living like kings

after draining my bank account (more like loan money) with the euro, the turkish lira was heaven sent. finally, a currency that was weaker than the stuggling dollar! boo yah!

from here on out, this is going to be a whirlwind tour of turkey, traveling almost the entire western coast and then some. usually only staying a day or two in each city. putting our backpacks and sandals to use, for sure.

so with what seems like more money, we can eat a little less street food, drink a little more beer, and splurge on random "needs".

for example, today i was just walking down the street, saw a local barber shop, and thought to myself "i haven't shaved in a while" (yeah, i'm a freak asian that actually grows more facıal hair than just a dirty stash)...so with some extra lira in my pocket, i went in and got a professional shave. seems quite excessive, but man it felt good. old school-style. brush-on shaving cream, single blade, aftershave lotion, the works. for a couple u.s. dollars! it's good to be kıng.

speaking of royalty, our first stop in turkey was ephesus, the best preserved ancient city in the mediteranean. one of the seven wonders of the ancıent world. above is a pick of the library. cool columns, statues, ampitheaters, and such. kind of strange to be able to walk around in the ruins like that. should be in a museum or something.

not being much of a history buff, and reading all the background about this place made me realize that i know nothing about the greek/roman/ottoman empires. but since i'm kind of shallow, all i could think about was how sweet it would be to throw a toga party there...heh.