2001
MIDDLE EAST & GREECE: June-October 2001
MIDDLE EAST
TURKEY (3 months) Istanbul: Aya Sofya, Topkapi, Whirling
Dervishes; hiking in Cappadocia; relaxing at backpackers' pension in Olimpos;
gulet cruise along the Mediterranean Coast; home-stay and hammam scrub-down in
Bursa; "ruined" at Pergamum, Ephesus, Pirene, Miletus, Didyma and
Termessos; relaxing at the beach in Gumusluk; buying (another) carpet in Gocek;
mosaics in Antakya; (Two weeks in Syria & Lebanon, then returned to
Turkey); Nemrut Dagi ruins; Georgian Valleys; hiking in Barhal; ruins at Ani on the Armenian border;
Black Sea; Trabzon; quaint Amasya; archaeological museum in Ankara
SYRIA & LEBANON (2 weeks) SYRIA: Unexpected haircut in Aleppo citadel; 14 days travel with French strangers to Dead Cities, Crusader Castles, Palmyra, Damascus and Bosra; Joan cloaked and cranky in a mosque; visiting Mar Musa Monastery; home-stay with Syrian family; contentious dinner with cloaked Muslim doctor & her husband; LEBANON: Hezbollah militants in Bekaa Valley; Paris Opera Ballet in Baalbek ruins
EUROPE
GREECE (2 months) By ferry to four islands: RHODES, CRETE,
SANTORINI and NAXOS; driving around PELOPONNESIAN PENINSULA to ancient ruins of
Mycenae, Epidaurus and Mystras; hiking in fortified Mani villages; Ancient
Olympia; MAINLAND GREECE: Monodendri; pilgrimage to Lia; hiking Vikos Gorge;
hilltop monasteries in Meteora; ruins of Delphi; Acropolis and home-stay in Athens
(Note: We were in Greece at the
time of the September 11,
2001 terrorist attacks on the
UNITED STATES (2002/2003 - San Francisco; California Camping)
Joan and Lou Rose joanandlou@ramblingroses.net