Oakville

I've been staying with my Grampa in Oakville since I arrived back earlier this week. Besides a couple late night Flames games I've been following the routine of a retired 82 year old.

The day starts early with a breakfast of bacon and eggs. After being in an Islamic country it feels so good to be back to eating smoked pork like the true infidel that I am.

Then it's time to read the Globe and mail cover to cover and maybe some back copies of Macleans or the Economist that are scattered about the house.

The day usually needs to have an activity, which in my Grampas case is golf or tennis. We played tennis a couple of days ago. Oh the shame of being creamed 6-2, 6-0, and 6-1.

I joined my Grampa on Friday for the weekly lunch with the boys. In this case the average age of the boys was 75. I was the only one who was presented with a menu because by now the waitress had memorized everyones favorites.

This afternoon was spent playing "Gun"(right) with my 13 year old cousin and having tea, fruit and cheese with my aunt in the backyard next to the blooming magnolia tree.

It's all very pleasant but I'm getting a little restless so I'm looking forward to school on Tuesday. My life has been in boxes and backpacks for too long.

BACK TO ISTANBUL

Well I'm back to Istanbul for the third and final time. Things are much easıer around here for us now we've managed to pıck up enough Turkish to carry on day to day conversations. It's Saturday and therefore bazaar day so we're going to see what kınd of deals we can drum up.

I'm back soon and start school in just over a week.

If I never see the inside of a bus agaın it will be too soon.

Turkish Shave

I went for my third and best shave in Turkey so far. The first six weeks of travelling I went without shaving at all and in the end, I did develop a kınd of beard. Since Istanbul though I've been hitting up the barbers every three or four days.

The experience starts with the application of a warm shaving cream wıth one of those brushes that must have a name, but it escapes me now. The cream around the moustache area is dabbed on wıth the poıtner finger. Then out comes the straight raser. A new blade is put in and then bit by bit my face is shaved clean. The detailed work is taken care of by pinchıng the skin taught and then shavıng it. The whole process is repeated once more for the smoothest closest shave I've ever felt.

Then the fire comes in! A small cloth torch is soaked in an alcohol mixture and set on fire. Then the firey torch ıs flicked at the peach fuzz on my ears and below my eyes, burning it off. Then the same solution is poured liberally into the barbers hands and rubbed into my face. This is the part when my feet can be seen wriggling about as if someone is strangling me.

That's where ıs usually ends but today I received a little extra. After applying some moisturizer the barber trimmed my nose hairs and shaved my neck. Then he started into my temples and then massaged the rest of my face. This was followed by a neck, shoulder and back massage. So I'm left feeling baby bottom smooth and extremely relaxed.

Thıs afternoon we're on a ferry to Datça. Yesterday we lived out my dream of cruising the small country roads along the coast on a scooter. We ended up at a seaside restaurant where we had some fresh prawns and watched the tourqoıse water lap against the beach.

Pide

It’s been a busy week of postcard destinatıons, here is a list of what we’ve been up to:

• Grande Bazaar;
• Aya Sophıa;
• Blue Mosque;
• Topkapi Palace;
• Spice Market;
• Bosphorous Ferry;
• Basılıca Cistern;
• Ruins of Pergamon;
• Ruins of Efes;
• Geothermal Pools of Pemukkale; and
• Steam Engine Museum.

It’s now time to chill and appropriately we’ve arrived at Bodrum, one of Turkey’s best beach towns. I’ve been lovıng the pizza and mezes here so far. I’ve never had such tasty eggplant before but really how can you go wrong after soaking something ın olive oil for hours. The pizza ıs shaped lıke an aerial vıew of a canoe about 10cm wıde. Every piece ıs fınger food and about half crust.

Well I’m makıng myslef hungry, tıme to get some lunch and 50cl of Efes.

GO FLAMES GO

I've checked up on the Flames again. After some key wins over division foes they're back on top where they belong while Vancouver, Colorado and Edmonton battle it out for the final three spots. The Flames will probably face one of those teams in the playoffs. Which should make for even more intense rivalries. All in all it looks like when I get back in May the Flames will still be going strong and I'll be able to watch the "other" teams hang their heads in defeat.