Rhodes-Rodos--etc..

Hi folks,
these are a bunch of pics that came of mom's camera--finally found a computer that would recognize it. To the right is the sunrise over the Isle of Crete after our overnight fairy from Rhodes. Below is us about to have some delicious mousaka on Rhodes before leaving.

This is a donkey tree (or giraffe?) inside the walled city of Rhodes. Below is Oma and Rory, all aglow from shopping. On Rhodes we stayed in the old town which is basically the Knights Hospitaller fort which is enormous. They withstood many attacks and were finally expelled after a battle in which 12,000 knights took on some 120,000 Turks.

On Rhodes we finally got to dip our heads in the Mediterranean.

Above is Oma with the castle in Bodrum, Turkey behind.

And the last two were taken at the castle in Bodrum with the harbour in the background.

Ciao for now.

The

Kalispera (good evening) from the beautiful town of Chania on the west of Crete.

I'm blogging from a smoky internet cafe at 1 euro per half hour so I'll try and be brief, keep, it short and succinct without any extra redundancy.

So where was I? Oh yes, we were on the terrace at Homero's pension, talking about Gallipoli and the terrible military failure of 1915, which the Aussies and Kiwis still comemorate every April. I had to ask Ron, an australian who's wife is turkish, if that caused any friction in their house on ANZAC day. He said not really since the Australia and New Zealand Army Corp received such a horrible whooping, what they're really commemorating is the terrible tragedy and failure, and keeping alive the memory that war is hell. I'll drink to that.

The next morning we got up early to catch our 7:30 bus to Bodrum but didn't get out the door without The Mama handing us a bag of food for a picnic.

We arrived in Bodrum after a three hour bus ride through very scenic mountainous country and found a hotel then took a walk down to the harbour. The boats were incredible, tall ships, pirate ships and every manner of yacht and party boat. The main reason we were there was to see the Castle of the Knights Hospitaller, or Knights of Saint John. Now, this was really news to me, but apparently these knights, who originally set out to defend the christian pilgrims to Jerusalem, after getting kicked out of Israel in 1291 went out looking for a new place to set up their knight and hospital business. They settled on the island of Rhodes and later set up a branch office here in Bodrum on the coast of Turkey.

The castle is quite impressive and now houses a museum of underwater archeology (Rory wore her swimsuit and felt that she was a victim of false advertising). They have an incredible display of riches pulled from the many ships which have sunk off the coast of Bodrum over the last 4,000 years.

The Knights incorporated into the stonework and decorations of their castle several pieces from the Mausoleum of king Mausolus of Halicarnasus (now Bodrum). This huge funerary structure was commissioned by Mausolus to commemorate himself, but had to be finished by his wife (who was also his sister), after his death in 353 B.C. It was eventually toppled by earthquakes in the middle ages, but not before making the list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (that's number 2 for us on this trip).

Today only a few stones and the foundations remain if the Mausoleum--and of course that word has entered our language--but the hundreds of carvings and statues that adorned it are in museums throughout the world and some survive in the Knights Hospitaller castle.

The pictures are of us in front of a statue at the castle, and Rory and I looking pretty on the castle wall. Also, a mosaic floor from a chapel at the castle. And finally, Rory and Jasper getting ready to board the hydrofoil ferry for Rhodes.

Merhaba, again.
I'm so happy to be able to upload these pics!
After Bergama we took the bus down to Seljuck, the ancient site of Ephesus. We arrived just after dark and had a tip from our previous hotelier about a pension. The minute you get off the bus your usually met by someone trying to guide you to 'pansyon' or hotel, so we pretend, or 'believe' that we actually have a room at a place to avoid being taken advantage of.
We headed off with our 11 bags (including the guitar) and soon found our self in a residential part of town. We stopped to ask directions at a corner liqour store but got only bewildered looks at the mention of Homero's Pension. About this time, Rory's gastro-intestinal distress kicked in, in an emergent way, and I left the others standing on the corner as Rory and I ran back through the streets asking everyone, Banyo? Tuvalet? Bathroom? Luckily, we made it in time, and when we returned to the liquor store, someone had called Homero's, and the owner was on his way to pick us up.
Dervish, who turned out to be a gregarious and delightful man, loaded us up in his van, and then seeing how many we were, asked 'how many are you?' "Five, well come to my house and we'll see what we can do." We got there and were given a tiny room with three beds and no space for the two mats which we were planning to put on the floor for the kids, but at last we had a place to sleep and put the $#^&* 11 bags including the guitar.
Homero's turned out to be one of the best experiences we've had so far. These people were genuine, fun, and made us a part of the family. Ayse, the daughter of the matriarch of the family (referred to only as 'the Mama') was home visiting with her Australian husband, Ron, and two daughters. The place was full of interesting folks, several aussies, a couple from Portland, Oregon who have a condo in Mosier, and so on.
We got there too late for dinner the first night, but luckily Theresa came up with the plan of staying two nights and catching the early morning bus to Bodrum the day after. So, the second day we went to Ephesus and other sights, and in between we sat on the terrace of Homero's, and watched The Mama, a perpetual motion machine of Turkish cooking, cleaning and mothering. It seemed every time we sat down someone brought out a little something for us to eat, and there was no question, you just ate it, and it was delicious; grapes, pears, pomegranates, fried potatoes and rice--all as a kind of appetizer for the meal to come.
Around 6:30 we went up on the rooftop and drank some homemade wine and watched the sunset--beautiful.
The dinner was delicious; dolmades, potato soup, meatballs, eggplant, rice, fruit. Afterwards, we went to the carpet shop, owned by a friend of the family, and escaped with only a few small things--Helen got a very small silk carpet.
Later we went back to the terrace and I got out my guitar for the purpose of singing a song that had to be sung. Some of you have probably heard the song, 'And the band played Waltzing Matilda.' It's a song about a huge bloody battle which occured in 1915 between the Allied forces and the Ottoman Turks who had been persuaded by the Germans to close the Dardanelles to Allied shipping. The song is about a veteran of the conflict who loses his legs and sits on his porch every April (when Australia celebrates Anzac day in commemoration of the battle) wondering what it was all for--there were more than 150,000 killed on both sides. As you can guess it's a sad song and not very good for dancing. But sitting there with a couple of Australians and having just come from Gallipoli (which is in the same general location as Troy) I couldn't help myself. I then stayed up into the wee hours talking with Ron and Graeme about Gallipoli, war, and sometimes even hope for the future.
The site of Ephesus is truly astounding. It's a city going back to way before Roman times, but is of great biblical interest because it is where John came after exile and alledgedly brought Mary the mother of Jesus here (also read Paul's letters to the Epheseans). Apparently it was such a hotbed of activity because the locals were way into worship of the goddess, Artemis, depicted with 40 bare breasts. When Paul visited Ephesus he caused a riot with his anti-artemis talk--the merchants and manufacturers of Artemis statues (many of which were made from silver) were not ready to give up their livlihood. In fact, the temple of Artemis at Ephesus was considered one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world by the 'travel writers' of the Hellenic period, but more on the 7 wonders later. Today only one pillar stands of Artemis' 4 story temple.
The pictures are of the site of Ephesus--the Library of Celsus and the Amphitheater (which held 25,000). Also the terrace at Homero's and the kids shelling beans with their new friends.
I'm off to Knossos, the huge Minoan site on Crete.
Ciao

Canakkale to Bergama

Some of you may recognize the turkish-style toilet which also occurs in other parts of the world. We've seen these, but thankfully, haven't been forced to use them often, as it requires a high level of Yoga prowess (combination of downward dog and wind reducing pose, I believe).
After Canakkale-Troy, we boarded a bus for Bergama (ancient Pergamon), a place I'd never heard of. The favorite son of Bergama, however, is someone with whom I have a bit of familiarity.
Galen, perhaps the most influential physician of all time, had his ancient medical center (a place called the Asclepion) on hill not for from the acropolis of Pergamon.
Now for you non-medical folk, Galen is the doc that basically dominated medical thought until the 16th century. Galen studied and read widely, dissected monkeys to form his theories on the function of the body, and performed the earliest recorded cataract (eye) surgeries. He was also a strong proponent of bloodletting.
At the Asclepion we learned that they were believed to have practices dream interpretation (there were subterranean chambers where patients slept hoping to dream up their own cure), also healing baths, massage and drinking water from the sacred spring. Sounds kind of like a kind of Jungian Naturopath.
When we arrived in Bergama, the bus let us off on the wrong side of a busy highway. We looked across and saw a lone taxi, but between us were two lanes of traffic and a deep ditch. We managed our way across and piled into the taxi while the driver searched for a bit of string in the surrounding countryside to tie the trunk lid down. Yes there are six of us (including the driver) and 11 bags including the guitar in there.
Theresa and I hiked up to the Acropolis the next morning (saw many tortises on the way). The most impressive part of the site, the Temple of Zeus, was carted away en masse to Berlin. It was so impressive that, John de Patmos, in the Book of Revelations, referred to it as 'Satan's Throne.'
The picture is me by what's left of the Acrop.
Ciao for now

Bye bye Istanbul Hello Troy

Kalimera, good day from the island of Crete!
Sorry I'm so behind in my blogging, but you'll be happy to know that this particular camera is uploading into this particular computer very well. Yeah!
We met a couple yesterday on Rhodes who were blogging and had brought a tiny laptop with them which seems to be the way to go (no worries about language issues).
The day after our Bosphorus cruise we left Istanbul on the ferry heading across the Sea of Marmaris for Bandirma. Then we boarded a bus for Canakkale, the site of one of the most famous battles of all time--Truva; the ancient city of Troy.
Homer's Iliad, and other early Greek writings relate the epic tale of the Trojan War. The battle, according to legend, was provoked by the prince of Troy, a boy named Paris, who abducted Helen, the beautiful daughter of Menaleus, King of Sparta. The war raged for ten years and the Iliad relates only the last couple of weeks and includes the Greek's brilliant trickery of the Trojan Horse and the deaths of Achilles, Hector, Patrocles, and pretty much everyone else except for Odysseus (who had to live on so he could be the protagonist of the sequel, The Odyssey).
The Iliad was long believed to be pure mythology until the 1870's when a wealthy, Homer-obsessed, German businessman, Heinrich Schliemann, set out to discover Priam's Treasure--the treasure of the King of Troy. What became of Priam's treasure is a very interesting story, but you can check that out on wikipedia.
The point is, that although the Iliad relates all kinds of maiden abductions and doings of the gods and such in explaining the Trojan War, the subtext is that Troy sits right at the entrance to the Dardanelles (also called the Hellespont). That narrow stretch of water is the connection between the Mediterrenean, The Sea of Marmara, then the Bosphorus and finally ihe Black Sea which allows access to Europe's back door.
That has been an important trade route and strategic location since mythical times and is still a constant source of friction. This vicinity has repeatedly seen bloody fighting throughout history and as recently as the last century. More on that later...
There's not much to see at the site of Troy today (unless you're an archeology buff, then it is...like, wow man). But they do have this mock up Trojan Horse which you can climb up in (that's Rory and Jasper in the windows).
The other pictures are of The Bonjour Guesthouse where we stayed in Istanbul, and one more of Salome (just so my mom can't deny that she was there).
Ciao

Bosphorus Cruise

These are pics of the Bosphorus Cruise. We signed up for free drinks, traditional turkish food, live music and of course belly dancing. We got there at 7:00, hungry because we wanted to make sure and enjoy the banquet to come. We were led into a boat, decked out fairly elegantly as a banquet hall with a small dance floor in the middle, and were told the service would begin at 7:30, but there wasn't a soul on the boat except for ourselves and the crew. For a half hour we sat salivating waiting for the feast and wondering exactly what we'd gotten ourselves into.
Finally, at the appointed hour a crush of people flowed in smiling and talking and obviously ready to party. Soon thereafter the music kicked in at about 90 decibels, and the people, without a moments hesitation, jumped up and started dancing and clapping their hands. And they seemed like they either danced all the time or they hadn't danced in years because they just kept shaking it.
By this time we were both famished and quite thirsty, and I eventually tracked down a waiter and the wine and drinks came.
The music reminded me of 'house music' from my college days, but with a middle eastern flare to it. There was even a light show with colored flashing lights and lasers and a smoke machine. All this as we cruised up and then back down the Boshporus river looking at the skyline of Istanbul and the amazing landmarks along the shore: The Ataturk Palace, the Mosque of such and such, and the bridge across the Bosphorus which bridges Europe and Asia (refer to your maps please). Two of my favorites are the 'Fortress of Europe' on the European side, and the 'Fortress of Asia' across the way, both built by Turkish forces in successive attempts to lay seige to the city, finally succeeding in taking it from the Byzantine christians in 1453. This is just one example of the inummerble bloody battles fought over control of this city, the Bosphorus and The Dardanelles to the southwest of here. Control of trade and transport between the Mediterranian and the Black Sea has apparently been pretty important going back to the mythical time of Troy (more on that later).

We eventually got served a pretty passable dinner (grilled chicken with turkish appetizers, roasted peppers and such).
I was beginning to wonder if we'd been duped about the belly dancing, when around 10:00 the singer stopped and gave a long sililoquy in what I thought was Turkish. Then she came out, Salome of the Seven Veils, a very talented dancer (see photo, finally). Did I mention that I'm all for belly dancing? As a physician, I think it is both aerobic and toning and it has the added benefit of raising the heart rate of those watching as well.
Near the end I had a conversation with a young couple, in broken english, over the 90 decibel house music, and I learned that nearly everyone on the boat was from Iran. The singer was singing in Farsi. They were all vacationing in Istanbul because you simply 'can't do this in Iran.'

More on Istanbul

Well, I've found a way to upload pics from our Greek computer here at the Hotel Kronos on the Big Island of Crete, home king Minos, the Minotar and I hope, wonderful local flavors like souvlaki, ouzo and retsina.
I'm playing catch-up here, so the pictures are still in Istanbul.
Here are Rory and Jasper sporting local headgear.
Theresa is wearing an irish derby which Nana bought for Jasper. She is smiling so because she is awaiting the belly dancer on the Bosphorus cruise, enjoying local wine and generally shaking her groove thang.
The final picture relates to the layers of historical minutae, so stop reading here if this is too taxing. When we went to the Ayasophia (or Hagia Sophia-first basilica, then mosque, now museum-remember), we were told to look for the Viking runes (yes, runes not ruins), graffiti carved by viking raiders, somewhere between the 9th and 11th century A.D. We think that is one, but there are so many strange symbols carved into the stone throughout this massive place that it's hard to be sure.
Again, if you want actual pictures of the Hagia Sophia, wikipedia has a pretty good spread.
Aferisto for reading.

picture problems/ whirling dervish

Well, as luck would have it, I can't get the %$#*&!!! pictures to upload at all here on the Island of Rodos in Greece. We just got in today and I'll look for an internet place where I can make it work later. There's a bit of a computer language barrier --the computers in Turkey have several extra letters to contend with so they don't always correspond, and navigating through the photo uploading seemed a bit challenging. Unfortunately, it's much worse here in Greece where the entire alphabet is different!
So, you'll just have to wait for photographic evidence of the infamous belly dancer....

Our second night in Istanbul, my sainted mother decided to take us out for a really special evening of Turkish culture; to see the famous Whirling Dervishes. So after a full day of sightseeing and haggling, we primped up and headed off to the theater barely arriving in time for the start.
The show was in what appeared to be the domed hall of an ancient mosque. We waited in great expectation as the lights dimmed and the musicians came in. The music was played on oud drum, flute, citar (zither) and vocals and was VERY slow and solemn (kind of like a very slow one chord modal bluegrass song). Definitely not something you would be humming to yourself as you left the theater.
Then the dancers came in, four men in conical hats and white tunic/skirts, slowly, ceremoniously they started to walk one at a time around the stage. Occassionally one would make a little slow twirl. Then almost imperceptibly they began to move faster. Finally they began to twirl, with their skirts flying out around them. There was a look of angelic peace on their faces as they whirled.
Throughout it all the band strumming on in the background. For some reason, maybe we were too tired, punchy you might say, or maybe we just weren't in the mood for a mystical experience, we could hardly contain ourselves from laughing. We laughed all the way back to the hotel and Rory and Jasper agreed that it was the most boring event they had ever attended.
So, the next night we decided to try the Bosphorus river which promised a night of drinking, dancing, and a belly dancer.
more on that later...
Rod

Ayasophıa and Topkapı Palace

I apologıze for my lack of photographıc support. These pıctures are all I can upload rıght now as my mom's camera ısn't cooperatıng.
You'll have to take my word for ıt, Istanbul ıs...lıke, wow man. And I haven't been hıttıng the nargıle (water pıpe).
Where to begın? You could start wıth the Mosques--there are more mosques than you cans shake a kebab at. These people are mosquelomegalomanıacs. There are at least seven mosques here that you could fly the goodyear blımp ın.
In thıs pıcture Theresa ıs standıng ın front of the Hagıa Sophıa ('holy wısdom') whıch was the largest chrıstıan cathedral ın the world for a thousand years after beıng buılt ın 537 A.D. It was then converted to a pretty darn bıg mosque when Constantınople fell to the Ottoman Turks ın 1453. The beautıful mosaıcs were covered over (and some nıce carpets were brought ın) and then the whole thıng became a museum ın 1935. Now they're uncoverıng and restorıng some of the mosaıcs.

The other pıcture ıs of my two favorıte travelers sıttıng ın front of a fountaın at the Topkapı pallace whıch ıs where the sultan and hıs harem of 1000 or so concubınes lıved, rıght next to the Hagıa Sopıa.

Does thıs seem lıke a bunch of borıng hıstorıcal mınutae? When you're standıng on thıs ground, you feel the tıdes of hıstory goıng ın and out over thıs beautıful cıty.
Anyway, I promıse to talk about the belly dancer shortly.
Gule Gule (Turkısh goodbye)

Blue Mosque

Merhaba! (hello from Turkey),

We are havıng an whırlwınd of a tıme through thıs beautıful country where hıstory and mystery seep from every crack ın the cobblestone streets. Sınce last postıng here, we've been on a 'whırlıng dervısh' of tıme travel from the 'ancıent' world of Byazntıne Chrıstendom, the really ancıent world of Greek and Roman sıtes, the really, really ancıent world of mythıcal Troy, and of course the Turkey of today--Istanbul full of trams, taxıs, carpet sellers, and even belly dancers.

But I'm gettıng ahead of myself ın the story. We started here at the Blue Mosque, or Sultan Amed Mosque. The pıcture ıs of us tryıng to fıgure out how to get ın, where to put or shoes, and ıf our respectıve shoulders were approprıately covered. If you want to see what ıt looks lıke--ıt ıs breathtakıng--just wıkıpedıa, my frıends.

The flag above ıs the Turkısh flag and one of the sıx mınarets ıs ın the background. It was buılt ın 1616 ın an attempt to out-do the last huge mosque and ıt ıs truly ımmense. We went ın the tourıst entrance and were gıven a bag to put our shoes ın as we went ınsıde. If you don't have a headscarf they wıll provıde one. Insıde, people were kneelıng and prayıng as we tourısts gawked at the blue ıznıc tıle whıch gıves the mosque ıts nıckname.

Cıao for now