Dispatch from Selçuk

(E-mail to Dad)

Still in Turkey! We just arrived in the town of Selçuk (near the Aegean sea) to see the ruins of Ephesus tomorrow. Then we will be on a ferry the next day to one of the Greek islands. We will probably spend no more than a week around Greece since we are eager to travel around Croatia.

Turkey has been such a neat place to travel in. I found the mosques in Istanbul to be very peaceful and mesmerizing. The Turkish people have been very friendly and hospitable. The food is very good and the Baklava is about 100 times better than in the states! While Greek comes to mind when you think of this dessert, I learned that it is actually Turkish in origin (I think it depends on who you ask).

The Hagia Sofya, with it's massive dome, was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years. It is "considered to be the epitome of Byzantine architecture."
An early morning ride to the ruins at Ephesus.
The restored library of Ephesus, which once housed 12,000 to 15,000 scrolls
Met these friendly little ladies while on a stroll through town

Dispatch From Istanbul (As in Turkey!)

(e-mail to Dad)

It is very exciting to be here in Istanbul! I feel worlds away. Just checked into a hostel near Sultanahmet Square after a very long flight on a Boeing 747 (some scary turbulence!). Lots of mosques, carpets, whirling dervishes, and women with scarves wrapped around their heads. I love that, despite the modernization of such a place, you can still get a feel for their traditions.

We do not even have a guide book (talk about going with the flow) but I checked with the tourist information office and grabbed some useful information on sites. I did not realize Turkey has so many neat historical points of interest ... such as Troy and Esphesus, as well as some famous Greek mythical sites. I am thrilled!

Anyway, we will probably stay here in the city only for 2-3 days since it is a steep USD$26 a night for a dorm room!

Gastronomic adventures in Brazil

Brazil is so green, warm, and tropical! I´ve been enjoying the beaches especially after (mostly) cool and wet weather in Argentina and Peru. We stayed on scenic Ilha Santa Catarina for a few days in Rio Grande Sul, which probably is one of the more touristy, overpriced, modernized parts of Brazil but certainly worth a visit!

Because its the off season here, we got a good rate on a cute pousada up on a hill overlooking Barro da Lagoa. We cooked meals with our friends Tom (an Englishman we met in Uruguay) and Aaron (from home) to save some money. Unfortunately, the food on the island was unimaginative and unhealthy. Every restaurant offered pretty much fried food. I ordered a "grilled" fish one night and it came to the table fried! However, with a little persistence I was able to find a few places that served good lunch buffets by the kilo, homemade empañadas, and sweet, satisfying coconut shakes with canela (cinnamon) on Praia Mole. Word of mouth was that the further North you go (particularly Bahia), the better and more authentic the food is. Thus, we packed up and moved on in search of better and cheaper food (and of course, less touristy places)!

We met a German traveler who invited us along to Blumenhaus, a German settlement inland, to sample the homemade beer and check out the architecture. Next, our group split up, with Aaron and Tom moving on to Sao Paulo and Sergio and I heading to the Iguazu Falls, with a pit stop in Curitiba.

It was here in Curitiba that we visited the buffet of all buffets. Batel Grill & Churrascuria. I felt like Charlie in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Salad buffet, sushi buffet, Brazilian food buffet, hors d’oeuvres buffet! In addition to those food stations, waiters bring skewered meat and pasta dishes to your table until your belly is popping out of your shirt. After 2 hours of stuffing our faces and several bathroom runs, we topped it all off with five cups of espresso topped with chantilly cream and watched a Cirque du Soleil show on the Plasma. Yes, this place was fancy but the quality was superb and the experience fully entertaining. We felt we earned that after nearly 3 months of traveling and eating cheaply.

And now, I am back on the Argentina side to visit the Iguazu Falls tomorrow (which borders three countries: Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina). This region is mostly tropical rainforest and I am waiting out an angry thunderstorm. It is actually quite exhilarating as I`ve seen nothing like it before. The rain has been pouring so hard in the last two hours that the roof of one of the dorms caved inwards and flooded the room a foot deep in water!

Booked our tickets from Rio de Janeiro to Istanbul, Turkey on April 22nd! That was the cheapest way to get home via a continent other than South America (I've been itching to go somewhere where Spanish, and rice and beans aren´t prevalent). From Istanbul, we'll travel overland to Greece and Croatia, the final leg of our journey!

Barra de Lago, Florianopolis: the view from our balcony!
Praia Mole, one of my favorite beaches in southern Brazil. (and no, that is not me!)
Local friends share a sarong.

Christo Redentor, the massive statue that embraces all of Rio de Janiero.

Uruguay ... the best place to stargaze!

Aaron, Sergio, and I are staying in the sleepy fishing village of Punta del Diablo, on the coast of Uruguay. We arrived in the country two days ago and are making our way up along the coast to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

We have the advantage of traveling in South America during the low season, however, the weather is getting colder and it rained for most of my stay in Argentina. I am eager to follow the sun to warmer places as the winter approaches here.

Despite the protests and road blocks, I got a chance to visit my old friend, Valeria Mainardi, in Cordoba. Valeria was an exchange student at my high school during my senior year. Thus, it had been eight years since we last saw each other! Anyway, I arrived in Cordoba after a miserable 11 hour bus journey, where Valeria and her boyfriend, Santiago, picked me up from the bus station. From then on, I was spoiled! Her family took me in for four days with wide, open arms. They fed me, showed me around town, and even when working, took a few hours off to take me to lunch. I was absolutely grateful for their hospitality and it felt like a true cultural homestay experience. I was surprised to learn that Valeria's father is a well known physicist and who was also the first Argentinean to work for NASA in the states. He is a great storyteller. Valeria is an English teacher and is working on her Master's degree in Linguistics. Fact: Higher Education is free in Argentina!

Last night, I saw the night sky for the first time in weeks and I almost couldn't believe my eyes when the clouds suddenly vanished. There were BILLIONS of bright stars to be seen all the way to the ocean's horizon. And right above me, the Milky Way stretched from East to West. An orange shooting star flashed across. It was an incredible scene and Uruguay will be forever embedded in my memory because of it.