To Asia and the Sea

Today, we left Istanbul, and headed toward the Aegean Sea. We stopped briefly at Gallipoli, which is the famous spot where the Australians and the New Zealanders fought in WWI. Significant for them, but less so for us, I suppose. It was quite an interesting story, at least. And even better, it was prayer time, so many devout Muslims stopped to wash in the sea and pray Eastward. Since everyone had cameras out, I found myself irresistibly drawn toward the opposite direction from the grave sites.

The Turkish countryside is getting greener and more beautiful now that we are seaside, but for much of the day, we saw brown. Which, of course, is interesting in its own right. I am, however, quite excited to see more of the local color as we move down the coast.

It is spring, so not hot enough to swim (which makes one of this party quite sad). But the sun is shining, the boys wore shorts today, and our noses are getting a bit burned.

When we got to our hotel outside Canakkale and realized this was our view, it was better than good. We got to walk the beach, look at jellyfish, throw rocks in the Sea, and just enjoy ourselves.

And then I saw the hotel had a spa and Beerman convinced me to sign up for a massage. And life got even better. Because I unknowingly signed up for an entire Turkish bath plus a massage. I was in absolute heaven. Dear Lord, I had no idea I even wanted a Turkish bath. I was a little freaked out about it, in fact. But there I was, having water poured over me by the bowlful while laying on a heated octagonal slap of marble, getting scrubbed and foamed within an inch of my life. I even had my hair washed for me, and absolutely loved all of it. I was totally worthless afterward. Man, it was a great experience that I hope I can repeat before we leave this glorious country.

Tomorrow, we head to Troy, Pergamom, a rug shop along the way that Indiana Jones wants us to see because we were discussing the Noah's Ark myth tonight at dinner and its roots in Eastern Turkey (Indy claims these Kurdish rugs tie in to the whole story as proof there was a glacier that melted and flooded the flood plain below, boats were built, and some farmers saved their animals this way), and then stay in Kusadasi for 2 nights still on the Aegean.

We are totally loving this trip, everything we are learning, and everything we are doing. While much different (and infinitely cleaner) than Paris, even C-man is digging the experience.