Swimming and Relaxing at Olympos

Swimming in the Mediterranean

Idyllic Setting at the Olympos Ruins

 Sedef Bircan, the RFE chair for the district, chats with our trusty bus driver during our lunch stop.

The search for shade.

By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea.

C

Rotary Meeting in Kemer

All decked out for the Rotary Meeting in Kemer, a seaside town near Antalya.

Joanne and Lonna erxchanging club flags.

Jim and the Kemer Club President

Photos of Phaeselis

Main Street

We had a wonderful day yesterday swimming in the Mediterranean in the shadow of Mt. Olympus. I have no pictures to post (but will have hundreds to sort!), so will leave that to Rikki. Today we flew from Antalya to Adana and we had a "light" lunch at our hosts home. (Light means more than we eat for dinner at home. Wonderful food everywhere!)When I finish this we will go for a swim in our hosts pool, then a brief tour around the city sights, then on to special kabob dinner.(!)

In reading earlier posts, I see that there were some problems with tyoing on a Turkish computer! Hopefully you can interpret the meanings. More from the team later. Jeanne

Aspendos

Aspendos is the site of this huge Roman Amphitheater from 162. AD.  Seats 12,000!  Wouldn't you love to attend a play or concert here?  It is used each summer for a festival!

Always nice to have some explanation in English

 Betsy absorbing the atmosphere at Aspendos.

 Gladiator Steve.

Walkway behind the theater.  There was a big city!

Aspendos was one of the first ancient ruins we visited as a whole group.

Our First Rotary Club Meeting

Yesterday we presented at our first Rotary Club - The Perge Club of Antalya.  It was an evening meeting.  It is the club that the District Governor belongs to; fun to see him again after having met him at the Gala.

A Turkish Bath at a Hamani in Antalya

THE TURKISH BATH WAS A TRULY MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE.  DICK ALSO WENT TO THE TURKISH BATH .... BUT HAD NO PHOTOGRAPHER : (    WE ONLY WISH WE COULD HAVE HAD A PHOTO OF THE "FOAM."

Gala at the Rotary District Conference in Antalya

We were guests at the fantastic gala evening held at the spectacular Mardan Palace in Antalya which is a city on the Mediterranean Sea.

The Blog.....

We have certainly not posted much on the blog lately.  Between sporadic blog issues and being so busy taking Turkish baths and going to galas and being entertained by host families in Ankara, it is hard to get to the blog writing.  Before heading out to the second hamam (sp?  Turkish bath), I will try to post a group photo from Ataturk's Mausoleum in Ankara.

Ankara is awesome!

So the "pieces" of our Rotary puzzle have finally all come together here in Ankara. Our team of ten is complete. The 2 cases of lost luggage have been resolved . We have all been treated royally by our host families in Ankara!  Today we toured Ataturk's mausoleum surrounded by Peace Park with trees from all around the world. We saw remarkable ruins of a HUGE Roman bath complex, the Museum of Anatolian Civilization, Ankara Castle with a sweeping 360 degree panorama of the City. All in all a wonderful, wonderful day. Local Rotarians planned the day. Some of them escorted us and they selected a very good guide. We sere all given silk scarves at a shop owned by a Rotarian, and we had a meal of "Alexander" at a restaurant owned by another Rotarian.. Our main "problem" is finding time to write on the blog and figüre put how to read the Turkish instructions that sometimes appear. Photos forthcoming hopefully!

One more has arrived....

Today Craig arrived in Istanbul....minus his suitcase!  Supposed to be able to pick it up tomorrow a.m. when we all go to the airport for our flight to Ankara.  The other 4 are arriving there today!  Tomorrow the official RFE exchange begins.  Tonight we who were in Istanbul (Roseners had gone to Ephesus today) had a "Rotary Experience."  We met Zakir Yenilmez whom Betsy had put us in contact with.  Zakir had been an exchange student through Rotary in Owatonna about 8 years ago.  Betsy had gotten to know him on her last trip to Turkey and was our liason.  We thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with him and his girlfriend Beste.  (Joanne had her own Rotary experience today which she will probably relate at some time)!

If it's Monday, it must be Istanbul!

This is Joanne (as I'm having some trouble logging in; go figure).

Another beautiful day in Istanbul.  If the pictures were not so slow to load we would have an entire photo gallery to share. We've taken hundreds of great pictures. Everything is a photo opt!

Today, we did a self-directed tour. Started out at the Baslica Cistern which was the most amazing underground cistern, the biggest and most spectacular cistern in all of Istanbul. In its day, it provided water to the palaces in Instanbul. The ceiling is a forest of pillars; a total of 336.  After that, we walked to the Hippodrome, which in its day was the site of chariot racing. Few remnants of that activity remain. But, the shopping (which clearly wasn't there centuries ago) is worth a stroll from one end to another. And from there we walked to the famous Blue Mosque which was exquisite. While it has beautiful blue tiles, truth be told, the tiles pale in comparison to what we saw in another of the 4,500 mosques. The tiles in that mosque are some of the oldest and most beautiful in all of Turkey. Who couldn't resist time in the Grand Bazaar. Incredible shopping experience!  400 vendors. Like, but then again, unlike, the MOA. Didn't stop me from buying a leather jacket:)  And this was just the morning!  From there, we had a most enjoyable, albeit quite warm, cruise on the Bosphorus. What a great way to see Eastern and Asian Istanbul!  Stopped for some world famous yougurt on the Asis side. Must run now. Our guide and friend from Istanbul and his wife are taking us out to dinner! More to come tomorrow. Maybe pictures, but don't hold your breath. Joanne

Jim and the Carpet

Sealing the deal!

Bes bought us Evil Eye bracelets.

Great Day in Istanbul

A great day was had by all!  We had a private tour of Istanbul. Our guide was Bes whom Joanne had found via a friend who recommended his services.  We saw Topkapi Palace as well as many other things in the Old Town - Sultanahmet.  It was great to get to the modern part of Istanbul and walk on Taksim Square which is a gathering place we may well see on the news.  The most memorable spot perhaps was the stop at a Turkish rug  dealer because Jim  bought a rug which entails is a real process of drinking tea and wine, viewing rugs as they are unfurled and twirled  and negotiating big time.  Dinner at a seafood resaurant rounded out the day.

Sightseeing in Istanbul

Today we had an all-day tour with a professional guide.  The day started at 4:30 a.m.with our being awakened by the Iman doing the Muslim call to prayer from the nearby minaret.  Joanne had arranged before we left home to have a day tour, and we experienced diverse aspects of Istanbul - Topkapi Palace where the Sultans ruled the Ottoman Empire for centuries. We had a lovely lunch with Turkish specialties, a van tour to the very modern section of European Istanbul with 5-star hotels, an observation floor with spectacular views, Taksim Square, Greek Orthodox and  Catholic churches, plus a stop for Turkish Tea. Then, back to the old city where we saw a smaller, beautiful mosque called Rustem Pasha.  Next we were going to stopping briefly in a carpet shop  which ended up being a prolonged stay complete with 3 rounds of wine and tea......and Jim purchasing a lovely Turkish rug!!  Our tour guide was very personable and knowledgeable.  We said good-bye to him (until tomorrow night) and then walked down to the Sea of Marmara and had fresh Sea Bass for dinner.  Walking home we heard Turkish folk music being performed at various outdoor restaurants. The wonderful day was topped off with Baklava and other sweets purchased in one of the many little shops.

Contact with Zakir

Great news - it looks like Zakir will join up with us in Ankara.  Just goes to show RYE is as cool as RFE.

Some of us have arrived in Turkey!

                                                     Dick, Steve, Rikke, Joanne, Jim
  
We wandered Istanbul's Old Town,Sultanahmet, and toured Hagia Sophia.  Tomorrow a tour to many other sights including the Blue Mosque pictured above.  Jim arrived last night.  The rest of us arrived this am in the rain.  Would you believe the rain stopped during the transfer to the hotel! We enjoyed sitting outside for an early supper.

Itinerary Arrived Today

Today Lonna received the itinerary from Sedef who has been making all the arrangements for our team.  How exciting to see the actual names of our hosts and hostesses as well as more detail of sights we will see and Rotary functions we will attend.  It looks like a wonderful time awaits us in Turkey!