I did keep wanting to speak to people in Arabic but that doesn't work so well here. There are a few words here and there that are the same but it's mostly a completely different language. Oh, and while people thinking you're married to your brother might not be the greatest thing in most circumstances, it does wonders for warding off the Turkish men. The only downside is the stories of really awful pick-up lines but I'll trade that for hassle free travels any day...especially after six months in Egypt. People are kind of surprised to find a brother and sister traveling together. Most of them think they'd kill their sibling if they tried traveling together. Josh and I have been good so far. Probably helps he's easy going...I think one of his highlights is the chocolate cakes and tea we get on our bus rides...easy to please

In Istanbul we did a lot of walking, and saw the main sights...Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, and the pedestrian areas around Taksim Square. We also saw our first pro-football (soccer) game when we met up with a bunch of architecture students from the UK staying at our hostel. The game wasn't the greatest I've seen since it apparently didn't have too much meaning, but just going to the game is an experience in itself...you'd never find fans like these back home.

Next was a VERY early morning wake up to catch the ferry across the Marmara Sea and then a bus to Canakkale where we stayed one night to see the ruins of Troy. The ruins aren't that amazing but you go just to say you were there. It's also where we met two Aussie girls were trying to catch the same bus as us down to Selcuk...near Ephesus...one of them is from a town called Oakbank which was quite the coincidence. For those of you that don't know I grew up and went to school in a town called Oakbank. We were in Selcuk for three days and saw, in order, Ephesus, Merymana (the place they say the virgin mary died), Sirince (an old greek town known for their fruit wines), and Pamukkale. In Sirince we wandered into a jewelry shop only to find out that the jeweler there made all the jewelry worn in the movie Troy. I'm now the owner of a pair of earings worn by whoever it was that played the part of Helen...all you sceptics out there can keep quiet, there were newspaper clippings and everything.

Now we're in a seaside town called Fethiye and hoping for good weather so we can do some hiking the next few days. That's all for now...I'm not sorry to say I don't miss anywhere or anyone right now... life is great