Oddly enough, three Corvairs and on my way to work a hawk flew across the road about 4 feet above my head and 10 feet ahead of me.  Quite a view from the motorcycle.

 meower wrote: 
Yes... I feel sorry for that woman wearing the burka though, isn't the idea of swimming to become free in the water?

(Of course it was only about one hundred years ago that the British had segregated bathing locations at the beach and the men were allowed to swim naked while the women were forced to wear those ridiculous "bathing costumes" which covered her whole body)

 samiyam wrote: 
we were south west yes..... exactly, about the shore, it was strange to see the sun come from left to right when looking out at the water.....

 meower wrote: 
Ah so... You're South of Istanbul and the shore looks South. 

 samiyam wrote: 
black sea is up the Bospurus from the sea of Marmora. 


http://www.seas.se/blackseas2008/pic/black_sea_map.gif

 MsJudi wrote: 
it is. 

edit: and that's my nephew on the raft

 meower wrote: 
Wow... get that far up the Dardanelles and we're talkin' Black Sea, aren't we?  (so very pretty)
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Q: When you throw a white hat into the Black Sea, what does it become?
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A: Wet

meower wrote:
wow...and thanks for the pic.....very interesting.....

 meower wrote: 
I wanna be where you are! (Is that a swimming burka or am I just seeing things?)

 samiyam wrote: 
well it's the sea, and up up the dardenelles on the western part of Thrace, very very close to the Greek border (50 miles?) 

 meower wrote: 
Wow... look at all that water!  Beautiful and smooth... not like the Pacific at all.

 meower wrote: 

 triskele wrote: 
Right now Turkey is producing some of the best films about humanity and human growth.  It's an exciting time there.

 triskele wrote: 
absolutely,  Especially in Istanbul and larger cities, very cosmopolitan, women who wear it are very religious..... at the Aegean we saw a few women swimming in full wear...... they actually make "bathing suits"interesting,,,,, I think I have a pic somewhere......

meower wrote:
thanks for the suggestion!!

i've also heard that turkey is SO eclectic now, because of all of the different influences.  perhaps that is another reason women do not have to wear hijab in public.

 triskele wrote: 
no, not at all.  They are very secular here and many people dont respect the scarf..... When you visit a Mosque they ask that you cover your body (arms/legs,) and in some mosques they give you something to cover your head.  If you are interested, there is a very good book called Snow by Orhan Paumk about the Turkish feelings about the scarf.....

meower wrote:
kewl...i've seen video/heard about the speaker system, thanks to my other friends who have traveled in turkey. modern technology meets old traditions.

do you need to wear a head scarf when out in public?

 meower wrote: 
Looks a lot like Constantinople to me...

 triskele wrote: 
yes..... everytime.... they use a sort of speaker system so you hear it all over.... you can hear it from a few Mosques at one time..... the village we stayed at on Aegean had no Mosque to speak of. it was very strange to go for a few days with no calls. 

meower wrote:
i suspected as much.....gorgeous view.  can you hear the calls to prayer?