Journal Otter's Journal: Back from Turkey & Greece 5

1. I'm very glad I had the foresight to write down my passwords and lock them in my desk.
2. My wife is insisting she's going to burn her passport and never leave the country again.
3. "I can't carry toothpaste on the plane? Because al-Qaeda did what?

Turkey: We wound up liking it a lot, more than we'd expected. It's a beautiful country, amazing sights, very friendly people, pretty cheap, good food. We only scratched the surface (Istanbul, Cannakale/Troy, Kusadasi/Ephesus) and I was very surprised at how large and populous it is. Also, less third world-ish than I'd expected. I'd love to go back and see other parts of the country: the Black Sea, Cappadoccia, Sanliurfa.

Greece: Certainly has some amazing historical sites (although once you've seen Ephesus, everything else is a letdown) and some beautiful coastal and island scenery. But the people were less friendly than the Turks (not unfriendly, but often cold), it seems less diverse, and Athens clusters all the zillions of tourists in a Plaka ghetto that's isolated from the rest of the city and which I found claustrophobic. Still, it's definitely worth a visit, although unlike Turkey it's not high on my repeat list.

Fluid-free flying: To be honest, I still haven't quite figured out what's happened. But the Unhelpful Suggestion award has to go to the Boston academic who sat in front of me on the plane (and spent the whole trans-Atlantic flight jabbering with another professor who had landed the seat next to him), who decided to flag down a flight attendant and gleefully explain to her how the airline could make a killing by selling drinks to their newly captive audience. Not that they hadn't already thought of that on their own, I'm sure, but honestly ... did you really need to encourage them?

Pictures unlikely, as we still haven't joined the digital camera era, but maybe if something comes out really good...