BEYOND THE BORDERS

Wow!  I just can't seem to stay current with this blog.  Between our travel schedule, having been here 6+ years and not having a lot of new experiences to share, it is sometimes hard to sit down and write!  However, I did do something recently for the first time ever and it was a lot of fun.  I was able to take two of our young ladies to get manicures at the local mall.  

A couple of weeks ago I was going to get coffee with their mother when Elizabeth asked if she could go with us.  I promised her I would take her and her sister out for a special outing but not that day.  

So, I met Elizabeth and Olivia at Campona Mall and I treated them to manicures out in the middle of the mall.  It was fun and the time passed too quickly, so next time I will have to come up with something that will last longer!

Glenn and I have just returned from Turkey.  We spent a week in Antalya, a resort city down on the southern coast, attending a meeting of about half of our personnel.  You may have seen pictures of Antalya in my blog before because this was our 5th trip here.  Antalya has become the best kept secret of great places to go because in the off-season hotels here are unbelievably cheap.  Lots of our meetings are now held here for this reason. 

Notice the snow-capped mountains?

 The temperatures were perfect and on one side were the mountains and on the other side of our hotel was the beach!  It was beautiful.  And warm.  The warmth and sunshine was the biggest blessing for all of us!

We had a free afternoon so 6 of us went into the part of town called "Old Town" which is where the market and port are located, and most of the touristy kinds of things, like Starbucks, are found.

Gorgeous views overlooking the town.  Beyond the houses is the Mediterranean Sea (to the south).  West of Turkey is the Aegean Sea, and to the north is the Black Sea.   

Turkey is surrounded by 8 countries:  Bulgaria, Greece, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia.  

The official language is Turkish, which is spoken by approximately 85% of the population as their heart language. Turks are the largest ethnic group, making up 70-80% of the population, and the vast majority are Muslim.

The marina of Antalya is full of seagulls, outdoor cafe's, and pirate ships.  Very quaint.

The 6 of us boarded a boat like this one, and for 5 euros (about $6.50) we took a 45 minute boat ride along the coast of Antalya.  

Aren't we cute?

It was interesting to see on the top of the cliffs the contrasts of the old and the new, side-by-side.

There were lots of tourists with the same idea of cruising the coast line.  :-)

Once we got our land legs back, we enjoyed a treat of Magnum ice cream bars, the best brand ever!  When we were stateside in December, we saw Magnum bars there!  Have you ever had one?  When you find them, you've got to try one!  Glenn scored big time with a black coffee Magnum!  

We walked around the center of town, shopped in the tourist shops, and strolled through the Old Bazaar with good friends!

Glenn and I love turkish sandwiches.   Some come in pita bread and some are wrapped in tortilla shells.  We love them all!

I love shaved meat (I prefer chicken over lamb but Glenn likes both) cooked on the spindle, with lettuce, tomatoes, french fries, and special seasonings.

Great friends on the member care team with us.

Great friends in bronze playing in the park.  

There are several great statues like this one spread throughout the city.

After our evening session ended one evening, I talked the wives into playing a new game we bought in the U.S. back in December called Therapy.  What a perfect game for folks on the member care team to play!!!

After a week in Antalya, Glenn and I passed through Istanbul and stayed with one of our member care couples.  We spent most of our time working on emails, the four of us sitting in their living room, our laptops plugged in and talking about the work we do.

We grabbed a pizza at Little Cesars, which was right next door to ...

Domino's Pizza!   

Istanbul has several American food places:  Arby's, KFC, Burger King, McDonalds, Starbucks, Sbarro's, Popeyes, and Krispy Kreme.

I've never seen Burger King delivery before!!!

Kathryn and Clay took us to the market where we picked up some delicious strawberries, navel oranges, and jalapeños.

The navel oranges were the most delicious that I've ever tasted, especially considering that the season for oranges was 6 months ago, but they tasted like they were fresh off the trees!

I always enjoy the many colorful spices that are so creatively arranged to attract attention.

Glenn found crisp, great tasting jalapeños for sale among all the pickled vegetables and he bought some  to bring back to Budapest for our pizzas.  

Well, we are back to BP and here for almost 2 weeks with only an overnight trip to Gyor and Brno.  We'll have company next week, and then we'll be off again, but wait!  I'm getting ahead of myself!  Let's just take this one week at a time!

Hope you have a great week.   We will!