Lycian Way: We didn't get lost!

Posted by Max and Elizabeth. Yesterday our two families, the Silverman Wilkes and Scott Rifers (9 people in all) began our six day hike along the Lycian Way. The Lycian Way is a 540 km path along the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey from Oludeniz to Geyikbayırı. We will cover about 25 km from Faralya to Patara.


Last night over dinner at the Olive Garden (not to be mistaken with the chain in the suburbs of America) we discussed our favorite memories of the first day on the trail. Definitely not to be forgotten.

• Leo: "I looked in the mirror."
• Romi: "What did you see?"
• Leo: "I saw my true love."
• Caleb: My highlight was making it to two beaches."
• Noah: "Not getting lost."
• Caleb: Getting Elizabeth out of the bush."
• Romi: Making it here safely."
• Griffin: "Getting 100 percent on my lit paper without reading the book." 
• Sue: "An amazing view around every corner."
• Beth: "Pushing ourselves physically and mentally. Watching our children on an amazing hike."
• Max: "The reward of swimming in the Mediterranean Sea."
• Elizabeth: "The strong tree that saved my life."

 

A Mediterranean view and Leo's resignation

Posted by Leo. At the hotel where we are staying in Faralya, there are all sorts of people. So far, we have met many Americans and we have seen many amazing views. Right now, I’m looking over the Mediterranean Sea. We are on a hill with steep slopes leading to the beach with small cabins covering the hill. The road to get here is pretty sketchy with steep cliffs on one side. The mountain is rocky but is covered with trees and bushes.

The sky is gray this morning. I’m hoping for no rain but there might be some. In two days, we are leaving for a five day trek with Caleb. We heard some people talking about the walk and they said it took seven and a half hours for the first day. As a group of nine it will probably take us longer, more like eight and a half to nine hours a day of walking. The great part is that we will get to a new place and, BAM, it will be on the beach. I can’t wait to start the walk. I have enjoyed posting and seeing the comments and feedback. Sadly, this will be my last post due to me being lazy.

Many regards,
Leo (Sail on Sailor)

Management note: We would like to note that Leo’s resignation has not been accepted by his superiors and he will be back to blogging after a short trekking hiatus. We look forward to many more posts from Leo once he comes to his senses.

Our brush with the law in Turkey

Posted by Elizabeth. For some reason I didn't buy a map of Turkey. I guess I imagined we would just find our way or use Google Maps to plot our course. You would think I would know better. I have a sordid history with Google Maps. One that involves a trecherous drive from Milan to Florence over a snowy mountain.

Remote areas don't seem to be its specialty. I get that. Who's out here capturing these mountain roads and dirt paths? So I shouldn't have been surprised by the circuitous route Google chose from Pamukkale to Faralya. It started off fine. A great highway through stunning country. It soon led to a windy road over snow capped mountains. 

Which is where we were pulled over by the Turkish gendarme. We came upon the roadblock at the top of an overpass. Two police vans and about eight officers. There were a couple of cars pulled over ahead of us and we scrambled to remember where we had stashed our passports and licenses. 

We got to the officers and Beth opened the window. Six or so men surrounded our car and looked in all the windows. Without saying anything we could understand they all walked back to the van. After a minute they came back and  asked us to open all our windows. Obediently and maybe stupidly we did. They reached in towards Griffin and Leo but instead of asking them to get out of the car they handed them Turkish flags and chocolate eggs filled with toys. With big grins they all exclaimed, "Happy Children's Day!" 

Turns out it was a national holiday. Whew. 

Swimming with Roman ruins

Posted by Leo. Pamukkale (Turkey) is beast. It is a white covered mountain. It reminded me of snow but when I stepped onto it I realized it was rock. The rock was hard with water running down it. It went down the entire mountain with little streams and pools. The mountain was made out of calcium left behind when the water evaporates.

My friend Caleb was with me. We ran up the mountain. The water was warm in some places but cold in others. At the top there is a hot springs pool where the water comes from. 

The hot springs was shaped organically with Roman ruins in the water. People like Caleb stubbed their toes on them. You could see a Roman amphitheater nearby. We swam in the water for hours and it was really warm. 

It's fun having Caleb here rather than being alone with my family. 

Max and Romi at Pamukkale

Awe and wonder in the digital age

Posted by Elizabeth. I love my children. I really do. But their attachment to the digital world may be a problem. This morning I realized a major flaw in this plugged in lifestyle. They have seen and "experienced" absolutely everything. Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and the great big Internet bring sights to their little screens that are fantastic and worldly and breathtaking.

Which leaves little room for real-life wonder and awe. 

In Rome we saw the Sistine Chapel. In Paris, the Mona Lisa. And in Turkey the ruins of Ephesis and the white steaming pools of Pamukkale. Pretty cool? Yes. Awe inspiring? Not so much. Maybe it's just teenage enui or maybe it's hard to compete with monster-like aliens wielding machetes as they leap over the Great Wall of China. Hopefully someday I'll figure out a way to top that. 

What it's really like to live out of a suitcase

Posted by Elizabeth. Yes I've worn the same two pairs of pants and one dress for 76 days in a row. And sometimes I can't find my toothbrush so I use one of the kid's. Here are a few ways living out of our suitcases for six months has made life interesting.

 

1. We own four really awesome collapsible water bottles but one of the lids can't be found in the bottom of the suitcase (I won't name names) and REI doesn't seem to have stores in Europe. 
2. If we can't find clean socks we just raid another suitcase. 
3. Beth packed salt thinking we would need it?! and it spilled all over the bottom of her suitcase. Nice. 
4. Leo packed one shirt and two pairs of shorts but didn't forget the three brand new pairs of Nike sports shoes and a pair of soccer cleats. I'm not sure he actually has a toothbrush. 
5. Griffin has somehow packed a full wardrobe in his bag including a sports jacket, multiple dress pants, four or five pair of shoes, a bow tie and two scarfs. Did I mention I have two pairs of pants?
6. Teenagers require a significant supply of products. For their hair, their skin, body odor, you name it. Beth has a toothbrush and may have brought a bar of soap. I guess it all evens out. 
7. We have an entire bag full of cords and chargers and adapters and card readers and USB thingies and god knows what else. We could supply a small Best Buy with that bag. 

I actually love living simply and may just keep up the three outfit life. Somehow I think the rest of the family will be glad to have their closets back. 

The blue blue Aegean



Griffin, Leo, Caleb, Romi and Noah in Izmir

Posted by Elizabeth. We flew into İzmir last night. Turkey definitely feels different than the rest of Europe (you know you're not in Paris anymore when the call to prayer wakes you up). But similar too. İzmir is on a protected bay in the Aegean Sea just east of Greece and about an hour flight south of Istanbul. Many people use this as a base to explore Ephesus and the beautiful beaches on this coast.

We met the Wilkes Silverman family here and the nine of us are spending about 10 days exploring western and southern Turkey. Today we drive to Selcuk to visit Ephesus and then on to Pamukkale. 

I'm sitting on our deck this morning listening to the city sounds and looking out over the bay (photo below). Pretty heavenly. There are ferries crisscrossing the bay which makes me feel right at home. 

View from our deck. Love Airbnb!

Cupcakes in Paris

They kept the Tour Eiffel because it made them cash

Posted by Leo. When you stand atop the Eiffel Tower it’s like you’re on top of the world looking down at everyone. The shadow it casts is massive. Here’s some of the history of the tower. It was built for the World’s Fair and they were going to destroy it but someone pointed out you could use the top as a transmitter for radio.

The radio could transmit all across Europe and was used in WW1. The radio station is hidden underground and was used by military officers only. The base was used for one year and after that they decided to keep the tower because it made them cash. The Eiffel Tower was only supposed to last 20 years and was repaired 18 times with a six foot antenna.

My Birthday in Paris

Posted by Griffin. This week I had my 16th birthday in Paris. We had just arrived in Paris the night before so this was our first day in Paris. When I woke up I was greeted with a beautiful birthday cake from a bakery down the street.

My Birthday Cake

Works in the Musee d'Orsay

After breakfast we went to the Musée d'Orsay to see a collection of works from the late 19th century. As usual Leo could only stick around for about 15 minutes before he had a "panic attack" and was promptly escorted out by Mama. However, I try to not let him ruin my museum outings. The art in the Musée d'Orsay is fantastic. It shows the transition from the French academic art and Romanticism of the mid 19th century to realism and finally Impressionism and beyond.

After we went to the Musée d'Orsay we walked along the Seine to a French café called La Palette. This café is the epitome of Parisian cafes. Small tables, striped overhangs, crowds of smokers, seriously this café has it all. I ordered a delicious goat cheese that was slightly melted on little toast pieces over a salad. It was the best food I have ever tasted.

Lunch at La Palette

To top off our afternoon we went vintage shopping. It was amazing. But all of Paris is amazing so this is no surprise. 

Michelin Star Dinner

Guest post by cousin Mimi who joined us, along with Grandpa, for a week in Paris.

Yesterday Grandpa, his friends the Burkes and I went to a restaurant called La Table d'Eugene. They just earned their Michelin star a few months ago so it was very fancy. When we walked in the door the waiter took our coats and pulled out our chairs. How you order there is you choose either a four course, a seven course, or a ten course meal. Everyone at our table ordered the four course! Once you tell them how many courses you want, the chef makes whatever is in season and that's what you get. Our first course was the appetizers, they were a small jar of fennel and cucumber whip, a small piece of fried polenta with meat and a morel macaron. Then there was a vegetable course which was asparagus with some sauces, and then a white fish and pea purée dish. Then there was a meat dish which was rabbit wrapped in black curry (it was good, but I could barely eat it because I kept thinking about bunnies). Then there was desert, the first one was a morel and banana purée, then there was a tropical fruit and coconut sponge cake and white chocolate plate, and last but not least there was a chocolate egg that they poured hot fudge on! Overall the dinner was good, but I discovered that I do NOT like morel mushrooms, also Grandpa made me drink wine. (It took me the whole dinner to finish a quarter of a glass!)

Tired but happy in Paris

Posted by Elizabeth. Paris is fantastic. So much so that I'm too tired to write. Which means today you get a photo post. Lovely lovely Paris. 

 

Running from tour groups

Posted by Leo. The Vatican Museum is a well-known museum. It is also in its own country run by the Pope. Yesterday, when we visited, so many people were there we were trapped between people on either side. It was bad. I skipped the art but I enjoyed looking at the Egyptian things like tombs and hieroglyphs. Everyone in my family disliked how unorganized it was with all the masses of people. We would try to run from a tour group and another would already be ahead of us.

Once we entered the Sistine Chapel I was a little embarrassed because you were not supposed to wear shorts but I was wearing mine. I thought I would have to be held back but it turned out the guards didn't care at all. They just yelled at everyone not to take photos of the frescoes.

Toward the end of our visit I was getting desperate to leave but we had to go through the whole museum. I was pushing past people and I was a little mad because other people were elbowing me. I elbowed them back. I was about to elbow another person but it was a pregnant lady so I felt bad. We had a short time where there was no one around but then the tour groups caught us. Finally I saw the exit down a circular staircase. The staircase was pretty cool. At least it was better than a statue holding a person’s severed off head.

Headed to Cinque Terra

Posted by Elizabeth. We're on the train from Rome to La Spezia for a few days in the Cinque Terra. A huge thanks to Monica and Marcello for their lovely home in Rome!

The Cinque Terra is the real reason we are on this trip. Two years ago I was reading the Sunday New York Times as I do every Sunday morning. The travel section had a perfectly perfect photo of a town in the Cinque Terra. I must have been going through a rough patch in life. I went to yoga that morning and couldn't stop thinking about that hill town and how I had to find a way to spend time abroad. I felt that life was slipping away from me -- the kids getting older, us getting older, days just following one another with little purpose.

So here we are headed to that little hill town. I still can't believe we made it happen. The decision to go was the hardest. After that it's just a to do list. 

It's not always easy (yesterday's visit to the Vatican museums was a disaster) but we're here together with days full of newness. I'm so thankful my family is up for this adventure.

Papal Audience

The view from our seats 

Posted by Griffin. On Wednesday we awoke before the sun, and set out to have an audience with the Pope. We took the subway to Vatican City, only about 15 minutes away, and then prepared to wait. We got in line outside of St. Peter's Square at 6:45 and waited until 8 to be let in. In this line we met a very aggressive Portugese father who was determined not to be behind anyone. He pushed and shoved his way to the front in order to see the Pope. At 8 the gates opened and peopled flooded past guards who were completely complacent. In the struggle that ensued everyone ran for seats, fortunately we had planned ahead and cut right to the best seats in the entire square, front row. 

Finally after about 2 hours of waiting the Pope emerged. He came surrounded by his entourage, who handed babies to him so that he could kiss them. After that it wasn't as exciting, however he blessed us, which was cool. As soon as the Pope finished speaking the whole section around us burst into cheers. Turns out we sat right in the middle of the Papal Cheer Squad. They screamed their hearts out for "Papa Francisco", imagine the Sounders cheering squad but more religious. Overall it was an amazing experience, definitely worth waking up at 5 for.

The pope and his entourage on the move

A welcome oasis in busy Rome

Posted by Elizabeth. Rome is a city of parks. I didn't know this about the city. There are a couple well known ones like Villa Borghese but there are also many, many others.

Beth and I stumbled on one blocks from our apartment without realizing it was a huge ancient valley full of green space and ruins and goats and a community garden. Oh and a castle or two. I think it's the most beautiful park I've ever seen. Full of happy people running and biking and kissing and playing.

Rome is also a city of horrible traffic, loud motor scooters, crowded subways and packed sidewalks. Which makes the parks that much better.