Ephesus, Turkey.

I have always wanted to travel and go on an archeological dig. Exploring Ephesus, Turkey was probably as close to an archeological dig as I could get to so far in my lifetime. I am being for real when I say that while walking through the ruins, there were tents pitched and archeologists were digging and dusting off new found ruins in the ground and I was dying deep down inside. What a treasure hunt! I so badly wanted to join in. I can't even explain to you the level of my amazement while walking through Ephesus. Just like Athens and most of Santorini, everything was marble. The ground we walked on was so slippery I almost broke my back more times than I can count, but my gosh how beautiful the marble ground was. It amazes me that all of this was built in a time where they didn't have the technology and the tools that we have today - it makes it all that much more jaw dropping and truly a work of art and I hope it will always continue to be restored to stand the test of time. What is so baffling to me, is that with the tools and machinery we have today, you'd think our buildings and architecture would be so exquisite, and so thought out with an abundance of detail. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case, at least not in America. Everything is so plain and simple in structure and the mediums used are harsh looking and so contemperary and modern. There is no after thought or character given and it's such a shame. I don't know if we are all lazy, or the passion of architecture has fleeted or if we have the mentality of building fast and building more. It's like shopping - buy less, choose well. Instead, everyone is buying more and more as fast as they can and what they consume is cheap. What a shame.

 I am so grateful for these historic ruins and buildings and all of the architecture around the world that allows history to stay present and to give us a feel and an outlet to the past - even if it's just a small taste of back then. I guess that's all I'm trying to say.

Now, the food in Turkey, sort of questionable. There were only two things I loved - Turkish Delights (I have dreamt of popping those Turkish Delights in my mouth since I was a little girl thanks to Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe) and Baklava. I had to bend over and eat the Baklava it was that messy. Honey just oozed out of pistachio covered square of heaven. It was insane. Now, the chicken kabobs made me a little nervous. And I love food, I'm just about the least picky eater and I'll consume anything I see, just like my dog Banjo. But the chicken kabobs.... once I saw that chicken and pork twirling on a metal rod with all the juice oozing out, I thought I was going to puke. You have to see it to understand what I mean, something just wasn't right there. I didn't eat my way through Turkey like I did in Italy & Greece. I wasn't ready to risk getting food poisoning the rest of my holiday....

Mykonos, Greece.

Oh Mykonos. I'm beginning to believe that I may love you more than Santorini. Hard to believe, I know. It's just that Mykonos is so bright and cheerful, there is so much pattern with the help of the pavement, which is not individual rocks. It somewhat flat ground and the locals PAINT the white circular print with paint over it! We saw them painting in one area where the paint was beginning to fade! It's just amazing that they take the time do to that throughout the whole town, and for thank I am thankful! It adds so much character to Mykonos. It is said that the reason for Mykonos acting as a maze and making it very easy to get lost in all the alleyways was to keep pirates from going any further than from entering the town. Once they came ashore, all the locals would gather at the tops of their homes and shoot the pirates from the rooftops as the pirates became more and more confused and lost, not knowing which way to run and which way they came from. I love that.

Orange Tabby cats roam the place and they are all so friendly and cute, basking in the sun and taking cat naps on the pillows placed outside of the shops just for them. We continued to eat our way through Greece with more Greek salads and Gyros, but the treat that takes the cake was Mykonos' crepes! My gosh. We went back to this one crepe shop 4 times in one day. FOUR TIMES! Later in the month we traveled to Paris where I assumed the crepes would be hard to beat, but Mykonos won them over. I've never had a crepe quite like these ones.

I'm still thinking about them today and practically drooling.