We’re just out of Turkey. It was the first time I ever went there; Pippa had already been a long time ago.

Istanbul

We landed in Istanbul and made our way to our airbnb near Taksim square. It’s a very lively part of the city with pedestrians, taxis, buses, metros, and trams all shuffling around. On our way we saw the street cats of Istanbul: they are many and they are taken care of by local residents who leave food and even set small shelters on the sidewalk.

We went to visit some historical sites. Istanbul, having been a major city in the long history of the Mediterranean empires, has many. The Haggia Sophia was on the list, along with the Grand Bazaar, the Blue Mosque, the Basilica cistern. These are grouped together in the Old Istanbul, the peninsula just South of the Golden Horn. We also visited the Galata Tower, conveniently placed between our lodging and those other places.

The food is good and relatively cheap. I discovered a few new dishes, including midye dolma: mussels stuffed with rice and herbs – delicious!

Cappadocia (Kapadokya)

We flew to Cappadocia, a central region of Turkey. Cappadocia has some interesting rocks: some very crumbly sedimentary rock and some very sturdy volcanic boulders. The combination of which creates fairy chimneys: a volcanic boulder on top protects a column of sedimentary deposits from erosion, leaving very vertical formations.

The soft/crumbly sedimentary rock also lends itself to being easily hollowed out to make dwellings. A lot of those dug-up dwellings and churches, dating back over a millennium, are open to visitors.

Hot-air balloons are a very common activity in Cappadocia. All year round, at dawn, the sky above the town of Goreme fills up with many many hot-air balloons. We got up early to see it.

There are a lot of things to visit in the region and we are planning to come back to see more!

Back to Istanbul and away

We went back to Istanbul for a day before our flight way. We visited the Topkapi palace. The palace is now a museum with a lot of information about the imperial kitchens and the dishes they prepared which built up our appetite for lunch. In the afternoon, we explored a bit more of the city, walking into non-touristy neighbourhoods.

The day after, before sunrise, we took the airport shuttle, onwards to the next leg of our trip: Hong Kong!

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We both loved Turkey! The never-sleeping, always-bustling area around Taksim, the delicious high-spices, low-heat food, the cute cats at every street corner… We’ll definitely come back! (Which will be easier once we live in Europe.)