April 18, 2010 - Will the Volcano Keep us Home?

We I've made it as far as Andover, New Hampshire. I'm not sure about the rest of the trip! The Icelandic volcano may have us stuck here for a bit. We will see tomorrow what happens. So far I’ve checked in from Mom’s yard, Newick’s in Portsmouth, Mt Kearsarge, and Bradley Lake. I sure hope I can check in on Tuesday from Prague! I’ll send some pictures of the festivities of Gram’s B’day as soon as I can. Read the full account on Norm's Blog...

April 21, 2010 - Finally in Istanbul

I'm in Istanbul, thanks to Delta! The Delta folks in Boston were great. I just smiled and engaged them in what I was doing, and it made all the difference. Once they heard my story and what Dan and I were trying to do they made it happen. Read the full account on Norm's Blog...

April 22, 2010 - The Adventure Begins

We made it just fine to the hostel. After a quick stroll around the area we got a kabob from a street seller for dinner. We are flying this afternoon to eastern Turkey. Tomorrow we will take a bus to Georgia. Read the full account on Norm's Blog...

April 26, 2010 - The Adventure Continues in Armenia

Well we made it to Yerevan and have been enjoying the local sites for the last two days. We flew from Istanbul to Trabzon on the Black Sea near the Georgian boarder and spent the night there. Next morning ( 4/23) we got a bus to the boarder and on to Batumi where we would get a bus for Tiblisi. Only problem was that the bus driver didn’t wait for us on the Georgian side...
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April 28, 2010 - Jermuk

We are in Jermuk today. Got here last night about 7 PM. COLD and snow off and on all day!. Jermuk is a decaying resort town from the soviet days. Two new big hotels and one smaller newer hotel. Two restaurants that we can go to - only guests at the hotels can eat there.
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April 29, 2010 - Travel Issues - this way or that way

Well we are back in Yerevan. Left Jermuk this morning at 7:40. Inch of wet snow overnight. Bus windows were all steamed up so we couldn’t see very much. On the way to Jermuk we went through a lot of rain so our view of the country side was rather limited.
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April 30, 2010 - Yerevan to Dilijan

Dan and I took a mini-bus to Sevan, a city near one of the largest alpine lakes in the world. Get out your atlas and see it. It is surrounded by mountains still covered with snow. My geology is not as good as it should be but I think it might be the remnants of a BIG caldera lake.
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May 8, 2010 - Teblisi

We made it to Teblisi wıthout any problems. My first taste of Teblisi was not good, especial after Yerevan. Too loud, fast and high energy. But my second taste was beter. We got off the maın drag and saw the side streets and old town area.
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May 11, 2010 - Not sure what day it is...

Interesting couple of days. Left Van couple of days ago heading to Diyarbakir. It is a 7 hour bus trip that takes you a few 'clicks' from the Iran and Iraq boarders and into the heart of the Kurdish resistance (PKK) area. Military outpost everyplace and bus stoped twice for check. First time they took the National ID cards or passports of everyone to check and all of us men had to get off the bus and got a pat down as we exited. Second time it was to check the 'cargo' area of the bus...
Read the full account on Norm's Blog...