The force unleashed...with Stormtroopers

Hammocks rule

Amsterdam

No smoking on a table cloth

They are really cracking down....

Çesme book festival

Feet..in their preferred habitat

Tough life...

Don Quixote on the Aegean...

Out of Africa...into Çesme

Shoulder

(US) A part of a road where drivers may stop in an emergency

(TR) An additional lane to be used for passing, driving dangerously and inducing emergencies

Post match mayhem

The sights and sounds of Istanbul

Sorry - no photo - but wanted to get a small post in about the sounds of Istanbul (unrelated but interesting Fatih Akin documentary). I was laying in bed awake at 4:00am as only one can suffering massive jet-lag when I heard the first call to prayer. A second, less strong voice joined that first call and within minutes there was a mystical cacophony of competing voices which died down almost as quickly as they started.

That's the thing about this place. It's organically, intensely alive, from the birds chirping outside in my densely populated neighborhood, to the cat fights, to the occasional protesting tires of a cab driving by, to the call of the imam to the faithful....time for a run I think.

New York New York

Tired but still standing.

The Raconteurs in Austin,TX

Electric show....

San Fran

Love the old motel sign. I need to go to Vegas. Exhausted and on my
way back to Austin.

The land of happy endings apparently

Korean BBQ in SF

I built this....

Team Lord in Training

Finally got my baby....

The perfectly packed triathlon bag

3 hours and counting..

Miami-almost a go......

A lot to write..

I am beset by lousy iınternet connections here in Ürgüp. That and there is a lot going on...I have copious notes though so expect something in the next several days....

Kayseri....

After an eventless one hour flight, we landed in Kayseri at dusk on Friday and proceeded to take the shuttle service to Urgup to our hotel. As we passed the faceless buildings of downtown Kayseri, I saw a gigantic cloth sign hanging off an apartment block which read “You Wicked Zionists – May You Feel God’s scorn”. Believe me, this is not the kind of thing one sees in the larger cities in Turkey – my sister and I were quite shocked to see it. There is a lot of sympathy for the Lebanese people in Turkey and despite heavy military ties as well as cultural identification with Israel’s brand of secularism, there is an impatience bordering on anger with Israel’s heavy-handed approach to Palestine and the newer situation in Lebanon.

Additionally Kayseri is known as a staunchly conservative and nationalistic area (In fact Kurtlar – the Wolves – those are Turkish (ultra)nationalists – gather annually near Mount Argeus). The sign, the faceless and dusty nature of the city, emphasized for me that life further out East, in the somewhat lesser traveled areas of the country are a journey to a side of Turkey most of us city-folk don’t experience. And life is stranger than fiction the further out East one goes – there is palpable fear in the country about the destabilization of the situation in the Southeastern portion of the country with PKK bombings becoming a regular occurence along with an increased influx of soldiers and policemen as well as the retirement of General Hilmi Ozkok, the current top military brass. All of this is a sobering reminder of the economic and social chasm between the Eastern and Western parts of the country.

Cappadocia on my mind...

With a flurry of unsustainable-given-the-temperature-energy, I made arrangements on Thursday to visit Cappadocia over the weekend. I frequently see-saw between just relaxing when I’m at home (effectively doing nothing) and stuffing my days full and I chose the latter for this trip. I have a flight out to Kayseri (which is famous for their pastirma - including a map for the geographically curious) with my sister. I have planned 2 days of hikes and guided tours, including a balloon ride over what I can only best describe as an other worldly landscape, formed by heavy volcanic activity millions of years ago....can't wait.