Spain

By Sue

We arrived in Spain on November 10th. We had a terrific condo right on the Sea! Beautiful sunrises every morning. Manilva was the town up the hill and Sabinillas bordered us along the sea. We often walked to Sabinillas, but the next big town, Marbella, required a bus ride or taxi. Taxi's we're pretty costly and buses always seemed unreliable. It was hard to find a schedule online, and if you did it wasn't always up to date. One day, in Manilva, we sat at the bus stop for half an hour. No bus came so we went in to the nearest tapas bar and asked about it. They said there was no bus. I showed them the schedule but they just shrugged and said that those schedules aren't always right. If you go, I would recommend a rental car. If you shop around, you can get very reasonable rates, and you have the freedom to visit all the beautiful little towns that dot the hills and coast.

Our Beach

View from Our Balcony

Fish Market in Marbella

Smoked pork legs are available in all shops and most tapas bars.

I was really happy to find Johanna, a wonderful lady who organizes hikes through her company, Sur Walks. Unfortunately I didn't find her until only a few weeks before we left, so we weren't able to do all of her hikes. The ones we did go on were terrific. I highly recommend tracking her down if you are in southern Spain. Her website address is http://www.sur-walks.com/index.php.

Johanna with the kids at the sulphur bath in Cesares where Julius Ceasar bathed

I'm torn about which hike was my favourite. One day we hiked around the city of Ronda in the morning and then went into the city for lunch. It was beautiful. We saw a gentleman knocking olives out of his trees the way they've done it for centuries. He seemed quite pleased to have his picture taken. We also stopped by a beautiful horse ranch and watched a ferrier at work. We visited the ancient Roman baths and and the bull fighting ring. Back in town, I got a kick out of the way the people there refer to their two main bridges as the old bridge and the new bridge, since the new bridge was built in the 13th century!

Old Bridge

New Bridge

Olive Farmer

Ferrier

I do think I have to give the edge to our hike up to the La Pileta cave, followed by a hike down along the Guadiaro River with lunch in Jimera. The cave was such an unexpected surprise. There is only one other cave in the wold, discovered so far, that has drawings as old as these, and that one is in France. The drawings were of mainly two types, red, which were neolithic, and black, which were Paleolithic. The stalagmites and stalactites were also incredible, especially when you think that they grow about 1cm every 100 years! We weren't allowed to take pictures, as the light damages the drawings, but I bought some postcards, and this image is from one of those postcards...

The hike along the Gaudiaro River was beautiful. We saw goats and birds, and we found loads of acorns. The hills were green and their were huge fish in the river. When we arrived in Jimera, we were starving. I loved the atmosphere of the restaurant as it was in an old train car service building, with huge wooden sliding doors and a fire burning away in the fireplace. The food was another pleasant surprise. Gourmet, but at a reasonable price. The company we shared also made it special. Johanna is a kind hearted, nature and animal lover. I felt like I'd known her forever. A lovely German couple, Roman and Juta, had joined our hike that day, and we enjoyed their company as well. 

After being in Spain for about five weeks, and two months in Croatia and Turkey before that, we were sure starting to get homesick! But we had something great to look forward to... Kyla and Tom we're coming for Christmas! Their visit was awesome and helped us get through those last few weeks before meeting Dave in Thailand. What a fantastic Christmas! They brought Stove Top Stuffing for our turkey dinner, which I don't mind saying, turned out terrific! And they brought all kinds of other surprises... Cheese Whiz, peanut butter, and lots of Christmas treats, like brightly coloured socks (I'll never wear boring old white again!) and this terrific oil called Peppermint Halo. We played charades and a blind drawing game and had lots of laughs. Kyla and Tom made Christmas extra special.

While Kyla and Tom were here, we rented a car and visited Tangiers in Africa, Ronda, Seville, and Granada. The Alhambra Palace in Granada is a must see. In Seville I liked seeing the Metropol Parasol in La Encarnación Square, which claims to be the largest wooden structure in the world. I wish Dave could've seen it. We also shopped. And shopped and shopped! I think we saw every shoe store Spain had to offer, some of them twice! Katie and I both bought a pair of boots, but I think Tom was the winner with several pairs of desert boots, in a variety of colours. While we were in Tangiers Tom, Kyla and I all bought Jelabas, a hooded, floor length, long sleeved tunic. I bought one for Dave as well. It's rare to see a man there not wearing one or some version of one. Cooper was very patient through all of this shopping, never complaining once. 

A Bakery in Tangiers

Dressing Up Tangiers Style

Thread Store in Tangiers

Street Performers doing a Flamenco Dance in Granada

The Alhambra Palace in Granada

After Tom and Kyla left, the kids and I visited Gibraltar. We saw the rock, St. Michael's Cave, and the monkeys. We ate fish and chips, spent British pounds, and posed for a picture by a classic London style phone booth. It was like being in Britain for the day, but only took us about an hour and a half by bus to get there. It was a fun day, and a good break from school work. 

Overall our time in Spain was a great experience. We stayed in the Manilva condo because we had a connection that helped us arrange it. It was way nicer than any other place we had stayed in, and was within our budget. If I had it to do over, however, I would probably choose a smaller town near Seville or Granada, where there are fewer British expats. We didn't learn any Spanish, but I think we ended up with British accents! Haha!

Just a Couple More Pics!

Amazing Turkey

                                                                            by Katie 

Turkey was awesome! We got to stay for a whole month and it was definitely worth it. We went to a lot of cool places and did some amazing things! I really enjoyed seeing their flag around so much and I wish we had ours around more at home. They have a lot of parades and a ton of rugs! I enjoyed Turkey a lot !

                                                        

Our first stop in Turkey was Istanbul. I wasn't quite sure what to expect when our plane landed, but when our shuttle picked us up to drive us to our hotel I was pleasantly surprised to see the beautiful flower displays and busy people. I didn't feel afraid at all when we were in Turkey. There was a few things that we had to get used to, like the prayers that were shouted out three times a day or how every other shop you walked by sold rugs and only rugs! Every person we met wanted to help us... maybe to get you to buy their rugs! We ate wonderful Turkish food, which means a lot of shish kababs, and a lot of ladies there dress in traditional robes and head coverings.

                                                                               

When we toured the Blue Mousqe mom and I had to put on scarfs and long cloaks so we didnt show our skin, and no shoes were allowed! The next mousqe we went to was Ayaspophia. It was originally a church but was burnt down, then was rebuilt with beautiful mosaics. In about 450 BC it was made into a mousqe, but inside a mosque they cannot depict faces so the mosaics on the walls had to be plastered over. In Roman times it was made back into a church, so off came the plaaster. In about 1500 it became a mosque again... so more plaster! In the 1930 the Turk's beloved leader, Ataturk, made the mosque into a museum and some of the mosaics were un covered. In the center of the mosque there was a big dome, so on the floor they put little X marks to show where the dome started and ended. It was huge! 

 

One of my favourite places was the spice market. Most of it was inside running through hallways, and boy did it smell good in there! Lots of spices, lamps, rugs and Turkish delight! I bought some pillow cases that I really love! The funny thing is that a man had to tell us where the spice market was, when we were right beside it! You couldn't even tell it was there from the outside! Istanbul was great but I also toured a lot of other awesome places, like Capadocia!

                                                

In Turkish, Capadocia means land of the beautiful horses. Capadocia (cap a DOE kee ah)is famous for its under ground caves and fairy chimneys. Fairy chimneys are like the hoodoos in Drumheller, Alberta. In the time when Romans ruled they would come to Capadocia to persecute the Christians, who built under ground cities to hide in. The under ground cities could hold about 50 thousand people at a time but they would only stay there for a few days, or until the Romans left. The people made a well, wine cellar and pantries. They would bring everyone down, even the animals! If the Romans did find the passage way to their city the people made booby traps like giant holes in the floor and huge stone barricades they could roll into place. It felt like being in an Indiana Jones movie! 

                                         

That wasn't even the coolest part about Capadocia! My favorite thing we did in Capadocia was go on a hot air balloon ride! We got up really early in the morning and a car came to pick us up. It looked so beautiful with all the other balloons illuminated in the dark. We were one of the first ones up. We went really high and dipped in and out of the fairy chimneys. The sunrise was beautiful and the landing was perfect. The pilot had to land on the back of a truck! Then we drove on the back of the truck in the hot air balloon basket! later we had champane and juice. A beautiful start to a day! 

    

Next up came Ephesus. My favorite part was the Library of Celsus. The library was built by the son of Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus. His son built the library to honour his father and when Tiberius died he was buried under the library. The Library could hold 12 000 scrolls! Sadly, it was destroyed first by a large fire and then a massive earthquake. The libray is still in fairly good condition considering what happened to it! Ephesus itself was a harbour city that housed about 56 000 people! But after the devastating earthquake the harbour filled up with silt and could no longer be used so the city was abandoned. The very famous temple of Artemis was also in Ephesus, but it was destroyed many times by both natural and human causes. Only one of the original 121 columns still stands. The temple was named one of the 7 wonders of the aincent world. Ephesus, with its beautiful mosaics and sculptures was a really unique way to get a glimpse at what life was like for these ancient people.

While we were in Selcuk (SELL chuck) we visited Pamukkale (pam oo CALL eh) That was my favourite place even though the hot air balloon ride was tough to beat! We had to drive pretty far to get to Pamukkale and when we got there it was not what I was expecting. At first glance it looked like a mountain of snow but it was actually a giant calcium deposit! We had to take our shoes off to walk up to the top because there was a thin weaterfall flowing all the way down! When we got higher up the water got warmer because under neath the deposit is a naturall hot spring! Once you reach the top you can swim in a man made pool. The pool and area around it was built by the Romans as a spa. At the bottom of the pool are ancient pillars you can swim over, or sit on! Behind the pool there was also a really neat old theater that you could go sit in and pretend to wach a play. This was my favorite thing we did in Turkey and if you are planning on going I would strongly suggest you visit Pamukkale.

Turkey was a fantastic adventure. I love the rugs, flags and tea that you can get and see everywhere! The food was excellent and the people were so kind to us. I had a wonderfull time in Turkey and learned a whole bunch about the sites and culture.

<font size="7">Turkey</font>

Cooper's Perspective

I have three favourite places in Turkey. My third favourite place is actually the most famous place in Turkey, Ephesus. My second favourite place is the caves in which the Turks would hide in case of attack. My most favourite place in Turkey was a complete suprise to us, Pamukkale (pronounced pu mah KAH lay).

Library of Celsus

Ephesus used to be the biggest most important city in Turkey, but an earthquake filled in the  harbour causing the city to be abandoned. The Library of Celsus is also one of the most important things in Ephesus, being the third lagest library at its time. About 9km from the library, there is a famous house where many believe Mary spent the last 18 years of her life. There is a wall by her house that is covered in people's prayers. It was amazing to see, with probably over 5000 prayers on it. There was a prayer on almost everything you could write on: napkins, leaves, Kleenex, and even toilet paper. 

This is the entrance to Mary's house.

Kaymakli is a giant sysytem of caves, built by early Christians, meant for refuge incase of an attack by Romans. Some tunnles were so small even I could barely fit. The tour guide said it slowed down the Romans because they had big shields and armour and swords. There were giant holes in the floor used as boobie traps, so if a Roman was running down a tunnel, the next thing he knew he was in a two meter deep hole. There was stables and vineyards and kitchens in these caves, along with a well that was also under ground so the attackers couldn't poison their water.

                 

Pamukkale was my favourite place in Turkey. We forgot our bathing suits at home so we had to buy some there. Mom and Katie were forced to wear bikinis and I had to wear super baggy trunks that always came up on me. There was a big mountain of Calcium that we had to climb, with a lot of water flowing over it, getting hotter and hotter the higher we went. Eventually, the water turned into a creek and there were natural pools that people were actually swimming in. We went swimming on the top of the mountain in a pool made by ancient Romans. At the bottom of the pool there were giant chunks of ancient pillars that you could sit on. In my opinion the pool was the coolest part of Pamukkale.

Three months ago I didn't know anything about Turkey except that "Taken 2" was filmed there. Now, one of my favourite places is in Turkey and I have tons of wonderful memories, including my first hot air balloon ride.

Turkey

Sue's Perspective

The kids and I have had one surprise after another, here in Turkey. All of them terrific. When we left home, all we had was one night's accomodation booked. The rest of our adventure has been left to fate. Most of our plans have come from discussions with people we've met on the road. A chat with a young Canadian fellow at a gas station led us to Hvar, in Croatia. Two American couples that we met in Hvar told us about Turkey. We wouldn't have gone to Cappadocia to see the caves if they hadn't suggested it (thank you Fred and Carol!). A chat with a bus driver in Selcuk, Turkey caused us to take a three hour trip to a place called Pamukkale, which I had never heard of, and which has become our favourite adventure so far. 

 

We started our Turkish experience in Istanbul. We had three nights there, so two full days to explore. Nowhere near enough time! However, we saw the highlights: Blue Mosque, Tokapsi Palace, Ayasofya, the Cistern with Medusa's upside down head, the Grand Bazzar, and the Spice Market. I recommend hiring one of the many official guides that are available outside of Ayasofya and Tokapsi Palace as we found the information very interesting. We wouldn't have known what we were seeing without them. Their prices are reasonable... 75TL to about 100TL for our group of three, on top of the entry fee which is usually around 20 - 25TL/ person.

 

Of course, we were also lured into a few carpet stores and some jewelry stores. Set aside some cash for a Sultanite ring or pendant. It's a beautiful Turkish precious (or maybe semi-precious) stone that changes colour in the light. My favourite experience in Istanbul was the spice market. It was so crowded and noisy and full of exotic smells and colourful displays. Talk about sensory overload! I loved it! We tasted some sort of chocolates, some Turkish delight, and some candy coated pistachios. We bought some pillowcases and Cooper bought a candle holder. I wish we could have bought some spices to send home, but we have so many months ahead of us, yet, that I decided to pass.

   

A lady in traditional clothes. Many women dress this way.

We really didn't mind leaving Istanbul so soon, because we were excited about getting to Cappadoccia. We stayed at The Local Cave House Hotel, which I highly recommend. Our room was carved into the side of the mountain. The walls were solid rock, yet the bathroom was modern. Our host arranged all of our activities for us. We had a sunrise (Eek! pick up at 5:40!) hot air balloon ride. Beautiful views, but dress warm if you go in October! We toured one of the cave cities. There are four main tours and we picked the basic one, which we found to be more than enough. The Turkish night was okay, but unless you're really into traditional dancing it's something you could skip. But don't skip the Turkish bath! Swallow your modesty, strip off your clothes, and go for it! So relaxing, and only 60TL (about $30CDN). I felt like a million bucks afterwards. Katie and Cooper opted out of that activity and I'm okay with that, as I know they would have been uncomfortable with the nudity and with someone scrubbing them. To learn more about the cave cities, Joel Oleson has a great article about them athttp://travelingepic.com/2012/04/06/cappadocia-turkey-alien-7-wonders-of-the-universe/

 

Now, we're in Selcuk (pronounced SEL chook). We came here mainly to see Ephesus (pronounced EFF a soos) the Temple of Artemis, the Library of Celsus and the home that Mary lived in for her final days. After the chat with the bus driver that I mentioned earlier, we took a tour to Pamukkale, a natural hot spring area that is famous for its beautiful white hills which are formed by calcium in the water. Pamukkale means "cotton castle" in Turkish. You have to take off your shoes to hike up the white slopes, which have warm water coursing down them. People hike this area in their bathing suits and swim in the deeper pools along the way. We waited until we reached the public swimming pool (which has an entry fee of 32TL) to go swimming. 

The site became famous in ancient times for its hot springs, and Romans and Greeks built baths there. It is known as Hierapolis and you can see ruins of this ancient resort city, such as the theatre. In fact, there are so many ruins that they're just lying everywhere with weeds growing around them. The pool has ancient pieces of columns and plinths lying on its gravel bottom, that you can sit on. Amazing! I wish we had two or three days there. We only saw a fraction of the sites, and we would have loved more time in the pool. If you are in Turkey, don't miss Pumakkale!

 

We have two weeks in Selcuk, so Ephesus is still one the roster to tour. Katie and Cooper will do a blog about it. In the meantime we are sitting outside on the terrace. The kids are doing math homework and I'm going to go and get us some Turkish apple tea.