And now for the rest of the story…

At last we find ourselves back in Istanbul after three days in Malta. We were able to get everything done in Malta that we wanted to do, although our last activity left us soaking wet, covered in mud, and freezing. We had scheduled a trip over to the island of Gozo, with a six hour tour in a dune buggy-like vehicle. It started out great, with Brian driving the buggy. That part was a lot of fun and we covered a lot of ground before stopping for lunch. Turns out we’re not any crazier about Maltese food than we are about Turkish food. The fact that our hotel in Malta was located between a McDonald’s and a Burger King was a lifesaver. Anyway, after our buggy tour broke for lunch, we came outside to find it was pouring down rain. Of course we had no rain gear with us. The buggy was open air and it didn’t take long for us to be completely wet. And freezing. And muddy. And there were still four hours left of the tour. It just  got more and more miserable. The only person with rain gear was the guide who admitted that he knew it was going to rain and that’s why he brought a poncho. Another group, riding ATVs, were given ponchos. We had to keep bugging along, to the point where my glasses were completely covered in mud and I couldn’t see a thing. That didn’t matter so much since I was so hunched over I couldn’t see anything anyway. Eventually, our whole group rebelled and informed the guide that we were through, and ready to go back to the garage and wait until it was time for transportation to get us back to Malta. It took about 30 more minutes, and by then we were 5 hours into the tour. Truth to tell six hours was too long for that tour anyway, because Gozo isn’t that large and looks just like Malta. 

That was just an unfortunate misadventure, but we did do a couple of stupid things on the way to Malta. The first happened when we flew from Cappadocia back to Istanbul and arrived about 11 PM. I had forgotten that I had made arrangements for transfer from the airport to a hotel with both the hotel and the agency that had arranged our private tour. The greeter from the travel agency spotted us first and off we went with him. I then started getting text messages from the hotel, without realizing it was the hotel. These messages were asking us where we were and when we said we were in the car on the way,  I got a message back saying “you’re not in our car, I think you are in a strangers car.” I got a little scared since we were out   in the country, in the dark, in the middle of the night, on the way to God knows where, and now I’m  told that we were being driven by a total stranger. I was also confused because the greeter that met us was the same man that met us when we first arrived in Istanbul. We recognized each other. I didn’t even want to tell Brian about the texts, but I didn’t know what to do.

About that time, I realized that we were actually at the hotel. All I could think of to do was to respond that we were at the hotel, and when we went in, we were informed that they had sent a driver for us. I just had totally forgotten when I made two separate arrangements for pick up.

The other Griswold moment, came when we arrived in Malta and went to the baggage carousel. We stood there watching all the suitcases except ours go round and round. Finally, when there was none left and nobody else standing there, we had to admit to ourselves that we were out of luck. A quick check of the Apple AirTags even showed the bags were back in Istanbul. So we headed toward the lost baggage counter, but before we could get there a baggage attendant, looked at us, pointed to the next room and said, “your bags are in there.” We sort of stood there like dummies not not quite getting what he was saying. He repeated it a couple of times so we walked through the door and discovered that indeed our bags were there and we had been standing at the wrong carousel, in the wrong room,  for at least 15 minutes.

We are back at the same hotel, but this time we only arranged transfer through the hotel. We will only be here about six hours, because our plane leaves for home at 1:45 AM.

On the whole, we’re glad we made the trip, however, this won’t go down as one of our favorites. As we’ve mentioned, probably more times than need be, we just haven’t liked the food at all. Except for the pizza. I guess the best way to put it is that we liked some of the places that we went to better than others. Troy was kind of boring. Istanbul was not very exciting and although I’m glad we’ve seen the places that we’ve seen, we probably won’t  come back.

But there were places and experiences that we found both moving and fascinating, and we will always be grateful that we’ve been there. Both Gallipoli and Cappadocia are definitely worth visiting. The more we learned about the lives of the thousands of people who make the caves their homes, the more curious we became. While we aren’t spry enough to explore the rocks and caves like most visitors do, we were fortunate enough to have a native as our guide. She bought life to her information, answered every one of our multitude of questions, and very quickly became a personal friend. Gallipoli is in a whole other bracket. Beautifully preserved and an amazing tribute to both the Turkish and Anzac soldiers, it was impossible not to cry in memory of the incredibly insane and unbelievably gallant battle that took place in what is now known as sacred ground. 

One very special thing were our guides and drivers. All of our guides were excellent. They knew their history and shared it with stories that were engaging as well as informative. Our drivers were all incredible, from those that were with us for several days to the one time drivers in both Turkey and Malta. Traffic is crazy and scary, but our drivers were so skillful that we never had a close call, or a reason to gasp.

 

And I have to close with the mention of a couple of things that I truly loved in Turkey. The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul and the Orient bazaar in Kusadasi were great 

fun and would have enticed me to buy more, had not Brian been along to give me the evil eye while I was buying  evil eyes. Not really, he was very patient and ready with the cash. Last, but not least by any means— the Hamam, the Turkish Bath. Beyond wonderful, just plain addictive. 

Cappadocia

And then came Cappadocia— everything and even more than we expected. All the pictures that I’ve ever seen do not do it justice, nor does seeing it without understanding just what you are looking at. We’ve managed to visit everyplace on our Turkey list, but leaving Cappadocia till the last was a very good idea because it is so different than any place I’ve ever seen and is what will stick in our memory the longest. If you have never heard of this place, let me give you an idea, along with pictures, about what makes this area special. It can be summed up with 2 words “cave homes”. First, Cappadocia describes a large region in central Turkey, but what put this place on the map is a much smaller area  in the middle  known as Little Cappadocia. This is a valley and within this valley are 5 small towns: Felue, Ortahiser, Goreme, the hometown of Little Cappadocia, Urgup, and Avenos.  Throughout the valley and winding around these towns are at least 80k caves where people live or lived. Within the rocks, the homes cover multiple floors, have multiple rooms and are connected by tunnels and stairs. The largest inhabited rock has 8 floors. Many of the caves are still privately owned, some are empty and now owned by the government, and many are hotels.

The caves have actual addresses , and almost all have the modern technology we have in our houses— electricity, sewage, running water, and WiFi, with the added benefit of constant year round temperature of around 70F. No need for heat or air conditioning. The rocks come in many different shapes and are located in neighborhood’s, some with residences and some without. We were fortunate to have a guide who lived in this area her whole life. Her grandparents owned their own cave so she was able to give us firsthand information on how and why over 20,000 people choose caves as their homes. 

 In addition to a first rate guide, who was a friend by the second day, we stayed in a cave hotel. Different from any hotel we have ever seen, it was interesting because there were several rooms on many levels, connected by tunnels and stairs and carved out of the rock. The levels weren’t even like floors in a regular hotel, and the elevator was not able to give access to all levels. In fact to get to reception, the bistro, the spa, and the restaurant always involved stairs in addition to the elevator. Here are pictures, and I know your first question will be, “ how do they get up to the entrance?” The answer is that the holes you are looking at aren’t the entrance to the houses. The entrances are located at ground level and the residents enter there and traverse tunnels and stairs to get to their individual homes. 

 

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In the Utopia Cave Hotel 

Pamukkale

One of the most famous tourist attractions in Turkey is Pamukkale with its travertine pools overflowing with bright turquoise water. Today was our Pamukkale Day, and started at 8am because it’s a 3 hour drive from our hotel each way. I do enjoy the long drives because we see so many towns, villages, farms, and lovely mountains. I was really looking forward to seeing the blue pools.  This is what all the pictures look like and what you expect to see

This is what you actually see. 

    

The reason is conservation. The mineral water that created  the travertines will also destroy them by turning them black. The water is now diverted and is only allowed the fill the pools once every week or two. Our guide has been there over 100 times, but has only seen them filled once.  Although I was a little disappointed, they are fascinating and well worth a visit. 

The ancient  city of Hierapolis was built as a healing center because of the mineral waters about 281 BC. It surrounded  the white pools, but in 1354, it was finally abandoned after the total destruction by an earthquake.  A multitude of walls, columns, and even this theater remain and lots of people were hiking through the ruins. 

Tomorrow we fly to Cappadocia. Since our plane leaves at 6:30 am, from an airport over an hour away, our driver Şűkrű, will be picking us up at 3 am. We will be in Cappadocia only a day and a half and that will end the Turkey part of the trip.

Another trip with the Philistines

Funny thing about pre planned activities — sometimes they are great and sometimes just ok. But there are always surprises that turn out to be the thing you like best or the things that you’ll remember. Troy definitely falls into the “ok” category. It was fun to climb up into the fake Trojan horse, fun to actually see an archaeological dig in progress, and… well, that’s about it. Turns out that we aren’t all that interested in ancient ruins or museums full of old pottery. But we got  some pictures anyway. 

When we finally convinced our guide that we really and truly had seen enough, we said our goodbyes and left with our driver for the 5 hour drive to the resort town of Kusadasi. The best thing about that drive was the time alone to bury our noses into our phones, kickback, and doze. Almost equally wonderful was the appearance of the Golden Arches. Since neither of us enjoy Turkish food, the familiar taste of quarter pounders and fries was bliss. 

Anyway, we had a great surprise when we arrived at our resort hotel — we are in a suite, with a sea view, for 3 whole nights. Two good restaurants  several bars, and laundry service; who could ask for anything more? Turns out we could. The first night was so cold that we couldn’t sleep. One little thin blanket that barely covered us, but on the plus side, since we were too cold to sleep, we were awake at 4am and able to watch the live streaming of the debate. Of course, by the time we were picked up for our first excursion, we were exhausted. And it was pouring down rain. And we were headed for a small mountain village for a Turkish breakfast (yay). Once we got out of the car, we had a long, long climb up very slick rocky streets to get to the restaurant and of course my feet slipped and down I went. But once we arrived we had a very pleasant view of the village and a loaded table. But, once again I didn’t really feel like eating much. That’s our new guide on the right and our driver on the left— terrific guys.

   

Next on our scheduled list was a brief stop at a Caravanserai, the “hotels” used by the caravans on the old trading routes. People upstairs, animals downstairs. Interesting, quick to look at, but not much like James Michener’s description in Caravans. But here is where the first serendipity came in. Back in Istanbul, in the Grand Market, I spotted an etched copper plate, which was the main craft item that I wanted to get. I didn’t buy it and later realized that I would likely not have another chance. Even my current guide told me that those plates were unlikely to be found in any of the other places on our itinerary. 

To my great surprise next door to the Caravanserai, was the “Oriental Market”, but the shops were full of textiles, leather goods, fake watches and carpets. And then we spotted it. A third generation store selling ceramics, lamps, and etched copper plates! They escorted me upstairs, sat me down on a sofa, offered me tea or soda, and proceeded to bring out all their copper plates. And then they just “visited”. Turns out they have a brother operating a branch in Naples, Florida! As we paid for my plate, I spotted an evil eye to add to my purchases, but they insisted that it was a gift from them and after hugs and a hand kiss, we were on our way; but we left feeling like we had new friends. Now that’s customer service!

Everywhere you go in Turkey, you see the Hamam— the Turkish bath. The more I saw them, the more I wanted one. So as soon as we returned to the hotel, I made a reservation for what has to be the most unusual … and relaxing experience I’m likely to ever have. In the Hamam, men are separated from the women and you can choose either a communal bath or private. I imagine, like me, most tourists choose the private. So it starts with undressing and wrapping in a big towel in the room where I later had a massage, foot reflexology, and a facial masque. But before that I was led past the communal room with its giant round marble table? bed?? Whatever. Then past a small pool, again made of marble, and then into your private steam room. One small and one larger marble table await. Towel gone and lying flat on the slab and enjoying the steam when the bath part starts. From a large fountain constantly filling with very warm water, your attendant scoops pan fulls and pours them over you. It’s just an indescribable sensation. After you are fully wet, she puts on a mitten made with something rough, scrubs and exfoliates you. Rinse and repeat on your other side. That too was a very interesting sensation. After all that dead skin is rinsed away, the next surprise happens. You are entirely covered in foamy soap bubbles, just like you used to do in the bathtub when you were a little kid. Not only is the complete coverage in bubbles a strange and wonderful new sensation, the foam massage that comes next is even more incredible. You are soft and slippery from the soap bubbles, and  warm from the steam and warm water. Once you are finally rinsed off, she shampoos your hair. And all this time I’m thinking, “this is what life was like in the harem! Where do I sign up?”

Ultimately you end up back in the original room  with a regular oil massage, etc, but everything comes to an end and back you go to your room for a nap. 

A communal Hamam 

Trust Your Driver!

 When our awesome driver picked us up at 8:30, we wondered what our day would be like since there was no guide with him and he doesn’t speak a word of English. As we headed out of Istanbul we thought (hoped) that he was heading to Gallipoli and a new guide would join us there. It’s a 3.5 hour drive, but he gave us a couple of pit stops and we passed the time making guesses on where exactly we would end up and what exactly was the plan of the day. Eventually we did pick up a new guide who took us to the Gallipoli peninsula and tomorrow he will take us to Troy. 

I had no idea what to expect at Gallipoli. All I ever knew about the battle came from the song, The Band Played Waltzing Matilda and the movie Gallipoli. I guess I imagined a museum,  or a stop at the actual place it happened, but the tour was so much more. We did see where the Anzac forces landed and learned about the campaign from their point of view, then went where the Turks were dug in, and learned what happened on their side. The Turks had the high ground- taller than a hill, smaller than a mountain, and not a sheer cliff. And it wasn’t just one place it was all over a lengthy peninsula. 

I know that most readers don’t know or care about this battle so I won’t  include the things I learned in this post. I am going to describe in further detail and in pictures what happened here in WWI. If you have any interest in reading that summary, please let me know and I will send it to you. 

Long after the war, the father of modern Turkey, Kemal Attaturck, reached out to the 

grieving mothers of the dead Anzac forces. He sent them this letter, which so moved both Brian and me.

The Bosphorus

Finally a relaxing day!  All we did was cruise up the Bosphorus, almost to the Black Sea. We were on a passenger ferry which made a number of stops and we rode to the end of the line. The route ends at a small fishing village on the Asian side and the ferry parks there for a couple of hours. That’s long enough to have lunch and browse the shops, then the ferry follows the same route back to the city. 

What surprised me was that, from the village,  the Black Sea is visible to the right, and the skyscrapers in Istanbul, are visible to the left. 

Along the way we passed palaces, a castle/fort, and the largest and newest mosque in the country. It was built a couple of years ago by the extremely right wing president, Erdogan, who is trying to turn Turkey, currently a secular country, into a religious country. He has changed the constitution to allow himself an extra term, and instituted a more authoritarian government.  

Istanbul itself is a reflection of that dichotomy. Very ancient sites and very old buildings are right next to modern skyscrapers.  The citizens are also a blend of the old religious and the young, secular, and modern. It’s common to see burka clad women walking next to women with no head covering, loaded with makeup and wearing crop tops with low slung shorts. 

Tomorrow we leave the city for a three hour drive to Gallipoli, the site of one of the most brutal battles of WWI. For almost 11 months, the British and ANZAC soldiers were slaughtered as they futilely tried to invade Turkey to take control of the Dardanelles. The next day we go to Troy and we all know what happened there. 

Pictures are the new Mosque, the fishing village, and the Maidens Tower, which was featured in the James Bond movie, The World Is Not Enough.

Things I’ve Learned Lately

Although we have only been in Turkey a couple days, I’m amazed at how many interesting things  I’ve learned or observed.  In no particular order:

1. We definitely don’t have the stamina to “go, see, do” (my family’s motto) that we used to have. Not to mention the interest in seeing all the “must see’s” in a new place. Yesterday completely wore us out and today we discovered that we can choose to skip a couple of sites, return to the hotel, lounge around, and watch a movie. Tonight we see the whirling dervishes, and just watching that will exhaust me.

2. Istanbul is huge, with millions of residents and the added tourists everywhere make it very crowded and claustrophobic. 

3. Turkey is bigger than Texas

4. Guides are required to have a 4 year college degree in tourism.

5. Driving would be a nightmare — cars, buses, vans, and pedestrians crowding very narrow streets. 

6. I can’t mentally convert Turkish lira to US dollars although 200 lira is almost $6. It’s that higher math, again.

7. Haven’t found any Turkish food that I particularly like.

8. Turkish would be a hard language to learn. I’ve tried to say yes, no, please, and thank you, and just can’t.

9. Silk rugs change colors when spun around, even the machine made ones.

10. Istanbul is an extremely busy port, which isn’t surprising considering its geography. It’s located between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara near and on both sides of the  Bosphorus which separates Europe from Asia.  The European side is split by the Golden Horn. All of which you already know if you watched the Rise of Empires: Ottoman on Netflix. 

11. I made a huge mistake getting this replacement IPad without cellular. In addition to only intermittent connectivity, my keyboard keeps popping up Turkish letters for unknown reasons and also goes blank often. Certain letters seem to trigger it.

12. And finally, all of the love and good wishes from our friends and family, is indescribable. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We love you all and having you in our lives means the world to us. 

What time is it, anyway?

 On the whole, Turkish Airlines is nice. My only real issue is the scheduling of our flight. We’re used to flying overseas in the eastern direction on flights leaving after 6 or 7 pm and arriving in daylight the next morning. This flight left Miami at 10:45am on Wednesday and arrived in Istanbul at about 5am on Thursday. The thing is, according to my watch, which I left on Miami time, it was only about 10pm and still Wednesday.

The meals on the flight were mixed up— dinner at 11:30am, right after we took off.  There was a small snack about 7 pm and breakfast at 9pm. And since my clock was daytime the whole flight, no sleeping! Fortunately we had nothing scheduled for today, and hopefully we’ll be in sync with everyone here by tomorrow.

To train or not to train. That is the question!

And this question arose because our plane leaves tomorrow morning from Miami so we go down the day before. We’ve driven to Miami several times and can’t say anything good about the traffic on I95, or just how boring the drive is. We’ve also flown to Miami, and while it’s a short flight, there’s TSA screening; waiting for the plane and praying that it will arrive and depart without any delay or cancellation; the screaming baby across from you; the obnoxious kid behind you kicking the back of your seat nonstop; and/or the lout in front of you reclining his seat into your lap. Flying is truly a beating.  At the time I booked, there was no nonstop available and we would have had to fly to Atlanta to get to Miami, for about $250.

That’s when I got the bright idea to take the train down, then fly back, The coach tickets were only $36, and it would be a relaxing way to spend 8 hrs.   But then Brian got the bright idea to get a “roomette”, and it was still cheaper than flying and  an adventure at the same time. 

The good things about Amtrak: free parking, wonderful service, meals included with our roomette, the motion of the train,  convenient plugs for charging and, the time went by very quickly as we watched a movie, listened to audiobooks, napped, and, since the rooms were soundproof, practiced our karaoke.

Not so good?  The size of the roomette! Supposed to be right size for 2, but just wasn’t. Very cramped (but it did have a toilet out in the open). It would have been fine for one person, however.  

That’s when I spotted the “bedroooms”. What a difference! A long sofa, an extra chair, a sink, and a private combo toilet and shower. We had a bad case of room envy! It only took a couple of minutes to ask our room steward if we could pay the difference and upgrade. No problem- he made a phone call, and then we made a  “what the hell” call and ponied up the additional fare. Now flying would definitely have been cheaper, but the bedroom was so much more comfortable and is absolutely the way to go for 2 people.

But I do have a cautionary tale for you. Remember the motion I like so much? Well it’s nearly continuous side to side and bouncing. And sometimes, if a gentleman is standing up, using the facilities, it is possible, even likely, that the motion of the train causes the lid to drop closed in the middle of his business, which then goes everywhere! Uh-oh! Do I need to say more?