Turkey Birthday

I am in love with Turkey. Mom and I had the most fantastic trip together for our birthday celebration the other week and the fact that my Mom found such an amazing deal made it even better. We were gone about a week but it truly only equated to a day and half in Cappadocia and 3 days in Istanbul due to the flights and travel time...Turkey is far away! A 10-hour + flight from NYC! But in summary - the trip was perfect - not one glitch the entire time, flights/transfers were great (Turkish Air is definitely my new favorite airline due to the fabulous meals and large movie selection), food fantastic, sights gorgeous, and people very welcoming. Even the 5 other peeps we met on the same tour were super fun - there was a group of 3 ladies - Clare, Janet, and Jackie, and then a couple - Heather and Eric - that we had a blast getting to know and travel around with.

We arrived in Cappadocia Thursday afternoon unfortunately with my Mom realizing that she had an ear infection and her not being able to hear very well (ugh!), so we hitched a ride into the nearest town after our cave hotel check-in to find a pharmacy and get some drugs for her (and yes - it was THAT easy to find amoxicilan in Turkey for hardly any cost...just a reminder as to how strange our healthcare system is in the US) to help her to feel better. I think it definitely helped that our cool cave hotel was gorgeous though...we had the most fun room ever - fireplace, nice huge bathroom, comfy beds with canopies, and just fun little holes/nooks everywhere to explore. The next morning started our full day tour in Cappadocia - we did a hot air ballon ride first thing in the morning which was amazing. We got to see all the eroded mountains, valleys, and cave dwellings from the air, and it snowed while we were up there! Crazy! After the flight we went back to a lovely (no seriously - I fell in love with it) breakfast of breads, eggs, mushrooms, olives, goat cheeses, yogurt with compotes/honey and granola. before starting our tour. Then we visited an underground city, nice panoramic overlooks, Goreme Open Air Museum, a weaver, and a pottery maker - all super interesting! Goreme had some amazing 11th Century frescos (couldn't take pictures of though) and seeing how the artesians worked in this area were really fascinating. It was especially cool seeing how the silk cocoons get turned to thread and dyed for making carpets. The next day - Saturday morning - we flew to Istanbul for the second half of the journey. Mom and I started by visiting the Grand Bazaar and getting our shop on. Can you say lovely selection of carpets, teas, scarves (oh the scarves!), and clothing?! It was wonderful - wish I could go back everyday to buy more, and I have to say that compared with other open market/tourist trap destinations, this one was the nicest and the shop keepers were not very pushy. I have definitely seen way more chaos and stress in a market setting. That night we found a fun bar with lots of people visiting from around the world hanging out and had a nightcap (and Mom found several other fans of JD and coke haha and I got to have more yummy Turkish wine). The next day we did the Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, and the Hagia Sofia Museum. All so beautiful and incredible examples of OLD architecture. I loved the Palace the most b/c of all the courtyards and views of the Bosphorus River. It's so fun to imagine how life was in these settings, and you just don't get to see "old" that often in the U.S. Mom loved the Hagia Sofia the most b/c it was the oldest of all the places we visited. That night, after a much needed nap, we set out to find a Cistern Restaurant and had a fun candlelit meal with piano/violin music. That was pretty awesome eating in a 1,000 year old Cistern underground! I had my usual vegetable kabap and Mom had the fish which were both delicious. The next day we decided to do lots of walking and hit some more of Old Town Istanbul. We walked to the adjacent train station where the Orient Express used to pull through, the spice market, and the Aquaduct. Of course none of the walking would have been complete without several tea and juice breaks. Tea must be an institution in Turkey and they serve it in the cutest little glasses like a little shot of yummy caffeine. And the juice stands are delicious too - fresh squeezed pomegranate juice can't be beat. We found a fun little lunch spot next to the Aquaduct area of town that day too where apparantly Anthony Bordain had visited...hahaha...what are the odds? And it had yummy soup and a cheese pita sandwich with some fun toppings like pickled cabbage, spicy tomatos, and salad. Istanbul was so beautiful to walk through - we loved walking through all the mosque courtyards, the busy streets, the parks, and the University campus. It felt like San Francisco meets Paris to me with the elevation changes by the water and the mix of old and new. So Tuesday we flew all day to get back home....

I would definitely go back to Turkey - there is so much to see - and we didn't even visit the Mediterranean/Aegan side with all the old Greek churches/ruins like Ephesus. Oh well - another trip! It is a beautiful country and I just feel lucky that Mom and I got to see it together, spend some quality time together, and had such a great experience. Thanks to Mom for wanderlust, thanks to Jeff and Dad for holding down our respective forts so perfectly while we were gone. We couldn't have enjoyed this trip without our home support. So....I have to say...best birthday EVER! Happy Birthday to us!