Orontes Hotel Antakya

... 305;ng portruded at my sect&#305;on of the w&#305;ndow. I thought he would real&#305;zed th&#305;s and move h&#305;s foot away but he d&#305;dnt. After a wh&#305;le and be&#305;ng s&#305;ck of the smelly foot smell, &#305; took a photo of h&#305;s foot. He must have head the 'cl&#305;ck' sound and then he moved h&#305;s foot away. <br><br>Other than the foot &#305;nc&#305;dent the tr&#305;p was thankfully uneventful. As I had suspected anyway the bus d&#305;d not ...

... may have missed a couple, the obsessional tea/cay drinking where the urn never seems to run out, but most of all it's Turkish bakeries that win our strongest affections. The bread and pastries are truly memorable and we salute the humble Turkish baker!<br><br>9) Mosaics. You think you have just seen the finest mosaic of all time and then you see an even better one. From the Acropolis at Bergama to the Gypsy Girl in Gaziantep to the Happy Hunchback ...

March 17 Tuesday Happy St. Patrick's Day! It was a confusing day to say the least. We had breakfast, came down with our bags, asked the hotel man where and when did the bus for Cappradocia leave. He called someone and they said 3:30 this afternoon. We were ready to go now. We decided to go and sit in the room, but when we went back the cleaners (women, the first ones we have seen since Bangkok) were cleaning the room, so we left. We decided to go to the bank and ...

... to the Gods to stop the plague. But the epidemic ended and the relief was never completed. What's left is quite impressive. We then made our way back down and to the hotel. Just before our hotel we looked at what people were selling on the street. I was waiting for Len and talked with a man selling what I thought was a coffee filter, the man left to get tea and I stood there selling the filters. Len came along and looked at the packages and then said it is a ...

... unfehlbaren charme und erzaehlungen anderer das es m&#305;t 7 std warten meisst doch klappt setzen. Ach...ich haette ja soo viel ueber die ruinen ala ephesos, pergama, aphrod&#305;s&#305;as oder pammukale zu erzaehlen...aber es ineressiert ja keinen wurde mir gesagt...also lass ichs und sage ciao...bis zum naechsten mal. ach ja, falls visa fuer syr&#305;en kaputt, werd ich ueber georgen nach armenien und dann mal sehen.

... the grinning hopefuls that were littered around the smoke filled office - took turns reshuffling the pack to favour their clients. Eventually after much prodding from our guide, the immigration officer come croupier looked us up and down, twiddled his moustache and began to fill out a form, asking all important questions such as the name of our parents and our occupation. I tried to explain that we were un-occupied at present, but after a few ...

... place where Christians met and prayed secretly."<br><br>I walked out of town, passing through the "covered" bazar. Nothing new there. I got to the church about an hour before its scheduled 1:30 opening, so I read in some shade. By 1:45 it wasn't open. The guard who had come out said it was closed. I could see through the gate some construction materials. So I guess they are doing repairs in advance of the tourist season.<br><br>I walked back to the center via a different route ...

... and made me stop the phone call. Flustered, I handed him the phone. . . . and he turned it off.<br><br>Later, at a rest stop, when I turned it back on and attempted to text message my caller, I found the service discontinued. Presumably because I have not paid the bill. (My friend in Ankara gave me the bill and sent me off to he post office to pay it. In two attempts all I got was the clerk saying there was a problem with the computer. I don't have a lot of patience with these ...

... asked them to take me to the best donar shop in town... it was GREAT... veal with veggie in a pita... then asked them to take me to the best kunafe in town as this place is known in Turkey for some of the best... if you remember this is the sweet cheesy desert i first found in Amann... and it was really good as well.... anyhow... off for now... next destination may not have internet, so could be out of range for 2 to 3 days...

... in the bible on numerous occasions. It is thought that the cave here is the first ever church in the world and also the place where the term "Christian" was first used. Despite its historical significance the church was quite humble, and it was interesting to think about the things that went on and were said within the first church, as there would have been no bible, rituals or songs of course. <br> <br>On the way back from the church a very friendly local man ...