boning up on Turkish

Did I mention that Karen and I are going to Turkey in October? We're taking this tour, from the same company that did our trip to Costa Rica, a few years ago.

I found a website from a traveler who did that same trip a couple of years ago, with photos and descriptions. The email address on his site bounced, but a WhoIs search eventually revealed his true address. I wrote and he responded with some useful comments and tips. The Internet is a wondrous place.

Meanwhile, the compulsive that I am, I am doing a lot of reading in Greek/Byzantine/Ottoman/Lycian history, which is most entertaining. The big hurdle, of course, is the Turkish language, which is linguistically related to such arcane tongues as Finnish and Hungarian (who've have guessed?).

At any rate, I found an interesting Web site titled 'Useful Turkish Phrases', complete with many sound files. Many of the standard traveler phrases are here, but I have to admit that I laughed out loud as I approached the bottom of the page, and there, after Where's the toilet?, Help!, Call the police!, and Would you like to dance with me?, the author has thoughtfully included the classic Monty Python line My hovercraft is full of eels, which, in case you're interested, renders as 'Hoverkraftimin ici yılan balıǧı dolu'. Useful indeed.