Mom's WORLD JOURNAL -  Turkey  Turkey is a stark difference from Switzerland, and one that I was looking forward to, with some reservation about the safety. We arrived in Istanbul by plane in the afternoon, a three-hour flight from Zurich. Upon entering, you must purchase a $40 visa that allows you to stay a maximum of three months. The airport is spotless, but no toilet paper in the bathroom. That would never happen in Switzerland. We were met by a shuttle to our hotel and had a wild ride into town. These drivers are worse than any I have ever witnessed, even in NY City. The white lines mean nothing, one-way streets mean nothing and speed limits do not exist. We stayed in the old part of town on the European side of the country. Istanbul is the only city on the European side with most of Turkey residing in Asia.       As we approached our hotel we passed several mosques with minarets (large spires) reaching for the sky. We stayed in a great hotel, The Ambassador Hotel, right in the middle of old town within walking distance of the major attractions. From the terrace you have a magnificent view of the Aegean Sea, the Blue Mosque and the AyaSofya. When staying near a mosque beware of the people praying to Allah several times a day. There are loud speakers on all of the mosques and the "wailing" for Allah is quite loud. Several mosques are close together so you get a "dueling wailing" contest going. This is all very interesting during the day but can get a bit old at 3:00 in the morning! That evening we unpacked our bags and met up with Mark's brother Steve and his girlfriend, Susana. We walked around and decided to have some dinner. As soon as we turned the corner and old, toothless man grabbed Max' hand and pulled him to a table to sit and chat. He told me I could keep going with a smile and he would play with Max. Mark had stopped to get some money and I was nervous until he returned but the man meant no harm, he simply loves children. We went to a wonderful restaurant where the old, colorful Turk women in their baggy, flowered pants and scarves sit in the middle of the floor and cook the thin flatbread on top of fire hot pots. In the corner was a typical Turkish band that walked around and got the young tourists to get up and dance. Many of the patrons were wearing colorful belly dancer hats and sultan hats and robes that were readily available for anyone who cared to take part in the festivities, which of course we did! The food was great and very cheap, which was a nice treat after paying the prices in Switzerland. On the way to the restaurant everyone tried to get us to visit their carpet shop. Each one had the same sales pitch, " Hey, where you from? Would you like some apple tea? Come and see my carpets, if you don't like them you do not have to buy." As we walked to the restaurant each Turk that Max passed messed up his blonde hair and smiled at him as if he were a good luck charm. I noticed on the flight from Switzerland that Max was the only blond child on the plane out of 300 passengers. The next morning we went to the terrace to have breakfast, which was included. It consisted of tomatoes, olives, feta cheese, yogurt, cucumber, watermelon, hardboiled eggs and cake or omelets depending on the day. We met a wonderful Greek couple, Thanos and Nicolleta, and a woman who was traveling with her 8-year old son from New York, Maria and Steven, who were also on vacation. We sat and chatted for several hours while the boys played and had a great time. After breakfast, Mark went to the airport to pick up his Mom, Trudy or Bubby as we call her, and Max and I joined our new friends for a walk through the Bazaar, which is definitely properly named! At the Bazaar there were rows and rows of merchandise and salespeople working to get your attention as you pass by. They flirted, asked questions, teased Max and were very friendly. Max had a Turkish yo-yo that the kids sell on the street. Five yo-yos will cost you one million lira ($1.30), each resembled a spinning top with a string and he was working hard to get the hang of it. Each time he passed a merchant they took his yo-yo and showed him a new trick. There was one who Max enjoyed so much I just watched them play together for about 45 minutes and each day after that Max wanted to go to the Bazaar to find "his friend in the red shirt" to show him what he had learned. First of all, the Bazaar is massive and finding "one friend in a red shirt" is not easy, not to mention the fact that he my have changed his shirt, but like a rat Max found him every time and he was always wearing his red shirt! Max decided that he was going to sell American yo-yos to the Turks and make some extra money…very cute! The next time I need to hire a sales force I am heading straight to Istanbul! These people get people engaged in a relationship faster than any I have ever met! Mark's mom arrived with no problem and Suzana's mother; Barbara met up with us from London. Our small family of three had grown to a group of seven overnight! We decided to spend part of the next day touring the Bosphorus, a body of water that joins the Sea of Marmora and the Black Sea. We took a ferryboat and went up the European side and down the Asian side. There was a Turkish lady dressed in her traditional scarves and long coat covering her entire body walking on a treadmill. It looked so funny we all howled. We enjoyed the tour seeing palaces, castles and many mosques. After we went to have lunch at the Hilton where Steve and Susana were staying. As we approached the Hilton the guard stopped us and checked under the Taxi for bombs, better safe than sorry! They have a lot of important business men stay there and security is top notch. Terrorism is never too far away. That night we met for dinner at Rumeli Café, an outdoor café near our hotel that was recommended in the Lonely Planet Guide. There are kittens all over Istanbul and Max was thrilled. He fell in love with a little caramel-colored kitten at dinner that lived at the carpet store across the street. He chased it across the street into a carpet store where it apparently lived and I chased Max. The merchants said please not to worry and to let Max stay and play with the cat. Since I could see him from where I was sitting I decided to let him stay. When I called to ask him what he wanted for dinner he said that they had already gotten him dinner and apple tea. We stayed at the restaurant for 4 hours, and Max stayed across the street with his new friend Abraham, who was twenty-two years old, and his kitten. We passed the carpet store every day and they would call out to Max as if they were best friends. They were really wonderful people and we often enjoyed apple tea together on our way to the hotel. Max got so much attention from everyone I could see his self-esteem climb higher and higher each day. It is amazing how little it takes to make a child feel special, a wonderful thing to witness. They told him how clever and smart he was to learn the yo-yo so fast and had real adult conversations with him. I could tell that he was really proud of himself! We visited several mosques in Istanbul; the AyaSofiya, The Blue Mosque, Sultanamani, and the Palace. The AyaSofya was the most impressive to me. It was a church built 1500 years ago prior to being converted to a mosque. There were several mosaics of the Virgin Mary, Jesus and Saints made from tiny one-centimeter stones and gold that had been covered up with plaster when it was converted to a mosque. One of the Sultans wanted to rebuild the mosque and it was his architect that uncovered the mosaics. Several of these beautiful works of art still had a blanket of plaster covering some or most of the mosaic. Although it is not complete, it appears that the entire church was a mosaic from ceiling to floor. Several varieties of marble and old columns gave the mosque additional character. At one time in history, the entire city of Istanbul would go to the AyaSofya to hide during wartime. Today the AyaSofya is a museum. We had a guide for the Blue Mosque and we also found that very interesting. The guides do not charge you anything for the tour you simply owe them a look at their carpet shop when you are done visiting the mosque. As a sales person, I have to appreciate their creative ability to get folks to visit their shop, but as a tourist site seeing in the hot sun it got a bit old. At only 500 years old, the Blue Mosque is known for the many varieties of blue patterned tiles with over 144 shades of blue. In a mosque the women must pray in back of the men in a separate section. The reason for this, as explained by our guide, is that the Moslem religion demands that nothing be between a man's heart and God. Since the Moslems pray to Allah bent over with their rears in the air, they decided that it was best that the women pray in back so the men would not be distracted by their cute fannies. This is the same reason that men never get as good a workout in aerobics if in the back row! The Palace was fabulous and a "must see" with its beautiful setting, colorful rooms, museums and harem palace where the concubines and Eunuchs lived. It appears that the sultan was allowed only four wives but had three hundred concubines. I expect that Valentine's Day was quite expensive for that poor guy! He wore shoes that were silver on the bottom so that he could be heard clanging as he walked down the marble-floored halls since no one was allowed to see him unless he requested it. The museum contained the fifth largest diamond in the world at 56 carats, weapons, and Moses' walking stick, St. John the Baptist's arm, Mohammed's footprint and other fascinating discoveries. After visiting the Palace we decided to grab a bite at the Pudding Shop made famous by the many backpackers that enjoy the good, inexpensive food. Eating in Turkey is always interesting since everyone gets a commission for bringing you to their restaurant. They ask you where you are from at least 500 times each day, which tends to get on your nerves after a while, then they convince you that you should eat at a certain restaurant and walk you there to ensure they get their commission. One evening, Barbara suggested that we visit her favorite restaurant in Istanbul and since she lived there for seven years, we took her up on her offer. The restaurant was located the heart of town where the locals shop and eat. It was quite different from the old area of town where we were staying. Barbara ordered several appetizers that were devoured in seconds by our hungry table. The focus of this restaurant was to spend several hours chatting, eating, drinking and listening to the local musicians. But, as Americans, we have learned only to stuff our face as fast as we can to get back to our all important work or T.V for that matter...God forbid we should miss Ally McBeal! The experience was great, the food tasty and I hope as time goes on we will learn to take things a little slower to maximize each moment. We spent several days in Istanbul with the group. Steve, Susana and Barbara left on Monday and we decided to fly to Bodrum, a marina / beach town in Southern Turkey. The flight was a short 2 hours and we arrived around 8:30 pm. We were the last flight to arrive and as we decided what to do, take the bus, rent a car, we realized that the airport was shutting down around us. Bubby went to the bathroom and was locked out of the main terminal and had to go around. While we were deciding we also realized that we had missed the bus, which left us only one option to rent a car. Luckily we got the last car on the lot, no air conditioning (which will be more important later in the story since it is 8000 degrees in Turkey), and the rental car agent was kind enough to call "his friend" who owned a hotel and get us a room near Bodrum. We drove about 1 hour and finally found this remote hotel which turned our to be a resort with a beautiful pool and shows nightly. We stayed for two days but felt like we were at the Hilton, not in Turkey, so we looked for a hotel in Bodrum that was more "authentic". Bodrum is beautiful! The homes are square, white, 2-story stucco homes and that look like sugar cubes piled up on the mountains. The first day Mark and Max decided to visit the nearby water park while Bubby and I explored the shopping. Mark has gotten of easy this trip since what I buy I have to carry which results in few purchases. Since I had been struggling with a chest cold for several days, the next day I decided to stay at the hotel and watch Max swim while Mark and Bubby visited the nearby castle. The following day we took a 6-hour boat trip and explored the coast of Turkey near Bodrum. The water was perfect, deep blue and refreshing. We visited several coves, swam, had a great lunch and just relaxed. We visited a beach called Camel Beach where you could take camel rides, but I took a pass...something about bikinis and camel rides that just don't go together! We must have been on the international boat as we were the only Americans. We met a great couple from New Zealand and hope that we will see them again when we visit there in February. We left Bodrum and headed north to Selcuk to visit the ancient roman ruins of Ephesus. Our drive was about 3 hot hours in a car with no air conditioning through the dry and dusty mountains of Turkey. We were all getting a little cranky and tired of the heat so we stopped at…what else…McDonalds… and pigged out on milkshakes and french fries for the first time since we left home. Yum! With no hotel room reserved in Selcuk we began our search for a place to stay, which took a lot longer than anticipated and the sun was high in the sky. Just as we were about to give up and stay in the tackiest hotel room ever with purple carpet and blue walls, we found a cute Turkish hotel with a refreshing swimming pool by the garden. We changed into our swimsuits so fast you would have thought our pants were on fire! We visited Ephesus around that evening to avoid the certain heat of the following day. Ephesus was incredible and we stayed for several hours exploring the marble ruins. It is one of the best-preserved Roman cities still remaining today and it felt like we had gone back in time. Marble statues, columns, Celsius library, Hercules Gate, stadiums and the ancient toilets too! Even the streets are marble. At one point over 250,000 people lived within the walls. I was impressed with the Roman physiques, as they all appeared to be in such good physical shape according to their statues. Later I discovered that each head was sculpted to portray the individual, however, a standard body type was used for the men and women. What a great idea! You could be some fat slob and look like Hercules in marble. We also learned that if you were found to be a bad person after you died they would SMASH in the face of your statue and remove all evidence that you existed. YIKES! Parking at Ephesus is interesting. There are two lots, one at the top and one at the bottom. So no matter where you park you have to somehow get back to your car, a 40-minute walk. You drive in to the parking lot, park your car, and are then informed that you parked at the wrong lot. Luckily our clever Turkish friends have found a way to capitalize on this issue. Once you park your car and realize that you are in the wrong spot, a clever salesman offers you a FREE ride to the top…and all you have to do is PROMISE to follow him after your tour to his carpet store for a look. So after your hot tour you realize that you still have to visit the carpet store because "you promised", and find a way to politely say "No". Clever, and inexpensive marketing techniques "a la Turkey". Later that evening Mark and I decided to go "out on the town" in Selcuk and Bubby graciously offered to stay with Max. We walked around and quickly realized that Selcuk is not much of a town, even on a Saturday night. At one point we heard some cheesy disco music and thought we were in luck. With our dancing hopes high we followed the beat and ended up at a wedding celebration. Under normal circumstances we would have crashed the party but my ball gown was at the cleaners and it doesn't match my tevas anyway. So we went searching for a brew instead. It was Saturday night and there were no women in Selcuk, only men playing backgammon, drinking beer and laughing. There were several Turkish women peering over the balcony of their tiny apartments to the streets below gathering gossip to be shared over the next day's tea. Mark and I played a game of backgammon, had a few brews and called it a night. Back at the hotel the Irish tourists were singing songs and having a few drinks prior to visiting the Virgin Mary's house in the morning. Selcuk is loaded with history. As it turns out, as Jesus was dying on the cross he asked St. John to take care of his mother, Virgin Mary, and keep her safe. St. John and Mary moved to Selcuk and remained there until they died. You can visit Mary's house and St, John's Basilica. We did not make it to Mary's house but we did visit St. John's Basilica. It was really special to see the church they erected in St. John's honor. It was high on a hill overlooking the lush green farms, quaint city and dusty mountains. It was spectacular! The basilica is quite damaged but is in the process of being restored. Parts of it are still standing and you can envision the enormity of this magnificent church. When I was a kid sitting in church it all seemed so removed. But here I was where Mary and St. John actually lived the remainder of their years after Jesus died on the cross. It was so peaceful and for the first time in years I felt my religious upbringing resurface and questioned where and when my faith faded. Something I will continue to explore as we travel on our journey. We visited the Efes Museum later that day where you can view the spectacular Roman statues, home furnishings, and art found during the excavation of Ephesus. A "must see" if you are in the area. Max enjoyed having his picture taken behind the various headless statues. Later that day we headed north for Izmir to catch our flight back to Istanbul. We did not have a hotel and were quite turned around in this heavily polluted, filthy city. As we circled the city looking for a recommended hotel, Mark decided to stop and ask for directions from this toothless guy with long shaggy hair and a BIG personality who promptly jumped in the backseat and said "I'll show you to a hotel, go ahead and drive". I thought Bubby was going to lose it as this guy shoved his way into our cramped rental car, not to mention his obvious lack of deodorant…triple PHEW! We actually did what he said and drove to a hotel where he said he was the president of the hotel... yeah! He helped us get a room, a cold drink and played with Max. Our "friend" also developed a crush on Bubby and offered Max 30,000 camels for her, which of course would never do! Sometimes I want to just choke my husband for trusting everyone so much, but everything always seems to work out! So we all learned the ever popular "you can't judge a toothless Turk by his cover" rule. The next day we left for Istanbul Out last night in Turkey was magical! Bubby left early that morning bound for Miami Beach. We had such a spectacular time with her and enjoyed every minute. She is a joy to travel with and we loved having her join us. It was the first time Mark had traveled with her in 20 years. A real treat! We spent our last day touring Istanbul and really enjoyed We listened to the live Turkish music wearing our new Turkish hats that we bought at the Bazaar and watched the Whirling Dervishes dance on stage. The Dervishes wear tall brown hats and long white robes as they spin themselves into a trance to get closer to God. As they spin their robes fly up in Marilyn Monroe fashion. They spin forever and yet never lose their balance. Very interesting and enjoyable! Mark and I decided we would try "Shisha", a colorful pipe that sits on the floor that contains apple-flavored tobacco filtered through water. It was a blast and I definitely got a little buzz. We were having a great time when the waiter brought a silver covered tray and asked us to please try some Turkish Delight on the house. I didn't have the heart to tell him that we already tried it and that it was gross, so we graciously accepted his gift. As I lifted the top off the tray, a small gray bunny jumped out and I nearly had a heart attack. I jumped up almost knocking over the table and the entire restaurant howled with laughter at my expense. It was a great! A half hour later the waiter offered me a cappuccino in apology for the bunny trick and I accepted. As he went to serve me the hot drink he tripped and the cup, saucer and spoon came clanging in my direction. Again, I jumped up almost knocking over the table only to find that the cup was empty…another practical joke! Again the restaurant cracked up at my expense. We had the most wonderful night…one I will never forget. Turkey was a favorite of mine and we will definitely return. We stayed for 2 weeks and didn't put a dent in this vast, interesting country. We made lots of friends and Max gained a lot of confidence from the special attention the Turks gave him. Next stop…Greece!