Romania eases by on the right bank of the Danube while Serbia slowly flows in to my memory on the left. Me, I'm sitting in the sun on the top deck of the ship. On this day we will experience the Iron Gates where the river narrows and the Carpathian Mountains soar (or at least rise up higher than the rolling farm lands we have been enjoying since Vidin).The Iron Gates are a beautiful series of gorges with a couple of locks and a hydroelectric dam thrown in. ...

Though this journey actually began in Istanbul I won't go in to too much detail except to say that life at the Ritz Carlton is a whole lot different than the guest house we stayed at in the old city. Chocolates, turn down service and...wait for it...bacon (!) for breakfast (hard to find in a Muslim country).City tours begin by explecite instructions to follow the yellow lollipop. And so it begins. Saw the Topkapi Palace & the Dolmabahce Palace as a sort of...

Life Is A Big Empty Canvas.....Splash As Much Colour On It As You Can!!Reflections on Turkey.Why are my feelings mixed when I reflect on Turkey? Part of me, a big part of me, wanted to rekindle the memories I have from 42 years ago....when I was so young and impressionable. Now, even with the wisdom of age (?) the little girl in me still wants to see the heavily laden donkeys (no tractors), farmers stomping olives with their feet (no factories), wood and rock h...

So on this day of my blog we leave our leisurely kick back stay in Datca. I can't say enough about this place except that we will miss it.  Rolled our bags a along the cobblestone walkway by the sea in the quiet of the morning. Now to yet another bus and then a ferry to Bodrum. This time we have tickets!Chunk, clunk, stall, rev, spit and backfire, all of this before the old bus hobbled down to the ferry dock. Nothing much here but a good breakwater and a...

Bussed to Fethiye in the daytime over mountain passes that are in a state of reforestation (which is a great idea given the dry conditions). High rugged mountains with a very good highway slashing it's way through the passes. Strange to see the trees growing in straight lines up the mountainside. The ridges are bare strips of dirt...probably a deliberate fire guard. Forest fire is a problem in this area.fethiye is, in my mind, England/Germany with some Ru...