Where to now? ( St Peter)

 Today marks a month and 10 days since our return from Italy. Or to put it another way- 2 months and 20 days till our next departure. I have more or less abdicated responsibility for the upcoming trip to Jordan and Egypt. I say that because it is one of those prepackaged, "if this is Thursday, it must be Cairo" "Organized" tours. 

 While my normal pre trip enthusiasm is usually around the Spinal tap setting of 11, this one might get a 5 if I round it up to the next whole number.

 With my car currently buried under a foot of slowly melting snow, a trip anywhere should be the last thing on my mind, but after 3 days of pretty consistant snow squall conditions, I'm eager to go anywhere.

Unfortunately, I have a prearranged date with a cardiac surgeon on December 5th, so any travel will be limited by my recovery time.

 I had hoped to make a return visit to New Orleans prior to Christmas to take advantage of the warmer weather and the chance for a few Revillon meals at Gallatoires and the like, however the month long delay in my surgery has put the kaibosh on that idea.

 So where to next? And when?

  Time wise, I am thinking May 2023. Where? 

 Two options: The first that came to mind was Portugal or more specifically, Porto, Lisbon and........!

And being either Madeira island or Sao Mateo. Having been quite impressed with Terceira a return visit to the Azores has a certain appeal.

  The second option: Eastern Turkey. It's ancient Roman ruins and Biblical sites posess a certain drawing power that is hard to resist. Their proximity to the Syrian border, its refugee crisis and the current state of political affairs dampen the attraction of the area.

 I am no stranger to conflict. Previous trips to Turkey have found us :

  Leaving Bursa an hour before a bomb destroyed a hotel in the same area as the one we had just departed.

  Arriving in istanbul to find gunships in the harbour, their weaponry pointed inland towards Taksim Square to quell a sudden public protest.

 A second trip to Taksim Square a couple of years later with armoured personal carriers and water cannons locked and loaded, in case of more civil unrest.

 So, all in all, an environment just slightly more dangerous than a shopping mall in the Southern USA, where the Right to Bare Arms seems more important than the right to Bare a rational thought on Public Safety.