Time to get real

Committed to 2. 3. etc.

1.Turkey

A few weeks ago I took three weeks annual leave and flew to Turkey.

Yvonne so graciously met me at the airport.

This is Yvonne. But t his photo wasn't taken at the airport.

The next day we went down to Sultan Ahmet to meet my mum who had just finished a tour through Greece and Turkey.

This is my mum.

We hung out with Yvonne for a couple of days in her swanky apartment in a suburb whose name I am still unclear of. All you need to know is that it's where all the nicest things of Istanbul happen.

i.e. They make fancy cakes and delicious treats.

Speaking of food, Yvonne took us on a first class tour of Istanbul's foodie delights. Here is a sample:

 
Lokum, yogurt with icecream on top and fish sandwiches.

After a couple of days of eating in Istanbul, my mum and I went to Cappadocia and stayed in the most delightful pension of all time.


For the most part these photos are fairly indicative of our stay. I took photos from every possible angle, we sat around and read a lot and I laughed when the cute little kittens scared my mum. 

Other than that we looked at a whole lotta frescos



and played in the back streets of Goreme.

We also hiked through a valley and my mum proved herself to be made of STEEL. It crossed my mind as we scaled rocks at a pace set by a group of 20 year olds that it wouldn't be that great to be responsible for my mum's broken leg or broken back. Turns out, she was fine and I did my ankle.

Here is a photo of me before I hurt my ankle, but I look a little bit pained so it might give you an idea.


From Cappadocia we headed to Bursa via Ankara. I didn't really feel any nostalgia for Ankara but I was happy to see the Ashti (otogar). I guess that's because I associated it with getting on a bus and getting out of Ankara. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the otogar.

We spent two very nice days in Bursa, which included election day! After weeks of build up I didn't have my camera with me as I finally got to enjoy visible signs of election silliness. This represented the lowlight of my trip...Obviously not very low at all.

You could be forgiven for thinking that Turkey had just won the FIFA World Cup. I wish more people waved flags out of car windows and honked their horns on Australian election day. Although, we haven't had an election result worth celebrating for many, many years...oh dear.

Ataturk says 'merhaba' from Bursa

After Bursa we took a fancy ferry back to Istanbul and a couple of days later Yvonne and I said bye bye to Mumsy and hello to Bosnia....

Running behind schedule, but maybe catching up...a little

I haven't followed through on the deal yet, but I hope I will this week because the haze invading my head is moving on out. I feel positive about my potential to get under control the work I have neglected while on three weeks of holidays and on two weeks of sitting at my desk and staring out the window.

Yvonne has been posting about our trip here: http://wanderingbuffalo.wordpress.com/ but now Turkey, the great Big Brother state has blocked her access to Word Press. Poo to you Turkey. Yeah, you heard me, POO TO YOU!

A deal is a deal

I made a deal with Yvonne that we would both post about our recent trip and I am absolutely committed to holding up my end. But the details are going to have to wait because I have jetlag that I didn't even know existed. I haven't slept for more than 3-5 hours a night since I've been back and each night I get to bed exhausted and each night I lie there unable to go to sleep. I'm the walking dead!

So within my current capabilities I will pre-post, thus identifying what I commit to posting about over the next week.

Sarah's posting topics:  

1.Turkey

2.Bosnia

3.Croatia

4.Kosovo

5.Serbia

6.My new job in Indonesia

There will be photos and all sorts of delights. So watch this space.

Please enjoy this preview.