Turkish Delights

We have quickly realized that our olfactories have been essentially wasted in the U.S. Relegated to primarily detecting what's for dinner or the occasional dirty diaper, they've grown flabby from disuse. Turkey is changing that in a hurry. The constant press of sweaty bodies on the trains, the odiferous assault of myriad spices in the bazaars, and wafting fumes from sidewalk cafes in all directions have quickly wrung our snouts through an intense bootcamp. Luckily for you, blogs don't yet convey scent (though someone is surely working on it). Take our word for it - the trip smells great so far.

Our first international stop was Istanbul (or Constantinople?), the dominant city in Turkey. This massive metropolis is built on the land bridge that connects Europe and Asia and visibly blends both influences. Ambling through town rewarded us with a hands-on history lesson spanning a few millenia and numerous empires. Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman monuments and ruins abound. Highlights include the gargantuan Aya Sophia, which spent its first 900 years as the greatest church in Christiandom until it was converted to a mosque after the Muslim conquest in the 15th century. Additional adventures include haggling with incessent (and ubiquitous) rug salesmen, visiting cavernous mosques, the crush of bustling open air markets, and a peaceful cruise on the Bosphorus.

























Our time in Istanbul reminded us why young kids need naps. On top of the aforementioned cornucopia of odors, the rest of our senses were similarily blitzed. The flood of new sights and sounds, the unfamiliar (but delectable) foods, and the common jostling of public places is exhausting. Harkened back to early childhood by our lack of comprehension, it is amazing to break out of our comfortable routines and see everything through new eyes. Just forgive us a nap here and there...


From the cosmopolitan, we soon traversed to the hinterlands of Cappadocia in Turkey's geographic center. This area is a geologic wonderland - a lunar landscape studded with fairy chimneys of rock. For thousands of years, the locals have burrowed into the stone and excavated houses and churches. We spent our time exploring some of these underground buildings and lived the experience for a few nights in a cozy cave hotel room.

















A plane, a bus, and sweltering standing-room-only train delivered us to our curent haunt in Selcuk, near the Aegean coast. Our time here has been a relaxing cocktail of lounging poolside and exploring the famed ruins of the Roman city of Ephesus. Additionally, we took in the Basillica of St. John, where the apostle purportedly wrote his gospel and was buried. Finally, we visited one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Temple of Artemis. The temple is primarily rubble these days, but its 127 towering marble columns once made it a formidable building larger than the Parthenon in Athens.























We are glad that Ramadan is over and we can once again eat lunch without feeling guilty for flaunting our food in front of the fasting locals. We are also happy for sunny days, a decent exchange rate, freedom to spend our days how we choose, and people who speak English better than we speak Turkish. Carolyn is happy that she can get pants hemmed here for less than $4. Ben is happy that he doesn't have to try to talk to any more Turkish tailors, since the last conversation went something like this:

Ben - "Excuse me sir, can you hem pants?"
Smiling Turk - (blank friendly stare)
Ben - "Could you make these pants shorter?" (demonstrating on cuffs how much might come off)
Smiling Turk - (blank friendly stare)
Ben - "Pants. Short" (gesturing wildly with flailing arms)
Smiling Turk - "Do you speak English?"




Yikes. We knew our Turkish was non-existent and our French/German/Spanish were rudimentry, but never thought to brush up on our English. I am sure it will lead to many more fun encounters as the road takes us on. Cheers for now - we'll see you somewhere farther north!

The Spice of Life

The last few weeks added thousands of miles to the odometer and a vast range of experiences to our trip log. After our last post, we doubled back and headed west into Yellowstone National Park and then on to the Tetons. These jagged teeth of rock have been a perennial favorite for us and this visit delivered on our high expectations once again. We spent three days and two nights backpacking a 22-mile loop that took us into the high country. Part of our route wound along the menacingly named Death Canyon Shelf, which yielded eye-popping views in all directions. Sorry Glacier, but we have a new favorite backpacking route this trip.























Our next stop took us further west, as we curled around the foot of the Tetons to Grand Targhee Ski Area. While skiing the powder there this winter, we heard about their annual Bluegrass Festival and decided to see if we could shoehorn it into our busy schedules. The Fest delivered on the promise, mixing the unbeatable elixir of foot-stomping music, mountain views, and cold beer. Carolyn even found time to give the hippies a hula hoop lesson as the night wore on. That night in Southern Idaho, we were treated to a moonless night, which delivered a blizzard of stars sprayed across the sky.








Soon it was time to bid the mountains farewell and initiate the long slog through the Great Plains on our way to the Midwest. This is “lower your head and plow through” country and we did just that. We made a one-night stop in Theodore Roosevelt National Park and admired the badlands and buffalo, but the rest of the journey was essentially a necessary evil. The highlight was a lunch stop in Bismark, ND, which delivered us the elusive Delaware license plate! We were starting to theorize that either the DE driving test must be near impossible or that most DE residents are luddites and fear fancy technology like cars….

Our roadtrip officially finished, we relished a bit of relaxation and pampering at the hands of our parents in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Team Opps Sr. (including the hound, Gordy) took us backpacking in the Porcupine Mountains of Northern Michigan, where we stayed in a rustic cabin for a few nights. The Bruners graciously beat us at tennis and allowed us to engage in the age-old battle between running and bottomless chocolate chip cookies. According to the scale, the cookies are winning this round.

The past week gave us a bit of time apart, so we can truly appreciate each other in the months to come. Carolyn was in Chicago, where she threw an immense weight from her shoulders by successfully defending her Master’s thesis. Many thanks to fulltime sister-in-law and part-time thesis advisor Leah, whose guidance and support through the whole ordeal were priceless. She was also able to catch up with great friends, and paid a much needed visit to her old hair dresser. Ben spent the time in the mountains of New Mexico and Colorado on his annual “boys” backpacking trip. Ben and the fun boys had another epic trip, with numerous campfires, a night in the sand dunes sleeping under the stars, and ample laughter.

This evening we take 9/11 back for the good team. We are flying to Istanbul to begin the international portion of our trip in earnest. We don’t know what to expect in terms of internet access, so our blog cadence will likely be sporadic. However, we still look forward to sharing our adventures with you and appreciate your readership and comments.

Godspeed,
Team Opps

P.S. We are hard to please and don’t praise companies often, but wanted to share a great customer service story that needs repeating. In December, we bought a Panasonic digital camera for our trip. It has served us well thus far, but had a mechanical issue while Ben was backpacking this week. This put us in a very precarious position, with only 2.5 days to address the issue before going overseas. A quick call to Panasonic set in motion a Herculean effort on their part to overnight ship us a brand new camera to take on our trip. There was no charge for this and they called us at least six times during the process to let us know the status along the way. Ben, having worked for a large company and seen how challenging it is to get customer service right, was blown away by. Thanks Panasonic – we’ve gone from enjoying your product to truly trusting you as a company.