Hot, Hot, Hot!

I had a great weekend visiting with Vicki and Lady M and her new "friends" (foxes, a mom and her two kids are living under Lady M's wood shed) on Wolfe Island. They really are sly, sneaky creatures as they creep along the edge of the trees to spy on us while wearing their black socks (okay, they're not really wearing socks, but it looks like it). They like to eat birds and they weren't shy about leaving the evidence laying around as we would come across wings here and there.

Boy, I wanted to see the sun this weekend and out it came and blazing too. It was a very hot weekend. Lady M took us out in her boat and rowed us around the St. Lawrence River for a couple of hours. She took us into the marsh so we could see the jumping carp. It's their mating season and I'm not sure if both sexes jump out of the water or if it's the male fish chasing the female into mating and one them jumps out. Well, we didn't see them jump right out of the water, but we did hear some splashes and saw movement in the water. Perhaps it wasn't the right time of the day.

One day, we put on our rubber boots and took on a tree with clippers, a hand-saw, and a hack saw and set about cutting down dead branches and parts of the tree. It was a lot of fun to saw branches down and to stock pile the brush. We felt such an accomplishment after seeing the final result of hard work. Poor Lady M, was left with the job of going through the brush and it will keep her busy for a little while.

Most of the our time was spent relaxing on the deck either at the house or down by the boat house and eating (good food), drinking, chatting, reading, and mostly, just enjoying the sun. I was the only one brave enough to go swimming in the river and chilly it was, but only at first. It was great to float around in the water and watch the clouds move across the sky, and to watch the speed boats fly by and lastly, to watch the sail boats' sails billow in the wind.

Thank you Lady M for inviting us and for being a great host. See you later this summer.

Where's the Sun?

Today, my friend Vicki and I are off to Wolfe Island to visit Lady M for the weekend. I'm very excited about visiting Lady M as she always has great stories to tell us. Whenever we visit Lady M, the time it spent talking, laughing, eating great food and heading out in the water.

This morning it's pouring outside and I'm starting wonder if the sun will ever come out for the summer. It continues to play hide and seek with me ... coming out for one or two days to taunt me then it hides itself and lets the rain fall down on us. It's suppose to be sunny and bright outside this weekend and I hope it is because how can you truly enjoy floating around in the St. Lawrence River starring up at the blue sky and white fluffy clouds when it's grey and wet outside?

I will report on my weekend when I return.

Our overall impressions of Turkey

Our trip to Turkey has come and gone in a whirlwind motion that us left us wanting more. Although we have been back for a couple of days now, we are still on Turkey time and wonder what we would be doing if we were still there. It was a great trip and I fell in love with the country, the people, and the food.

Things we will miss:

• Göreme
• Great hospitality
• Çay (also free at times :))
• The landscape
• Göreme boys
• Fresh fruit
• Tasty desserts
• Fabulous dishes (Iskender Kebab, Chicken Shish Kebab, Gözleme, Köfte)
• Erol’s breakfast
• The HOT men

Things we will NOT miss:

• The haggling
• The cigarette smoke
• Celine Dion music
• Weird toilets
• Beethoven’s Fur Elise ringtone (I swear it’s the most popular ringtone in Turkey)

Nina's Post Travel Tip:

• Be aware that weaning off of Turkey is a slow and painful process!

Our Last Day in Turkey

Last night, Nina and I went to the Nazar Börek restaurant for the last time and we decided to go crazy and ordered three desserts: baklava with ice cream, apple and cinnamon börek (basically it's an apple pie in phyllo pastry), and another dessert made with grape syrup. After our dessert feast we headed to Fat Boy's Bar to watch the Turkey-Switzerland football game with the locals. One of the guys thought Nina was a good-luck charm because as soon as she went into the washroom, Turkey scored and tied up the game. The guy kept telling Nina to go back into the washroom so Turkey would score again. They eventually did and won the game. The Turkish men in the bar jumped up and were cheering and hugging one another. After the game, Fat Boy's was the place to be for fun and dancing. So it was another late night (very late night or should I say early morning) of having fun with all of our new friends.


Today, we said good-bye to our friends and returned to İstanbul for our last night. We are feeling quite sad to be leaving Turkey. In some ways it feels like we've been here forever but at the same time it flew by. A piece of us will be left in Turkey. It has captured our hearts.

Nina's Travel Tip:

• Sixteen days is not enough time for Turkey.

A Turkish Bath is a Turkish Delight

Yesterday's rain turned us into lazy lumps for most of the day. We were stuck at the Internet cafe during the afternoon rain storm. Once the rain let up somewhat, we went to Sultan Carpets ... and I bought a rug for my living room. I fell in love with this carpet when we first came to Goreme, however at the time, I did not want to spend that much money so early into our trip. I have looked at some other rugs from different places, but none of them appealed to me as much as this one. It will look fabulous in my place!

After my crazy carpet purchase, we returned to our room for a nice long nap, then we went to meet one of the locals to try the nargile (Turkish water pipe), which is a way of smoking Turkish tobacco. The nargile has a metal pipe on the top and a glass bottle on the bottom, which is half-filled with water and a long flexible hose is attached to the pipe. The top of the pipe has a small metal try which holds the tobacco and coals. Each person receives their own sipsi (a mouthpiece) and it is placed at the top of the hose. As you suck through the mouthpiece, it draws tobacco smoke down through the pipe, through the water (makes a bubbling noise) and into the mouth, then you exhale. You will notice the apple flavour. There are numerous flavours, such as cherry, kiwi, blackberry, but the most popular flavour is the apple. The nargile is a social function, which is mostly done by Turkish men and last night, Nina and I were the only women in the place trying it.


After a while, we went to the Flintstone's bar and danced the night away. These Turkish men really know how to dance. There was one man who was an exceptional dancer and Nina and I watched him dance most of the night.

This afternoon we went to Elis Kapadokya Hamam (Turkish bath) and it was an amazing experience. We were taken to a change room to lock our items and were given a pestemal (towel) and sandals to wear. We were directed upstairs to a room where a woman painted mud on our faces then were told to sit in the sauna for 15 minutes. I roasted in the sauna and had to leave it earlier than expected. We were led to another room and Nina and I laid on this round hot stone to await our turn to be washed. Once it was our turn, we take the pestemal off and lay it on the stone, then we lay face down on it. The lady pours warm water over your body and places a kese (loofah mitt) on her hand and starts massaging your body and at the same time is exfoliating you. I loved having my back exfoliated. Once she's done with your back, she pours more water over you and tells you to turn around so she does the front part of your body. After this step, the lady covers your body with bubbles and starts to massage your body and rub the soap in. I think the last time I was scrubbed this thoroughly was when I was a little kid or a baby. It's truly one long massage. After the lady pours more water over your body to rinse the bubbles off, she tells us to have a shower to rinse the mask off. After this step, we're directed to the jacuzzi to sit in it for as long as you want. After the jacuzzi, I had a shower to wash my hair and went back downstairs to have a 10 minute oil massage. I think I should have gone for a 20 minute massage. Not including the massage, the Turkish bath cost 35 YTL and it was an extra 10 YTL for the 10 minute oil massage. It was so wonderful and relaxing and am happy to have experienced it.

Nina's Travel Tip:

• Pay extra and get the oil massage (Nina's favourite part)