Barbara, I spent a couple of days on the ship in Izmir before it left to go to Marmara Sea this past summer. I was supposed to visit the ruins at Ephesus (sp?) but did not. I am a terrible traveler. I have anxiety problems and so avoid it. But, two years ago in late May, June, I spent almost 2 weeks at Istanbul Technical university and took a day off to wander the tourist areas near the Mosques...went into the Blue Mosque (sp?), and another day walked down to the Bosphorus and watched the ships go by.

This past summer we were anchored off of west Istanbul, (Attekoy, sp?) and went ashore and wandered around for an hour or 2. Was an interesting mix of people in modern dress and covered in black (although not with faces covered).

I'm sure that the countryside would be really interesting: big cities in USA or elsewhere are not up my alley. But, I'm not likely to take the time and worry to travel like that, unless it was part of a geology field trip, or I went with others.
Chris