The hotel is very nice. For breakfast there was a fresh honeycomb dripping honey and next to it, three different types of honey. The food in Turkey is great.

Today was a lot less hectic. We started off going to Dolmabahce Palace, which is a more modern (19th century) palace for the sultan. It was much more along the lines of a typical European palace with chandeliers and grand carpets. The wooden floors were spectacular with their intricate Turkish geometry. There was also a nice art collection throughout the palace.

I think I might have just blown out the charger for my palmtop. I had it plugged in to the evil, foreign outlets and there was a puff of smoke from the charger. Hmmmm...

Yesterday was our last day in Turkey, and so our last day with Inci. We were joined by a Jim - the southern gentleman we met on the ship. Our first trek was through the Bodrum Castle, which, like many structures around here, started in the ancient world and then changed throughout the ages. They had some particularly interesting exhibits of underwater excavations. And the views throughout the castle were great.

This stop is merely an excuse to see Ephesus

I won't spend too much time talking about the day at sea as all we did was lay in the sun and read. The sea was fantastically calm. Half of the time I didn't even know we were moving.

First of all, let me just say that seeing pictures and reading a journal of someone else's trip is like trying to imagine what a meal tastes like by seeing pictures of the food. It doesn't even come close. Especially on a trip to Turkey and Greece - not only do the photos not do justice to the sites, but they do not capture the 99% of everything going on between the photos. To experience the Old City of Rhodes at night, for instance, you have to go there and experience it. So go there and see it because everything on this trip was worth it.