Today is the first day of my Turkey trip. I board the plane in Knoxville at 2:30 with my boot on and arrive at 4 pm in DC. I make my way through the airport to catch my 6 pm flight to Zurich. I have an hour so I stop at the Polaris lounge. Wow! It’s packed and awesome. I had a at snack and Manhattan and head to the plane.

Boarded plane for Zurich business class. Uneventful flight for 8 hours and slept for about half. Arrived in Zurich around 8 am for an 11 am flight to Istanbul. Spent a few hours in business class lounge and boarded the plane.

Arrived in Instanbul and waited for Mike to arrive. We headed out of the airport and found our driver waiting to take us to Magnura alace Hotel.The leather sided and spacious interior of our van was a peak into the “Choc Lux” aka luxury we were in for. Walking into the hotel lobby full of Matt’s tour people I immediately picked out Mehmet and gave him a hug. I recognized him from friending him on Facebook. He \240later admitted he had no idea who I was but just went along….

That night Matt, Mike and I had dinner at a place past the main tourist square. We had our one and only glass of Raki ( traditional Turkish alcoholic beverage) and a full meal. We fell into bed at around 10pm in our beautiful rooms with views of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.

I recalled a similar view from my travel to Turkey in 1990.

Friday is day 1 of our Turkish adventure. Mike and are we’re welcomed on Cultured Travelers cruise up the Bosphorous to the Black Sea and back to the Sea of Marmara. We joined the other 25 travelers with Matt’s tour. Met many very nice people and made new friends In just a couple of days.

Yali lined the Bosphorous as well as many newer extravagant hotels and homes. They are homes and places to visit for many rich and famous in this part of the world.

yalı ( is a house or mansion built right on the waterside (almost exclusively seaside, particularly on the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul) and usually built with an architectural concept that takes into account the characteristics of the coastal location. A family who owned a waterside residence would spend some time in this usually secondary residence located at the sea shore, as opposed to the konak ("mansion", aside from the term's use to refer to buildings with administrative functions)

We had a short hike through a suburb like area to some ruins in a fishing village. Then we continued on the yacht to another stop and hiked a super steep hill to Yoros Castle. With a gorgeous view of the Bosphorus. We had a tasty lunch and hopped back on the boat. After a quick dip in the Bosphorus we headed back to land.

Mike,Matt and I had a nice dinner in a restaurant over the ruins of an old castle which run under the city.

Hammam, dinner at Seven Seas, and knock off shopping

Hammam - definitely more intimate than I have experienced or expected. On the yacht the day before Dana described her Hammam expierience and many others confirmed their extreme delight with the expierence. Then at dinner last night Matt described his experience of surviving the hottest sauna ever, so stifling he had to talk himself out of his discomfort. Then he was scrubbed with a Brillo pad like instrument and beat for a hour… but overall he liked it.

Now onto my experience.

I was greeted and walked into the large ancient \240marble room that I heard was built by a sultans wife. The walls were covered by three stories of wooden walkways and rooms. I was given a room to change in and a Turkish towel to wrap around me along with a “ ketchup” pack sized paper g-string! I walked gingerly down to the waiting room and sat on a comfy couch. Soon a women in her 50s also naked and wrapped In a Turkish \240towel, took me by the hand and led me into the large marble chamber. It was octagon shaped with three raised bathing rooms along the edges. She sat me down on the warm marble and told me in Turkish to take off my towel and sit there and \240clean myself by scooping warm or cold water from a basin near me with a large gold saucer.

She came back 10 minutes later and used a loofa to scrub my skin. She scrubbed my back, legs, arms, face under arms and even my bare chest! Once she rinsed me off she applied a clay mask to my whole body in all of the places she scrubbed.

Ten minutes sitting with the clay mask then she rinsed me off again. At this point I began to feel like a child being bathed. It was a nice feeling and rather intimate but not sexual.

I was then led to the middle of the room where others were laying down too. She layered me in soapy bubbles and massaged my body. After another thorough rinse and hair washing I was given a robe tea Turkish. Delight and waited on a comfy couch for my next part. A 50 minute massage with essential oils and lotion. Finally rested and done I changed into my clothes and was set Ed fruit and tea.

It was a super pampering experience and very relaxing. It will be a fun memory from the trip for sure!

We joined Matt’s group that night for dinner at Seven Seas resturaunt and knock off purse shopping in the basement. Luxury leather brand name bags that are quality of the real ones at 1/4 the cost.

Today we woke up up , had breakfast and said goodbye to the tour group. Mehmet, Mike, Matt and I headed southwest by van driven by Mahmut. \240We stopped at a tasty Kebeb returaunt on the way. They served the carved meat on a hot plate of cut up pita bread and topped it all with a clarifies butter( ghee). It was super tasty!

Then we hopped back in the van and a few hours later arrived in Selcuk and stayed at a fabulous hotel css as led Akanthus Hotel Ephesus. The rooms were beautifully appointed, views were perfect and breakfast was outstanding.

We walked to town for a tasty dinner that night. I was impressed with the cats and dogs all over Turkey that roam the streets. The animals are friendly but not annoying and are well taken care of by the community.

We woke early and had. \240Yummy breakfast then walked about a half mile through the cobblestone streets of Selcuk. We arrived at the top at the Ruins of The Basillica of Saint John. They were impressive ruins of the Church of Saint John which was built in the 500s by the Emperor in honor of St John.

We went back to hotel and checked out. Mahmut dropped us off at Ephesus. It was built in 10th century BC. There is so much history, religion and culture here I could never capture it in a few paragraphs. It was incredible to see and imagine the many people who have inhabited the land so many years ago. I took many photos but my favorite was finding the exact spot I took a photo in 32 years ago. It was remarkable how much more had been uncovered and restored in those 32 years.

We left that afternoon for Pammukale by van.

Pammukale means “cotton castle”. Stayed at Doga Spa and Thermal bath hotel for one night. The four of us used the thermal baths and had our free dinner. It was the largest buffet of food ever. We all admitted sleeping great after the dip in the mineral baths!

We spent the day hiking barefoot up the white, calcium carbonate \240mineral formed on a travertine \240mountian left behind from the thermal spring water. Stopping to wet our feet in the warm rushing water and take spectacular photos.

At the top we arrived at Heroplolis. A large ruin of an ancient city. With our shoes back on we walked miles through the city experiencing the layout of the city. We traveled from the cemetery to the the amphitheater. We also took a dip in the public thermal bath.

Once Matt was pleased with his who did it better Instagram copy cat photo, we headed barefoot down the mountian. The white rock under your feet was surprisingly not slippery though cautious \240walking was imperative.

We finished the hike with an awesome lunch at Mom Eves restaurant. Heading to Feitheye by van now.

The Nautilus!

We went yacht shopping today. Saw three yachts of varying size today.Mehmet was the man and found a greater opportunity in every port! Beautiful!!! \240Ended up with a 38 meter Gullet named Nautilus. An awesome 6 bedroom Turkish yacht. It’s amazing! Captain Erkan, server Tuba, and other staff. We loaded it with food for three days and soMe beer and bourbon. Anchored iin a quiet cove for the night.

We relaxed I. The co e with a light dinner of delicious Turkish barel filled with cheese and Nutella. A fun game if liars dice which was my first time and then off to bed around 10pm.

Woke around 7 am after a restful sleep on the Nautilus. Captain Arkan \240set sail after our tasty turkish breakfast. We anchored in a cool cove with tourquoise water and jumped in. An hour later a water taxi appeared offering ice cream and Starbucks. Then 15 minutes later two boats with \240ladies selling purses, dresses and wraps….amazing! Shopping at sea!

The boys hiked the nearby mountian while I soaked up the sun and watched our anchor get tangled with a nearby ship. Captain was not happy until he boated his girlfriend and granddaughter over to our boat to stay for a few days! Then Mehmet burst his bubble by saying he was joking about letting his girlfriend use our extra cabin. After lunch we dropped the girls off….

Passed a Russian Oligarch Yacht on the way in Gocek!

We did have my best meal yet. I guess I like peasant food according to Mehmet. Vegetarian only with a yummy salad, stuffed peppers and a green bean dish that reminded me of a Syrian dish I grew up with.

Relaxing on the back of the boat while we head to our cove for the night. I am sure a tasty dinner awaits and another game of liars dice!

Hiked from Cleopatria cove \240to Ada cove

643 feet of elevation and almost three miles.

With much persuasion our Vatican Erikan anchored at Cleopatra cove for a quick snorkel and dropped Mike, Matt and off for a hike over the mountian to pick us up later in a cove. It was a beautiful hike up a rocky path to more ruins. Then a great view hiking down to our cove for the night. We all agreed this was a perfect day.

Once we were back on the boat and had lunch we adventures out in the cove on kayak, paddle board and Matt with only his arms and legs.

That night after dinner we watched an old Marlin Brando film. I knocked out early and the three guys slept on the deck that night!

Our last morning in the Nautilus. Captain took us to a nearby cove for breakfast and a quick dip. He sailed(motored) back to Feitheye and docked the boat in the smallest space ever. Mike was there to help!

Mahmut picked us up and headed to tour Kayakoy. An absndonded old Greek village. It was home of around 10,000 people. Muslims and Christians. Completely anss as ndonded since 1923.

We hiked up to the chdd as pro for a quick photo.

Headed to the coast for lunch and to watch the paragliders filling the skies. \240Then headed to our Airbnb in Gocek for the night.

Caught our flight back to Istanbul today. Went to an awesome meatball place for dinner and shopped for pottery and carpets that night.

Last day in Instanbul! We walked about 22k steps and I was up to “Matt” speed! We took the bus to the other end of the city and toured around the wall that was used to protect Istanbul. On the bus ride back I had never been on such a crowded bus. People kept piling in and never getting off!

We went to the Grand Bazzar quickly in and out, popped in a few Mosques, and made back to the hotel in time for me to buy my carpet. Then off to a fabulous dinner on the water. We were treated to some awesome moonlight views and even fireworks. It was like they knew it was our last night.

It was a truly memorable ttip with great people!