To complete up this blog, I wanted to give some observations (unordered) about our trip and experiences.

1.  In Europe most toll gates take American Express (and most large roads are toll).

2.  At gas stations in Turkey, you get full service (!) but in Europe, it is American style and you pump your own.

3.  Roads in Europe are generally narrow and crowded.  While driving is a challenge, parking is worse.  Blue lines mean you can park but you need to pay (look for the machine to get a ticket and place it in your dash).  White means you can park and it is free.  Yellow means you cannot park.  Some underground garages have you pay up top, others inside, but for all (in our experience) you pay before you get to the turnstile out.

4.  Europeans and Turks are much more energy saving and eco conscience than we are.  Energy is expensive there and they are sparing in their lights, A/C, gas usage, etc.  They bring their own bags to the grocery stores.

5. All toilets in Turkey and Europe are low water.  Many in public places lack seats (I do not understand this - for a woman it creates a lot of problems).  There are still some hole in floor (no standing toilet) bathrooms in public places in Turkey and France (and probably Italy).

6.  Washing machines take forever (2 hours and 45 minutes) and are small but do a great job.  Driers are almost unheard of.

7.  The French do drink a lot of wine!  Wine with lunch, wine with dinner, wine in the afternoon, wine in the evening.  However, the European wine is comparatively cheap and is uniformly good.

8.  Turkish wine continues to improve.  Not as cheap as wine in Europe, it is still a decent value.

9.  People are pretty friendly and helpful.  We rarely encountered a jerk.

10.   The vegetables and fruits in Turkey and Europe taste better than ours.  I don't know if that is because they are fresher, closer to the source or use less chemicals, but they are better.

11.  France, Italy and Switzerland love their pork products.  Almost every meal included at least one pork product (and there are many, many different kinds).  While this might seem scary, their pork was less fatty than ours and had better flavor.

12.  In Switzerland, everything is expensive with the possible exception of cheese.  Try to stick to cheese, bread and beer.  You can't go wrong with these (you could also include butter and be even happier).

13.  Asian tourists are everywhere but especially in Switzerland.  They include far east Asians, Indians and Arabs from the middle east (with full burka'ed women).

14.  Eating outside is the norm (at least in June) and is wonderful.  Most cafes, restaurants and even private homes had their main eating space outside, not in.

15.  Cafe sitting abounds in both Turkey and Europe.  People just hang out at outside cafes and drink whatever and snack.  There are a huge number of such cafes and they are everywhere.

16.  Don't fight their local rules.  There are arcane and nonsensical rules with accompanying paperwork and annoying delays.  They are not efficiency experts in these places (well, maybe they are in Switzerland) and you have to ride the wave of bureaucracy.

17.  Don't stay at hotels if you can help it, and don't ever stay at chain hotels.  We did Europe on an average of about $100 or so for lodging each night (and this sometimes included breakfast).  We stayed in comfortable places and met interesting people.  We got to see a slice of their lives.  And, at a good value.  It takes some time to plan, but it is quite easy using the internet and the various review systems (like Trip Advisor and VRBO).  Yes, you take a chance, but it is not a big one and the rewards are significant.

18.  Don't even think about a driving vacation over there without a good GPS.  A paper map helps a lot too.  The roads and signage are more confusing that you can imagine, especially off the main highways.

19.  Speaking of main highways, the refuel stops are great.  They have reliable bathrooms and interesting food shops (especially in Italy).  Public bathrooms otherwise are spotty.

20.  You can get by without knowing the language (we did) but you may have to order food you are not sure what it is, and you feel a little confused at the grocery store.  These are minor though and with common sense, most people's few words of English and sign language, you can limp along quite nicely.

21.  Take a small adventure but carry cash.  Bulgaria was memorable but we might be in jail still if we had not had greenbacks to cover dinner.

On top of the world, figuratively speaking - Alice at Cassis

22.  And last, but not least, blog your trip.  This was my first time and it was a way (albeit time consuming) of journaling the trip and keeping up the photos day to day.  I feel that this trip has been documented better than any other I have ever taken and therefore I will be able to relive it more vividly in the years to come.  My blogging has been largely selfish for this reason, but I am happy to share it with you, dear readers and friends!