(Français si-dessous) Wow, Istanbul is one big happening city! Our week was full of discoveries. Of course we visited the incredible historic sites of Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and the grand bazaar, which are each so grand and opulent, from the harem apartments in the palace to the mosaics of christian scenes uncovered after the church was converted to a mosque and then a museum. Amélie was awestruck when she saw it from a distance for the...

(English follows) On a vécu des aventures depuis que ma mère est arrivée! Des belles journées à explorer le long de la mer Méditerranée près de Cirali, ou on a vue des anciennes ruines et griller du fromage sur les flammes des feux éternels d'Olympus en admirant le coucher du soleil. On a pu louer des vélos et se promener sur des chemins tranquilles en campagne qui était superbe. Même Léa trouvait la température juste un peu trop froid pour se baig...

(French follows) We are eating too much in Turkey! The guesthouses and hotels always serve lots of fluffy white bread with all meals, and we can't stop but inhaling it in large quantities. Its interesting, I just read that the government wants residents to eat more whole wheat bread and that less white bread be produced since the commercial scale bakeries are baking excessive quantities (apparently 500 new schools could be built with the money spent on wasted br...

(le français suis si-dessous) Its hard to believe we've been in Turkey over a week and have only had a tiny taste of this vast country. We chose to start the trip in Izmir as that was the most straightforward and economical domestic fligt upon landing in Istanbul. We had no idea what to expect but were pleasantly surprised by the laid back feel of this big city. The very hippy and homey hostel we checked into was so helpful and welcoming, especially with ...

(Français si-dessous) Wow, what a shock arriving in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Everything is so clean and manicured, everyone is driving in cars instead of walking...its similar to Australia in a way, except for the conservative Islamic rule. We spent 2 days here and decided to forgo the fancy water park, huge shopping malls and ferrari race track, for a visit to the heritage park and museum, a dip in the Persian Gulf at the downtown public beach, a tour...