We arrived at the Atlanta Deniz hotel in the Ankara to find that we had no reservation so were put up in a twin room instead of a double with a promise that we'd change rooms tomorrow.No problem.All was going well until about 2200 when, just like that, the light and power went off.b*****!At this point, the hotel receptionist, who could only say 'problem, problem' (no s*** Sherlock) really p***ed us off by putting the phone down on me twice and laughing at Maria...

Arrived back in Istanbul after a 11 ½ hour (2200-0930) coach ride from Selcuk. We had the worst possible seats right in front of the steward's area, main coach door and opposite the toilet so consequently we had a great night of uninterrupted sleep. But hey, we were on a modern VIP bus, no kidding!!! At approx 0100 Maria took her life in her hands by using the extremely cramped, smelly and 'dangerous' toilet to answer a call of nature; the bus pulled into ser...

A long line awaited us as hordes of the devoted faithwell waited to walk through Santa Maria's house, the place where the Virgin Mary allegedly died aged 65 years of age. From there a short bus journey to the ancient city of Ephesus. A very impressive ruin stretching over a huge area, the highlight had to be the Ephesus library. I can't stop thinking, however, that the ruin still looks more developed than the London 2012 Olympic venues. On the return we were...

Despite visiting the ancient city of Troy, which has been reconstructed on 9 levels over the millennia, neither Diane Kruger or Brad Pitt were anywhere to be seen! Also, and contrary to popular belief, the Trojan Horse, who goes by the stage name of Dobbin, is alive and well and available for the 2010/2011 pantomime, err tourist, season. Maria has a particular affection for Troy as her second brother, Paride, is named after Paris, the ancient hero who was the...

We learned about the Gallipoli conflict and the ANZACs by visiting the various cemetries, monuments and sights dedicated to the campaign which resulted in an estimated 336,000 casualties from both sides. We were moved by the story of a Turkish soldier who waved a white flag so that he could rescue an allied soldier who was wounded and crying out in pain on the battlefield. The Turk returned the soldier to his host nation trench only metres away. We stopped...