Stan's sister, Linda Letnes, and her husband, Ron, are in Turkey and Greece with a tour group. (That's Linda on the right, enjoying a laugh with her family last summer.) They have been filing regular reports from various internet cafes along the way. They are departing Turkey for Greece today and posted this letter, which you may find interesting.
Friends:Yesterday was our last full day in Turkey and could have been my favorite. The weather has been perfect for the whole 14 days, today is no exception. Sunshine, but cool, with a gentle breeze, just right for walks along the harbors of Kusadasi, Turkey and the island of Samos, Greece. Notice all the commas? We are back on English keyboards and no longer in Turkey.
Usually we haven't left our hotels until 9, but yesterday we were up earlier and off to Ephesus. We wanted to get there by 8 so that we could skip any crowds. We did. We were the first in the gate and Sidar took us to places most people don't go. Everyone sees the ancient streets and the library, the community latrines; Sidar got us into the amphitheatre and showed us where Paul [left] preached before the community got fed up with him and threw him out of town. [See photo, above] We also got into the ancient homes of the rich. They were something! Built as townhouses going up the hill with courtyards, mosaics, incredible interior designs. We finished Ephesus early thanks to Sidar's expertise and had the rest of the day for choices. 
Ron and I chose to go independently to the Apostle John's [right] burial place. The monument still stands, surrounded by the basilica ruins, but the Italians took the bones to Rome about a hundred years ago. No problem, we don't worship bones anyway. We also got to see where John preached and needed to imagine the sea in the place of fields there now. Still the mountains behind him must have looked something like the way they look today. Ron and I found a pharmacy for toothpaste etc., enjoyed a stop for lunch, and took public transport back to the city of Kusadasi. Dropped off for a transfer to the marina, we decided to walk the mile downhill.
Views were spectacular and we were glad we did. We returned to our hotel, rested, checked the BBC for the latest news, and then returned to the streets for shopping. I had thought that Kusadasi [left] would be a dump, but it isn't. All new in the last 30 years, it has a marvelous bay with great walkways, very sandy beaches, cute fishing piers for anyone to use. We snacked there amongst the rocks. We meandered through many streets finding things for the grandkids etc. We bartered and paid what we thought things were worth. Another thing I have noticed about the places we went was the cleanliness of the streets...reminds me of the Disney policy. Makes shopping a pleasant experience. We never eat until 7:30 so we had plenty of time for everything we needed to do. Our dinner was special as we have all become such good friends. We walked back to our hotel and settled in for more music. Someone knew that Sidar could play the piano and yes, he can. Another great night for singing along with various pianists.After breakfast we said goodbye to the people going to Izmir for their flights and 10 of us were shuttled to the harbor to catch our ferry to Samos. Sidar knew the owner and had arranged an easy transfer for us. Two hours later we arrived in Samos, a town Ron and I had spent time in during 2002 so we knew our way around. We are on the street for the afternoon and enjoying the ambience. This is the second time we have been to the internet cafe today, it's very comfortable here. We found a bank we had good memories of and strolled the harbor and the town, stopping on benches provided everywhere. No one cares that you are loitering, so are many others and provisions are there. Just the right kind of day...no real itinerary. In an hour we will take a taxi to the airport, fly into Athens and an hour later, fly into Santorini [below].
We are very happy we took the RickStevesTour and would recommend it to anyone interested in learning about another culture. I have been told repeatedly that the night we gathered in a lush garden in Antolya (also spelled Anatolya) was the jelling night for our group. Ron was given something that represented a guitar (no Guild for sure, but he repaired it and made it sing along with us). We all sang songs from the 50's, 60's and on. No one had music, no words, but Ron never fails to come through. Every song they threw out, he could play and sing at least a verse of and the group really got into it. I had thought the Cobber hootenany was great, Jon, but THIS was even better. This group can really sing and participate. The younger ones even knew the songs, the older ones had lived through it all and the words came flowing back for many of us. I don't think anyone will ever forget the night.
Our group could really talk politics in an informed way; we laughed so much. All of us care deeply about our country and are very concerned about what we read in newspapers, the internet, or handheld gadgets. I was so impressed with the intelligence, the quality of this group, the healthy attitudes. We carried our own luggage, could walk miles on end, and there was no grouching. No need as the trip was so well paced. Some of the places we stayed were simple homes in villages but we always had our personal bathrooms, we ate in villagers' homes as well as high end restaurants. A wonderful mix. We began and ended in excellent hotels with all the perks. We had time for private exploring, choices of our own, along with all that Sidar offered.We are content. On to Santorini.
Love, Linda
(Decency dissed ----
Hurry home, Linda and Ron. It's getting bizarre here. Yesterday nice Minnesotans booed John McCain when he asked them to be respectful and decent.)
