pictures...

We visited an island yesterday- it was really pretty and we took a carriage ride all around it. I think the horses really had to struggle to pull all five of us, the carriage, and the driver. They looked pretty sad and bony; they are also the smallest horses I've ever seen. There are only two cars on the whole island- one for the army and one for someone else, we figure maybe a doctor??? The carriages are the island's taxis. It is pretty awesome, kind of quaint. On one side of the island is the dock for the ferry and other boats. That is where the town is with all the restaurants and shops. Up and around the island is a military post and the biggest, most expensive Mediterranean villas I've seen yet. Farther on there is a Romani (gypsy) camp; it was very trashy and depressing to see all the wealth next to the slum-like houses. Then a little longer down the road is a resort. The only access to the resort is by boat, ship, or foot. There is no road that goes there. We had to get off the carriage so it could turn around!

Besides that, nothing really new. The water is beautiful and clear. We rode the ferry to the island and people were throwing a kind of sesame bagel to the seagulls, but when I looked into the water I realized that there were fish trying to eat the bagel too! AND, it was quite possible and easy to see the fish and the different colors--- the water was THAT clear!!! Quite different from the Bay.

For now, that's all. Just want to apologize, however, for using "cool" a billion times in the last post- kind of ridiculous to describe the Hagia Sophia as "reallycool," but I was tired!