We landed at Istanbul airport in the early afternoon and took a shuttle along the waterfront to the old city. I thought I’d post a map to give you some perspective about where in the world we are (right there at the blue dot). Istanbul is the only city in the world that I know … Continue reading →

After conquering Constantinople in 1453, Sultan Mehmet II set about establishing his Ottoman Empire. First order of business: build a palace. Every good islamic emperor needed somewhere to keep all his concubines and slave girls. So, in 1459, the Sultan ordered the building of Topkapı Palace which was to become the residence of the Ottoman … Continue reading →

Yesterday, we got a relatively early start and took a river cruise up the Bosphorus to the Black Sea. The boat departed at 10:35 from Eminönü next to the Galata Bridge which spans the Golden Horn tributary of the Bosphorus. It’s about 18 miles up the Bosphorus from old Istanbul to the Black Sea. Along … Continue reading →

The northern terminus of our Bosphorus cruise ended at the fishing village of Anadolu Kavağı. All along the waterfront were open-air seafood cafes and fishing boats. We decided to get in a little exercise before lunch, so we immediately headed up the hill to the ruins of the Roman fort called Yoros Castle. It was … Continue reading →

We got off the river cruise one stop before the southern terminus so that we could walk along the Bosphorus to the Tünel, an underground funicular, that would take us up to Taksim Square and the Galata Tower at the top of the hill overlooking the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul. As we exited the Tünel, … Continue reading →

Yesterday, we took a long walk across town to the Chora Church. When it was originally built in the early 5th century, this church stood outside the city walls that had been built about 100 years earlier by the Roman Emperor Constantine. However, the later Emperor Theodosius II extended the walls of the city in … Continue reading →

The Kapalı Çarşı, the Grand Bazaar, is a covered shopping district spanning 66 streets and containing somewhere around 5,000 shops. Here’s one of the main entrances: The Grand Bazaar has been a marketplace for about 600 years. Many of the shops seem to be held in the same family for generations, which means that these … Continue reading →

We had an early, but uneventful flight from Istanbul to Nevşehir in the midst of the Cappadocia region in central Turkey, with the minor of exception of the hardest landing we have ever experienced – it really woke us up. Nevertheless, we did enjoy traveling on Turkish Airlines. Nevşehir Airport is in the middle of … Continue reading →

Cappadocia is famous for its strange geological formations and cave dwellings. The soft rock that makes up the ground and hills is called “Tuff.” The guide book says that 30,000,000 years ago, the three volcanoes in the region erupted and covered the plateau with ash and mud. Tuff is the result of the compression of … Continue reading →

As we neared the valley floor, we spotted a cave complex of greater proportion than those we had been exploring on our way down from the ridge, so we went to investigate. It was a columned Christian church, carved into the cliff! We entered through the large cave opening to the right, inside of which … Continue reading →

One of the ancient peoples to settle in Turkey were the Hittites from Europe. They were attacked by invaders from Thrace around 1200 B.C. Those Hittites living in the area now known as Cappadocia literally took to the hills for refuge, but they also went underground because the rock was so soft that they could … Continue reading →

After visiting the underground city on Thursday morning, we continued southwest to the Ihlara Valley. As we drove along, we almost felt like we were in Colorado, approaching the Rockies. But once we got to the Ihlara Valley, it seemed more like we were in Utah or Arizona, back in the canyon lands. There was … Continue reading →

Yesterday, we were glad, for the first time, to hear the morning call to prayer which, here in Cappadocia, was at 4:05 a.m. We were being picked up at 4:35 for an early morning balloon flight! It was a little windy Friday morning, so the company we chartered with, Butterfly Balloons, had to launch with … Continue reading →

After our early morning balloon ride, we went back to the hotel, ate breakfast, and took a nap. In the afternoon, we went to the Göreme Open Air Museum, a highlight on the tour bus circuit. We should have taken a pass on it; crowds ruin things for me. I’m going to be brief on … Continue reading →

According to the guidebooks, just up the hill from the Çavuşin Church is the oldest and largest church in the region: the Basilica of St. John the Baptist, built in the 5th Century A.D. On our way up the hill from the Çavuşin Church, we passed this wagon, similar to many we have seen in … Continue reading →

Friday was our “driving around looking at stuff” day, so after leaving Çavuşin, we tried to find the road to Mustafapaşa, a place that the guidebooks said was only infrequently visited by the tour buses, but worth the effort to get to. I have relied on my iPhone4S for many things on this trip: all … Continue reading →

We had been planning to hike the Rose Valley, but decided, for a change of pace, to do it on horseback, instead. So, Saturday morning we drove over to “Dalton Brothers Ranch” (really) and joined a young French couple and a woman from California for a two-hour ride. Besides our little group, we had a … Continue reading →

After our horseback ride on Saturday morning, we set out again on our quest to get to Mustafapaşa. But, we didn’t take the detour to Pancarlik Church, so the GPS took us on a different route over and down the hill. This time, our trail dead-ended at the most amazing rock dwelling we saw in … Continue reading →

We left Göreme Sunday morning with a destination of Side (pronounced “see day”) on the Mediterranean coast; total driving time, 8 hours. There’s not much to see in the very center of Turkey. It’s pretty much like driving through Kansas or eastern Colorado, but without the corn and wheat. There’s a lot of farm land … Continue reading →