It seems like forever since I last posted. In the meantime I have been on the move in Turkey and Greece. I had intended to send the occasional post from O/S but getting access to the internet was not easy. It seems more and more hotels are providing hotspots rather than actual computers, so I am thinking that before I go away again, I will have to investigate an iphone or netbook or something of the kind. I'd like some opinion on this, if anyone has had experience of one or t'other or both.
This trip to Turkey was with the same tour group (Turkish Magic) and several of the people from my first tour in 2007. As Margaret, one of the first timers, said to me, it was like meeting up with family again. We did have to explain to our guide, Metin, that we do have a range of first names in Australia , even if on this tour we had four Margarets (though one has never been know as this) two Denises, two Helens and two Johns!
I have had a massive dose of jet lag since I got home. Seems getting upgraded on the final leg from Dubai, and having my first ever real sleep on a plane, was to be paid for by days and days of not being able to get to sleep before 3am at the earliest.
Still it was all worth it. I left Turkey loving it even more and feeling more than a little sad that I would probably be there again. Then I decided that this is too final and maybe someday I will have to make Istanbul a stopover on the way to somewhere else. It really is a magical city, and the Turkish people are regarded by all I have met, who have visited Turkey, as the warmest, most hospitable people in the world.
I will be posting albums of photos on my Facebook Page page so I'll only put a few here.
On our first day we went looking for, and found a former medresse which had been turned into craft studios. It was still there, but the small restaurant was gone and was replaced by a much posher affair in the hotel next door. The outdoor area was gorgeous.
My travelling companion Denise is carefully cut out of the first photo as she likes her privacy and doesn't believe we need to reveal our lives on the net. So you won't see her in any of the pics. Shame really.
A small part of the hat display in a store in a shopping lane behind the Blue Mosque.
The contrasts are quite amazing-modern hotels and shopping lanes, minutes from derelict Ottoman buildings,
and the obelisk in the Hippodrome (with the Blue Mosque partially visible in the background.
And then there's the Spice Bazaar!
On another note entirely, I am very pleased to announce that SisterArts' Keith Lo Bue workshops will go ahead on July 25th and 26th
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