Spring Break Part 2 - D-Day tour

Some places affect our minds because they create curiosity and others affect our souls because they evoke strong emotions.  

On 22MAR2013 we took a tour of the D-day sights with Bert a young French gentleman, includes the accent, who became fascinated by the events of June 6, 1944 at a young age.  His knowledge and eagerness to share was contagious and exciting.  If I could take every person I know on this tour ... I would!  It is through men like Bert that assure me the relationship between France and America will remain forever one of friendship and mutual admiration.

Our day started by seeing tanks, including one of only a few German tanks still actually in France and an American Sherman tank.   Some things that we learned (I'll try to keep this brief)

German tanks were built low to the ground so they could make their way through the hedgerows (hedgerows are thick growths around fields) making it easy to conquer their European neighbors.  The tanks were also expensive to build and were built to last.  Germany didn't have the means to mass produce these as the US did with the Sherman tanks through the "lend-lease" program.  The US would make more than 40,000 Sherman tanks alone (they didn't start any real production until after Dec. 7) and would distribute them to all fronts; while, the Germans only made 25,762.  I think that tanks set a good example of why the US joining the fight would be the difference maker.  The Sherman tank was not designed for making it through the hedgerows of Europe.  Actually, the narrow roads kept the tanks from making any progress and made them targets for antitank rockets.  When a tank tried to go over the berms it exposed the unarmored underbelly.  Curtis Cullin, of the 102nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, invented rhinoceros horns. He had salvaged two scrap-metal bars from the German obstacles on Omaha Beach and welded them onto the front of his Sherman tank so they stuck out in front, like horns.  The horns dug into the berm and kept the tank from climbing. Instead, the tank's engine powered all that weight straight ahead, punching through the berm. Gen. Bradley was so impressed that he ordered combat engineers to strip Omaha of all of its scrap metal and rush it forward to tank units. Soon, three out of every five Shermans became a rhino.  I love that story of American ingenuity being demonstrated on the go.

Even though you were the enemy, 

you had family and friends we now 

honor you by laying this wreath with respect 

as we fully understand

Our next stop was the German cemetery, La Cambe.  One of the things that I have noticed is that Germany doesn't have many memorials (some churches list the sons lost) to those who fought in WWI or WWII.  While these seems appropriate in one way, they were in the wrong for starting these wars and caused much unnecessary death and destruction, I wanted to still get a feeling of the losses that our host country did endure.  Observations and lessons learned at La Cambe - many of the German soldiers who were occupying France were either very old (over 50) or young (under 17).  Many of them weren't actually German - they had been captured by the German army (a lot from Korea) and instead of putting them into POW camps, they put them into German uniforms and sent them off to occupy other countries far from home.  Because they used non-German soldiers to be soldiers there are no good numbers of how many were killed, wounded and missing.  Estimates are from D-Day to 14 August, 210,000 - 450,000 men.  We know that 200,000 were taken POW by Allied troops. The La Cambe cemetery has more than 21,000 men interned who were identified in some way, identified means that they knew they were a German soldier, and then an additional 200+ bodies that couldn't be identified in any way.  This is not a place of peace, it is a place of great sadness and loss.  The dark colors, design of the memorials, just everything - it evokes no feelings of rest and peace.  There is nothing good that comes from their loss of life.  Up until approaching the central mound Clark was just playing with MJ and running around.  As there were no other visitors I didn't stop them.   After he had seen the wreath at the mound a very sad young man came over to me with a few tears running down his face.  For the rest of the day D-Day meant something to him - men of all ages had died, they had given up on futures, families, and all of the joy that life is supposed to bring.  It didn't matter at that moment who was right and who was wrong, it only mattered that this unthinkable thing had happened.  Kids like him would not be there because of this war.
He doesn't yet understand why men serve, but he finally understands the consequences.  It was amazing, I'm crying as I write this, to watch my son grow up a little more on that day.  

Our next stop is the famous Ste. Mere-Eglise - the first town liberated on D-Day.  If you have not watched "The Longest Day" I recommend doing so.  It is Hollywood's attempt at a dramatic documentary of the events of that day.  It is long (over 3 hours), but it is not as grizzly as some of the later movies on WWII.  I have labeled the photos from here with the story, so that it makes a little sense.  The church of the town, (built between the 11th-15th centuries) does play a central role in the story.  First there are some main "players" that you need to be aware of - 1st are the Pathfinders - they were sent in gliders prior to the paratroopers to identify the locations for the paratroopers to be dropped and 2nd are the 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers.

While it is not in the history books, there are locals who swear that they saw their first American running around about 23.00 (11pm) on 5 June identifying locations.  We do know that the pathfinders were sent in gliders in advance of the paratroopers.  The official times for all activities related to the events of D-Day is 00.00 6 June and forward.  It would make sense if a pathfinder was there, as I mentioned, they were sent in to mark targets (lights on sticks).  The area had also been heavily bombed in the previous weeks, making sure that the German's would be unaware of the upcoming invasion.
On the night of 5 June, during the bombing raids, it is believed that a house caught fire as a result of the

Pathfinder's flare sticks.  The German occupiers along with the  local inhabitants came out of their houses and proceeded to form a human bucket brigade that originated from the hand pump next to the church in order to put out the fire.  A little later, about 1:40am a planeload of troopers from the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division floated down.   The German's were able to shoot them as they floated down (Clark asked the question about just shooting on their way down and we were told that their guns were in pieces and needed to be assembled upon landing).  Some landed in trees and were shot before they could free themselves. At least one landed directly in the fire.  Two men had their chutes catch on the corners of the church steeple as a Sergeant Ray landed in the square below. A German soldier shot Ray in the stomach before he could remove his chute and then turned to fire at the men caught above him. However, Ray drew his 45 pistol and shot the German soldier in the head. Ray did not survive, but did save the lives of two fellow soldiers.  One of the men hanging from the church was able to free himself. The other, John Steele, played dead for hours. (The paratrooper manikin you see in the photo).  There is a great telling of the story by a tour guide available:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-_EirbzYoc

As we left the town of Ste. Mere-Eglise we passed memorials and churches to those who didn't make it.   Like the memorial to a downed C-47 with no survivors.  
Our next stop was Utah beach.  This was the most successful of the 2 American beaches and it was the farthest west.  It was about 3 miles wide and the least well fortified by the Germans, because the land behind the beach was flooded.  So, the Germans weren't as concerned with an attack because they assumed they could stop invaders with the flooded fields.  Another advantage for the Americans is that due to bad weather they actually landed south of their original point by almost 2km.  In the photos you will see a house on the right side, the original landing intended for the house to be to the left (the house is where the commander of the German forces was actually sleeping when they landed).  It was here that the only 1 star general landed in the first wave: Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt of the 4th Inf Div., he realized that they had landed in the wrong place and is quoted as saying "We’ll start the war from here!" then began the task of organizing the advance.  He would win the Medal of Honor for his leadership and exposure to enemy fire.  The losses at Utah beach were only 300 men.  

An animated map showing the beach locations.

This shows all of the materials we used to build, it also
shows Omaha Beach after the great storm
Ships, boats, and pontoons in a jumbled mass

Bert, our guide showed us many interesting little tidbits on our way to Point du Hoc.  He was definitely most proud of the fact that the French had recycled almost everything we had brought with us.  After years of going without, the French were very overwhelmed by everything that the Americans had including food, chocolate and kits to make roads and airstrips.  We actually carried with us metal fence work to lay down on the sand so that our trucks could come off the boats and drive up into the lanes and roads.  After we abandon those roads the French went in and took every last piece; turned it into fences, braces, and every possible building piece that you can imagine; especially with the damage done to their homes from the bombing.  

Our next stop was Point du Hoc, this is the very famous story of the Rangers who climbed the cliffs with grappling hooks, ladders and knives only to find that the German's had disguised the place to look like there were huge guns there by laying telephone poles across the area under camouflage.  The reason that is given for the moving of the guns is that the area endured heavy air attacks as the allies prepared for the invasion.  Just like Utah beach the Rangers of Point du Hoc were also plagued  by the bad weather blowing the ships off course.  They lost one ship and all but one on board. They lost another ship full of supplies and they were delayed by almost 40 minutes along with losing all elements of surprise.  So the fact that they were able to get to the top of the cliff is just amazing.  The ships

provided cover for them, but still many German soldiers sent grenades and shot at them as they climbed up.  After climbing to the top, securing the area, and realizing that the guns were missing a small group went off in search and found 5 of the 6 artillery battery that they had been expecting to see on the top of the hill.  This links to a great audio / visual of the battle at Point du Hoc.


In the meantime on Omaha beach the losses were heavy, and the morning was grim.  Utah was a success and ultimately the Rangers destroyed their targets, but the men at Omaha beach were being slaughtered.  It was also the end of the day for us, we were so cold (it had only climbed up to 40 degrees, fortunately it was not super windy) and hungry - our attention was starting to slip a little.  What I do remember most clearly was that when we looked up into the hills we couldn't see where the German's had their guns, as the bunkers were very well hidden and at strange angles so that they could not be viewed from the ocean.  The sea wall was very well constructed and still stands today, unlike the one at Utah beach.  We were also there at high tide, so it was harder to imagine the hundreds of obstacles that lined the beaches stopping the Allies from landing.  Very little went as planned, as difficulties with navigation caused most of the landing craft to miss their targets. The defenses were unexpectedly strong, and inflicted heavy casualties. Under heavy fire, engineers struggled to clear the beach obstacles, and later landings got caught in the few channels that were cleared. The surviving troops could not clear the heavily defended exits off the beach. Causing more problems and delays for later landings. Small penetrations were eventually achieved by groups of survivors making improvised assaults, scaling the bluffs between the most heavily defended points. By the end of the day, two small isolated footholds had been won, which were subsequently exploited against weaker defenses further inland.   

We headed back to the hotel after that very long and informative day.  All of us thinking about the history we had just learned.  It also was the perfect prelude to our plans for Saturday which was visiting the American Cemetery in Normandy.  While the German cemetery was full of sadness and defeat, the American cemetery was designed to remind us of the strength and hope we have.  That these young men sacrificed for something bigger than themselves and provided a new way for our countries to move forward.  

The 156 photos are here ... please let me know if you can't see them because google wants you to join.  I'll find another place to put them.

  
We do have the numbers for the Allies:
From D-Day to 21 August, the Allies landed 2,052,299 men in northern France
209,672 Allied casualties
153,475 wounded
36,976 killed
19,221 missing

Spring Break 2013: Part I Grandma and Papa visit!!

As I was trying to write about the D-Day tour, I realized that I had not given any lead in ... so

On, 14 March, Grandma and Papa showed up for a 3 week visit.  Mayland planned a trip to Normandy and Paris France to help fill their time here and keep the kids off of the computers.  While Grandma and Papa would have been content to stay in the house and just relax, the kids really needed to be gotten out so that they would focus on something other than Minecraft.

Tower / dungeon where Joan was held

Sean finished up in the ICU and the kids with school on Tuesday the 19th and on Wednesday, we walked down the hill to the train station and took off for Paris.  We spent the 1st night in Paris, Grandma and Papa watched the kids; while, Sean and Mayland went to visit Giselle (Westtown classmate) and her family.  Giselle made a ratatouille by which all else would be judge only for them to fall short.  We also learned about the French white wine: Saumer.  We also learned that in France - you don't know the grapes, you know the vinter and region.  It is the same in Germany and Italy, which explains why it is so much harder to identify wines that I like because the vinter may have a good crop of one type of grapes one year and then the next year - something different.

Thursday found us in Rouen, France seeing the place where Joan 'dArc was held prisoner during her interrogations and before she was burned at the stake.

This sign is in front of the church and marks
the location of the death of Joan 'dArc

We tried to enter the very modern church, seen to the left with MJ in front, that was erected in her honor, but a service was happening at the time and we needed to head back to the train station to pick-up the rental car, a must for visiting the Normandy countryside.  The art museum in Rouen was wonderful as it gave us a chance to see many impressionist artists including Monet.

That afternoon we drove out to Bayeux, France where we would stay for the next few days.  The overcast sky is very much what we awoke to daily and the temperatures hovered near freezing making their way up into the low 40's.  Just the week before Normandy had it's largest snow storm of the year over 24 inches had fallen.  The fields were flooded from the melting snow, and looked very much like it would have looked when the American's came to liberate France in 1944.  The weather in this part of France is very much like that of southern Britain, cold, damp and overcast.  The upside is that we had no rain.  The downside, French coffee is not that great (especially after Italy and Germany) and we kept drinking it in hopes that it would provide warmth.  Oh, and soup, yeah, not on many menus, not even the famed onion soup.

Netherlands: Fluweelengrot (Velvet Cave), Kasteelruïne (castle ruins) and the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial

Drawings on the walls of the caves

This is an interesting day trip that I was able to take with the kids, and given that it was February, I figured that for once caves would seem warm, as they are a constant 12 degrees (53.6).  These caves were carved out in the 11^th and 12^th centuries.  They were actually created by mining to build the castle (now in ruins above the caves).  They created a labyrinth of “escape” passages for those who needed to get out of the castle while it was under siege and then later for those who needed refuge. 

The people who needed refuge were Christians in the 18^th century (the French period) where a chapel was actually created and a minister lived there for years and then again during WWII and the German occupation.  Jews, locals and American troops all hid in these caves. 

It was during the French period that most of the drawings were created on the walls, they depict the history and people of Valkenburg.  Then again during WWII the American soldiers signed their names on the walls and many of them had their profiles drawn onto the walls.

Above the caves are the castle ruins.  The castle was destroyed on Dec. 10, 1672 by Stadtholder Willem III.  We wondered around seeing the great hall, chapel, dungeon and artillery room.  There are still ways to connect to the underground passages; however, they are not open to the public. 

For our afternoon we stopped at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial.  There are 21 American cemeteries in Europe with 124,905 American soldiers laid to rest these beautifully and lovingly maintained places.  30,921 from World War I, and 93,234 from World War II.  More than

Netherlands American Cemetery

60% of those who lost their lives on the battlefield were sent home and there are still remains found in fields even today from all over the world.

The afternoon was well below freezing, but the snow and the crosses were so serene.  It created a real sense of peace and hope.  If you ever have a chance to go to an American cemetery here in Europe it will be a moving and compelling experience.  A reminder of the toll of war, but the hope that comes from these places is inspiring. 

I hope you enjoy the photos and that they inspire you to come and visit us, soon.

Christmas 2012: Florence, Pisa and Rome Italy

Wow!
This was our Christmas present to the family 20-28 December in Italy.

Duomo Florence Italy

This Christmas was extra special because Clark and MJ's cousin Russell, from Colorado, was able to join us on the vacation.  We had a good news as we departed that his mother's Lukemia was cured from the bone marrow transplant and now it was just a matter of time in strengthening the immune system.
Our departure was on 19 Dec about 4pm - we walked down the hill to the train station, took the express train to Munich and then boarded the overnight train (8pm) for Florence (arrival 6:15am).  That was an experience in and of itself.  A couple of lessons learned, if you are traveling with kids, book the extra seat / berth in the car with Mickey Mouse if you have to!  It was not fun having a stranger in the car with us.  2nd, wear PJ's under the clothes, so there is no changing, as there isn't room for changing (at least not in the couchette).  3rd, plan to brush your teeth in the train station before departure, the water tastes awful on the train and 4th wear your shoes if you need to go to the bathroom.  Honestly, think of this as business class on a plane - lying flat while traveling is great.  All three kids actually slept for at  least 6 hours and Sean and I probably got about 4 hours, but it was enough to function and not feel total frustration the following day in a city where none of us spoke the language.

Leaning tower of Pisa

Arrival in Florence was cool, but not cold (after below 0 in Germany, 8-10 felt really good).  Our apartment was not ready so we started looking for a warm place to hang out for a few hours until things opened up and what do we see but a Burger King (not yet open) and McDonalds (open 24hrs).  So, off to McDonalds.  Ordered breakfast, now, their breakfast is much better than the normal fare and the best part is they brew Italian coffee and make the real hot chocolate pudding style.  Oh, my goodness that was the best hot chocolate of the trip!  We tried it in many boutique style coffee shops and while the espresso there is to die for, the hot chocolate was best at McDonalds.  Lesson, if you go to Italy with kids it is actually ok to do a fast food restaurant, just don't go to the main counter, go their cafe and get the local version of American foods.
After enjoying breakfast, we headed to the tourist information place across the street and started learning about our new "home" for the next week.

Gladiators and nobles of Rome

Lessons learned - 1) if you go to Florence in the couple of weeks before Christmas you don't need to make any reservations for museums and you don't need to spend the money on the Florence card.  We had heard horror stories of waiting in lines forever to get in, but that is the week after Christmas and during the high season.  So, rule of thumb, if you can find a place to stay that is centrally located and discounted, this is the very low season and you won't need to spend the extra money.  2) read a map, if the apartment looks close, it is!  We were told by the apartment managers that we would need a taxi to get to our apartment - the taxi took us on a lovely tour of small, one-way streets for 15 minutes, while our feet would have taken all of 5 minutes on lovely small one-way streets.  I mean we did walk 3.5 km from our house to the train station; we could have definitely handled the .75km walk in Florence.  3) when an apartment is listed as sleeps 6 think it sleeps 4 and then a cat (fortunately MJ is not much bigger than a cat); because that apartment was really, really small.  The bathroom for Sean and I - we walked in and to close the door, we had to step into the shower.  They don't have a lot of space in these old cities.  Fortunately, we pretty just slept in the apartment and that was really all we could do with 5 people in a space that tight.
We rented an apartment on the central market in Florence for our vacation.  It is a great location because not only could we dine, but we could shop for some amazing foods - watched fresh pasta being made.  Saw parts of animals that I have no idea how to cook or utilize, kids thought the intestines, stomachs, brains, feet and tongues were not edible. They were not thrilled to hear about all of the foods that they eat on a regular basis that include these parts.

Sight-seeing, well that is what the photos are for.  I have tried to put as much information on the different photos that I could.
20-22 Dec was spent in Florence
23-24 Dec was spent in Rome
25 Dec Florence (only a few places were open, but that was fine with us, as we actually wanted to skype with some friends and family members) and the best meal of the trip!
26 Dec Pisa
27 Dec Florence and then the night train home to Germany, with lessons learned.

The photos are grouped by Florence / Pisa  and then Rome.

There are a lot, but I hope you enjoy them, because we certainly had fun taking them.  Oh, and we want to go back, so anyone interested in coming over for a visit?

LRMC - Sean's job

After writing the Christmas letter I realized that there is just so much that I wanted to share and I didn’t.  We have tried to keep the blog about the travels, but I also realize that there is a lot more to our lives than traveling, despite my best efforts.

Last year we shared a little about the kid’s school, so this time I thought I would let you know a little more about Sean and I and the work that we are doing here at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center a.k.a LRMC.

Sean, as you know, is a critical care medicine doctor and that translates into he works in the ICU.  Most of the patients he cares for will never actually get to know him as they are on ventilators and extremely sick or injured.  When we first arrived the unit was very busy; however, in the past 6 months it has slowed down tremendously.  A very good thing for our soldiers down range.  The first year Sean was very blessed to have Dr. Silvey stay for an extra year to provide much appreciated mentoring.  Dr. Silvey had been here for 6 years and was able to provide the institutional memory plus hand over responsibilities more slowly than normally happens.  Most transitions are about 2 weeks leaving the new physician feeling very overwhelmed and under-equipped. 

This ICU is different from typical units – it is a Trauma service for 90% of the patients which means it is dominantly surgical cases and then 10% medicine – think pneumonia type stuff.  So, the team rounds with surgeons and medicine physicians and in many cases each patient has 3-4 physicians providing input to their care.  The biggest concern with units like this one is physician and nurse burnout.  With the decrease in patients and the number of physicians we have here the physicians are rarely on more than 7 days in a row with 2 nights of call.  Sometimes due to vacations or training the schedule can be up to 14 days, but that is very rare.  Last spring we were fortunate enough to have it be 7 days on in the unit and 14 days from the unit.  So, the first question that normally comes to mind is 14 days off, really?  No, not really.  Those 14 days are filled with military training and then administrative work to keep the hospital going. 

Sean serves on a number of committees and has taken on the role of education coordinator for the Trauma service; that means that when trainees are in the hospital he is responsible for their scheduling and educational activities and then providing feedback at the end of the rotation.  He is also responsible for scheduling all of the physicians, when they are on-call during their assigned weeks in the unit.   This fall he also took on the job of being the project manager for replacing all of the defibrillators in the hospital and clinics affiliated with LRMC that was more than 200 machines and lots of red tape!  Now, his administrative time will be filled with helping to update the notification systems for when there are different staffing needs.  With the military cutting back on soldiers downrange they will also be cutting back on staffing for LRMC making it so that physicians will be able to be on-call from home instead of in-house because they will be on-call more often. 

In January, Sean will head back to the states for 2 weeks to cover the ICU at Ft. Bragg – this will be an on for 6 days, off for 1 deal with coverage extending into the night.  Bragg does have a family practice residency so there will be a resident there to make the initial assessments and then they will call him for advice and guidance.  

When he returns he will start covering the hospitalist service at night to keep his skills up there, that is general medicine inpatient services, think kidney failure and other reasons people spend a few days in the hospital.  Then he will also start to train for special flight missions.  He is part of the lung team; that means he flies to pick-up a patient that is in respiratory distress and can’t fly without mechanical assistance.  2-3 physicians plus nurses and other trained professionals are all part of the team and they are normally gone for 24+hours.  Sometimes longer if that patient is not stable enough to fly, but never shorter – it just takes that long to fly.  Once he gets additional training he will be provide greater support for those soldiers.  There are a lot of very unique and special opportunities for his professional growth here and while we go for some extended times with him being at work, this has actually been the most relaxed schedule and work environment since before medical school.  It doesn’t hurt that when he is off, we can take off for something interesting or different.  

Russell visits - Worms and Paris

So, the day after we returned from Turkey we had the great delight of picking up Clark and MJ's 13 year old cousin Russell from Colorado.  He came to visit us for 5 weeks while his mother, Tasha (Mayland's first cousin) had a stem cell transplant to cure her Leukemia.  It was one of those God moments when we just knew that this is where he was meant to be.

Our first adventure was to head to Worms, Germany and learn about the reformation and the role of Martin Luther.  Russell was too jet lagged to really take in very much, it was a good way to keep him awake and moving, while getting a little taste for the amount of history that just exudes from every town here.  We were also delighted to learn more about the knight Franz von Sickingen, of the castle that Burg Nanstein, that sits atop the opposite hill from us, and that he helped Luther in providing protection.  Of course his motivations were not religious or noble.  Rather he was hoping that by providing assistance he would maintain his status of knight and in control of his little fiefdom.

Worms, Germany

Worms, Germany

The next weekend we took off to Paris to enjoy some art and a climb up the Eiffel tower.

Turkey for Fall Break

We had a 2 part adventure, well, actually a 3 part adventure for the kids.  Clark and MJ were not allowed to take their electronics with them on this trip ... the downside they complained...the upside, boy were they nicer to be with.  I had not realized before just how much I argued with them about getting off the Nintendo.  This was a million times nicer to be with them without them being plugged in.  For the most part, they were significantly more interested and attentive to the stuff around them because they didn't have an electronic distraction.

This was our first trip as a formal tour, and while I was hesitant about spending the money, I must admit that in the long run, I was very grateful I had arranged for the tour.  After the plane ride, we landed in Kayseri and then headed to Urgup and our cave hotel in the Cappadocia region photos.  

Day 1 was full of unique rock formations - think of the badlands mixed with arches national park.  

The people in that area built their homes inside the rocks/mountains for thousands of years.  Today, many of the caves are eroding due to so much use, but it is still a fascinating journey to go into the communities, churches, castles, and homes built into the side of the rock faces.  It was done for obvious reasons in that it provided warmth in winter and cool and summer.  It also provides a sense of always being gritty for the cave dwellers, not something I really relished past day 2.

Day 2 we went on a hot air balloon ride.  MJ was not happy about the 4am wake-up call to be there by 5am, but once she was in the balloon all of the cranky seemed to just float away.  It was spectacular watching the balloons take off in the dark and then the sunrise over the mountains.  We discovered that they had lots of squash, but they only eat the seeds of the squash.  They also have a lot of apricots, if you are an apricot fan, this is a vacation destination!

Our guide also took us to a ruin where the Roman baths were able to be seen, but the best part was the old church there with the mosaic floor.  It was really spectacular.  

On day 3 we flew to Istanbul (link to photos here). It rained that evening so we only saw the local St. Mary's catholic church and the Galata tower, with a great view of most of the sights we would be seeing over the next couple of days.

Clark and Craig

Day 4 would be packed!!  I try to describe most of the things that we saw in the description of the photos.  The two most important and memorable sights were the Hagia Sophia and the Dolmabahçe Palace.  The Hagia Sophia because of the juxtaposition of the Christian religion with the Muslim religion.  I must admit that while I grew up Quaker and the plain meeting house is still where I feel most comfortable, there was something very disturbing about seeing how the Muslim religious leaders would just cover up the Christan imagery with plaster to remove the human likenesses that had been created in the mosaics on the walls of the cathedral.  It gave me an insight as to how the Native Americans must have felt when the "white" man came in and desecrated their holy places.  It is one of those eye-opening moments of "do unto others."  So, while the Hagia Sophia made me more aware of being kinder toward others, the Dolmabahçe Palace was just overwhelming.  I was not allowed to take photos inside and maybe that is a good thing, because I think I would have taken a thousand.  It has more crystals than you can imagine.  Honestly, do a google images search for Dolmabahçe Palace and prepare to be awed.  It rivals Versailles in the ornateness of the decorations and the views.   There is actually a staircase where the banisters are made of Baccarat crystal.  No kids are riding that banister!

Day 5 was really special, my friend Craig Street whom I worked with at UPenn back in the day, was able to join us.   Fortunately, the day would be a little bit slower with just a Mosque and the Topkapi Palace so we had ample opportunity to visit.  I do wish we had the chance to see the Harem at the Topkapi, instead is a museum where you only see the crown jewels of the sultans.  The palace is not open to the public, just a few exterior buildings.  That evening we left the kids with a babysitter at the hotel and enjoyed a dinner cruise and show along the Bosporus Strait.
Our last day was my absolute favorite, no tour guide, just us and the other couple on the tour and we decided to go to the Archeology museum.  Now that was AMAZING!!  Actually saw items that dated back to ancient Egypt.  I still can't decide if my favorite exhibit was the mummy, Greek statues, or the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great!  It took me a long time to decrease the number of photos in that album.  I truly believe that what made it really special was that Clark has come to realize the true wonder of seeing items that have been made by man's hands more than 5000 years ago.  He is no longer bored in these places but has developed an appreciation for history.  I'm still waiting for this to happen with MJ, but fortunately, there were plenty of kittens at the museum to provide her with ample distractions.
My closing thoughts on Turkey, I have to say that I enjoyed the sights, sounds, and smells (food too) of the country.  I did not enjoy the treatment of women.  The culture just accepts that women are not equal.  Many of the bathrooms were just holes in the ground covered by plastic that we had to squat over.  The smells there were not pleasant and yet Clark commented twice on how nice the men's bathrooms were.  The mosques don't allow women to wash or worship with the men.  They are sequestered for their washing (before prayers every worshipper must wash their hands, face, and feet) in a building that is a distance, while the men wash right at the mosque.  The men also have a huge space for worship while the women are cordoned off to the back if they are even allowed in.  On numerous occasions, the men would not acknowledge me but looked to the other males in the group to provide payment, or just hand over a bag I was carrying.  So, while the women show more skin in Istanbul they are not treated as equals in any real tangible way.  Although I have no interest in perpetuating their societal norms I would not ever go to travel there on my own.
Photos from Cappadocia - 111 photos
Photos from Istanbul - 253 photos