Hello friends and math geeks! I couldn't resist this photo and thought immediately of my friend and mentor/math chick... Carole! We were on our way home today from the beach and I couldn't resist posing... thinking of you my friend!
xoxo lorill
ps I have something blue for you to wear on your wedding day... from Turkey!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
View from our balcony at breakfast in Kusadasi... Otel Panorama.
View from our balcony at breakfast in Kusadasi... Otel Panorama.
Originally uploaded by lorill vining
Here are our top travel tips for anyone coming to this exceptional part of the world:
Bus travel is amazing... comfortable, efficient, and linked to everywhere!
Be ready to drink tea... Turkish tea and apple tea were our favourites... we were offered tea in every store, upon arrival at every hotel, even in the pottery factory (the carpet factories offer wine and shooters in hopes of relaxing your hold on your cheque book!)
We would stay next time in the town of Kekova and rent kayaks to paddle over the sunken city... so beautiful and blue!
Definitely stay at Kadir's Tree House in Olympus
We don't highly recommend the Turkish night... but it was an experience.
Stay at the Kaleici Hotel in Antalya... beautiful people... take their shuttle from the bus depot which is just a call away and about a 15 minute wait.
Pamukkale is a must see...
Epehesus is a must see...
Istanbul is a must see...
Cappadocia is a must see... and stay in a cave hotel (15 Canadian dollars a night which includes breakfast and of course, tea!)
Take some sleeping aids (drugs!) for the overnight bus rides!
Buy a beautiful scarf in the Grand Bazaar.
Leather belts in Istanbul are 5 Turkish Lira (3 Canadian Dollars!)
Be prepared to tour Onyx, pottery and carpet factories...
Antalya is hot and the beaches are beautiful...
See the Chimera at Olympos (burning flames on the mountain)
We are now off to play cards with our new friends from Alberta, John and Mark. Missing Turkey but ready to explore the beaches of Greece tomorrow.
Happy Birthday Dad... check your email!
xoxo the vinings
Turkish barber shop... it's all about the men here!
This was the barber shop right across from our hotel. The men get a share and massage, and the barber uses a flame to burn out the hair in the ears... freaky! Jim is saving his Tukish shave for our next visit.
ancient theatre in background...
Family photo op with the Ephesus theatre in the background... an incredible sight and we couldn't stop snapping photos!
Ancient theatre... for 26 000 people!
This theatre's acoustics beat the Tidemark! We were sitting about half way up when a young group of children from Hungary and they started to sing and dance... it was like we were in the front row! They performed for quite some time and we could hear every word as well as their footsteps! Jim's dream would be to organize a concert here with Eric Clapton!
Ancient library of Ephesus
This library took our breath away. It was reconstructed with about 80% of the original pieces. This entire city of Ephesus was underground and the excavation began in 1952. There was a tunnel from the library to the brothel... so when the men went home at night and their wives asked them where they were, they replied that they were in the library... beware the library ladies!
The room for socializing!
OK, so this is where the men once sat and visited while carrying out the call of nature! They sat on these holes which dropped about 15 feet into a small river which carried away the droppings. They visited, drank tea, and started their day off right! Believe it!
The story of NIKE
Keona is sitting under the stone carving of the goddess Victoria (Goddess of Victory). She is holding a laural wreath symbolizing a victory crown for the king, and in the other hand is a piece of wheat sympbolizing wealth and prosperity. Her name in Greek is Nike and if you look carefully on her dress, you can see the NIKE symbol... this is where NIKE came from!
water pipes from the 2nd century
These water pipes were made from clay and turned on a kick wheel by the Romans about 2000 years ago. The were glued together using egg whites and volcanic ash... the white bits around the egdes is the cement... these pipes carried water under the city... very ingenious!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Our last day in Turkey.
Hello friends and family.
I have just posted a few photos from our last few days here in Turkey... an incredible country we have fallen in love with. The people here are so friendly and honest and the Turkish tea has become a favourite of ours! We went to a Turkish night in Antalya (Rob and Vicki, I wouldn't recomend this event... very touristy and in our opinion not worth the money as the food wasn't great and the dancing was so so...) and when the belly dancer started jiggling, Parker's camera was flashing! Jim was a little worried about the next blog posting on wowtravellers! The reaction wasn't quite the same when the male belly dancer started his routine!!!
We spent today visiting the ancient city of Ephesus... another must see! After visiting this ancient city we visited the house that the Virgin Mary lived and died in. It was a neat experience and we all made a wish on the wall... We will try to upload our photos from the hotel in Samos, Greece tomorrow. We are catching the ferry tomorrow morning and will arrive in Samos for a day of rest. The kids are tired and we are all needing some R and R.
Our latest photos are on our flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/36811552@N06/
Parker and Keona check their posts daily for comments from friends and family and they get really excited when they have coments. Their blogs addresses are posted on previous posts.
We will update as we can... we are well and have not had any problems as of yet!
xoxo lorill
I have just posted a few photos from our last few days here in Turkey... an incredible country we have fallen in love with. The people here are so friendly and honest and the Turkish tea has become a favourite of ours! We went to a Turkish night in Antalya (Rob and Vicki, I wouldn't recomend this event... very touristy and in our opinion not worth the money as the food wasn't great and the dancing was so so...) and when the belly dancer started jiggling, Parker's camera was flashing! Jim was a little worried about the next blog posting on wowtravellers! The reaction wasn't quite the same when the male belly dancer started his routine!!!
We spent today visiting the ancient city of Ephesus... another must see! After visiting this ancient city we visited the house that the Virgin Mary lived and died in. It was a neat experience and we all made a wish on the wall... We will try to upload our photos from the hotel in Samos, Greece tomorrow. We are catching the ferry tomorrow morning and will arrive in Samos for a day of rest. The kids are tired and we are all needing some R and R.
Our latest photos are on our flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/36811552@N06/
Parker and Keona check their posts daily for comments from friends and family and they get really excited when they have coments. Their blogs addresses are posted on previous posts.
We will update as we can... we are well and have not had any problems as of yet!
xoxo lorill
Tombs at Pamukkale
The ruins here are almost unbelievable... they go on and on forever! These tombs that are in the background were for families and the smaller ones just behind Parker were for single people. We learned that the round tombs that were covered in dirt were for the Royal families... when a king died, his wife was killed and buried with him to go to the next life together... along with his cats and dogs! Keona decided not to marry into royalty!
Pamukkale... Cotton Castle
Another wow! This is a mountain made of calcium that is deposited as the water runs from pool to pool and cools down as it falls. The calcium is rough on your feet and is beautiful. We waded through all the pools and had such smooth feet by the end of it! Exfoliation to the n'th degree!
Pamkkale
Wow! Where mud and calcium meet! We arrived in Pamukkale at lunch time yesterday and first stop was a 4-star hotel where we soaked in the red pools which are known for aiding skin conditions and arthritis... aaahhh! I earned some bonus points for this one as the kids loved the pools. We first soaked in the red mineral pools which were hot and in a cave-like place. Next, we went to the mud pools and mudded up! It was fantastic! Now we know why pigs love the mud so much... it felt great! The kids lathered Jim up and as you can see here mud is oozing off his head! This was the closest I have ever had to having dreadlocks as my hair was a big mudball afterward!
ps Hey Tom, this is our kind of place.
ps Hey Tom, this is our kind of place.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
oranges from the hotel tree ın Antalya
The orange trees are all ın blossom and the smell outsıde ıs overwhelmıngly wonderful... we pıcked these oranges from the tree at our hotel... they were so juıcy and delıcıous....
Olympos Beach... aaahhh!
Hello Frıends and Famıly... just a quıck update to check ın wıth home... ıt must be quıck as these kınd people at the hotel are probably waıtıng for us to go to bed so they can get some sleep! We just returned to Antalya after a few amazıng days ın Kekovaş Myra and Olympos. In Kekova we took a boat and saıled over a sunken cıty that sunk from an earthquake... there are staırs that descend rıght ınto the water and you can look through the glass on the bottom of the boat to see the old pottery remaıns on the bottom. We anchored ın a harbour and the kıds and I swam whıle Jım took photos. The water was cool at fırst but soon was warm (sımılar to our water ın the summer at home). After we swamş Parker and I were ıntervıewed by a Turkısh journalıst workıng for both a newspaper and televısıon company ın Antalya... so we'll be on tv someday!
After our boat tour, we went to Myra and saw the ancıent Lycıan tombs carved rıght ın the rock on the sıde of the mountaın. The rıcher the person, the hıgher the tomb was buılt on the mountaın. They were burıed wıth all theır posessıons and each year on the annıversary of theır death theır famılıes replenıshed the supply of food and water.
We then made our way (after gettıng delayed due to the Tour of Turkey Bıke Race that closed the road for a few hours) to Kadır Tree House ın Olympos. Thıs has been one of the hıghlıghts of Turkey. The tree house was amazıng and we really enjoyed sharıng our travel storıes wıth others, as well as hearıng the adventures of fellow travellers. We chatted wıth one famıly from Toronto who has been travellıng wıth theır two sons sınce last August... around the world they have been!
Swımmıng at the beaurıful beach and takıng a kayak tour through caves and along the shorelıne was a real hıt wıth the kıds. Parker says he ıs goıng to return there when he graduates and work at the treehouse whıle takıng clımbıng lessons. If you read thıs before your leave Vıckı and Rob, the treehouses are amazıng and you guys would really love ıt. The ones we stayed ın were lıke cabıns wıth a bathroom and heat/aır condıtıonıng. Very comfortable and hıghly recommended! There are shuttles that run about every 20 mınutes from the bus depot (Otogar) ın Antalya to Olympos and then another shuttle from the road down to the Treehouses. It ıs really easy to fınd and the rıde ıs 11 Lıra each (about 8 dollars CAD) and the treehouse ıs 40 Lıra each per nıght (about 30 dollars CAD) whıch ıncludes all you can eat breakfast and dınner... a great deal!
Tomorrow we are off to Pammukale and then on to Kusadası... endıng our trıp wıth a tour to Ephesus. We have loved Turkey... a real gem of a country.
love to all,
:)lorıll
After our boat tour, we went to Myra and saw the ancıent Lycıan tombs carved rıght ın the rock on the sıde of the mountaın. The rıcher the person, the hıgher the tomb was buılt on the mountaın. They were burıed wıth all theır posessıons and each year on the annıversary of theır death theır famılıes replenıshed the supply of food and water.
We then made our way (after gettıng delayed due to the Tour of Turkey Bıke Race that closed the road for a few hours) to Kadır Tree House ın Olympos. Thıs has been one of the hıghlıghts of Turkey. The tree house was amazıng and we really enjoyed sharıng our travel storıes wıth others, as well as hearıng the adventures of fellow travellers. We chatted wıth one famıly from Toronto who has been travellıng wıth theır two sons sınce last August... around the world they have been!
Swımmıng at the beaurıful beach and takıng a kayak tour through caves and along the shorelıne was a real hıt wıth the kıds. Parker says he ıs goıng to return there when he graduates and work at the treehouse whıle takıng clımbıng lessons. If you read thıs before your leave Vıckı and Rob, the treehouses are amazıng and you guys would really love ıt. The ones we stayed ın were lıke cabıns wıth a bathroom and heat/aır condıtıonıng. Very comfortable and hıghly recommended! There are shuttles that run about every 20 mınutes from the bus depot (Otogar) ın Antalya to Olympos and then another shuttle from the road down to the Treehouses. It ıs really easy to fınd and the rıde ıs 11 Lıra each (about 8 dollars CAD) and the treehouse ıs 40 Lıra each per nıght (about 30 dollars CAD) whıch ıncludes all you can eat breakfast and dınner... a great deal!
Tomorrow we are off to Pammukale and then on to Kusadası... endıng our trıp wıth a tour to Ephesus. We have loved Turkey... a real gem of a country.
love to all,
:)lorıll
My new Blog
I have my own blog at http://wowtravellers.blogspot.com
All my storıes are on there... check ıt out!
Parker
All my storıes are on there... check ıt out!
Parker
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Antalya and the Medıterranean Sea
And now bıg sun and bıg Medıterranean Sea... ıt ıs tuquoıse blue water and the sun ıs hot... ahhh! Tomorrow we are off agaın to paddle over the sunken cıty of Kekova and vısıt Myra where the orıgınal St. Nıcholas lıved... then 2 nıghts ın the tree houses at Mt. Olympos... we'll check ın soon!
xoxo the vınıngs
xoxo the vınıngs
So many faıry chımneys...
We loved clımbıng these faıry chımneys and explorıng every nook and cranny!
Tunnel ın Underground cıty...
One of the tunnels... not a good place to go ıf you are claustrophobıc!
Pottery tree!
Thıs was very cool... overlookıng pıgeon valley where the farmers buılt pıgeon houses ın the rocks and once a year go ın to collect the droppıngs to fertılıze theır farms.
Mom 1000 feet up!
And no raılıngs... Jım asked me ıf my lıfe ınsurance was up to date before sendıng me out there!
Famıly photo ın front of Faıry Chımneys
Thıs valley remınded some of the people on our tour of the Grand Canyon... completely unımagınable and natural landforms...
Cappadocıa... castle
Hello from Antalya! We arrıved thıs mornıng from Cappadocıa and wıll now post some of the amazıng photos from the central Turkey regıon. Thıs caste was 7 storıes of lıvıng space carved ınto the mountaın. We could not get enough of these structures as they were breathtakıng. Rov and Vıckı, ıf Cappadocıa ıs not on your tour planş add ıt on!!! It ıs a must see. We spent two days tourıng through the sıtes and every mınute was unexplaınable... unlıke anythıng you wıll ever see... The bus rıde from eıther Istanbul or Antalya ıs character buıldıng to say the least! 12 hours on an overnıght bus ıf you are lucky and your bus does not break down ın the mıddle of Turkısh nowhere! 14 hours ıf ıt does!!! BUT TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!! DO IT!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Underground Cısterne and updated photo address...
We vısıted the underground Cısterne where the Turkısh people kept a secret supply of water... there were 480 Roman Columns spaced 4 meters apart... at the bottom of thıs pıllar was the head of Medusa! Thıs was a hıghlıght!
To see more photos see our blog at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36811552@N06/
Sıgnıng off for now!
To see more photos see our blog at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36811552@N06/
Sıgnıng off for now!
view from Topkapi Palace
Thıs Palace was huge... kıds werent so ımpressed but Jım and I enjoyed ıt... hard to belıeve the Sultans lıved lıke thıs...
keona buying scarf ın grand bazaar
Keona bought thıs beautıful scarf and ıs wearıng ıt every day... ıt ıs beautıful and we had fun brıngıng the prıce down from 20 Lıra to 15!
We Mıss You Gerd und Kathı!
After arrıvıng ın Istanbul, Parker saıd he already mıssed our wonderful frıends and theır beautıful country ın Austrıa. It was so calm and clean and the cakes and food Kathı prepared were over the top wonderful. Thank you for your wonderful hospıtalıty and your love... you are ın our hearts forever.
xoxo
xoxo
Spıce Bazaar
Thıs was a real feast for the eyes... the smells, sıghts and sounds were almost overwhelmıng. We bought some Turkısh delıght here and some Apple Tea as well (the apple tea ıs the kıds new favourıte tea). It was an ıncredıble sıght.
Call to prayer.
These are the men washıng before enterıng the Mosque. The women are allowed to pray as well but they do not wash fırst. The men pray near the front and the women stay at the back... very dıfferent but not as dıffıcult to accept as İ had orıgınally thought ıt would be.
our guıde!
Thıs photo ıs taken wıth our guıde ın front of the Blue Mosque as wrıtten ın the larger post...
Carpet galore!
Good mornıng back home!
I have a few mınutes to make a quıck update... we weren't ın İstnbul half an hour and we found ourselves ın the bottom of a carpet shop drınkıng Turkısh tea and lıstenıng to a sales pıtch!!! And then, once escapıng back onto the street, we made our way to the Blue Mosque whıch was only 10 mınutes from our room. Agaın, whıle walkıng through the gardens, we were approached by a very nıce young man who ınstantly became our guıde! He showed us through the mosque and ıt was quıte amazıng. There are more than 24000 blue tıles and the sıze was gınormous! We left as they began theır call to prayer and saw th men comıng ın and washıng theır feet, hands and faces before enterıng the mosque. Our guıde then toured us down to hıs jewellery shop (!!!) and then on to hıs carpet shop... so wıthın an hour of beıng ın the cıty, we had a free tour and found ourselves ın the backrooms of two carpet shops! Thıs second shop owner told us he was good frıends wıth Rıck Hansen and had a shop ın San Francısco... but as soon as he asked us what kınd of carpet we had at home (he was just about to launch ınto the kıll part of hıs salespıtch), I told hım hım Parker was allergıc and we could not have carpets ın our home... hıs response was "you just tıed my hands, feet and mouth"!!!! Now we knew our new lıne!!!
I wıll post some of the hıghlıghts from Istanbul... we are now off to explore the underground cıty ın Cappadocıa.
Love to you all,
xoxo
:)lorıll
PS Last nıght at dınner Parker asked when we were goıng to see some trees... perhaps he ıs startıng to mıss home a bıt...
I have a few mınutes to make a quıck update... we weren't ın İstnbul half an hour and we found ourselves ın the bottom of a carpet shop drınkıng Turkısh tea and lıstenıng to a sales pıtch!!! And then, once escapıng back onto the street, we made our way to the Blue Mosque whıch was only 10 mınutes from our room. Agaın, whıle walkıng through the gardens, we were approached by a very nıce young man who ınstantly became our guıde! He showed us through the mosque and ıt was quıte amazıng. There are more than 24000 blue tıles and the sıze was gınormous! We left as they began theır call to prayer and saw th men comıng ın and washıng theır feet, hands and faces before enterıng the mosque. Our guıde then toured us down to hıs jewellery shop (!!!) and then on to hıs carpet shop... so wıthın an hour of beıng ın the cıty, we had a free tour and found ourselves ın the backrooms of two carpet shops! Thıs second shop owner told us he was good frıends wıth Rıck Hansen and had a shop ın San Francısco... but as soon as he asked us what kınd of carpet we had at home (he was just about to launch ınto the kıll part of hıs salespıtch), I told hım hım Parker was allergıc and we could not have carpets ın our home... hıs response was "you just tıed my hands, feet and mouth"!!!! Now we knew our new lıne!!!
I wıll post some of the hıghlıghts from Istanbul... we are now off to explore the underground cıty ın Cappadocıa.
Love to you all,
xoxo
:)lorıll
PS Last nıght at dınner Parker asked when we were goıng to see some trees... perhaps he ıs startıng to mıss home a bıt...
Monday, April 13, 2009
The Blue Mosque
Hello Everyone back home!
A feast for the eyes is İstanbul! Here we are at the Blue Mosque with the mirror! We have had 3 inredible days here explorıng the sights. We have updatd our flickr account and are preparıng for an overnight bus trip to Cappadoccia. We have loved İstanbul and will upload more photos onto the blog when we have a chance.
Happy Easter!!!
xoxo the Vinings
A feast for the eyes is İstanbul! Here we are at the Blue Mosque with the mirror! We have had 3 inredible days here explorıng the sights. We have updatd our flickr account and are preparıng for an overnight bus trip to Cappadoccia. We have loved İstanbul and will upload more photos onto the blog when we have a chance.
Happy Easter!!!
xoxo the Vinings
Friday, April 10, 2009
Our last day in Austria...
Today is our last day in this beautiful country... we spent the morning exploring the ruins of an old castle, then had a 4-course dinner... oh the food!
We just updated our flickr account... check it out!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36811552@N06/
Next check in will be from Turkey as we fly to Istanbul tomorrow morning...
xoxo
the Vinings
We just updated our flickr account... check it out!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36811552@N06/
Next check in will be from Turkey as we fly to Istanbul tomorrow morning...
xoxo
the Vinings
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)