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Welcome to our July Newsletter. A big month for some big countries. Canada Day - July 1; Independence Day in the U.S. - July 4; Bastille Day in France - July 14. July 1 is also a special day for Scots. It’s on this date just 11 years ago in 1999 that the official reopening of the Scottish Parliament took place after a recess of close to 300 years.
A good month - for events and weather. Enjoy!
The Hole In The Wall Gang (or - how to live in a cave and like it)
Cappadocia is a landscape that could easily become the setting for a scary, adult fairy tale. Strange conical white, conical stone towers rising from the ground, many with stone caps sitting on top. All massed together in a bleak, hostile setting.
 
The wonderful weirdness of Cappadocia
As you pass, you suddenly become aware that you are being watched. From out of these stone towers and chimneys, people begin to emerge from all sides and the awareness strikes that all is not what it seems.
Despite the harsh landscape and environment, this is one of the richest historical corners in the world. For many strange and diverse reasons, people have lived in this troglodyte world since they discovered this volcanic left over that has been shaped by winds and erosion for millions of years.
Assyrians, Hittites, Seljuk and Ottoman Turks and Christians have called Cappadocia home. In fact, St. Paul help settle early Christians here while escaping Roman persecution. In fact, there are countless large churches and abbeys complete with stunning wall paintings and frescoes under the ground and within these bizarre rock formations.
Remember that St. Paul was born as Saul in nearby Tarsus on the south coast of Turkey. He was very familiar with Cappadocia and its strange, intricate underground world and he knew it would provide shelter for the early Christians. Much of his time was spent in this area. St. Luke was another who was a frequent visitor to this corner of Christianity.
Make no mistake, however; this was not - and is not - the inhospitable, harsh, dry landscape that appears from surface. Scattered through the area are many little communities and towns that thrive within the caves and the rocks.
 
Homes & interior of Church in Goreme, Cappadocia
Archaeologists and historians have discovered a labyrinth of caves and communities interlaced and connected by tunnels and passageways. Ventilation shafts abound along with chimneys, churches, meeting rooms, wine production facilities and of course, homes. There was also a detailed system of large stones which could be rolled into place across the passageways blocking any attempt by any invaders to move along the maze like paths.
While there are still communities who live in the caves, many areas now cater to the tourist. Hotels are built into the soft rock providing excellent accommodation with all the modern facilities including jacuzzis, wireless internet and some pretty special rooms. They range from B&Bs up to five stars such as the one we’ll be staying in for three nights while discovering this strange and exotic world.
  
Our Hotel in Cappadocia
You can join us on A Turkish Delight which takes in Istanbul, Cappadocia and Ephesus on the Aegean from October 20 to 31. Just check out the website or give us a call at 1 800 773 7093. (20 guests maximum).
Counting Castles in Wales
If you’re a Celt, have Celtic blood, or care about the Celts, then you’ll agree that Edward I of England was a nasty piece of work!
Talke Wales for example. This tiny nation that is about the size of Massachusetts, has hundreds of castles dotting the landscape. And all but a very few were built by the express command of said Edward in his attempt to subjugate the Welch people.
All English built; including the might Caernarfon castle and the impressive Conwy (there is no ‘a’ in Conwy) and Harlech - remember that great Welch marching song “Men of Harlech”? All built to try and conquer a people whose population at that time of the mid 13th century was about 300,000.
 
Conwy and Caernarfon Castles
Massive and brilliant examples of medieval castle building the ring of fortresses in Wales bring in tens of thousands of tourists each year but in the mid 13th century they brought in small bands of welch insurgents trying to reclaim their lands from the English thrones desire to dominate all within their grasp.
We all know the Prince of Wales but we all may not know how that title came to be part of the British crown. Again, it was Edward I. After he conquered Wales (or so he thought), he attempted damage control by telling the people that the next Prince of Wales, who was, of course, Welch, would be born in Wales and would not speak a word of English. The Welch were delighted.
Edward then brought his heavily pregnant wife to Caernarfon where she gave birth to a son, later to be Edward II. Of course the child did not speak a word of English. Welch born and non English. The Welch were no longer delighted.
 Snowdonia in North Wales
Good old Edward was also known as The Hammer of The Scots. He tried to destroy the Scots soon after his so-called conquest of Wales. While heading north on one of his invasions, he died. Even then he wanted conquest. He had demanded in his will that ‘the flesh be removed from his body’ and that his bones be carried at the head of his army into Scotland.
Edward was not filled with milk of human kindness when it came to his dealings with the Celts.
When we visit Wales as part of our Celtic Corners journey (August 31-September 11), we’ll be staying for three nights in the shadow of Conwy castle which, of course, we’ll visit as well as Caernarfon Castle.
Interestingly enough, all the Welch castles now fly the Red Dragon of Wales flag above their ramparts. The cross of St. George is nowhere to be found.
Facebook Fun
Check out some of our tour photo albums on our Fraser Connection Tours Facebook site.
That’s it for this month. Enjoy summer then join us.
Cheers,
Andy & Bev
Pipe Bands, such as the one from Pakistan above, come from around the world for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Why not join them (and us) in August for a never to be forgotten experience?
Welcome to June, a month when we begin to settle into the fact that Summer is really coming - and in many cases - is already here.
The biggest event of the month - and of July as well, is the World Cup in South Africa where the top 32 football (soccer) nations have at it from June 11 to July 11.
It’s the biggest sporting event in the world, bar none, and if you don’t believe us, just go to any ethnic community during the month and feel the excitement and see the joy (or sorrow).
The very first international match was a scoreless draw between Scotland and England in Glasgow on November 30, 1872, appropriately enough held on St. Andrew’s day.
We’re big fans in our house and will be watching with keen interest.
Let’s Talk Turkey...
Since we're getting some good interest in our Turkish Delight journey scheduled for October, we thought we'd answer some of your questions with a bit of a Turkey Fact Sheet with some bits and pieces about this fascinating country.
Fairy Chimneys in Cappadocia. Natural rock formations carved out and used by early Christians and others for a couple of thousand years at least.
Rright off the top Turkey is a very safe country in which to travel. The people are exceptionally friendly, the streets are safe (use your head when it comes to pickpockets as you do anywhere else) and their crime statistics are far lower than any major centre within the United States. You will not run into public drunkenness such as you do in cities of the UK on weekends.
There are many examples on line from North Americans who have lived or travelled extensively in Turkey who are effusive in their praise of the friendliness of the people of Turkey and the safety of the country.
Safety is certainly not a deterrent to visiting Turkey.
One of the sites we’ll be visiting is Cappadocia where St. Paul helped establish one of the first Christian Churches and where we will be seeing many of the sites dating back to this time.
Paul visited Ephesus on more than one occasion and we’ll be in this area seeing many of the sites associated not only with Paul, but with Mary the Mother Jesus mother.
 Aya Sophia Mosque, Istanbul. First built in 4th century under orders of Constantine.
Following is a bit of a primer on things you may not know.
Population - 75 million (over half are under the median age of 29). All citizens can vote from age 18.
Size - Country is a little larger than Texas and is about the size of the U.K. and France together.
Major Cities - Capital is Ankara. Istanbul straddles Europe and Asia, and has about 13 million people.
Literacy - 87.5% of popularion over the age of 15 is literate.
Turkey is a member of NATO, the European Council of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice. They are also members of the G20 and have applied for membership in the European Union.
The country is a republic with a Parliamentary system governed by a President and Prime Minister and 550 elected members of parliament. The Republic of Turkey was created under Kemal Ataturk on October 29, 1923. He was a former distinguished army officer who became involved in politics when, following the end of WWI, the allies wanted to carve up Turkey.
Turkey is a secular country with no interference of the church (Moslem) in state or public affairs. Incidentally, under the constitution of Turkey the banning of headscarves by women in public offices and schools was introduced in the 1920s and has been in place ever since although there is a common sense ‘rule’ that applies.
 
School kids and a carpet store, Istanbul
Primarily a mountainous country with Mount Ararat of Noah’s Ark fame being the highest point of more than 5,000 metres.
If you have any questions, please give us a call at 1 800 773 7093.
Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland still left of centre...
Politics is a funny thing in the so-called United Kingdom. We now have a Tory central government in Westminster with only one seat out of 59 in Scotland, eight out of 40 seats in Wales and none of the 13 seats available in Northern Ireland.
The Tories are a strong English based party with the bulk of their strength, as usual, in the southern part of the country but have little to no influence in the Celtic world.
The Celts are far more left of centre than the Tories have ever been. They also still have an unpleasant taste left in their mouths that harken back to the days of Maggie Thatcher still fondly known in the Celtic world as “Atilla the Hen”.
Should be an interesting four years in the not so United Kingdom.
That’s it for now. If you’re interested in our Turkey Trot, or our Scotland or Celtic Corners journey, just give us a shout.
Cheers,
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