Happy St. Patrick’s Day
Merhaba,
It’s a bright sunny day in Marmaris which is a good thing as power is off from 7 am until 1:00 pm today for maintenance. Randal has a fire going in our diesel heater making it quite cozy. We’re skipping the Sunday Market this morning, too much else to do today. At noon there will be a tree planting in the local forest. Holes have been dug; we just have to put in the sapling and fill in the dirt. This is an annual event and something I’ve never done before. This evening is a St. Patrick’s Day Pot Luck at Sailor’s Point. Randal is making pie which makes everyone happy for 2 reasons. Everyone likes his pies and no one particularly every cares for what I bring though Jane said she really liked my banana bread and fruit tray from the previous pot luck. Randal likes to cook; I don’t; so it all works out.
On the 22nd we’re leaving for a 6 day “Gwen Trip” up north west. It somewhat retraces the motorbike trip Randal and I did back in 2011. But many of the stop included will be new to us, particularly and especially Cappadocia. It will be a small group led by our intrepid guide Taṣ and our pals Mary and Rick are going as well. Really looking forward to this as Cappadocia is one of those special places in Turkey not to be missed. We skipped it on the motorbike as it was just too far for the amount of time we’d had.
So here’s the itinerary. Look up all of those places and give me your questions ahead of time so I’ll be able to answer them….maybe.
Ru
Ps The US did not make the World Baseball Classic but The Netherlands did. Does that make sense?
Cappadocia http://www.cappadociaturkey.net/
Day 1: Board bus at 6:30 am. (Set several alarms!) Breakfast stop in Gocek around 9:30 am. Stop in Sagalassos (Hittite period 16th century B.C. In 333 Alexander the Great conquered the city. http://interactive.archaeology.org/sagalassos/ Later Roman rule increased its prosperity. Isparta for lunch time/free time. Lake Eḡirdir stop for the night at the Altingol Hotel.
(During our 10 day motorbike trip back in 2011 Randal and I made a too short stop in Isparta but did stay 3 nights at Lake Eḡirdir. We are looking forward to returning to both places.)
Day 2: Drive to Konya. Lunch. Konya Mevlana Musuem, Selimiye Mosque. Check in to Avrasya Hotel in Avanos.
(Konya was also a stop on our 2011 motorbike trip but we’re happy to return here also. But we’ve never been to Avanos. “ Avanos, is a town and district of Nevşehir Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey, located 18 km north of Nevşehir, the capital city of the province. It is situated within the historic and touristic region of Cappadocia.” Wikipedia
http://www.ozgurguker.com/Turkey/Avanos-Cappadocia-Pottery-Turkey.html Apparently Avanos is famous for its pottery. I might not be able to get Randal away from here as he missed out on his set of pottery dinnerware in North Cyprus.
Day 3: Love Valley (secret … we’ll all have to wait to be surprised) Goreme Museum, Lunch in Uranos Cave Restaurant (I can hear you laughing) Avanos, Cavusin Village, Pasabagi Fairy Chimneys. http://www.goreme.com/pasabag.php Optional Turkish Night.
Dav 4: Optional Balloon Flight. (I rode in a hot air balloon one time and lived through it and am not pushing my luck.) Derinkuyu Underground City.
http://www.goreme.com/derinkuyu-underground-city.php Lunch in Village Restaurant , Soganli Valley. If time permits Nevṣhir.
Day 5: Arrival in Antalya. Visit Sultan Han caravanserai and check into Hotel Suitelaguna. Dinner in hotel. Optional Aspendos Tour. www.suitelaguna.com
Day 6: Antalya Old City tour, Hadrian’s Gate, etc Duden Waterfall and more. Return to Marmaris.