[Dottore]

A few times.

The best time was long ago, when I traced the Black Sea coast of Turkey in a clapped-out Peugot, with an outrageous Dutch girl and a brick of Lebanese black in the right seat. But that's a long story.

A couple of years ago we rented VW in Izmir and drove south along the coast for a couple of weeks.

Be prepared for horrendous traffic. Cars are no longer a luxury in Turkey, and everyone has one. Also be prepared for Mediterranean style driving techniques—which I actually enjoy and get into in a serious way. Nothing quite like going flat out on a country lane in a rented four pot, racing the local bus driver.

Be prepared to pay many on the spot fines. Rented cars can easily be identified from their licence plates, and Turkish cops will use any excuse to pull you over and extort some baksheesh. Laugh about this and play along. If you get angry about this, you'll be miserable the entire time you are there—because will get pulled over several times a day.

Great food and wine throughout Turkey. We got into roast pigeons in a big way. You can find these just about anywhere. And there are some very nice big red wines being produced in Turkey. And then of course there is Raki.

You'll have a great trip.