Sunday, May 29, 2016

Three Days Until Turkey

Red and I are hopping on a plane to Turkey in three days and I am ready to run out the door right now. It feels like the day will never get here. For me, this is my first trip out of the country. I lived in Puerto Rico for a short period, but that is technically still in the United States. I did have to take an international flight to get there, but I don't think that counts. This will be my actual real authentic indisputable first time. Red has traveled the world and even lived in three countries outside of the U.S., but this is all new to me.

We are flying out of Chicago instead of Indianapolis (where we live) because it was almost $1,000 cheaper. We're driving to Chicago to leave our car at a friend's house and then are hopping a train and a subway to get us to the airport. So, if we don't die on the subway (first time on a subway also), we should arrive in Ankara, Turkey about 10 p.m. on June 1.

March 13, 2016 - Ankara, Turkey
The city we're initially traveling to
Second car bombing in two weeks
I really don't know what to expect from this trip. This part of the world is radically different from everything here in the States and our government even has issued a travel warning to Americans traveling to Turkey. There's a bit of turmoil happening there right now, but we have discovered that this drastically brings down costs. We're spending a few nights in a resort area right on the Aegean Sea for $50/night. Political turmoil has its advantages!

We plan to visit the sites of several of the churches mentioned in Revelation and visit Troy. We have a lot of driving to do, so we'll have to adjust to their driving laws. That part should be fun. I'm curious how many street signs we will actually be able to read.

On a side note, my doctor has been carefully monitoring my diet for the last month and has not been happy with the way I eat. I really can't say I blame him. He asked me what I will be eating while I'm in Turkey.

"Um...everything."

I mean, seriously? I'm on vacation.

He decided that was fair. I have to start my food diary again as soon as I get back. In the meantime, I will be sure to not only post about all the places we visit each day, but also about the new and exciting foods that we will be eating.

I really do plan to eat everything.

6 comments:

  1. Yesterday, I was speaking with my wife about a friend who was anticipating a trip abroad. I mentioned that I hoped it wouldn't be a place where they hated Americans.
    Without missing a beat, she said, "Where would that be?"
    Well, that is just sad.
    Have a great time and be safe!

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    1. Turkey actually has a travel warning for Americans right now and we did it anyway. Despite that, people seemed to love that we were there. We experienced no bad attitudes toward Americans.

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  2. Good luck with your vacation; hope you find wonderful things to eat. I've been to London and Canada, so nowhere too exotic, yet.

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    Replies
    1. The food was wonderful. I wish I could recreate it here.

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  3. When I went to Thailand, they warned against eating almost anything there because it could get you sick, it contains enzymes we're not used to, blah blah blah. I ate everything in site, including street cart food where health standards go to die. It was disgustingly delicious, and I felt fine. If you have a cast iron stomach, use it!

    Enjoy your trip! And, you know, just don't let any of that turmoil hit you or Red.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There was a bombing in Istanbul while we were in the country, but we never visited Istanbul.

      I ate everything in site and never had any issues. I don't even know what half the stuff was because I couldn't ask. Turkish is nothing like English, so we just did a lot of pointing at menus and nodding of our heads to agree.

      Delete

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