Back from Iran...

We got back late Monday night...I am, as usual, in the throes of jet lag, waking up raring to go at 3 AM, crashing at 3 in the afternoon. Yikes!

Here is a picture of the Middle East, showing where Iran is in relation to other countries...

And here is the map of the route we took on our trip:

We started and ended in Tehran, going  counter-clockwise.

The trip was fantastic...not always easy, but certainly worth the effort. Our favorite part? The people!

Never in all our years of travel have we been so warmly welcomed as we were in Iran; we and our fellow travelers (there were 7 of us) felt like celebrities! We saw NO other American tourists, although there were a lot of Europeans and Asians there. Passersby would ask which country we came from, and

when we said "America", there was an astoundingly positive response and, usually, a request for a photo.

Here is our stalwart group...

Interestingly, the only other man besides Dave, Murray, was also in the group on our trip to Ethiopia last year. He and Dave escaped the female contingent several times to smoke cigars, and other things...

The scope of the trip was so great that I'll  need to break the posts into several parts... (I am also hoping my jet-lagged brain will rejoin my body)...

 Iran is the home to at least 12 UNESCO World Heritage Sites...we saw 6 of them. Stay tuned for 

magnificent RUINS... (some of them from the 6th millennium B.C.)

Lush Persian GARDENS...

and more MOSQUES, beautifully tiled, than you can imagine...

...to be continued....

Going into the BIG SILENCE...

We're here in the airport, waiting for our 1AM flight; I've been doing a little research about the status of the Internet in Iran, and discovered that Gmail, Facebook and Google, among others, have been blocked for TWO YEARS. And just last month, the Iranian government put in place some software that makes using VPN's impossible...so, it very much looks like I won't be posting till May 6th, when we come back. Yikes!


See you later!

Location:Istanbul airport

An Istanbul Interlude...

We're here for a few days till we leave for Iran early Tuesday morning. I was last here FORTY-FIVE years ago and this is Dave's first visit.


We spent the morning sightseeing, walking at least 6 miles, enjoying perfect walking weather, crisp, cool.



















This week is the annual Tulip Festival and there were zillions of tulips, all in full bloom. The other thing there were zillions of, were cats...






No shopping for me, today...although we did see a bride...


The carpet in the Blue Mosque was gorgeous...echoing the tulips blooming outside...





Our handsome guide Zaki was a marvel of service, and was a good photographer, too...















Dave and Zaki...






In "payment" for his wonderful guide services, we allowed Zaki to lead us to his family's carpet shop; we enjoyed the usual ritual/sales pitch, accompanied by apple tea, and though we were tempted by a small silk carpet, we decided against it, as we head Tuesday to the land of Persian carpets. Anyway, I would prefer to bring this mirror from our hotel room home, as it makes me look 6 feet tall and skinny!



After our LONG walk, we had an hour's nap, then out for a coffee accompanied by baklava (yummmm)...



and MORE walking (to reverse the baklava)...then out to dinner at a fabulous restaurant







A wonderful bottle of wine...



a fabulous meze (appetizer) plate


a superb seafood salad (half eaten before we remembered to take a picture)



and a "Harem's Delight", with lamb, rice and a marvelous pomegranate sauce



followed by thick, delicious Turkish coffee and the ever-present Turkish delight.



Lovely food, gracious service and a charming atmosphere...can you tell we're foodies?

N.B. Dave and I almost ALWAYS split our plates, so the calorical damage is not as bad as it looks!


biz tekrar karşılaşıncaya kadar (till we meet again, in Turkish)


Margy

Location:Peykhane Sokak,Binbirdirek,Turkey

Giardini-Naxos

                                                                                Gattito in the sunshine...

I'm testing to see if I can post from my laptop...I think the problem was iPad/Blogspot ???

                           

glass of wine in Giardini-Naxos

Mt. Etna seen through the Greek amphitheater

Greek Amphitheater, with Mt. Etna in the background

We're home (2 AM this morning) but our suitcases aren't...!!!! Keep your fingers crossed...

Where Do Lost Posts Go?

This is my FOURTH post...where the others have gone, who knows? We met up with our group briefly today...they are all jet-lagged, while we are much refreshed after 4 days in Taormina, a lovely hillside town which has been welcoming travelers for hundreds of years...a lot of them with big, beautiful yachts.  We left our yacht at home, but thoroughly enjoyed the beauty and ambiance of our hotel, Villa Belvedere

 We ate and drank excellent Sicilian food and wine, walked the charming (but crowded) steep streets, returned to our hotel to read by the pool and nap. One day Dave climbed 600 steps up to a church carved out of rock

Posting problems

For some odd reason, I haven't bee able to successfully post...FOUR posts are in the ether, somewhere between Sicily and the Internet...we're having a great time, and I will keep trying.....

Leaving on a jet plane...

tomorrow...3 weeks in Sicily!

Greek ruins, beautiful views, active volcanoes, FOOD, markets, DRINK, oh, boy, can't wait!