TURKIYE

Merhaba!
WE haven't gotten a chance to post anything yet due to our lack of internet access and motivation. We promise tomorrow we will post photos, as that too has been difficult. Paul's camera only takes 30 photos at a time and we haven't been able to put them on the ex hard drive.

After the most intense turbulence possible and consitent stomach aches, Amber and Paul made it to turkey! We arrived in a thunderstorm {being rare for turkey at this time of year} in the middle of the night. Amber's family happily greeted us at the airport with open arms and big smiles! Althoug it was the middle of the night Cengiz {"Jane-giz"} Amber's father decided to take us to his island close to where we were staying and still are. The island is called Suada meaning water island". Amazing! With a view of the bridge and beautiful restaurants in all directions, we got a glimpse of what our vacation included. We then took a boat to the hottest night club down the sea called Reina. Amber and I took a quick tour and then decided we needed some sleep. We are staying at Amber's aunts house Canan. She lives in a very nice apartment called Maya residency where American consolates live making it a very protected safe environment for us to stay in. I just have to mention that we are sleeping on a water bed! When we first arrived we were going to Amber's grandmother's house for breakfast and dinner. Some amazing food including Dolma, chicken eggplant dishes and really really good sesame bread. Every breakfast consists of bread cheeze and jam. Remember that you cannot have a turkish meal without Yogurt! Yogurt on everything! What seems to be really pupular is a yogurt drink (ayran).
Our first endever was to see the Hagia Sophia which is one of the seven wonders of the world. Upon arrival we walked in a direct straight line into our friend Ward from Santa Cruz! We knew he would be in turkey soon, but no idea when or where. Whata coincedence!!!! So together we saw the Hagia Sophia and the Cistern. The Cistern is where the heads of Medusa Lay! It is the underground aquaduct that the romans built and is fully intact to this day. Dont worry pictures are coming soon.
We
After a couple of days touring several popular areas Such as Taksim and Sultanemhet we met up with Amber's friend Idil who lives in turkey but has been going to UCSC. She introduced us to Ali her friend who plays guitar in a famous rock band here. Next thing we know we are in a jam studio with full equipment rocking out! I recorded it but had incorrect mic levels which left the recording not too great but i will post it. Idil insisted that we venture to Olympos Antalya, the south coast of turkey. This where the eternal flame of zeus burns! It being so hot we could not attempt the hour drive and several hour hike to the flame. boohoo i know but if you knew how hot it was you would have gone to the beach everyday like we did. We took an hour flight from istanbul to Antalya and got a rental car to reach olympos. So beautiful!! We stayed in a place called KAdir's Treehouses which actually had airconditioned treehouses that we stayed in!! The beach looked exactly like lake tahoe with clear blue calm water and a sweet cliff jumping rock to top it off! It was apparently more crowded than usual but that didn't phase us from having a great time. The nights were so hot that we would go swimming in the sea surrounded by glowing fish! the more you swim the more the sparkles surrounded you. I've never seen anything like it.
The day we returned Ali took us to a turkish rock concert where we saw some sweet bands/ Amber and i enjoyed DANDADADAN the most. I recorded that too bu t realized my level s were off again. I have now solved my recording problems meaning that the rest of my recordings will be crisp and clean from now on.
We are now back in Istanbul after being in olympos for 3nights four days. Since we have returned we have slowed down a little bit and ventured to the island for drinks and a solid tan. Today we will see the blue Mosque which is huge! Ihave seen it a bunch but today we go inside. We are also going to the archiological museum. I hope this is enough to feed your curiosity. Now that we have a solid source of internet, the blog is in full effect!!!
STAY TUNED
Amber and Paul