Ian, I got as far as Niagara on the Lake, last October (see my trip report, Sinner and Angel......)

Coming year, I will be in Chicago and Denver in early or late March, depending on availability of frequent flier business tickets and will speak at a Denver Council on Foreign Relations meeting.

If you can arrange for me to speak in Toronto, about that time on the "Arab Mirage" , "The Next 100 year history of the Middle East" or "The Ottoman Military band and Turkish democracy" or,
"Enterprise Risk Management Framework for Ventures in Turkey", you can also pay back that preferably fusion dinner. -

If you can arrange for me to speak in Toronto, about that time on the "Arab Mirage" , "The Next 100 year history of the Middle East" or "The Ottoman Military band
__________

If you will wear the full regalia and play "Com'on Otto, man" we will come up to Toronto.

OC...one thing I've learned after readng of your exciting topics. I'll be on tour wth my new novel next month and I don't expect any competition from you. Your tweets are puzzling enough for me. How come you're being so nice to BigAl for a change? I expect the same treatment.

I do not write trip reports...I have enough publisher's deadlines to be concerned about...I do agree with BigAl (one of my illustrious book previewers), that some TR's do tend to be exceptionally wordy and too personal. My monster of an editor would have a red-letter day with a certain few Fodor TR's appearing here.(In my tour of duty here, I've written one in 2006 and a two-minute report with pix after an Alaska visit.

David Dunn: Instead, I just offer my amateurish pix to help familiarize Fodorites with the place they are heading. I've been fortunate enough to "taste" Turkey twice for fairly in-depth visits of one month and two months (as a consultant to the Turkish Airforce) OC, I think I'm one of a few Fodorites who enjoyed the Ottoman band performance at the military museum.
...
https://picasaweb.google.com/stuartt...nesOfIstanbul#
http://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/ScenesOfTurkey#

Stu, are you going to be in sf?

The reality is that I write Trip Reports for ME, I just happen to post them here because I like to give back to the community. As my spouse & I age, I wanted to have an intact account of our adventures together. It will be very helpful when we are beating each other with canes (insert irony tag) & arguing about which restaurant we ate in in some remote country twenty years ago. In fact, it has already become very useful . . .

OC: Niagara-on-the-Lake is only just over an hour away. Next time you are that close I will expect an email! I will work on that lecture for you.

Ian

sf....pub is setting dates now..will start in last sepember mosly in SoCal, to be followed ny NoCal...then back to the east coast. Wife's daughter who hosted a gala for my more recent book will probaly do that again. Aline (Shanghainese has alresady "rsvp'ed" even with no firm date yet. Will keep you informed, unless you would like to host your own literary event. Many people end up doing that on my tours...so beside the book stores, temples, organizations, I do many private gatherings. Planning one in Massachusetts for a GTG in October. (Please excuse the hijacking David...but I wanted to answer Sf's query)
stu stuarttower@aol

The reality is that I write Trip Reports for ME,
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But you post them for public consumption.

>I just happen to post them here because I like to give back to the community

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Ian

David: I too want to apologize for the hijack.

David,

My husband and I spent 15 days in Turkey in 2009 and basically went where you are planning to go. It was 15 days we'll never forget; Turkey is an amazing country.

I read lots of trip reports and did lots of research (we planned it totally on our own). We did a combination of flying and driving. Take what you want from the trip reports and disregard what isn't helpful to you. I found them mostly helpful.

This is the link to my trip report: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-in-turkey.cfm. It's hard to say what was the best experience we had because it was all stunning, but Cappadocia is hard to beat.

I HIGHLY recommend the Melekler Evi Cave Hotel in Urgup. It was heaven; I didn't want to leave it. Here's the link to their website; trust me, you won't be disappointed. http://www.meleklerevi.com.tr/.

If you have questions about anything in my trip report, I'd be more than happy to answer them. I'm envious; I'd return in a second!

Ellen

OC wrote: "there is room here on Fodors for all of us, and I hope the readers will appreciate that they can get answers to questions, funny travelogues and informative trip reports without changing web sites."

Well said, OC -- kudos!

Wow... thank you for ALL of the wonderful advice/trip itineraries, etc. I've got a lot of homework to do... I'm looking forward to diving in deeper reviewing your Trip Reports, etc. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions. Many thanks!

If you can stand incorporating one more trip report, please check out mine. I spent 17 days in Turkey in late Aug/early Sept. 2012. I absolutely LOVED Turkey, visiting Istanbul (my second time there), Ephesus, Cappadocia (you have to do the balloon ride!), Sumela Monastery and then the last 4 days along the Mediterranean coast, based in Fethiye.

Do go through my trip report here: http://ashwinbahulkar.wordpress.com/...o-turkey-trip/
Check out the South East section..there's less information available on the web,see if the area appeals to you.