Istanbul and Orhaniye (Sam)

(Sam)  On the Bosphorus

I spent my 14^th birthday (May 13^th) on the Bosphorus Strait. When I woke up that morning I was greeted with pistachio baklava and pistachio Turkish delight. We had seen a place down the road that did a breakfast buffet for 10 lira but we thought we'd stick to 1 lira lentil soup. We went to the docks and got on the public cruise going all the way up the straight. We saw many mosques, palaces, bridges and forts. The cruise was great and we had fish for lunch. That evening I had pistachio birthday cake (by the way, I love pistachios and Turkey grows some of the best). That evening we splurged on supper and went to the same Lokanta we go to every night. A filling meal for four with tapioca pudding, 20 lira, about 15 dollars (okay so maybe not quite a splurge but it's some of the best food I've ever had).

Orhaniye

We took an overnight bus From Istanbul to Marmaris, and a Dolmus (minibus) to the small coastal town of Orhaniye, where we met up with Terry Anthony, a relative of ours. We spent three full days there, we did lots of hiking, and the water was very warm so we swam a lot. The village is set in a bay, surrounded by huge mountains; it was fun to float in the bay and stare up at the mountains. The hikes were also beautiful. One day we went up to an ancient amphitheatre and temple which had amazing views over the bay. We also saw lots of tortoises, lizards and goats. One herd of goats ate cucumber from our hands.