Carpet diem

As a bridge between Europe and Asia on the Silk Road, Turkey’s textiles earned fame for global trading and the tradition continues. We stopped in at a multi-family, multi-generational carpet weaving museum/sales room where thousands of rugs were rolled, piled, and hung in a labyrinth of showrooms. After dosing us with Raki (fire water ouzo) and Turkish coffee, they showed that they had mastered not only the art of the loom but the art of the deal. A bevy of twirling dervish salesmen unfurled rug after rug, one on top of another. Carpet bombed! The silk rugs truly seemed like magic carpets — a light blue design transformed into a dark blue when shaken. Many of our group left with beautiful purchases and threadbare wallets. We didn’t surrender but were floored by the experience.

Rock stars of Cappadocia

After floating above the rock formations we climbed down into underground cave cities that required us to squat through tiny tunnels down level after level of stables, wine cellars, chapels, and kitchens, and past giant round stone doors that rolled shut like a scene from Indiana Jones. Thousands lived underground for safety from invaders. It felt like a human-sized ant farm. Above ground we climbed into towering cones of volcanic rock that rise from the valleys like a crowd of very tall, very pointy wizard hats. Many of them were carved into homes, churches, and pigeon houses. Some are still used today. A family served us tea in one but we copped out of visiting the stone-faced police station tower.

Basket case

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.

Feeling boulder

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.

Written in stone

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.

Out of the blue

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.

Beyond a seasonable doubt

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.