Just before my time was up in Turkey I was lucky enough to have my parents and their friends come for a 3 week visit. Three weeks can seem like a long time to visit anyone but when you are riding around the countryside exploring and seeing things, it goes by really quick.
We started with them having to wait around Ankara a little bit so that I could finish up with my work at BLIS and then a couple of day trips to places like Beypazari and Eskisehir. When I finally got done with the job spot, we loaded up the two cars that we rented (we chose to do two small cars for more comfort and to save on gas - which we did do, the failing was that it was 2 cars and it was easy to lose one another in the busy city streets). Our trip included the main stops of Kapadokya (Cappadocia), Mersin, Tasucu, Konya, Pamukkale, and Istanbul with short stops for pictures and/or lunches in places like Afyon, Isparta and the Salt Lake.
The Salt Lake... like a moon scape of glittery snow.
Our first big activity was to go ballooning at sunrise over Kapadokya. I was a little bit nervous in the beginning because all that keeps you from your fate is the wicker basket you are in.
About 3 seconds into the flight, you are so relaxed and nearly 400 metres into the air. It's spectacular.
We were fairly close to the flames and it kept me WARM!!!
My dad and I shared a compartment of the balloon basket.
No matter how many times I go to Kapadokya, I simply can't get enough of the beauty and the history.
Next stop was the underground city at Derinkuyu. I didn't go down there, but stayed up to photograph the beautiful Orthodox church.
This was the view from my room in our little hotel in Tasucu. This was the very same hotel that my grandparents stayed in when they came to visit us in 1983. Back then it was the height of luxury in the area, now it is little better than a pension but still worth the stay.
Near to Tasucu is Kizkalesi. We decided to spend a morning at this beach sunning ourselves and playing in the water.
The view couldn't get much better than this. This castle has a fabled history of a king building the castle for his precious daughter, to help protect her from harm (I think the story goes that a fortune teller told him she would be bitten by a snake). Her food was rowed out to her daily and a snake got into the boat, onto the island and bit her, thus killing her. I'm not sure if that's the story or not, but it's the one my brain remembers being told as an eight year old.
This is the restaurant that we ate at once a week when I was a kid... it's still there and still being run by the same family. What a treat to visit a piece of the past!
My parents, sticking their feet in the Mediterranean for the first time this visit.
Me and the fabled castle in the background.
Who are those cute people?!
This is the old townsite where we used to live, it is now overgrown and unused. A heartbreak to see for sure.
The beach I spent most afternoons at as a child... not too shabby, eh?
From Tasucu, we drove to Konya, one of my favourite cities in Turkey.
Mevlana's museum and masoleum.
After Konya, we sped off to Pamukkale, a place I hadn't been to yet. I loved it!
Hieropolis is at the top of the pools of Pamukkale and it's said that Cleopatra herself came here.
In the first picture of Pamukkale, I was standing down there, near the island... now I'm at the top... what a view!
The pools are made of travertine (a type of marble I think) and are snowy white.
This is called Cleopatra's pool. For a fee you too can swim in the healing waters like the famed Egyptian did.
Our final stop was the beautiful city of Istanbul. We flew into here because the traffic is just too crazy for foreigners to drive.
A dervish, sharing his worship time at a local cafe.
My favourite sight in the city: the Basilica Cistern.
The Blue Mosque
An Egyptian obelisk in the area of the old Hippodrome.
My beautiful mom and I on our Bosphorus boat ride... this is where I hustled the hustler! Don't be afraid to demand the price you want for the activities you do on vacation!!
Picture perfect... enjoying the sun, surf and breeze.
If you are ever in the area of Turkey and are looking for a good holiday location, look no further... I've loved my time in this beautiful country and I know I'll be back to see more of it.
Okay, arkadaşlar (friends), prepare yourself for a LONG entry and a LOT of pictures. This past weekend I had the awesome pleasure of going to Cappadocia (which is Kapadokya in Turkish) with a great group of new friends. I have more than 100 pictures and I am SO not posting them all here, just a few to wet your appetite and make you want to get on a place and come see me. If you are a facebook friend of mine, there will be a HUGE album there, but this is where you will get the journey in chronological order and perhaps with a story or two. My Chronically Single blog will also have an entry because my single self had some very amusing moments and I just can't let that not show up. :)
This was our lovely coach. We had the best driver, even when he was swerving and bouncing all over the road. The bus was really comfy and we were the only ones since we chartered it.
Brennan was our server... I think he just liked be up and about instead of sitting...
The sunset as we left the city and approached the Salt Lake.
My camera is a bit odd with the twilight setting (time for a new camera if you feel like buying it for me!! hehe). We were walking on a salt lake. Because it was the end of summer, the water had almost completely evaporated, leaving HUGE crystals of salt everywhere. It was pretty cool.
These were my roomies: Brennan and Edmund. We all ended up sharing a really huge and cool cave room. I got the caviest part of the room... thanks, guys!! ;)
A few on our tour got to go up in a balloon at sunrise. I was a little on the poor side, but after hearing their stories and seeing some of the pics, I am so going back and doing that!!! Wanna come? Hahaha, I love this pic. This is Mehmet, our guide. He spoke flawless English and some Spanish as well. He was really good at sharing the history and some interesting stories with us as well.
This me, parked in the entrance of a cave home from back in the day. Apparently the area was originally settled by Hittites... each cave was carved out by hand, including the room at my hotel. So cool!!!
We climbed up a great big hill and this was our reward... look at that. Some of these places date back to BC times and some are from the 1st and 2nd century.... amazing!!
This was a church that had been carved into a wall. There had been a lot of damage done due to erosion and the fact that Kapadokya wasn't a UNESCO protected area until 1980... children and teens used to play and do goodness knows what in the caves and ancient churches. Some of them date as far back as the 4th century. For those of you interested in Biblical history, Kapadokya and Turkey is the PLACE to be!!
Another one of the old churches. Some of them had fresco paintings inside and others had wall paintings like this picture. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the frescoes because of the damage the flash would do to the paint that remains. Some of the frescoes were ruined when there was a population exchange (which happened more than once, apparently). So when Greeks and early Christians left the area, they took apart frescoes in order to have a relic etc. Many of these were retouched or painted later. Some still went missing during the Crusades etc because of people believing that these New Testament times pictures having power etc. Many of the eyes were scraped off because people believed that drinking a tea made with the paint from the saints eyes could heal mental illnesses etc. Very interesting!!
Me again... see, had to prove that I really went. This is me standing at the Open Air Museum where some of the oldest churches and monasteries are housed. The place was simply incredible and SUPER busy with people!!
Evil Eyes are super popular in Turkey and meant to ward off jealousy and bad things happening to the good things in your life. They are also just really beautiful. There was a vendor selling a huge table of them, must have been hundreds of thousands of them there.
CAMEL!!! Hahaha, at several places there were camels for you to sit on and have your picture taken with. This guy was nice enough to let me take a couple of pictures free of charge... one of the other vendors gave me the "this-is-a-business" speech.
The Fairy Chimneys. They are completely naturally formed from a couple of volcanic erruptions and wind/water erosion. They are pretty amazing to see and they blanket the area in several valleys.
The lamps... I loved these, but didn't pick any up this trip. But just you wait... gonna get me some, someday... SOON!!
This valley was called the Valley of Imagination because several of the fairy chimneys seem to take on shapes of animals etc. There is a very famous giant camel one (not pictured here) and the bird... can you see the bird?
On the Saturday night, we went to a dinner show... it was pretty good, even though the performance left something to be desired... the food and drink and company did not!!
On Sunday morning, we were taken to a carpet dealer's for brunch and some viewing of carpets and a little education. Brennan is suffering in the fore ground there... up a little too late, drinking a little too much with the locals!! haha Ali, the carpet dealer, is standing. He was phenomenal and if you are buying a carpet in Turkey, he is the MAN to see!!!
They die all the wool and silk and cotton for the carpets with natural pigments. Ali showed us the process. It was really interesting.
There is Ali, showing us how they use the loom to make the carpets. He told us what to look for in quality, style, materials and so on. He was really informative and entertaining. He joked a lot and loved to laugh at his own jokes!!
The floor was covered with carpets. There were about 4 or 5 different styles and about 4 or 5 different types of materials. It was amazing. They would unroll them, throw them in the air to catch the light and all the while, they told us jokes and kept us laughing and entertained. It was a great experience and I left the proud owner of a carpet (they even let me use a payment plan over the next couple of months).
So in short my friends, Kapadokya rocked the house and is a place to put on your traveling radar.
If you are ever in the area of Turkey and are looking for a good holiday location, look no further... I've loved my time in this beautiful country and I know I'll be back to see more of it. 
