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We had a whirlwind 24-hour stop in this southwest coastal part of Turkey.  We arrived in time for a gourmet dinner at a tiny inn up in the mountains.  After the meal we slept in an authentic hillside dwelling while listening to the village goat’s bell as he ambled past our door.  We woke, packed and indulged […]

“Ouch!” I yelled. The cowboy/horse guide had pricked me with the buckle of the leather chaps he was putting on my legs. We were at a ranch, ready to go horse-back riding for 2 hours. We all got chaps and helmets. We walked to where the horses were and something hit me. No it was […]

A few days ago my family went to a 2,000 year old underground city that could supposedly hold 15,000 people. This city, though not used as a permanent residence, was able to hold early Christians who were being persecuted for their beliefs and were hiding from the Romans. The city was comprised of small chambers […]

I love accomplishing something before breakfast, but this morning was early even for me. We woke at 4:00 am in order to be on time for the 4:45 pick-up. We were going ballooning and the best flight time was just after sunrise when the air was cool and calm. We weren’t alone: more than 30 […]

One of the topics in Road School is comparative religion. We wanted to study this because religion has such a great influence on history and culture.  Although the book we are using starts with Judaism and Christianity before getting to Islam (and then five more religions), we started with Islam so the kids could have […]

We spent seven days in Istanbul, a city both modern and ancient. Our hotel, the Empress Zoe, was a converted 15th century bathhouse in the heart of old Istanbul which is called Sultanahmet. The hotel was filled with period style objects and the rooms open into a central courtyard where breakfast and WiFi are served, […]

We left at 7:00 pm. We walked the long way, and got to the bath. We were in the great city of Istanbul. As you know Istanbul is in Turkey, and you also probably know if you are going to bother to fly 5000 miles to Turkey, you might as well get a Turkish bath. […]

Last week Piggy was at the Olympic Stadium.  Congratulations to Sam and Rachel they guessed right! Where is Piggy this week?  Send your guess to me by email.

Turkey is a feast for all the senses but my taste buds were on overdrive as we sampled street fare, sweets, and dishes fit for a Sultan.  In lieu of chips or packaged snacks we found lots of little stands selling all sorts of nuts, dried fruits, and—of course—Turkish delight.  The latter is a sort […]

They say that there are more than 4,000 stores within the maze of covered streets that comprise Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar.  They also say that the stores are now filled with nothing but “authentic imitations” and pickpockets.  We weren’t sure what to expect but we knew that we would be in capable hands with Marilyn, a […]

Today was our first true day in Istanbul.  Upon waking up, we had breakfast and returned to our room to get ready for a scavenger hunt!  Dad went to the front desk and came back with two envelopes.  The first envelope had a strange puzzle, a map and a cell phone. In the second envelope […]