One of the greatest benefits of traveling is the opportunity to dispel stereotypes and misplaced notions about people or areas. That is exactly what happened to me in Turkey. I certainly wasn’t expecting camels and donkeys, but I also wasn’t expecting the large harbor filled with pleasure boats as we sailed into Kusadasi, a beautiful modern port city of 110,000 that was our gateway to Ephesus.We opted for a four hour bus tour of Ephesus that gave us the highlights, but not time to go exploring Continue Reading
Arrivederci Roma
(I am still learning how to post to my blog. If you are looking for Final Thoughts from the Two Hat Tour, please scroll down and you will find it after this one. In the meantime, this post has been updated with additional pictures from Rome.)Rule number one when taking a taxi in a foreign country - determine the cost before you get in. Not after you close the door and start down a busy street. After it was apparent we would lose the price argument and the driver refused to stop, Kathy determined Continue Reading
Final Thoughts from the Two Hat Tour
"I am so sorry to be calling you so late but we have just received news...". By this time, I was fully awake, even though the clock said only 1:00 AM on the last night of our cruise.Fortunately, it wasn't anything personal, but rather the Rome airport had suffered a serious fire and our flight might be in jeopardy, very likely delaying our departure. My thoughts vacillated between "great, more time to explore and eat more pasta" to "damn, I only have one pair of clean undies left". Continue Reading
The Two Hat Tour Stops in Florence
A little update from the Two Hat Tour (occasionally referred to as the Blues Sisters Take the Mediterranean. Jake and Elmwood have nothing on us.) Forgive the lack of pictures. I'm having technical difficulties, and will add when I can. Nothing like a good protest to stir up a day of sightseeing for us, and that's how our day started today. Kathy enjoyed talking with a protester from Nigeria wanting better living conditions for immigrants. She gave fair play to an Italian merchant to get Continue Reading