We arrived back in Belize. It'ss good to be home and though MOJITO is also our home, there's a lot we miss. Like not tortillas, tamales, rice and beans and all the other great food.

Looking forward to seeing all our friends and catching up with everyone.

We're making our way home and after leaving Istanbul 22 hours ago, we've arrived in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

We're all suffering from severe jetlag, but I am sure we will survive. Nothing beats jetlag better than a visit to Cheesecake Factory ;^)

I've uploaded photos of our Grand Bazaar and Spice Market shopping adventures, enjoy!

Looking forward to getting home and seeing everyone.

Today we walked and walked and walked...to see the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the Grand Bazaar, the Topkapi Palace & the sea side park.

The Sultanahamet was built in 1609, with its six minarets, it is the last great imperial mosque of the classical period. Its nick name comes from the 20,000 marvellous blue-toned Inzik tiles decorating the interior walls. The tiles, lamps and atmosphere inside this holy Islamic place of worship was quite a sight to behold.

The streets were teaming with people from all walks of life and vendors peddling all sorts of wares. After pounding the pavement for several hours we stopped for a traditional Turkish lunch of turkish meatballs, tzasiki, hummus, walnut mezze, Turkish pizza, Turkish bread and ended this great meal with Turkish tea.

I have posted lots of pics and we are resting now as Flo wants to take on the Grand Bazaar tomorrow. It is the largest covered bazaar in the world with 4,500 shops. If I survive tomorrow's adventure, I intend to post more info and pics, stay tuned...

Merhaba means hello in Turkish. We arrived in Istanbul yesterday after a three hour delay in our flight from Marmaris. We were immediately struck at how clean and beautifully planted out this metropolis is. Unlike Athens and Rome which were covered in graffiti, Istanbul is the opposite, clean, green and flowers everywhere.

We get the impression that Turkey is an ecologically sensitive country that's doing a good job of preserving it's natural treasures.

Istanbul, historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople is the largest city of Turkey and has a population of about 13 million. Istanbul is a megacity, as well as the cultural, economic, and financial centre of Turkey. It is located on the Bosphorus Strait and encompasses the natural harbour known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. It extends both on the European and on the Asian sides of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world that is situated on two continents.

We are staying at a charming bed and breakfast called Hotel Ada Istanbul, the owners are excellent hosts and this morning we had an incredible breakfast buffet comprising of crepes, eggs, Turkish omlets, cheeses, french toast, fruit, sausages, yogurt, cucumbers, baklava (YUM), turkish teas, coffee, juices and many cold mezze plates. Mezzes are cold plates of beans, vegetables (zucchini, egg plant etc), yogurt, hummus etc. that compliment a meal.

The view from our roof top terrace is simply incredible, taking in the Bosphorus Strait and the Hagia Sophia which is one of the greatest marvels of architecture constructed as a basicilica in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian and later converted to a mosque in the 20th century by Mustafa Ataturk.

Today we will explore more of Istanbul and tonight I'll upload some photos. Till then take care and be safe.

On June 30th, we sailed into Marmaris Bay. There is a bittersweet feel to this port as it is the end of the line for MOJITO, she shall remain here until next year when we return. We've enjoyed sailing the Eastern Mediterranean so much that we've decided to leave MOJITO here so that we can return and explore this vast and beautiful area some more.

I can't believe that an entire year has passed since we boarded her in Gibraltar last year. Together we've sailed 2,100 miles, the entire breath of the Med, not counting the 4,500 miles I covered sailing her from Belize to Gibraltar across the Atlantic Ocean. Sailing from Greece to Turkey, we have officially crossed over from Europe to Asia Minor.

Marmaris is a bustling tourist town and a large base for yacht charters in Turkey. Yacht Marina where we are moored is one of the largest marina/boatyards I have ever seen in the Med. They have every marine service you could imagine to refit your yacht right here on the compound. This makes it much more convenient to carry out necessary repairs and especially those of the lightning strike that we suffered back in Ithaca.

Yacht Marina is 8km from the town of Marmaris and yesterday we took the local mini bus into town, Flo was delighted to find the main market where vendors peddle lots of high quality leather goods (jackets, shoes, bags), souvenirs, gold and everything else in between. The general vibe of the merchants is similar to those we expereinced in Morocco, they are aggressive, there are no price stickers, prices must be negotiated and everywhere you are invited to join in drinking Turkish tea. Declining the invitation of tea is considered to be rude and anti-social, so drink up we must.

After strolling the market for several hours, hunger set in and we ate at a traditional Turkish restaurant. The meal included hummus, tzaziki (yogurt, garlic & dill), fish soup, grilled lamb kebabs, turkish ground lamb pizza and turkish bread. With such great food, I'm ready to move to this place. Remember the way to a man's heart is through his stomach :^)

Next weekend we will fly to Istanbul for some sight seeing and to catch our flight home. Expect lost of pics of the sights in between!

We left Simi for a very pleasant three hour sail to Bozuk Buku, a remote and pristine cove in Turkey that has several little rustic restaurants and an intact hellenistic ruin. The restaurants offer free mooring if you patronize their establishments, a pretty cool arrangement.

Upon arrival several little boats rushed up to "Mojito" with girls selling Turkish wraps, jewelry, bread and a host of other items. Now I must emphasize that this place was remote, not a village, just a beautiful cove with three restaurants and a bunch of cruising boats that's it! It reminded me very much of Rio Dulce, Guatemala and had the same feel. Shortly after that some kids walked up and down the little wooden dock with a sign advertising, of all things, Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I could not believe this. Was I in heaven? There is no electricity out here, but they have my favorite ice cream. I was forced to indulge ;^)

Late that night we had a nice supper of turkish bread, seasoned yogurt dip, cold vegetable and bean starters followed by roasted lamb, grilled fish and grilled squid. A very peaceful and pleasant setting combined with good food and great ice cream, what more could we ask for.