Chuck Norris and Aubreel writing you from Turkey!

Aub searching for the loggerhead turtles as we rented a paddleboat. Didn't see any but had a great time.

Smoke blocking the sun in Olympia.

If you look closely you can see large sprinklers spraying the forest above the ruins in Olympia. While in Athens we saw that this hill had burnt the night we left Olympia. Luckily, it sounds like the ruins were saved with only one piece being burnt.

More smoke in Olympia.

The Parthenon. What a place. Unfortunately it has been covered in scaffolding since 1984 but guess it is a neccessary evil.

The city of Athens sprawling in all directions around the acropolis.

Erecthion cathedral in the Acropolis. Doesn't look like much in the picture but take our word it is very amazing.

First modern day Olympic stadium from 1896. I think you get the idea.

Temple of Zeus. Absolutely massive columns are all that are left.

View of the Acropolis from our private rooftop terrace.

Hazen enjoying a water pipe while taking in a whirling dervish performance and trying Turkish pancakes.

Aformentioned whirling dervish. Only knew a little bit of what was going on and would be interested to find out more.
The blue mosque. The open area is the prayer area. Hard to see the millions of beautiful blue tiles that give the mosque its nickname.

Aubree taking it all in on the floor of the Blue Mosque.
View from outside the Blue Mosque
Next door is the Aya Sofia which preceeds the Blue mosque by 1000 years. (600's ad)
Interior of Aya Sofia. Try to imagine the size using the people in the bottom as reference.

Hope all is well with everyone. I guess we start this post in Greece. We left the island of Zakynthos after three wonderful days of laying on the beach and trying all kinds of Greek goodies. We celebrated St. Dionysios day with lots of crazy Greeks and were a little overwhelmed. On our way off the island many people were crowded around the TV on the ferry. There were very bad fires burning in the area we were headed. We were trying to go to Olympia to see the original Olympic ruins. After a lot of turmoil (Hazen had a bad day) we were able to get to Olympia. The ashes were falling down on us and we were right in the middle of many bad fires. Didn't realize what we were getting ourselves into. Still headed down to the ruins but were turned away by the military as the fires were too close to the area. We walked around for a while, headed back to the hotel and watched the local news. Because there were so many fires going on at one time many people were left to fend for themselves. We watched as people fought massive fires with branches, garden hoses, and five gallon buckets. Consequently, we also watched the death toll rise. We lost our power late in the night and woke up to a lot of smoke in town. Decided it was best to catch the first bus out of Olympia to Pyrgos. On the way we saw many fires very close to the road. There were a lot of people standing in the road watching it approach. The look of shock and worry was on every face as they waited. One house had all the trees in the back yard on fire and the house was soon to go. Everyone was just watching from the street. Very hard and sad to see. Once we got to Pyrgos we had to fight tooth and nail to get a bus to Athens as it seems everyone wanted out of town. Somehow being the only non-greek speaking person in the bunch we were able to get two seats.

When we arrived in Athens we headed straight for the most important sight in the western world! The Acropolis. It was well deserving of its reputation. Perched so high above the city it seems to scream power and fame. The parthenon was obviously the highlight with its towering columns and ornate designs. It was interesting to learn of the very complex architecture that was used to make it appear perfect. We spent the rest of the evening admiring the sight from the roof of our hotel. The next day in Athens we spent wandering around town. We zigged this way and that to see the parliament, hadrians arch, the temple of Zeus, and the first modern day Olympic stadium. Half the day was spent trying to figure out how to get to Istanbul as we received a different answer from all of the "experts" we asked.

Finally settled in on a night train. It was the best night train we have taken as we had a private two bed compartment. However, we had a few interuptions. At 2am we were awoke by the Greeks wanting to take our passports. Then at 4.30am they came back with our passports as we were leaving Greece. Then at 5am we were awoke by the Turks to get off the train and go to the police station to purchase our visa. All this really entails is giving some guy 15 euro each and he replies "passport on train". This was probably good as we were not really in the mood to chat. However, a simple welcome to Turkey my American friends and allies would have been nice. Just kidding. As we boarded the train again we heard the first call to prayer. It was a weird sensation because it was still dark out and we hadn't slept much. We had two more greetings before we could finally get a couple minutes of sleep before Istanbul.

Welcome to Istanbul! oh man. We are in Turkey. Doing some travel now! Made it to our hotel and were greeted by our friend Iyat. He was not a shy person and when he wasn't calling Hazen "Neil Armstrong" he was making karate noises because he thought Hazen looked like Chuck Norris. After four days in Turkey it is apparent that these people know how to have a good time. Great sense of humor and incredibly helpful. Our sense is that the people of Europe always talk about how laid back and relaxed they are but they really aren't. They seem very uptight and quick to show their temper. While the Turks also say they are relaxed and friendly they are exactly right. We have had more people in Turkey help us find our way or chat just to practice English than the rest of our trip combined. Our first stop was the Blue Mosque which was only 1.5 blocks from our hotel. This place was breathtaking. We covered ourselves, took off our shoes and headed in. The first thing we noticed was the elaborate tile mosaics lining the multiple domes. We had a seat on the carpet (the softest ever) and watched the afternoon prayer. Needless to say this was far different from any other religious experience we have ever had. Next we took a look at an older version of Mosque called Aya Sofia. It was built in the 5th century AD and is now a museum. It was completely massive and undescribable. No pictures will ever do it justice. The rest of the time in Istanbul was spent in the Grand Bazaar and wandering the streets. We took a ferry across the Bosphorus to get to a less touristed area for dinner last night. We got more than we bargained for as absolutely no one spoke english and had a hard time ordering. It all worked out though and it was a great experience. Travis (Hazen's brother) got his wish as the restaurant owner gave us each a Turkish coffee to thank us. Lets just say the Turks get right to the point when drinking coffee. It is small but action packed. We each choked it down with smiles on our faces as we are by no means coffee drinkers.

Headed to another part of town to try the Turkish liquour. It is called Raki and it packs a punch. We were approached by a young man to enter his bar and took him up on his offer. The next 3.5 hrs were spent in him and his three brothers bar enjoying great conversation. Not only did we try Raki we also shared a Nargile (water-pipe) and a couple other drinks. The raki has to be mixed with water and when you do it turns white. The water is suppose to help with the hangover but not sure if it really worked. Had a very unusual flavor that Aubree says tastes like grey Necco Wafers. Man, she is weird. Being the only patrons we got tons of attention. The oldest brother is going to start a bar in another town in Turkey and says he plans to call it "Hazen". Basically it was a perfect last night in an amazing town. In Hazen's opinion it is the first big city we have visited that a person could spend weeks in and be amazed every day.

Today we took a torturous 10hr bus ride to Izmir. This should be our last long day of travel for a while. We plan on visiting Ephesus tomorrow with many more coastal towns to follow.

Still trying to figure out how to get to Egypt as this is proving the hardest obstacle of our trip. The land route was blocked as we were not able to get visas from the Syrian embassy in Istanbul. Now we try ferries and if that doesn't work we will be stuck with an expensive plane ride. Well, wish us luck because we really need it. Travel here is a big challenge. Now we understand why most people travel to Turkey in tour groups. However, we despise tour groups and would rather suffer on a mildly air conditioned public bus for ten hours. Hope to hear from you all soon. Only 27 days to go!