2026–Turkey and Sicily

It was our last day in Istanbul and we decided to go to the Turkish Baths (Hamman) right by the Blue Mosque. They have been upgraded I am sure since 1500, but they felt very Royal and they made us feel very special. This was the entry shot from my…

This is the iconic mosque of Istanbul. It did not disappoint. Enjoy!

Our guide likes to talk about the 3 parts of Istanbul. We are in the old European side (settled by the Romans, lots of stuff from 500AD, walled city). Then there is the Asian side of Istanbul (literally IN Asia) which is more like suburbs (I think). Lastly is what…

OK– I usually do enough research that I am never completely blown away by a site when we are traveling. Well.. today I was awe struck. We went into one of the water storage cisterns left from the ROMAN times. (maybe 500AD). This is not mirrors: Then they added some…

Overall we love it. Our hotel is comfy and very Turkish. Vibrant city and very different feeling! They have Rooftop restaurants here everywhere which are delightful… these pictures are from our breakfast and lunch places. It is going to be VERY hard to convey Mosques in pictures. I will keep…

WOW! So impressed about everything with Turkish Airlines,, The Americans in front and behind us used them to go to Rome and Spain. Though, oddly for me, I didn’t sleep much, but read most of “Project Hail Mary”. Which I recommend unless the ending sucks. So oft to bed (…

Making these bags is like eating potato chips! I felt like the green veggies had their bag, but the yellow and orange veggies needed one. And chocolate….of course!

I asked Karen–the Catamaran Captain–if I could bring her anything. She has a VERY deep freezer which will be full of frozen food when they leave Madiera for their 40 days crossing the Atlantic. Food gets lost in there. She wanted cloth bags with velcro (zippers rust) to store beef,…

I have been watching the weather. And it looked a little sad… but seems to be turning into spring. Maybe I can take a couple of long sleeve shirts out of my (already packed) suitcases!

About 3 weeks before a trip we puill out our suitcases and suddenly–the trip feels real! This time we have a GIGANTIC and a Medium suitcase to deliver to Ola. At the end of this summer they are crossing the Atlantic to the Caribbean–they need a bunch of stuff…bolts, switches…