Cappadocia

We had three delightful days in Cappadocia which is in the Eastern part of Turkey. Due to ancient volcanic activity and erosion, the landscape is unique. This is the area where early Christians hid from persecution. Our guide and driver were friendly and knowledgeable. The Cappadocia equivalent of Juan. Our driver invited us to his house for lunch the second day. His wife and daughters prepared a delicious traditional meal. We took off our shoes when we entered his house and ate lunch at a low table while sitting on the floor on the lovely carpets. His wife showed us the carpet that she made as a dowry presentation.
Each valley was slightly different but all had churches and living quarters carved out of the soft stone of the hillsides. It was easy to imagine how the early Christians lived and defended themselves. The cave churches were first painted directly on the rock and later plastered over with more sophisticated paintings. The paintings were used to teach the bible.
We stayed in a delightful cave hotel. One night the owner's wife cooked us a traditional home made dinner. Wonderful. We had a great view of the valley from the hotel terraces.

I always wanted to take a hot air balloon ride and they are very popular in this area. Seemed like the perfect time. We got up early so we could see the sun rise from the balloon. All beautiful, slow and peaceful.

One of the days we hiked into one of the valley canyons and walked along the stream at the bottom. More cave churches in the canyon with slightly different styles. At the end of the hike, we had lunch at a quaint little place that had shelters built over the stream.

Cappadocia is known for their rugs. We visited a coop where we learned about the different styles and qualities. They were all so beautiful and ended up buying one and having it sent home. Now it is in the Living Room and I love it!

Our last night, we went to a "Turkish Night" extravaganza. Roasted lamb, good dancing and fun show. We were sitting in the front row so both Nick and Ben were picked for audience participation. It was a touristy thing but there were also many Turkish families there celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, etc.