Venice, Buggers and the land of Apple Tea

As the Partner began to close in on 10000km and exit Italy for France, myself and Anne made our way to Venice where we stayed for four days eating crepes (three a day for Anne and No1 in her top 5 best foods), eating pizza and watching Gondolas (it was 80 Euro for the alternative).

Anne relaxng in the window of our Venice boudoir. In her element.

Our next destination was to be Istanbul and after searching for over a month for a flight under 500 Euro (Anne already had her ticket) I eventually found a bus that was headed in that general direction.

One 21 hour overnight overday bus ride (stuffed in between a window and a dog), a night in Sofia Bulgaria (Buggers) and a 12 hour overnight train ride later, I arrived in Istanbul to find that Annes first flight to Paris had been cancelled and that she wouldn't be arriving for another three days. Luckily enough H P Runnalls had been keeping the place warm and we took over Istanbul together.

Anne did eventually arrive after four nights in Paris (which she was really pissed about!) and the three of us were ready to take on Turkey.

Istanbul.Brilliant place. It will be remembered fondly for its Apple Tea, Nargile (smoking pipe: see below), fantastic hosts, and carpet shops (maybe not so fondly).

Anne and Hannah considering entering the Mosque.....

Anne and Hannah entering the Mosque.

The rooftop terrace of our hostel. Breakfast up here each morning.

Ephesus. One of the best preserved ancient Roman cities. Pretty amazing. Quality amphitheatre.

Testing out the 2000 year old sewerage system. Took a very similar photo to this when I was here with family 11 years ago. I haven't matured at all.

Turkish Bath. The girls were jumping at the chance to get themselves rubbed down by a fat Turkish man so a Turkish bath was the logical result. The get-up we are shown in below is to hide the bruises.

Pamukkale. Hot thermal springs pour down the hillside here and deposit calcium carbonate which solidifies as travertine. I just got that sentence off a website and it's as cool as it sounds!

Olympos. Everyone stays in treehouses near an amazing beach here. Worth a trip in its own right but we were there to begin a four day-three night Boat Cruise along the Southern Turkish coast.

Boat Cruise. Incredible. Put it on your top 5 must do's. The water was spectacular.

Our Yacht.

Cliff jumping off the Turkish Coast. I am hoping for a lot more of this in Greece.

Currently we are in Naxos, Greece where we will be meeting with Morto and Kerr tomorrow. Unfortunately our other travel partner, Man in Chair couldn't bring himself to leave his chair and will be absent, as will Hengel. However, a ring in has been sent all the way from the states and as a well known published author, hopefully Dooza will be the next guy you hear from on this site.

Love to all. I leave you with this....