There were two places I really wanted to see while being in Russia (other than Russia) and they were Egypt and Turkey. Having seen them both, they are now considered the dark and light sisters of my travels. I was nervous and even not looking forward to my trip to Turkey because Egypt had been so painful. When I told my Russian class about this, the Turkish girl in my class assured me that this was not the case. She invited me to her house and showed me pictures and even taught me a few words of Turkish (which I promptly forgot). Even so, I was a bit anxious on the flight over.
Turns out Turkey is a great place. The atmosphere was relaxing, the climate was inviting, and the people were friendly. The country is still fairly liberal when it comes to religion but you can see the struggle the people are dealing with, just by walking down the street. You see groups of women where one or two are wearing headscarves but their mothers aren't. And pleasantly enough (at least in the west of the country) you don't find those disconcering patches of black in the scenery, where women are totally covered. Also there is something so relaxing when you see a group of students, boys and girls, hanging out after school at a park. There is no one there veiling the girls and trying to keep them seperate from the boys, they are just being kids. Needless to say I didn't feel nervous about being a woman in predominately muslim country the way I did in Egypt.
All that being said, the trip was good. We flew into Istanbul and spent three days there. On the first day, which was January 1st, the weather was warm, the sun shining, and we were terribly excited. But unfornatuely, the days following that were overcast and rainy. But we had come from Moscow, so the weather didn't get us down. We saw the Hagia Sophia, which is the most amazing historical places I have ever been to. It was a cathedral built by Justinian during the Byzantian Empire. When Constaninople was conquered by Ottoman Turks in the 1400s, the church was converted to a mosque. Inside you can see how they altered it but there are still hints of its original origins. There are crosses on the ceiling crossed out, funnily enough. There are even pictures of Mary and Jesus left up.
The Hagia Sophia was the inspiration for the Blue Mosque that sets right down the street from it. It was incredibly beautiful and the aritect spent all this life trying to understand and copy the design of the Hagis Sophia. It is still a working mosque so you have to time your visits carefully. First you line up outside, take off your shoes, and then they let you in. There is a portion that visitors are not allowed past but you can still see everything.
Later we went to the cistern under the city, which the Romans and Byzantines had used to store extra water. It is also the place that James Bond used to get to the Russian embassy but I couldn't quite make out the route he used!! It was damp and kind a spooky. The best part was seeing the big madusa heads at the base of some of the pillars. So now you can see three stages of religion in Istanbul, the Greek/Roman gods, christianity, and islam. Fantastic!
After the fun of Istanbul we headed down the coast by bus (which was an excellent way to travel, with great service) to Selcuk, to see the ancient city of Ephesus. It was quite an advanced city during its height had running water, public baths, and a library. Ephesus is also sited in the bible, in revelations. We stayed there just two days and one night because the town is small and once you are done seeing Ephesus there isn't much more to do. Interestingly enough, we were getting tired of Kebabs by this point and discovered
a Korean restaurant! We were the only customers at lunch time but it was a nice change of pace.
From Selcuk, we headed farther down the coast to Antalya. This is a coastal city on the Mediterranean Sea. The first day we arrived it was raining but after that, the clouds cleared, and we finally had some warm and sunny days. We could see the mountains, topped with snow, and the sparkling sea. This town is now quite a popular resort destination, especially for Russians, who don't need a visa. But in the off season, it was relaxed and uncrowded. We managed to take a boat ride while we were there. We knew we had to go down to the harbor and talk to a boat owner about the ride. I was not looking forward to this because it takes some haggling and we might be made to pay more than it is worth. But we knew this was what we had to do. So we went down and talked to the first boat owner that approached us. As we were talking another man approached us and started telling us stuff too. And out of nowhere a third man ran up and started yelling at the second man. Todd and I were a little worried
but the third man gave us a cheaper price and showed us to the boat. Later, the third man told us that there are rules about asking people and since we started talking to the first man, the second man couldn't interfer until we turn the first man down. Who knew touts had complicated rules to follow! In the end we got our boat ride for about $10.
Eventually we left Antalya for Istanbul, and then flew back to Moscow.
This is part of the walls that surrounded Constantiople during the Byzantine Empire. They were supposed to keep foreigners out, but looks like they weren't doing such a good job! 
One of the most distinctive things about Turkey was that instead of pigeons everywhere, there were cats! So needless to say we have plenty of pictures with cats. Also, many Turkish people keeps dogs. I just assumed they wouldn't because of islam, but everyone seemed to have a dog.
This kitty was wondering from tourist to tourist inside the Hagia Sophia.
This kitty was following Todd and I around in Selcuk, poor thing didn't have a tail.
This kitty was hanging out in the ruins of Ephesus begging for food. Todd and I never had anything to give them but we saw a German man pull slices of sausage out of his pocket and feed them. Who carries around sausage?
I would totally recommend that you visit Turkey. It is a great place to see civiliations, religions, and technology collide.
From Dubai, we took a bus to Muscat, the capital of Oman. It is amazing to see that a country that had very little infastructure could grow so much after only 4o years. The current Sultan overthrew his father in the 70s and since then, he has tried to modernize the country. Now, there are paved roads, everyone has a higher standard of living, and they participate in global economics and politics.
