January 22- February 10th The weather in Turkey is beautiful!! In the day the temperature is about 70-80 degrees with bright blue sky and at night the stars are bright against the moon. They have started planting flowers and now the pansies are blooming all over Marmaris!! The only sound we hear is the tearing down of storefronts along the miles of waterfront!!! The businesses have been apparently infringing on government property for the last several years getting closer and closer to the waterfront. The businesses, mainly restaurants, are now tearing down 25-30 feet of their storefronts before the deadline of April 1st. On that day the government will come and bulldoze it down. This is also the deadline for any outside construction. So everyone is tearing down their buildings and trying to reconstruct a new storefront before April 1st , mostly by hand. Only in Turkey! We are still bowling on Thursday nights and the number is growing. And today Rudy got his bowling shoes. Stacy mailed them 3 weeks ago for her Dad since the bowling alley didn’t have his size; he was wearing holes in his socks. The explanation was that Turkish men aren’t very tall!! Rudy and I have decided to teach several of the cruisers the fine art of playing dominoes!!! So far we have taught over ten people and that number is growing as well!! Rudy is the best haggler I know!!! He got a rental car (mind you not much of one) three months for $300!!! So far the beetle has been repaired at least 6 times, but it gets us around town. If we want to go any distance, we get to rent a REAL CAR for $8 more a day!!! Yesterday February 6th, we got a REAL CAR and drove to Datca and Knidos, which are about 60-70 miles on a peninsula about 50 miles long just North of Marmaris. We had lunch in Datca and then drove to Knidos. After about 12 miles on asphalt road winding through the mountains, we got to the Datca Peninsula, a spiny 45-mile long, finger-like projection separating two bays. The narrowest point is called Balikasiran (the place where fish leap across, but we didn’t see any that day!!) The last 5 miles the road is a dirt road with a series of hairpin turns from which both bays and the Greek Island of Tilos and Simi could be viewed from dizzying and scary heights!!! The hundreds of cherry tress in blossom also enhanced the views!!! As we traveled on the peninsula we were stopped twice, the first time by two policemen and the second time by the military. They both asked us a question and we told them we could not speak Turkish and that we were Americans. Then they asked to see our license. The police said to go on, but the military soldiers (with a gun) started to play with us, but in Turkish we didn’t get it right away. After he asked the second time with a smile on his face if we were from Afghanistan, we said no and we went on our way. We visited Knidos, which was one of the most prosperous cities in this area a couple of thousand years ago. Knidos is among other things famous for the Statue of Aphrodite, the first ever statue of a nude woman. Until the sculptor Praxiteles (390-330B.C.) made Aphrodite’s statue, all nudes were male gods. Even in ancient times, tourists flocked to Knidos to see the statue. No one knows what happen to this statue, however the two theories are that it was destroyed by an earthquake or it was stolen by a 19th century British Archaeologists supported by the British Navy. We were impressed with the size of the area. Even along the peninsula there were evidence of dwellings and lookout posts for miles and miles. When we were finished looking around, two military soldiers asked us if they could have a ride back. Of course Rudy said yes. So they got into the back seat with their Uzi machine guns and some hand picked flowers, which they handed to me. This week three American Navy ships are anchored close to Marmaris..a Submarine, a Destroyer and a Transport Ship. So there are many young Americans going to the gym, bowling, walking, buying, eating and drinking in our area. They are bused in from their Military anchorage in the harbor next to us. We thanked them for being there for America and they wished us well in our adventure!!! Now its back to planning for our next land tour! See you soon!