Hi everyone. Steve & I went to Gent, Belgium for our daughter-in-law's father's 80th birthday party. The Belgians really know how to party and we usually fade out by early evening while they are going strong. Our son, Jed, and d-i-l, Helga, live in Switzerland and it was great to see them. They are expecting the first grandchild this month.

Then we flew to Istanbul and saw the sights Haga Sophia, Topkapi, the Blue Mosque, and ate great food for two days before we flew off to Cappadocia where the scenery is other worldly and beautiful. You will see in the pics that the sedimentary rock has worn away in different layers making Disney like formations. The hiking was good but not quite as challenging as Patagonia (thank goodness!!) After sleeping in a cave hotel for 4 nights, hiking in several areas, seeing a Whirling Dervish show (the Turkish Tango)  we needed drying out and warming up. We went to the Lycian coast for hiking. Scenery there was also beautiful as the tortoise will testify. We saw the ruins of Olympus (turns out the Greeks named every tall mountain they encountered Olympus) boated & swam in the "Med" and relaxed. Then back to Istanbul to see what we missed the first time and sample the Grand Bazaar & the Spice Bazaar. We had a wonderful guide for hiking and encountered really nice people.