Turkey....I'm coming back.

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'm going back to Turkey!.....and I can't wait! I left my heart in Cappadocia and I need to go back to find it ;-)

I just traded in 50,000 air miles today and got a round trip ticket from Washington Dulles to Istanbul Ataturk. It will be a short (okay, for me it's short) two week trip. I need to work out the itinerary and then get my visa. Very excited to be returning....and so soon!

Food, glorious food.

Turkish tea ("chai") which is THE symbol of Turkish hospitality. Everywhere you go - stores, hotels, restaurants - you're offered a serving and very often, for free. It's usually served as shown in the photo - in a very distinctively shaped glass, placed atop a ceramic saucer with a small teaspoon to stir in two cubes of sugar.

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o say we ate well on this trip is an understatement. The truth is we ate like pigs....devouring each meal as if it was our last and we loved every single bite. In Turkey, we had an enormous variety of yummy foods to choose from - everything from meat kebabs and stews to seafood cooked in a variety of ways. There were plenty of desserts to satisfy our sweet tooth - from lokum (Turkish delight) to baklava to ice cream.

The Pearl of the Adriatic. Dubrovnik.

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hat I will always remember about Dubrovnik is the stark visual contrast of rust colored terra cotta roofs set against the turquoise colored waters of the Adriatic. The cloudless blue sky simply accentuated the beautiful views!

Our first full and only day in Dubrovnik started with a walk along the top of the walls that surround the old city. From that vantage view, we had wonderful vistas of the medieval city and the surrounding waters.

Last views of Trogir, first views of Dubrovnik.

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oday is the day that we left Trogir and headed down the Dalmatian coast to Dubrovnik. It will also always be remembered as the day that Lei got relieved of her duties as "clock keeper". We had an early morning departure - catching the 5:45am bus. As with all the other travel days. Lei awoke about an hour and a half before me to prep herself for the day and to do her last minute packing.