Relaxin'

So! We're in Bodrum, on the Aegean Sea, having a much needed break from sightseeing. We have seen one too many amphitheatres, and we were all delighted to hit the beach. Sorry I have no pictures since Merced (on the Mediterranean); Chris is the only one with an external memory card reader, and I can't find him right now. Words will have to do.

Since last time I posted, I think we've mostly been doing ruins. We went to Colossae, Ephesus, Laodicea, Hireopolis, Priene, Aphrodisias...all these amazing sites rich in historical and religious significance. I have lots of pictures, suntan lines, and scars to show for it (scrambling up castles and over fallen colonnades takes its toll on your shins!). It was all super interesting, but after a while, we couldn't absorb any more history. And if we had to enter one more museum, somebody would have screamed. Probably me.

Anyway, Bodrum is awfully nice after all that. It's kind of a party town, good for young tourists. Ephesus also had other Americans our age, and after being in places where the only other tourists were older people from Germany or France or Japan, we loved talking to college students who actually understood us! The Bodrum beach is stone and pebble rather than sand (Merced had sand). Lots of sailboats. Lots of beach chairs. Lots of suntan lotion. Lots of inquisitive Turkish men telling me how fascinating I am. *giggle* Hannah, Angy, and I decided to even out our dreadful farmer's tans by roasting ourselves for three hours this morning. We felt like rotisserie chickens by lunch time, but it worked! Then we found a restaurant selling cheap, good pitas with different fillings: cheese, roasted vegetables, sausage, etc. The waiters spoke English and German, and since Angy speaks German, they were all happy to practice their language skills on us. They also insisted on taking our pictures and giving us free apple tea (elma cay).

We came back and jumped in the pool for a while, and now we're lounging about checking e-mail on various computers. I think Betsy and I are going to walk by the marina before dinner. And tonight, I don't know...

Our hotel doesn't let us bring water in with us, because they want us to buy it here. Pooh. We are blatant rule-breakers, pleading our college-induced poverty as our excuse; hotel water costs 2 lira for 1.5 liters, which is about three times as much as we pay outside. Walter can fit two five-liter bottles into his bag, so we meandered on down to the grocery store last night and smuggled in some contraband H2O. So there, money-grabbing hoteliers!

Let me see. I don't have much else to say without the help of pictures, I guess. Oh yeah! Our "adopted family" walked down to the local cinema to see "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull " yesterday afternoon. It was so silly and really fun. In English, with Turkish subtitles. Perfect summer movie. :o) Joy and I screamed a lot; Jody was amused by this, but I think Chris was sort of annoyed. Oops. That's just what little sisters do...

Hopefully I can post pictures later. Love you all!