We departed before dawn for our lofty hot air balloon ride above Cappadocia. As the sun rose, so did we. It felt like levitating — so smooth and quiet with very little sense of movement. Over 100 other balloons joined us which made the experience even more scenic and uplifting. We floated among and above the rock formations and our YouTube trained pilot (kidding!) skillfully landed right on the trailer. Even inflated tourist prices didn’t pop our Cloud Nine bubble.
The Cappadocia region of Turkey may beat out Catstanbul cats for going viral on social media. Between the fairy chimney rock formations, underground cities, and cave hotels, we felt we had stepped into a Flintstones playground. Our rocky explorations began when we arrived at the “Bedrock Hilton” and all had to check out each other’s cave rooms.
After leaving Istanbul we traveled to Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. The museum of ancient civilizations introduced us to early cuneiform writing on stone tablets and a window into the society in 2000 BC. The stone tablets were used as receipts and records for water allocations, marriage, divorce, etc. They were mostly palm-sized so the writer could hold the wet clay while etching out the receipts with a reed. Gives a whole new meaning to writer’s block! At Ataturk’s Mausoleum (father of modern Turkey) we learned that he completely reformed Turkish language by changing Arabic to the Latin alphabet in 1928. He imposed a 4-month deadline for learning the new alphabet and literacy rates went from 10% to nearly universal.
We donned our impromptu hijabs to enter the Blue Mosque, where 20,000 tiles decorate the walls, and Hagia Sophia built over a Byzantine cathedral. In Muslim culture, depictions of people inside religious buildings are not permitted so they got fancy with colorful tiles of geometric, floral, and Arabic calligraphy designs instead. After much tile and error they found that tiles with an 85% quartz composition achieved legendary luminosity and resistance to fading. The Topkapi Palace wowed us with room after room of tilework of brilliant cobalt blues and turquoise, especially fancy in the harem rooms.
Istanbul’s location between the European and Asian continents and the Mediterranean and Black Sea positioned it as a spice trade hub. We cruised along the Bosphorus Strait between continents sipping apple tea before a very aromatic and colorful visit to the thyme-less spice bazaar. Can I dill with it? Yes, I cayenne.
Self-reflection from breakfast to city streets to the palace and on to the Spice Bazaar. We are a glass act. Shine on!
While the Muslims were called to prayer, we popped into the Pudding Shop for a Turkish cafeteria lunch. It became famous in the 70s as the launching point for the backpackers’ Hippie Trail from Istanbul to Kathmandu. Travelers used the bulletin board to share logistical information, meet up with friends, or find travel companions — pre-Facebook. It also launched Rick Steves into his career as a travel writer and now tour operator. We shamefully dessert-ed the place without trying the rice pudding!
