Home Again!!

We made it home! Amy's bag got lost again this time by US Airways (that bag is cursed...good excuse to go shopping for different one).

We went through US Customs during our layover in Philadelphia. We noted that this was the first time we were able to fill out one Customs form as a now we are a married couple... ahhhhh cute.

One observation regarding being back in the states, sadly a greater number of people here are louder, heavier, and generally a lot more obnoxious. Sigh.

What a great trip! How lucky and blessed we are to be able to see these amazing places and meet some new people!! We're very thankful that both of us love traveling so much...it's rewards are priceless.

Thanks to you all for reading our travel blog. It's fun to share thoughts and pictures from our adventures.

Thanks to Niko, Lauren, Charley, Diana, Vince, Lauren's friends, Niki's parents and his friends, Yesim&Ahmet &Derin at Berk, Fiona the Kiwi, Kadir at Elif Star Caves, our Balloon Pilot, Crystal from Canada, Elif&Burak, everyone at Expeditors Ankara and that Richard Dude from British Airways. And anyone else I didn't list here.

Now it's time to start planning for next year's trip...perhaps Norway...

Sunday June 29th and Last Full Day!!

It's Amy's Birthday!!

We slept in and got up in time for lunch (it's ok to do that on your birthday, right?).

At lunch Dave ate the shopska salad he loves so much.  It's simple..tomatoes, cukes, onions, while cheese, and olive oil...but delicious.  We've got to learn the secret so we can make it at home.  Even the Bulgarians get excited when you order this salad.  And Amy had that chilled yogurt-dill-cucumber dish whose name is pronounced 'tear-ah-tore'.

We headed out for a leisurely stroll around the old town area.  Old churches, big intimidating buildings from the communist era, and lots of monuments (mostly ones celebrating how the Russians came in and liberated this area from the Turkish rule).  We also checked out the crypt of a church that is now converted to a museum for icons (images of Christ, Mary, and saints which is common in Orthodox Christian religions).  There were 100's of them some as early as 1200's but most from 1700 and 1800's.

We had Amy's birthday dinner at Happy's (that place where all the wait staff are hot chicks in short skirts).  Dave had his last shopska salad while Amy had a beet salad.  We enjoyed one last rakia and some Hoegaarden Belgium beer (which btw for some reason has a higher alcohol content).

We also went to some local stores to pick up a few toiletries (toothbrushes, deodorant, etc) that were in the missing bag.  Shopping for items in another country is always an interesting experience.  Imagine trying to use hand signals to communicate to a non-native English speaker that you would like face lotion (oh and please the sensitive skin type with no perfumes and no SPF and in a container less than 100ml so we can take it on the airplane).  Geez.  

Some interesting observations in this city:
1) people here seem to be lovers of music.  Lots of posters and flyers advertising upcoming shows.  For example just walking around we saw ads for about a dozen shows like Yanni, Offspring, Iron Maiden, and even Steven Seagal's blues band.  I better not comment on their taste in music though.  :-)
2) the city seems to make attempts to preserve the historical areas.  For example we could see protected sites and even excavations in progress right in the middle of the city.  The tunnels used by pedestrians to cross under busy streets are lined with sections of walls from super old Roman streets and buildings and other artifacts.
3) as I mentioned before the country is struggling economically and politically.  Our hotel was across the street from the Presidential building and there were people, cameras, tons of security about to monitor a big meeting that was happening there about a possible emergency election.  Turmoil.
4) right before we arrived there was a run on some of the banks in Sofia.  The news reported later it was some greedy folks trying to stir up trouble for their own profit.  We were able to get our 200 leva out of the cash machine with no problems.

Amy's bag showed up at the hotel later that night.  Just in time to 'pack' again and get to bed early for a 7:15am flight on Bulgaria Airlines.

Sat June 28th - Ankara, Turkey to Sofia, Bulgaria

Today is Hammam (Turkish Bath) Day! What an interesting tradition! Amy has been to a Turkish bath before but this was Vince and Dave's first time. Pretty proud of them both...you know having a big hairy Turkish man that does not speak English scrub, soap, massage, and man-handle you is a bit intimidating. ;-)

A hammam building is like a huge hot sauna. This particular one in Ankara is over 400 years old and was ALL marble inside...just beautiful. There are different sections for men and women. You prepare in a changing room by undressing down to your undies, towel, and flip flops. When you enter the sauna part you are given a little bowl you use to scoop water from these sink-basins (again, marble) that you can fill up with hot or cold water. You scoop and splash yourself to soften your skin. The next step is the scrub. They use this mitt that is a cross between fine grain sandpaper and a Brillo pad to scrub you all over except your privates. The dead skin all comes off (seeing yours or other's dead skin is kinda gross). A quick rinse then a soapy massage where your masseuse really works out any tight spots. Then you return to your basin and finish up your regular bath routine (rinse, shampoo, etc). I noticed some of the ladies goofing off and having a water fight. Pretty interesting experience. All for 40 Turkish lira (less than $20). You feel soft and very clean when done. Dave really liked it and we decided we would check to see if there is a Turkish bath around Seattle.

After a huge breakfast at Elif's (complete with a candle on baklava to celebrate Amy's upcoming birthday) they took us to a location where we could pick up an airport shuttle. A quick ride to the airport and soon we were saying goodbye to Vince (his flight left earlier than ours). Traveling with Vince was pretty cool. We travel at a slower pace than he was used to (get up later, less activities,etc) but I think it was good pace for a group. Vince, I'm glad you made it to turkey...you make a fine traveling companion. See you back in Seattle soon!

Turkish Airlines had a 2 hour delay from our layover in Istanbul to Sofia. And they lost Amy's bag. It had most our toiletries, Amy's clothes, and all our souvenirs (doh).

So here we are again to Sofia, Bulgaria. It just worked out (lowest price airfare) that we would spend a full day here chilling out before heading back to Seattle. Hotel room in Arte Hotel was tiny but cute. Staff was super friendly and helpful.

Food in Ankara and a BIG Thanks

This country has delicious food. and in Ankara we ate a lot of it. We even had two dinners at Elif's where most of food was homemade which is a big treat when on the road. Here are some of the items we enjoyed:

Karniyarik - baked Eggplant stuffed with mince meat. Served with a grilled red pepper.

Zeytinyagli Enginar - big ole artichoke heart covered with diced cooked carrots and peas coated in olive oil.

Zeytinyagli Barbunya - beans, green beans, and olive oil dish.

Homemade cheesecake with sweet plum topping.

Manti or Turkish Ravoli - little pasta packets with a tiny bit of mince meat in each one. It's served with a little bit of garlic yogurt, melted butter, red sauce, pinch of mint, another spice called sumac (tangy, lemony), and some red pepper. It's amazing!!!

Turkish tea (çay) - we drank a lot of tea. Two lumps please. It is always served in these distinctive little hourglass shaped glasses...on a plate...with a tiny spoon.

Turkish coffee (kaveh) - thick and strong. It's usually in these tiny coffee mugs on a plate. They like to have it after dinner. Elif taught Amy how to prepare Turkish coffee so she can make it at home for Dave. Oh and there is a neat little tradition here for people to read your fortune from what's left in your coffee cup (after you tip it upside down and let it cool a bit). Elif read Vince's and Dave's fortune.

Baklava - this Turkish treat is sweet and tasty. And the people who live here LOVE it.

Lots of cheese - Turkish people seem to love cheese. Braided cheese, spreadable cheese, hard cheese like parmesan, mostly white cheeses. It's not unusual to have multiple kinds of cheese on the table during a meal...even breakfast.

Yogurts - yogurt in drinks, soups, everywhere.

Other random treats - chocolate cakes called Darky, Snickers-like bar named 4x4, and more fun stuff.

P.S. Yes...Amy has been eating some meat this trip. The people here are so proud of their traditional dishes...it's just too hard to resist. ;-)

So we'd like to give a HUGE thank you to Elif and Burak for their hospitality. They took in three people they barely knew and opened their home. They took time off work to spend it with us. They chauffeured us around. They shared stories about their lives and what it is like to live in Turkey. And Burak, you mentioned their hospitality as one of your favorite things about Turkish people...and we second that. You guys (with any number of children in tow) are always welcome in our home in Seattle. Blessings to you both and your little ones on the way. 👶👶

To Ankara, Turkey

Vince, Dave, and Amy took a bus from Cappadocia area to Ankara (~5 hours). It was a nice comfortable ride. An interesting note about buying a bus ticket in Turkey...you need to indicate whether you are male or female. It's mostly about making sure the bus company can prevent sitting a women by a man she doesn't know. It's ok for a woman to sit by a man she knows though. Interesting.

Another interesting thing is that the driver smoked cigarettes during the ride.

Amy's amazing co-worker Elif, and her super cool hubby Burak picked us up at the Ankara bus station. Amy meet Elif in Jan 2013 when she spent 2 weeks working in the Ankara office.

We stayed at Elif's place in her comfy spare room. Their condo is huge and tastefully decorated. And we got to do a load off laundry!!!!!

On Friday morning Amy headed off with Elif to work a half-day with Elif. Visiting an Expeditors branch office is fun and interesting. The Ankara branch folks - Namik, Kivanc, Ozgür, Baśak, and Okan Tuna (yeah that's his real name) are super welcoming and friendly.

While Amy was at work the boys hit the Museum of Anatolian History.

After work Amy and Elif ran a few errands including signing some papers for their new Volkswagon Passat Wagon (woo hoo) and picking up some baklava!! We also picked up her niece, Eda, from Elif's mothers. Her mother is an artist and has some amazing paintings. She is in the middle of working on one of a ballerina for Elif. Wow!!

Now we're chilling at Elif's watching a movie (We're The Millers). And hanging out with her super cool weird budgie parrot. It loves iPhones and rings. And it talks...in Turkish of course.

Tomorrow is the start of Ramadan...don't know exactly what that means but we know it's important to a lot of the people in this country so we respect that.

Home Sweet Cave

So I'm sure you're interested in what our cave hotel looks like. We took a few pictures so you can see.

The first picture is of the whole hotel from the valley across the way. Our cave room is on the top floor - the left one right under the solar panels.

The double room with the holes in the walls was Charley and Diana's. The holes are meant for pigeon houses (so they can collect the poop for fertilizer). For anyone that knows Diana and her disdain of pigeons...this is ironic and funny.

Our room (triple, we shared with Vince) had no pigeon holes but we had a cute little window which sometimes let in a nice breeze.

I asked the owner if these caves are 'original'. He said the government does not allow people to create any new caves in this area or even modify a cave in a substantial way. If you change something you can go to jail (I'm guessing there are some ways around the rules in order to turn caves to hotel rooms). This entire area is a national park of sorts.

We asked if people still live in the caves and he said some do. Very few people in the current generation choose to live in a cave. A while back the government built lots of houses to try and get people out of the caves.

For the most part the caves are always nice and cool. It doesn't smell funny or anything. And we've seen zero bugs!

Cappadocia - Weds Part Two

Amy went on a mini hike. Our hotel is directly across the way from a small valley with a few cave churches and other formations. Kadir, the owner of our hotel, said it would be safe for Amy to wander there. Just to be safe Amy picked up a stick she could use to defend against wild dogs. :-)

Amy's 1.5 hour adventure included:
1) Cave church with elaborately carved walls, alter, and some kind of podium.
2) Random caves to investigate (no guards here telling me not to take pictures, etc)
3) super cool rock formations shaped like cones and blobs
4) a pretty horse tied to a tree
5) lots of gardens and fields planted with watermelons, apricot trees, and all kinds of other yummy things
6) another cave church with a locked gate but I was able to reach inside and take pictures of the art (no flash of course)...it turned out to be one of the nicest art yet
7) two turkeys by a tree...imagine that a TURKEY in TURKEY!!
8) stopped by the Flintstones Cave Hotel on the way out to see how much it cost to take a dip in their pool. Flintstones is actually a pretty accurate description of this area sometimes.

Speaking of clever names... I like the name of the Coffeedocia cafe. :-)

Dave and Vince returned around 6pm...so they spend 6 hours hiking in Rose Valley and Red Valley. They also visited a little nearby town. Dave sunburned his face and Vince appears to be suffering from a bit of heat exhaustion. They hiked with Crystal, our new friend from Canada.

Later in the day. Dave and Amy hiked to the other side of this little town and caught the sunset.