Konya, Turkey Sep '08

Konya, Turkey, aka Iconium, in the old cradle of civilization. Jeff was deployed here for 1 month. Luckily, the hotel was 5 star all-the-way. The Dedeman had a fitness center, indoor and outdoor pools a rooftop bar, and a 5-star restaurant. Jeff's room was on the 16th floor. See this picture below? Jeff's room is in the middle, 3 floors from the top. It wraps around the front of the hotel with about 60 feet of glass in a 90 degree arc. The room was shaped like a quarter of a pie. What an amazing view everyday! That became the party/hangout room.



The streets of Konya were crowded and tough to drive around on. The market places were busy and filled with so many different herbs, fruits, and fish. There were endless streets with shops with everything from prayer rugs to #3 wash tubs. It was lively, safe and fun to shop around. Gold was everywhere, too. They just left the fish out, no ice...

On one of the middle weekends Jeff took a tour with a few other people to the amazing area of Cappadocia. This place is amazing. In the Hatti and Hittite era (1500 BC or so), the people figured out that you could dig into the volcanic ground easily to create constant temperature storage. Later, the Christians would flourish in Anatolia (Turkey). Remember the books of the New Testament--Ephesians, Galatians? They were letters written by Paul of Taursus, who began his missionary journneys in Antioch. Well, ALL of the cities are in Turkey. Consider yourself schooled. Anyway, apparently Christianity wasn't cool at the time, so the Christians had to dig even deeper into the volcanic ground to hide. So far over 30 cities have been found, housing over 25,000 people. The city Jeff visited went more than 800' underground. It had sewage into underground rivers, 2000 lb doors, kitchens, wineries, churches...amazing.

Jeff saw this stone guarding the door and decided to roll it out the way:

There, not so tough...now who want's to put it back, please?

A loaf of bread, a jug of wine and more wine. Welcome to the winery. By the way, that constant temperature is about 55 degrees...chilly all year round.

The tour guide took us to Göreme next. An amazing Christian Univerisity and city built inside these spiky mountains. From the valley below you could not see the thriving city inside the mountains. 36 churches, 1 monestary and 1 nunnery. Over time the walls have eroded and you can now see the rooms from outside--cover blown. This was an active community up until the 1930's!

This is the monestary below. Rumor has it that it is connected by tunnels to the nunnery, but I saw no evidence. Celibacy was not part of the Church back then, so it doesn't matter. Back then it was baby making time, as the Christians were a bigtime minority and needed growth.

No this is not a urinal. It is a dining room table next to one of the chapels. They carved a groove to leave a bench around a table. The gentlemen you see there is Magnus Williams. He is our Intel Officer and officially as of 2 weeks ago the strongest man in Europe. He appears to be hoping for food on the table. (yes, that is a regular sized person behind him).

Sorry the next one is a little blurry but it is the alter in one of many churches in Göreme.

After hours of rock climbing the tour guide took the crew to a cave restaurant. The table and benches there are also carved out of the rock. They served a huge meal. First was a lentil soup, followed by a big clay pot sealed and baked in the ground, filled with potatoes, onions, garlic, eggplant, tomatoes, lamb and spices, followed up by rice pudding. SO GOOD. They also had a local wine which was great, so Jeff brought home a bottle. Table for 10:

Back to climbing! Man they'd never let you do this in America. Some of the shafts were 10 - 20 feet high, with hand holds worn into the walls. Some (not ones I went in) were as deep as 200 feet deep--no thanks. We went up one of these "Fairy Chimneys," created from a hard top layer with a softer lower layer. Naturally, people hollowed them out and made homes in them. The rocks keep you cool in the day and relatively warm, with a fire, at night.

A view from outside, with a collapsed wall, letting you see the living room.

A bigger picture view of the chimneys.

No trip to Turkey would be complete without rug shopping. If Jeff had the money, he'd have bought one of each style. Notice this woman placing strings of thread one at a time. Above her head is a picture showing a blow-up of the detail she is creating. To complete this rug will take 12 to 14 months working all day, every day.

We finished the trip with an amazing rug-throwing extravaganza. The owner of the store served tea (In Turkey "Cay" and is pronounced tch-eye or chi) and booze if you wanted it. Then they "threw" or rolled out hundreds of rugs from dozens of styles and countries. It was fun and although Jeff was FORBIDDEN to buy a rug, he managed to bargain a $2700 Hereke down to $1200 by saying he didn't want any rug or his wife would leave him. Still he didn't buy the rug. 2 days later he bought himself a Huglu Over and Under shotgun as a consolation!

All in all a great trip. Jeff was the PROJO (project officer) for the whole thing, safely getting over 200 people there and back and supporting Turkey's excercise Anatolian Eagle. It was a long, dificult task, but interspersed with some great culture, history and leisure.

Mom and Dad Visit and Normandy Trip

What a great 2 weeks. Jeff's mom and dad came for a visit. We toured some local German sites, ate schnitzel, drank delicious beers from the local monasteries, spent an afternoon in Bernkastel and took a cruise on the Mosel River in Reisling wine country. Because Jeff had to work the first week, Mom and Dad took a 4 day trip to Paris. They had a bad start--some bum snatched Dad's wallet and took all his money. He dropped the wallet, and no one was hurt, so it could have been so much worse. After that, they took in all the usual sites, like the Louvre and Musee D' Orsay. They travelled back and forth on the high speed train that goes 300km per hour, or about 188mph!

Mom didn't know we wear Lederhosen (Bunderhosen actually pictured) everyday:



We started the 8 hour drive to Normandy with a break in Bastogne, Belgium, to look at the museum and memorial to the Americans who held out over Christmas 1944, thwarting the entire German counter-offensive, known as "The Battle of the Bulge." If you remember, this is the town in the Ardennes forest, where after being surrounded by the Germans, the American commander, General McAuliffe, sent his famous response to surrender demands: "NUTS!!" We enjoyed the visit and drove on to Asnieres en Bessin on the Normandy coast, just a couple of hedge rows in from Omaha beach.

The house we stayed in was awesome. Built in 1605 as the farm out-buildings behind a huge chateau (still there, too) of a local Count and Countess, it played a part in a secret commando raid in 1942, then housed POWs at the end of the war. Our hosts, Pat and Tony Graves, a semi-retired British couple, are genuinely good people whose company we enjoyed every morning and evening. Tony owned an aircraft museum in the UK and had personally excavated over 400 wrecks from the battle of Britain--a fascinating historian. He took us on a 11 hour tour all over Normandy one day. We stopped at all the major battle areas, plus a dozen little spots made famous in "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers." Tony has actually met with and talked to BOB guys, who have taken him to dozens of spots, unmarked but remembered by them, where various fire fights, acts of heroism and significant events occurred. This was an amazing day.

Tony and Pat's Place, Le Fournet http://www.stayomaha.com/ :



We went out for seafood on the first night. Wine and fresh seafood on the beach...not cheap, but sooooo good. Even Katie looks impressed:



The next day, Tony began our tour on Omaha Beach, serene, now, but it is not hard to imagine the chaos, when you stand under the still existing German concrete bunkers and the high bluffs, cutting off the beach from inland. Over 10,000 men fell on this beach on June 6, 1944.



We travelled to Pointe Du Hoc, next, made famous in numerous movies. It is a prominent peninsula jutting out the west side of Omaha Beach, fronted by 100' cliffs, which the rangers climbed to take out the German guns--which turned out to be decoys. The actual guns were moved slightly inland to rain fire onto the beaches. They would be destroyed after heavy losses with thermite grenade charges by 2 Sergeants who found them unattended, camouflaged in a field.

You can see the pounding Pointe Du Hoc had taken form bombers and Battleships. There are hundreds of craters like this. Surprisingly many bunkers survive and you can go in them still.



A badly shattered gun emplacement, Jena foreground, Katie hiding left, Andrew and Maw maw and Paw paw out front.



The people of Normandy suffered tremendous losses, over 20,000 in the landings, but still realize what was sacrificed to free them. This church in Angoville, has a stained glass commemorating the Airborne troops who fought and died here. The church was used as a field hospital and as testament to the fighting, the floors and pews are all blood stained to this day. The parishioners decided to leave them as they are as a memorial. Both American and Germans were treated in the church by 2 American medics, awarded the Silver Star.



Farther inland we toured a complete bunker. It was amazing and amazingly dark inside them! Tony took this pic of the group.



Iron Mike. St Michael is the patron saint of the Airborne and here, near La Fiere, just 3 km from Sainte-Mère-Eglise (famous for the paratrooper hung up on the church steeple), is a statue of "Iron Mike" who represents the men of the Airborne with grenades and Thompson sub-machine gun. He overlooks the bridge of La Fiere, scene of the most desperate fight of the Airborne. The Germans sought to take and destroy the vitally important bridge. They had a large force and tanks. The Airborne, having jumped in, had no armored vehicles, only machine guns and bazookas. Because the bridge was on a causeway through a marsh, the Germans could not do anything but come up the one lane road. The Americans held the bridge, at a cost of nearly every defender, nearly 700 men were lost in a field the size of a pasture, until reinforcements could solidify the position. The Medal of Honor was won twice over on this spot. Standing next to Iron Mike, looking out on this field, and tiny stone bridge is sobering. The Airborne still drops paratroopers, including old veterans (in tandem with a young buck, now) on this field every year on the 6th of June, 64 years later.



We took a brief tour of the American Cemetery. It is beautiful and solemn. It is high on a cliff overlooking the sea. Every cross and Star of David is perfectly aligned, viewed from every angle. We didn't stay long, but came back the next day and spent hours. There is a D-Day museum at the entrance, and it gives a great overview of the invasion as well as individual stories of several of the guys in the cemetery. One turned out to be from Jeff' first fighter squadron, the 77th FS. Over 30,000 Americans died in the invasion and subsequent battle for Normandy; close to 10,000 are here, the rest were taken home according to the families' will.



The house we stayed in was interesting. This room housed German POWs from 1944 to around 1950. Six POWs lived here. Most of the German defenders were conscripted boys; average age of the paratroopers: 17.5. They lost over 77,000 in the invasion and battle for Normandy.



Here, you can see the days, months, years marked down as they were basically used as labor to clean up the war materials in the local area. In October, 1945, just about 1/2 mile outside the town, behind the house, a large explosion (unexploded ordnance collected together in a depot) killed 30 Americans and 45 of these POWs, and partially destroyed the church and surrounding buildings of the town.



Our hosts, Pat and Tony Graves. She made us breakfast every morning. Tony a former Judo master, was hooked on the Olympic Judo competitions in the morning, then regaled us with stories in the evening over wine and scotch.



Overall, this trip was more than we had ever imagined it would be. We even stopped in Bayeux, to see the famous Bayeux Tapestry, which recounts the story of William the Conqueror's rise to power and capture of the English throne. Apparently, other things happened in Normandy before WWII!

Ashton Visits

Andrew's friend, Ashton, came to visit for a couple of weeks, so we spent one weekend in Paris and one weekend in London. We picked the kids up from the airport in Paris and drove right to the Eiffel Tower. The five of us spread out a blanket and had a picnic. We let the kids get in line and climb/ride up while we spent the afternoon on the blanket with a couple of bottles of wine. Now THAT'S Paris! We usually are in a hurry and rushing from one thing to the next. This was a great afternoon.



Perfect weather and a bottle, or two of wine:


We rode the Batobus (a water taxi) down the river Seine (pronounced "sane") to Notre Dame Cathedral. In all our trips, we hadn't been down the river. It was nice, but the Metro is so much faster.



Katie at the Notre Dame stop. I think you can almost make out the hunchback up in the bell tower.


Next it was on to the Invalids, King Louis the 16th's hospital built in the 1600's for all his injured troops. Katie got her cannon picture, although she was not overly thrilled at the world's foremost military museum. W went to the Louvre and hit the highlights--the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, mummies, etc.


The next weekend, we rode the Eurostar under the English Channel through the Chunnel to London. We went to the London Eye, Madam Tussuad's, ate fish and chips, drank ale and bitters, visited the London Museum, The Museum of Natural History, the London Dungeon, Harrods Department Store, and rode the Tube. It was an all around great trip. Our hotel, the Premier Inn near King's Cross Station/St. Pancras, was awesome.

Jena, married Henry the 8th apparently, then was irritated when Jeff sang "I'm 'Enery the 8th I am, 'Enery the 8th I am, I am. I got married to the widow next door...." ALL DAY!



Katie had a hot date with Prince William:



Saddam and Jeff caught up on old times. It's hard to believe they were once enemies. They had ice cream and cotton candy and rode the Tea Cups until they had tummy aches. Good times.



Just when we were having such a good time, Hitler showed up, yelling and carrying on. Andrew stepped in and they fought for 12 rounds. The fight ended with this last punch. Andrew got up, just like Rocky, with seconds to spare. Europe doesn't know how close this one was:


Afterward, we saw the sights from the classic Big Red Bus tours.



All in all, two action packed weekends, with great weather, and good memories.

The HOG Has Arrived!

After months of paperwork and gnashing of teeth, we finally were able to pick up the new Harley today. It is a 2008 Road King Classic. A friend let us borrow his pickup truck and we used a neighbor's sloped driveway as an unloading ramp to get it home. Jeff couldn't drive it home, as the Air Force has made getting licensed nearly impossible. But he has a safety class 31 July-2 Aug and will only have to get either Texas or Georgia to send him an endorsement after that. We took a short ride around our local area just for fun, but can't go far with no license plates!

Here are some pics. The windshield is removable, but I don't see a reason to take it off.



It has leather saddle-bags and I have a matching leather trunk on order (2 months, now assumed lost in the mail) with a leather back rest made onto it for Jena.



For now, I'm leaving the factory pipes on it, and it is surprisingly quiet, which works well in Germany. I may wait to return to the States to make it loud. The ride is incredibly smooth as it has air ride suspension and the motor is mounted on rubber mounts to almost eliminate and vibration. It even has cruise control.

Rhine on Fire

This weekend we stuck closer to home. We read and heard about The Rhine on Fire celebration in Rudesheimer, Germany, on the Rhine river, near the large city of Mainz. The event is a flotilla of lighted ships and boats crusing about 10 miles up the river, greeted by fireworks as they approach each castle and town along the river, and there are plenty of castles. We went to town early and had to ferry across (not any bridges in this area).



We parked, illegally ($40 ticket later) and caught this cool gondola above the vineyards. For those who like Riesling, the sweet or dry German white wine, this is the place it comes from. Here's Jeff looking like he's got his Bubba Gump ball cap on:



Jena makes it look a little better. See the vineyards?



At the top, we enjoyed the view.



Then walked around to this monument to German unification after the Franco-Prussian war in the 1870's.



We then enjoyed the wine. Jena Found a white wine that she could bear to drink. We tried a red, but it was not too good.



Apparently St. Nicholas keeps his reindeer in Germany for the summer, so we fed them for him.



We took a 1 mile nature walk over to a chairlift down to the town of Assmannhausen (I'll leave the literal translation to your imagination). There, we had a great dinner and then found our "round trip" ticket was for a boat back to town at 6pm, but it was 7 pm...so we did what anybody would do: we stowed away on a train and hopped off back in Rudesheimer. And we did not go to jail!



We left early to go across the river, to avoid the after-fireworks rush for the ferry. That was a mixed bag. The ferry had already closed and we drove for over an hour to get to the other side and back to the area. We made it back just in time and got a front row seat for the singular most amazing fireworks show either of us has ever seen. This photo doesn't show it well, but you can see the ships lit up at the bottom and the fireworks coming out of the vineyards. It was a good day.