Hi everybody.
No doubt your lives are totally boring since you have not received one of our witty travel notes in almost 2 months. Well, contain your excitement!!! Entertainment is at hand.
A quick check of my last letter revealed we have not yet reported on the camel wrestling outing. Actually, this was a pretty cool deal. It cost us about $180/person and included transportation, tickets to the various events, a professional Turkish tour guide and lunch and dinner the first day, breakfast the second as well as a really, really nice hotel. So they picked us up at about 7 AM in a minibus. The woman who puts these tours together lives on her boat in the other marina across the bay, and makes her living this way. Besides talking way too much on the morning radio net selling her stuff, I think she takes a little advantage. For instance, she crammed 17 people on a 16 person bus for this tour. That being said, everything else was very good--even the weather cooperated.
Our first stop was Ephesus, about 2 hours or 3 away. This is a very cool archeological site going back to pre-Roman times which was an important seaport before sea levels dropped--it's now 5 kilometers from the coast. During Roman times it grew to the third largest city in the ancient world with a population of up to 350,000. Had villas for the rich on the hills overlooking the sea, only a fraction of which have been excavated, with running water. There are even public toilets that sort of self-flush along with baths and broad avenues with many temples. It's still a huge site and we spent almost all day there.
Following Ephesus, we had a late lunch and then we hit the local museum and a famous mosque--I forget why it's famous--senior moment. Our last stop was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world--the Temple of Aphrodite. Unfortunately, most of the 60 or so columns had been dismantled long ago and used in other construction so there's just one remaining. Obviously, this was not a long stop. After, it was on to the hotel overlooking the sea which had great rooms and a terrific dinner buffet. It was just too bad, due to the timing of everything, that we'd eaten lunch so late as the food was great but appetites were small.
The main event, camel wrestling (hereafter called CW, not conventional wisdom), was the next day. After convening following breakfast and checkout, we were supposed to tour the little resort town, but one of our party got wind of a Starbucks so we scrapped plan A for a trip to get some decent coffee. We were due at CW at about 10, and it was a hoot. The event is held in a natural coliseum without seats. We knew this from talking to people who had done it before and took our own folding canvas chairs. The hillside was packed with 5-10,000 Turks enjoying their version of an American tailgate party complete with BBQs. Dave and I decided "when in Rome..." and bought a bottle of Rake, the local firewater that is like ouzo or anisette. The guys next to us watched us have a couple before handing over some BBQed chicken with an admonition that one does not drink rake on an empty stomach. Then, people from all around started offering us oranges, nuts and assorted other goodies. The CW itself took a backseat to the festivities, but just to be complete, they fight with their necks (and teeth if they hadn't been muzzled) and the idea is to put the other camel down. These are bulls, only, but they keep a couple of females in season around to stir up the hormones. They slobber all over the place and are riderless, but in full regalia with decorations, saddles, etc. We had been making fun of the whole thing beforehand, but it was one of those events that turned out to be something that shouldn't be missed.
After the wrestling, we grabbed some lunch and went to a specialty wine making village for a tasting which really wasn't necessary after all the rake. Touristy place, but quite interesting and fun. Hopped on the bus and were home by the evening, laughing about the day all the way home.
Back to the real world, I finally got the nerve to see if the new transformer--yes, more new stuff getting the boat ready to sell--would run the AC/Heating. I think it will, but the forward unit--the one we'd really use, wouldn't work. A visit from the AC guy gave us the bad news that we needed a new compressor. Just try getting one that uses 110 volts here in the Med. Fortunately, the manufacturer felt bad about it as I'd replaced both about 3 years ago and gave me a deal. Sent it to Lizzie who will work some magic on the invoice to put the price below Turkish customs' radar, and it will be on the way shortly. Could have used it the last few days when spring turned back into winter and 70's have made way for a freezing cold snap (it's warmed back up now, thank God). Our portable heaters seem to be keeping up, thank goodness. The other major expense we're now facing is redoing the counter tops. Had a hell of a time getting anyone to look--they're Corian--but finally someone from 2 hours away gave us a quote. Lots of money, but considering the labor involved getting the old ones off--21 tubes of Sikaflex that's like iron were used to glue it down--I think we getting a good deal. We thought it was important as first impressions can make or break a sale. The old counters just couldn't cope with all the flexing in some of the bad weather we've had and had cracked in several places. The new counters will be 50% thicker and we shouldn't be in those conditions anymore so I think they'll hold up just fine.
I just realized--it's now a few days later--what I thought would be a short letter may turn out to be a large volume. SO--you are forewarned. If you don't want to hear anymore about our recent adventures, delete this now.
After our return from all the excitement of the CW, life continued at a leisurely pace with our next outing on Feb. 10 to Istanbul for the boat show and sightseeing. The marina pays to bus us all up there and walk around wearing marina jackets to promote themselves. More on this later, but, first, it was necessary to do a visa run to Rhodes. I wasn't going to make another mistake and have a 200€ fine. Since my visa would have run out while in Istanbul, we could have ridden over to the Bulgarian border, but figured that had to be time consuming and expensive. Also, due to poor planning on our part, Rose was departing for the UK for a doctor's visit, one miserable day beyond her visa. That was a costly miscalculation as they raised the ferry rate to 45€, and we had cabs, lunch, etc. The trip was complicated by the fact that the USS Enterprise was in port and security was up, so we got the rust bucket, slow ferry instead of the fast cat. This meant we had about an hour and a half to get to the store to buy pork products. Freebird came, too, with similar circumstances. Actually, that part was good since they brought their Kindles--Amazon's e-book reader--and it was so cool, I just got one myself. Just as an aside, the new ones are free 3G connections, and they've added a browser so you can even surf and check your email. Not as good as using a computer, but it saves toting along the heavy laptop or netbook for short trips. The trip turned out to be a bit humorous as someone said they spot check bags when returning to Turkey and won't allow pork--or any fresh products--in. So we, of course, were ignoring the restriction craving some good salami and ham, and we bought loads of the stuff plus some sausages--real polish and good hotdogs--not that chicken stuff you get here. The problem was to smuggle it back in so we stuffed Rose's loose top and around her waist with the flat packages and Istuffed the salami and other stuff in my inside jacket pocket. I was going to put the salami in my pants but there wasn't any room. As it turned out, Turkish officialdom didn't check anyone or even give us a second look. So we are now legal into early May and will be departing around then for Greece so we needn't suffer through that ordeal again. Next stop Istanbul. Unfortunately, all four of us picked up a bad cold with varying gestation periods and severity on the damn ferry which took the edge off the Istanbul trip. I was the first to be cursed.
As a result of my cold, I can't say I enjoyed the 16 hour bus ride north, the discomfort of which was compounded by a few unauthorized BS stops so someone could show off their knowledge of local conditions. In fact, the next day, I booked a return flight rather than facing another marathon bus ride to get home. We finally got to our room, which was quite pleasant, about midnight after an 8AM start. There were 60 or 70 of us and most everyone stayed in the one hotel right in the center of the old district. Next morning, it was a leisurely, if somewhat skimpy Turkish breakfast which consists of a hardboiled egg, olives, cheese, tomato and cucumber with fresh bread. At 10, we reboarded our busses for transport to a tour boat--again all at the marina's expense--for a 5 hour cruise up the Bosporus. This was a first class deal with a lovely ship, and tons of free food and booze as well as a live band and belly dancers, all in addition to the sights. Our friends from another marina farther east came up to visit us, and we managed to smuggle them in to all the events which added to the fun. I consumed mass quantities of vitamin C in the form of red wine, purely for medicinal purposes which actually seemed to work.
The next day was the boat show all day and, if you wanted, they would ply you with more free wine at their large display area. I decided not to push my luck. The owner of the marina was there who is allegedly a Turkish mafia guy, and it was kind of like watching the wedding scene in the Godfather's den with various people coming over to pay homage. The show itself was quite large, but mainly smaller power boats and really not too much gear. Well, that was it--Saturday--for the marina deal, and they were leaving early Sunday on the bus for the marina. We were staying 'til Wednesday with Rose flying out early to the UK and me in the evening back to Dalaman and Marmaris. Freebird by this time was in full flower with colds, but they stayed until Friday. Our other friends, on Katanne, left Tuesday, so we did some stuff together and cruised by ourselves part of the time.
As I said, the hotel was in a great location, within close walking distance of all the things you've read about in the city. In fact, we were only about 100 yards from the Blue Mosque. I actually downloaded the movie, Topkapi, which we watched before departing Marmaris, and it is truly amazing with all the stuff including the dagger they stole in the movie. It's huge but we got most of it in. We also went into the oldunderground Roman cisterns nearby which are an ancient engineering marvel. Tombs, mosques, basilicas--we did it all. Over the next few days we also went to the Grand Bazaar which was a big disappointment. We expected excellent, after negotiation of course, prices and all sorts of cool stuff in the 5-7,000 shop complex. What we found were blasé merchants unwilling to negotiate and prices higher than Marmaris. They wanted $60 for knock off Levis, and they were all 34 inch inseam requiring more money for tailoring. I needed a new cheap digital watch, and they were trying to get $40 for the local cheap brand which I ultimately bought here for $20. Big bummer as you always hear about the Istanbul bazaar. Not a disappointment was the much smaller spice bazaar where some good deals were to be had.
The weather was getting pretty cold by then. Early on the trip for the cruise, etc. it had been sunny and 50's. Changed to cloudy, drizzly and 32 late Sunday until departure. Overall, it was something we just had todo, but neither of us have much interest in returning. So, we got Rose off around 10 on Wed. and I had the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon to kill. I opted for a Turkish bath and massage to knock out the remnants of my cold. While it was a bit expensive, I went for a famous historical old bath near the bazaar which was built in 1300 or something, maybe earlier. About quadruple the $25 cost of the same deal in Alanya but includes the steam room (sort of--you really have to do it to understand), body scrub, soapy massage, shampoo and oil massage--about 2 hours for the whole deal. Finished that, had lunch, fruitlessly wandered the bazaar, and then it was the bus to the airport. The only glitch was the transport service to Marmaris at Dalaman was waiting at the International terminal. Panic stricken with no ride at 9PM and no phone number for them, I lucked out as one of the other drivers at domestic knew my guy and called him. Back on the boat, alone again, not even Charlie to greet me, by 10:30.
Now, as I think I've mentioned--we're on the home stretch, folks--I need to get some kind of EU residency. In their infinite wisdom, the Europeans limit many nationalities' stays, including Americans who bailed their asses out of 2 wars, to three months out of six ( I don’t think so !! from me, Rose. ). This makes staying in a marina for the entire winter illegal, and I am not comfortable staying with our friends for three months. Besides, most of them live in colder places than where we'll be‼! While many countries sort of ignore this rule, since I want to stay in Europe, I thought it best to be totally legal. Research has led us to Italy as a choice for several reasons. We both think we could live there; we're heading west this season and there is an exceedingly cheap deal for the winter at a new marina in Sicily, and Italy seems to be pretty receptive to granting residency. Hell, who knows, maybe I could supplement my income with some Mafia jobs. Anyway, I've been trying for 4 months to get somewhere on this only to be totally jerked around. Theembassy in DC says talk to Istanbul or the consulate of my permanent residence. Philly, which is the latter, said, sure they'd help. Just come on in. Istanbul referred me back to the states. The states referred me back to Istanbul. My plan had been to combine the boat show trip with getting the visa, but 25 emails later, nothing was happening. UNTIL, of course, I was already in Istanbul with no paperwork and got a call. So I, at least, discovered while there what is necessary. First, I need a long term visa prior to arrival which will allow me to apply for residency. To get the visa, I needed to present to the consulate certified financial docs showing I can support myself, proof of medical insurance and the boat papers proving I have a place to stay. Basically the same procedure is repeated on arrival in Italy to get a residence permit. Easy, peasy, Japanesy.
So the person who finally called was the head of the visa department in the Italian Istanbul consulate, and she was very helpful and cooperative. Unfortunately, this was going to require another trip to Istanbul. So I gathered the papers and back I went. The process only took about 2 1/2 hours from start to finish, so I now have a one year multiple entry visa for Italy. The only glitch was getting there. The same yahoos who went to international on my last trip were meant to pick me up at the marina at 6:30 AM. Timing was critical as Turkish Air had some BS problem and wanted me at the service desk early--this turned out to be nothing at all, but I didn't know that at the time and had to make this flight as the Italian visa person was leaving on vacation. Well, the ride never did show up. The difference in cost between them and a cab is 9€ versus 60€--$12 versus $80+‼ Fortunately, at about 20 to the hour, a German guy drove through the gate and asked if I wanted a lift--turned out he was on the way to the airport, himself. Phew, this visa was expensive enough already what with fees, airfare, Istanbul cabs, etc. The transport company claimed they had a guy at the gate from 6:20 to 6:40 and refused me a refund which I wanted on principle. Damn liars‼‼ Big win there--when negotiations failed, and I finally called Citibank to bounce the charge, they just said okay, no problem. No affidavit, no letter, no nothing--just OK.
Since Rose returned 10 days ago, not much has been going on. We've hooked up with a nice crowd, and there've been a few parties; my bowling continues to improve and we're going to the other marina today for a lambroast lunch. Later today is rugby in the bar here with cheap eats--England v Scotland so it will be crowded with many fans on both sides. Really good sport to watch once you figure it out which is not rocket science like Cricket. Our departure is getting closer and we're both ready to go--pretty well sick of the marina cliques and politics--and anxious to move ahead.
The Rose report is good. She continues to be in fine form and got a 3 month cortisone shot in England. Very little pain now. The doc she had this time is pretty cooperative so she needn't return until the fall when, by the way, both of us will be in the UK for her son Nathan's longggggggggg overdue nuptials at the end of October.
Too long a letter I know. Cheers for now. Let us know how you are doing.
Tim & Rose
P.S. Joey continues to parlay his job into a love fest in Singapore, but work is beckoning as the boat is finally ready, and he departs Singapore and his love for Hong Kong later this week. Safe Sailing.
