Introduction

Using my beloved friend Stephanie (dedicated Peace Corps volunteer that she is) as an excuse to skip the country for awhile, I cashed in a bunch of frequent flyer miles for a direct flight from Chicago to Istanbul on Friday April 8th, 2005. I spent 5 days in Istanbul before boarding a bus to Varna, Bulgaria where Steph is currently volunteering. I stayed for a week, during which we celebrated her birthday twice. Then it was back on the bus, and back to Istanbul for another 3 1/2 days. I got back to Chicago yesterday afternoon.

During the course of my trip I took 454 photos with my digitial camera. The main purpose of this blog, at least for now, is to show off my favorite photos.

There are some constraints as I am working primarily from a Mac (lovely, amazing machine) but I'll work out the bugs as I go along.

I will gladly answer any questions that you have about a particular picture - and you know that I could talk for hours about my trip, but I'll save that for the next time I see you in person.