Bowling in Slovenia

Nothing like showing up in the bowling alley to hear great American oldies music. And to know that the brand of bowling ball the world over, is American. Here are the beautiful American ladies having a little taste of home!

Croatia

Trying to remember what you´ve done the past few days - getting harder and harder.

Piran, Slovenia
Very cute coastal town, built on a hook out into the Adriatic Sea. Great Venetian buildings, and good gelato.

Split, Croatia
Shipping city with a Roman history. Diocletian had his retirement palace here, when everything was owned by the Roman Empire. He was the beginning of the end, by partially things off to four sub-emperors.

Dubrovnik, Croatia
The pearl of the Adriatic, at least according to Lord Byron and he wasn´t too far off. The old city was gorgeous, with great gelato! We walked the city walls, where you get wonderful views of the Adriatic.
In Slovenia and Croatia, the locals rent out rooms in their houses almost everywhere you go. There are signs labeling the ˝sobe˝ in every neighborhood, so we found a great on up on the hill, and were able to make ourselves some great pasta dinners!

Plitvice National Park, Croatia
This is a waterfall wonderland! Hiked it for a few hours on our way back north.

Venice, Italy
Well, its Italy, so of course its amazing! We spent the day there today, and felt like we were on vacation from our trip. Had some amazing gelato (are we seeing a pattern?), great pizza, and pigeons!

Back in Slovenia tonight, with free internet, which is a small piece of heaven and home, when you`re on the road. I can´t really check people.com when I´m paying 4 euro an hour!

We are headed to Ljubljana, where we will drop off my friend Kristen at the airport, and our beloved little car, and get on the train for Vienna.

Put Out to Pasture

The Lippizaner horses were bred here in Slovenia, when this was part of the Hapsburg Empire to supply Archduke Charles with stallions for his court. They are a beautiful white, with short stocky legs, and have incredible strength and intelligence. We went to the stud farm yesterday, and saw the mares and all the new colts. However, we were in a group with 15 retired British folks, who only wanted to know what happened to the horses when they could no longer work! Ironically, these horses retire at 27 and just graze the fields and enjoy life for another fifteen years or so. The Brits thought that way okay, and we find it pretty nice too. Retire at 27 okay, done!
I had been telling Lauren for a while how beautiful and white the horses would be - trying to pump up her enthusiasm. So, I read her part of the book and the line, "They are born a dark black ... " sort of threw me! But the sentence finishes, "then turn a mottled gray in adolescence before becoming white in adulthood."
We had a wonderful time touring the farm, and seeing the show. I love a good show! The horses side-stepped, and side-strutted, and stood on their back legs. I don't really remember that being a positive trait in horses, but when in Slovenia...!

We drove out to Piran yesterday afternoon, which is this cute little Venetian coast town. Our next week involves lots of Croatian beach time - tough life!

Catch Up

So, my last post apparently scared my mother into believing someone hacked into my blog and something had happened to me, so just to clarify - Mom, its me and Im fine! In fact I just beat my friends good in a game of Slovenian bowling!
We have had some great adventures since Budapest:

Eger, Hungary
This quaint little wine town in the heart of Hungarian wine country. We accidentally ended up renting a great apartment overlooking the square of Eger. This place was HUGE and beautiful, and since we´d been sleeping on the floor in Budapest, it was our own Hungarian castle! The owner of this place also happened to be the wine engineer for the Eger Vin Winery, and offered to host a wine tasting in his cellar the next night so we gladly accepted and got to try his 1983 vintage! The next day he gave us a tour of the cellars at his company and at the friends winery across the street. It was a great few days!

On to Slovenia - We spent one whole day on the train from Eger to Budapest to Ljubljana, where we were met at the train station by Katja our next Couchsurfing host. She is 24 and lives in the upstairs apartment of her parents house outside the city and we think she hosts couchsurfers because she needs extra stimulation. She showed us around the city at warp speed in her little bare bones car! She was wonderful and her house was awesome. Out in the country so we got to see a real Slovenian family, and their home! She even took us to a party/concert thing up on the mountain, and we tried a Slovene delicacy - wine and coke together! Just pour out half the coke in your bottle and fill it with wine!
Ljubljana was a great little city with a castle and an old town, and a nice Russian consulate who gave us our Russian visas after four trips to the embassy in two countries. We got denied in Hungary flat out, and Slovenia was much kinder. That is after we filled out job applications, complete with questions about our connection with biological warfare, and our experience with the military. Don´t worry I didn´t tell them I use to be a whiz with a bb gun!

The real fun started when we picked up our car on Friday - a little wagon of sorts, that fits all five of us and our bags nicely! (My friend Kristen joined us in Ljubljana!)
We headed to Bled, where Tito vacationed, and to Lake Bohinj - gorgeous alpine views and great hairpin turns!

A Mothers Day Tribute

To my dear mother: You have given me feet established in a firm foundation but wings to fly wherever I dream of going. You have loved us but not fettered us to your apron strings. Your wisdom is boundless and your wit the same. Your physical beauty is only surpassed by your internal beauty. When the sun shines, it shines only on you! What a JOY it has been to have you as my mother, and now I call you friend. Love, Your oldest child, Jayme

Another Normal Day

My trip home from work in central Budapest requires several buses and a tram, but I like living in the country so the hassel is worth the effort. The view of the mountains from my back door is worth every bump and jostle from the city. Plus some days things happen on a train that you just never want to miss.
Today I got on the #47 tram, and was followed by four girls, probably American, guide book open. They were chattering about the difference between a tram and a bus, and whether they needed a tram, and was this a bus. I knew it did not matter, so I didn`t say anything. They stayed on the bus and were talking about that damn statue park. Why we let that man put all those statues up again is beyond me, but at least it was far out of town. I`m still not sure what the attraction is, not too many people make that trek, but these girls were in for a ride. The bus we were on ends, and to keep going now you have to get on the tram #47. Too bad this is my stop, I`d love to see how they do.


I boarded the tram #47 to head out to my village. I had come into Budapest to do some shopping. There were some tourists on the bus, and I thought wow, they are far away from the sights. I listened in to their conversation to see where they were going, and they mentioned the statue park. I chuckled to myself, all we wanted to do was get those bad reminder statues down, and now people come from all over to see our trash basically. I wasn`t sure how they were going to get there from the tram though. At the end of the line, just a few stops down, I was passing these girls on the tracks, when I heard, "Do you speak English?". Okay, I wanted to get home but these poor girls were in trouble! I walked them across the square and down to the bus stop. I thought they needed bus 3, until they could connect to #50, but I confirmed this with another Hungarian woman at the stop. I showed them on the sign and the map what they wanted and told them where to get off - I hope they make it. I told them to take the red bus to the yellow bus home, that will be much faster. I don`t know who told them to take this route but it was bad information.

I drive route 50 from the mall out into the country and then back to the shopping mall. Mostly I just have country folk coming into town to pick up some items at the big mall, and then heading back out to their farms, so when I pulled into the station and saw four tourists waiting at my next stop, I was intrigued. Especially since that stop was the next to last and I the bus did was go to the station, unload, turn around and head back the other direction. But, they got on rode one stop and got off. They unloaded with confused faces, but then just started laughing histerically. They started walking circles around the station, like they were looking for a sign, or some sort of information. When I started to turn around to wait at the stop they came running across the street. I knew then they must be headed up to the statue park, nothing else for foreigners to do in this area. So, they got back on the bus and rode up to the park. They got off at the park stop, and headed in the right direction. I sure wish I knew how to tell them the park is closed this time of day in English!

Party like it 1896

We have been in Budapest, Hungary for a few days now. We have mainly been hanging out near the Chinese and Russian embassies patiently attempting to get our visas. The Chinese goverment accepted our payment of 95 dollars and we scored entry to the country. The Russian consular has not been open since Monday so HOPEFULLY Friday will be our lucky day.

Today, I led a walking tour of Pest and Buda. We strolled the Vaci Utca, seeing the National Museum and the Great Market Hall, where we refrained from buying nesting dolls of the Soviet leaders. We crossed the Danube and visited Castle Hill with the Royal Palace, St. Mathias Church, the Hilton (built in 1976 - still trying to figure out what comrades needed a Hilton) and the Vienna gate (only a 10 day walk from Vienna). The Hungarians celebrated the centenial of the Magyars, their ancestors, settling in this area in 1896 so almost every building on the tour was built then. If it was not blown up in WWI or WWII, it was 111 years old. We had a interesting historical tour, even if it was a very recent history.

Tonight we went to the Opera, or at least the first act of the opera. The building was beautiful and the opera was in German, and translated in Hungarian. After some great music, and a little nap, there was a curtain call and the audience walked out. We thought it was a short opera, but enough of singing for us.

Are you sure this is my train?

Somehow we booked ourselves into the nice train last night. Duvets, hardwood paneling, window shades, beautiful fluffy pillows! We booked our tickets from Brasov to Budapest, with an overnight stop in Sighisoara and ended up with a nice ride. The only problem being the ride was too short, and interrupted by border guards wanting to stamp my passport.
We got to Budapest this morning, and we are once again Couchsurfing, with Nick and Jaco. They are both American students studying in Budapest for the year, and they have an unfurnished living room! We will definitely be able to repay our 23 year old hosts with some sweeping and dish cleaning.
We walked along the Danube today, checked out the Parliament and St. Istvans Church, where they still have St. Istvans hand!
Tomorrow we attempt to get Russian visas - Bring on the fun!

Transylvania

Brasov is a small town with a medieval history set in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania. It has a beautiful square, with a great church and good gelato! After exploring here, we took the train to Sinaia yesterday. About an hour back down the valley, where the highlight is Peles Castle. The little town is covered in gorgeous trees and the views of the mountains are hidden because of how deep you sit in the valley. The walk from the train station was up lots of stairs and then through the gauntlet of gypsy stores where you can buy anything from a crochet tablecloth to a homemade boomerang (the man colored the popsicle sticks himself!) to knives and guns! Pretty much a Romanian Target! At the end of this street there was a gypsy man with a lion sitting on a park bench. We're not quite sure what he did with the lion, or what the tourists were supposed to do either, but I think the lion would do about anything that would earn this man a dollar! After walking backwards to stare in disbelief at the lion, I flipped around, turned the corner and up the sweeping hill was the amazing castle. The initial view is breathtaking, the interesting building, which doesn't exactly fit into the traditional definition of castle, had a stunning clock tower and lots of intricate paintings. There were several spires with detailed iron crosses topping them, pointing up at these gorgeous craggy peaks. As I spend most of my time talking too much, I don't often run out of breath, but this sight almost did it.
We took the English tour with our German dictator of a guide, who only made the trip more fun. "These are Murano glass chandeliers, from Venice, from Italy" she barked in her interesting English diction. It felt like she knew how to label each piece in several ways, so just to reduce confusion she used them all. "These are silver candlesticks, they are metal, they are from Amsterdam, from the Netherlands". After being released from the castle without incident, we strolled the town and then headed back to Brasov. Don't worry the evening was not without incident, as we met another drunk Romanian man who English was bad probably on a sober day, but drunk was even better! Romania actually feels like a whole country of gypsies, as they all want something, and just go around whopping each other on the head. Moms grabbing ears of children, Grandpas slapping children on the neck - always entertaining!

Three Snotty Americans

I have made a serious personal discovery on this trip - I am allergic to cigarette smoke! In fact we all have some reactions to the incessant smoking that is Eastern Europe. Smoking on trains, in restaurants, on buses, at the Internet cafe - everywhere! So, we all have runny noses and clogged sinuses, which means we buy Kleenex in bulk, and blow our noses in public (which is not very feminine!) and get lots of stares.
We've also decided that the best way to combat this congestion is ice cream - a good reward for being sick.

We took a bus to Brasov this morning, and have spent the rest of the day discovering this wonderful little town. Lots of Baroque style buildings, interspersed with lovely Communist construction!, set in this valley of Carpathian Mountains. We climbed up the hill today and got a good aerial view of the town. We picked up a map/guide at the tourist info office and were given really great info such as, "Black Tower - Built in 1494 the Black Tower has been blackened by fire."! Needless to say we're learning a lot, no historical stone unturned!

Catch up

Veliko Tarnovo - The cultural capital of Bulgaria, we toured the fort and its chapel, and saw the great light show that night. The rainbow lights flashing around the fort walls were quite entertaining!
Varna - Mid-size city on the Black Sea, we were about the only people standing on the beach on this cloudy and overcast day. So, we were making our way back to our hostel, which was this great place in a smaller village not too far away, with a great movie collection, and we had to take the bus. We knew the stop and the bus number but not the times, and so we sat down on the bench to wait, next to an older Bulgarian woman with a black scarf over her head and a few teeth missing. She started talking to us rather loudly in Bulgarian, which we don't understand, and we laughed and shrugged. Then her friend, with no teeth joined us, and then they were both talking to us, not getting any responses, they started hollering at us, because as we all know that works - just say the foreign words louder! We were cracked up laughing, and finally we got through much acting and sign language that our bus wouldn't come for 45 minutes and they were trying to save us the wait!
Bucharest - We left Varna at 8:45 am on a train for Bucharest. We had to change trains at the border, which resulted in four hours of waiting. Luckily we found a restaurant serving our favorite snack, french fries with white cheese! We boarded the second train, to be yelled at by the Bulgarian man who ran the train. He was only wearing a blue track suit, and so Jen kept asking to see his badge, which made him really happy. He got the Romanian policewoman, who looked intimidating with her purple hair, and official uniform, but wasn't when she talked to us. She told us we'd have to deboard on the other side of the border because this was not our train. The train we were on was the 1:30 and we needed the 3:30 - it was currently 4:00 - who knew. So we stood in the middle of nowhere eating our Lion candybars, and waited some more. Our train showed up, we got on and an hour later we were in Bucharest - drama!
We are couchsurfing here in Bucharest, which means were staying with Irina, this girl we met on the Internet. She is great, she just bought her little apartment, and we are on the oldest most uncomfortable couch ever, but its free, and we're loving it.
We had to call Irina once we arrived in Bucharest, and at the payphone were accosted repeatedly by an old man with a bottle of beer (on a Tuesday evening) who kept assuring us that he doesn't drink regularly, this is just a holiday! And that he loves America, and that we shouldn't be afraid of Romania because of what we've seen on the movies!? Don't worry though, the nice boy who ran the sex shop just near the phone helped us out!

Rila Monastery

From Sophia, the capital of Bulgaria, we took a couple buses into the mountains to reach the monastery at Rila. The snow capped mountains all around, covered in newly leafed spring trees, and the red brick exterior of the building made a beautiful contrast. The monastery was wedged into the valley, next to the river. Inside the monastery walls the church fills up almost all of the inner courtyard, jutting up against the mountain backdrop.
It was an amazing site to set through the first archway and take this whole scene in. We checked into the monastery as we were to bunk with the monks for the evening. The monastery has 300 beds, and is not too full, so there is lots of extra room for guests. Our sparse and freezing cold room had a nice "shed your earthly possessions" feel to it.
We walked around the little area and met up with our 11 year old friend from the bus, Hristo. Apparently his mom comes quite frequently to the monastery to pray, and he tags along. He just hangs out around the courtyard talking, in his excellent English, to anyone who is there. Over the next two days he showed us all the secret places, best photo spots, and interesting historical facts. He was the cutest little thing, with his shaved head. He said the monastery was his favorite place in Bulgaria. I asked him why, and he stumbled over some English for a while, and then just rested his hand over his heart, and said, "my soul".
We found some great hiking trails in the area, and ate our picnic lunch overlooking another valley, and the highest peak in the area. We also found the Bulgarian doughnuts, like beignets - only 15 leva, we can afford that! All in all Rila was quite a find, and our night with the monks and Hristo was a great Bulgarian day!

Plovdiv

After our night train, and exciting border crossing we arrived in Plovdiv moving a little slower. We decided to drop off our stuff and then climb this hill, at the top is the Soviet Liberation monument. Death to Fascism! We wanted to check out the town, and get our bearings. At the top we could see all around, and the views of the surrounding mountain ranges were nice. There was a little old man up there, and I was impressed with his hiking skills, as I was a little winded! He started talking to us, asking if we were Romanian, German, Russian? He didn't speak any English, but was more than happy to chat along in Bulgarian. We just laughed and shrugged. Then Ann remembered that Jen had been carrying along a Point-It book for our whole trip, and we'd never had need to use it. It is a little flip book with pictures of everything, so that you can "point" to whatever you need. So, from the map in the back we sort of explained that we were American. He was so happy, and just wanted to keep on talking. We're not sure of the conversation, but somehow we came up with the fact that he was a professor and his friend was an electrical engineer. They pointed out all the other things in Plovdiv, and gave us lots of other information. I practiced a little Bulgarian, hello and thank you, and got some pronunciation tips.
We shook hands and said goodbye, and congratulated ourselves for finally making it off the Lonely Planet track!

Bulgaria or Bust

Our last day in Istanbul we had a little run in with the hostel owner over payment, and seeing as how we needed to store our luggage there for the day we let his rude attitude slide and paid the extra 6 lira, which is like two meals, if you're on our budget! We visited the Aya Sophia and then the Blue Mosque - in that order as to avoid the huge Carnival Cruise crowds that had descended on the Hippodrome for the day. Gorgeous morning, great lunch, we walked along the Bosphorus in the afternoon and watched the fisherman and their 10 fishing poles lined up on the bridge.
That evening we arrived back at the hostel to collect our things, use their bathrooms before our overnight train. I went to grab my medicine, which I take every night, and realized I had left it on the bed that morning. So, I woke up the woman sleeping in that bed, and no medicine. So, I breathed a sigh of reluctance, knowing that I would have to talk to my best friend at the desk.
I first asked if anyone, the cleaning lady, had found a red pill bottle that morning.
No.
Are you sure because I know I left it on the bed?
No. She said nothing.
Well, do you have any advice for me, how to go about finding it, what do people here do if they lose things?
Buy new.
A deep breath, to remain calm, and I started again with, "Well, if I were going home that would be a great option, however, I will be on the road for another three months, and need this medicine."
I don't know.
Is there a place she might have set things if she had found them?
NO.
Nowhere, no other options?
Okay, I'll call her.
Success! I was making progress. He dialed the phone, and asked a question, but speaking absolutely no Turkish, he was probably asking his friend what time to meet him at the bar that night.
He hung up the phone and said, "She threw it out."
What, threw it out? Why?
You left, she threw it out. He said with even more disgust.
Well, where is the trash? Is it still here?
Now, he looked at me like I was really crazy, but the seriousness of the situation was starting to sink in.
Its out on the street.
Jen and Ann had been listening from the next room, and immediately sprung into action. We all three ran to the street and saw two black plastic bags. When the reality of digging through the trash sunk in, I said, no way - I'll buy new.
But, Jen and Ann had the bag open and on the street before I could protest.
Within a few minutes, the tell-tale red Target bottle was recovered! Thank you Jen and Ann and thank you Target!
With only 30 minutes to get to our train, we were suited up with bags and off on the run. A walk which had previously taken 30 minutes without gear now took 15!
We made our train, cute little three person berth and were off.
We arrived at the Turkish border at 3 am, and were thrown off the train to get our passports stamped. One hour in the cold, and entertained by a crazy Turk getting slapped around by the police, we were exited and back on the train. That is the hardest earned stamp in my passport!

Istanbul

Istanbul was fantastic! I saw the Blue Mosque, Aya Sophia, Topkapi Palace, the Grand Bazaar. The weather was fantastic, so we just spent two days walking around. Eating great kebabs, and pide (Turkish pizza). Shopping for rugs, which of course we can't carry, but are beautiful.
Istanbul is the only city that spans two continents, Europe and Asia. The city has a great spice, the sophistication of Europe and the food and prices of Asia. It has the history of both continents, so you can see one building that spans ancient Roman times to the Crusades, Islamic influence as it was a mosque for a while and after Ataturk became a museum.
We left Istanbul and Turkey yesterday night, on a train for Bulgaria. Two months in Eastern Europe, phase four of the trip begins!

Hamam

The steam billowed from the burst of cool air, and the heat of the room settled on my shoulders. As my vision cleared I could see the large marble octogon standing two feet high in the middle of the room. Around the edges were the small washrooms where you could have your own tap of steaming hot water. Dispersed throughout the room, wearing only their underwear were the Turkish women relaxing their Friday afternoon away at the bath.
I was given a red plaid tablecloth to use as a wrap, and was feeling somewhat embarrased and yet extremely excited about my first Turkish Bath.
The Turkish women who ran the place mimed washing ourselves in the little rooms first, and then relaxing on this large marble table of sorts in the middle of the room. The hot water is piped beneath the table so the marble is hot. The room is 90 degrees, and heavy with steam. The only lighting are small glassed over holes in the ceiling, so as you view the scene, the slits of light illuminate large Turkish body parts. These women spend their days in full head wrap, and long coats so this Friday afternoon is a highlight of their week. The rest of the time this hamam is co-ed, but on Fridays from 12-4 its ladies only and these women took full advantage!
We had paid for the wash and the massage in full decadent expectation. So after relaxing for way too long - we had to take a Pepsi break before passing out from the heat - we got our scrub. Clad only in your underwear, which we forgot!, you lay down on a bench sort of thing and brace yourself. The Turkish woman comes over with a loofah, made of steel wool - or almost, and gets started. Forhead, neck, chest, stomach, rear end, any and ALL skin gets a wash. After this was over, I looked around my bench and thought that her loofah must be coming apart because their were small bits of wool or yarn or something laying all around me. When I looked at her cloth I realized it was white, and wouldn't make these kind of bits. This must be dead skin! Well, after three months of improper showers, what did I expect?
The olive oil massage was wonderful, but too brief. She washed my hair as well, and apparently the birds nest look is popular in Turkey because only when my hair was one big tangled mess did she stop!
After a bit more relaxing it was about four o'clock and time to go. I'd lost a bit of skin, and some dignity - but I'm thinking of opening a bath at home. Come on every Friday in the steam room, with a little massage, hanging out naked with all your friends - no better way to start the weekend!

Winter Cruise

Word to the wise - Don´t go sailing in Turkey in April! Too cold! The views were gorgeous, nothing like the Meditteranean, however most of my cruise was viewed from beneath the blanket I huddled under for four days! The last day it warmed up enough to really enjoy the boat, and the ocean - so that was lucky. But I´m definitely coming back to do it again when swimming would be a relief from the heat and not a death defying act!
We left our cruisemates in Kas and took a bus to Selcuk, which is minutes from Ephesus (as in Paul´s letters to the Ephesians). It is a wonderful preservation from ancient times, with houses, streets, arches and columns, and a wonderful theater!
We´ve almost spent our flight home money on Turkish carpets, but our salesman assured us they are flying carpets! Killing two birds with one stone!

Olympos, Turkey

I've been hanging out at Bayram's Treehouse in Olympos, Turkey. Playing lots of backgammon with my hippie friends. At least when they aren't practicing how to throw their numchucks! And I've read about 8 books. We have communal meals, and so I'm ready to move into the commune.
We leave today (in about 5 mins) on our Mediterranean Cruise. Sailing from Olympos to Feithye - talk to you in four days!

Hair Museum

On our last day in Cappadocia, we toured the Open Air Museum, saw some more cave dwellings, and churches and then headed off for lunch of hummus and pita! We were sort of out of new options, but pottery is a big deal in this area of Turkey so we decided to take a quick trip up to Avanos, the pottery mecca of Cappadocia, because of its location on the red river where the red clay comes from.
We unsuspectingly got on a bus and rode 15 minutes to this new town, got off and the pottery place recommended by our book was right in front of us - Chez Galip.
We walked in, and there is a boy spinning something on a foot powered wheel, so we sit down to take a look. He demonstrates with one pot, and then gestures for one of us to try. I have been anxiously waiting for this moment, so I put down the kitten that had climbed into my lap and sat down at the wheel. The smooth, creamy feel of the clay spinning through my hands is so relaxing. Together the boy and I created a pretty nice piece of pottery.
After cleaning up and photographing myself with my pot, a short little round man, with wild curly gray hair walked through and shouts something at us in Turkish. We all sort of glance sideways and shrug our shoulders. He says, "English only?" And we nod our heads with some embarrassment. He shouts again in Turkish and waves his arms around in the air, and a younger man comes over and begins to explain about this shop to us in English. He says we have nine rooms, the first has red clay pottery, the second and third have white clay pottery, fourth, fifth..., and rooms eight and nine are for the hair museum. What? We must have misunderstood. English is not as widespread and competent in Turkey as it has been other places. In fact most people as us if we are from Australia? New Zealand? England? Canada? and then they start over. We finally have to say "America, USA". It is a nice change of pace, but does make for comical conversations.
We walked through a few rooms of pottery, not very interesting, but in the sixth or seventh room, the hand painted white pottery bowls, and plates arrive and we get a little more excited - and then our grey haired man shows back up and the fun begins! This is Galip, the man whose name graces the shop and whose charisma defines the place. He notices our guide book, and through his our interpreter tells us with much excitement, that since we have come without a guide he will give us a thirty percent discount. Wow! Then he wants to give us a hand painted hotplate - free gift! Then he wants to autograph our hotplates! Who is this man? And then the clincher, he wants to add our hair to his hair museum. He says this part while pulling out his own interesting coif and leading us into rooms eight and nine.
The walls are covered floor to ceiling, with small pieces of white paper and from each little slip is a chunk of hair. There are dreadlocks, long curly tendrils, straight and long, wavy, blond, black, brown - covering every inch of this long arched hallway. Each person has written their name and address and the date they made their donation to the museum. Some people have even included their picture! Who is this man?
So, we decided while in Turkey - and he cut off a small piece of hair from each of our heads and we have joined possibly the oddest tradition, but a museum is a museum, right? He's even in the Guinness Book of World Records!
After buying a few pieces of pottery, he asks us if we would like to now go see his workshop. Its only three or four kilometers away from here. We thought, heck, this has already been a day for the books, why not keep it up. We piled into his vanagon with another man, and a younger girl who drove us out of town, and then back up the mountain to the Chez Galip workshop. We saw someone mold a plate on a wheel, and Galip painting a large plate. We saw his own personal collection of pottery, and the gated vault which holds his most valuable pieces for sale. We just kept walking around in amazement, drinking his homemade wine from small pottery cups, shaking our heads and wondering how these things happen. Once we had toured and talked sufficiently we promised to come back soon, especially once we had money to buy more things. Some younger man and his friend drove us back into town in his brand new Ford, and within five minutes we were right back where we started at the bus stop, and if not for the bags of pottery in our hands, and that bald spot on the back of our heads we would have to wonder if it happened at all.

Check out all our hair raising photos from Cappadocia.

Hot Air Ballooning over Goreme