Destination: Turkey

Yes, that’s right we have bid Latin America adieu and managed to speed halfway around the world to the dividing point between Asia and Europe: Turkey. At once familiar and exotic, for many westerners Turkey seems contradictory (for Melanie, whose exposure to Islam was of a more conservative variety, the liberal attitudes were constantly a surprise)—it is at once west and East…and happily coexisting. Most of the time.

Meeting place of the Eastern and Western worlds, Turkey has always been a land of contrasts. Cosmopolitan Istanbul stood at the head of the Christian Roman (Byzantine) Empire for 1000 years, while its Islamic successor the Ottomans ruled the Mediterranean and beyond for six centuries more. This long Christian and Islamic history has left a legacy of historical sites, while Turkey’s Mediterranean coastline has long been famous for its beaches and wild nightlife.

And so we dive into a new country for me, one where I am no help with language, or direction, or anything else really, other than a vague experience of Islam, some decent recall of ancient history and some crossover food from places like Greece. Wish me luck!

Oh, and I could write a post about Ankara…but why bother? It is what it is: a political and business capital, religiously conservative, and not really a huge tourist draw. Move on! I say.