I recently completed my 16th cruise in 25 years  -  a wonderful 12-day Mediterranean  adventure on Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam. I say, cruising is the BEST way to see the world!  More on that in a minute, but first, the latest trip:

The  Nieuw Amsterdam just launched this past summer and so reflects the highest quality (as my fellow blogger Paul Lasley noted as he viewed the ship's construction and detailed its impressive art collection), along with friendly and efficient staff.  Our itinerary included Venice, Athens, Istanbul, Mykonos, Ephesus, Santorini,... Read More

From Istanbul, we wished to travel on to Cappadocia, the Central Anatolian range of beehive-shaped natural rock formations, one of Turkey’s wonders. “No, you don’t want to go there,” said a friend of ours, who’s an archaeologist and works in Turkey for two months of every year at a former Hittite ruin four miles outside of Malatya.

“We don’t?”

“No, you don’t. Well, you do, eventually, but first you want to go to Southeastern Anatolia, away from the crowds, to Şanlıurfa and then to Mardin.”

So that is what we did. Surely her tip must be valid. She did all the digging for us, so to speak.... Read More

   “Hello my friend.”

It was my first full day in Istanbul, Turkey, and I was leaving Gülhane Park, near Topkapi Palace, my mind contemplating where I would go for my first dinner in the city. For most of the day, I had been able to avoid the city’s notoriously pushy salesmen, but I knew as soon as I heard those three words that I’d been caught.

The two young men sidled up to me, one on each side. They were both well dressed, with sharply pressed slacks, suit coats and highly polished shoes. Their friendly dialogue was refined from years of practice on similarly distracted... Read More