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A 24-day adventure by Carol Ann & Oliver Read more
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  • Oliver & CA - Turkey & France
    Day 12

    Chill day at Lara Plagi (Lara Beach)!

    April 25, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Today’s perfect 26C weather called for a day at the beach! We crossed town from our hotel which is just east of centre to the western end of Antalya, where on can find many all inclusive resorts which capitalize on the beautiful Lara Beach. Aaron kindly organized lounge chairs and umbrellas for our crew and we spent a very enjoyable afternoon, seaside. We even all waded in and spent some time playing and floating in the warm-ish Mediterranean. Good fun! Capped off by pretzels dipped in nutella, a good day was had by all!Read more

  • Oliver & CA - Turkey & France
    Day 11

    Kayseri to Antalya by air

    April 24, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    It was sad to leave Göreme this morning as it is so beautiful and there is so much to explore and see. It was lovely to once again experience the glorious sight of the hot air balloons as we left the region and headed 1 hour to Kayseri to cat h a plane to Antalya. With a population of about 1M, Kayseri is a smaller inland town with a small but fairly efficient airport, shared with some of the country’s military aircraft. We have discovered that domestic travel is quite well organized and reasonable within Turkey - and you can expect to get fed - at least a sandwich and a drink - on a 1 hour flight!

    We happily landed in Antalya and felt the Mediterranean vibe right away! Much warmer here - we were happy to feel some summer weather! Ollie was happy to discover the hotel room and to buy some snacks at BIM (like Aldi) and chill out. I found some terrific chill time in the hotel’s hammam and spa! Here I spent time in the sauna, the lovely hammam, had the week of dust and travel scrubbed off of me before being treated to what could be best described as a WWF massage! I slept well ;)    Read more

  • Oliver & CA - Turkey & France
    Day 10

    Sketching in the Love Valley

    April 23, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Today Oliver asked if we could slow down and sit and sketch some of the beautiful scenery - great idea, especially since 27C was forecast for this dry and dusty region. I consulted the hotel manager as to a good spot for this activity and he offered to take us just out of town to his family’s little “cabin” which overlooked the Love Valley since he was going there to prune his vines. After his terrific recommendation for the pottery shop, we agreed wholeheartedly and Oliver, Adelia and I jumped into his Renault and off we went. It was a short ride - about 10 minutes - to the most spectacular spot with amazing views! Oktai showed us a terrific spot under an apricot tree overlooking the entire valley! And so the day of sketching, flower picking, fox, lizard, mole and eagle sighting began. Such a treat to be drinking in the perfume of the tree’s blossoms while gazing across the blue sky, down into the hoodoos and cave houses… but more significantly, to watch the kids soaking it all in and appreciating the simple elements of the day. Pure bliss 😀Read more

  • Oliver & CA - Turkey & France
    Day 9

    Almost lost in the underground city

    April 22, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    The underground city is a complex tunnel system in the mountains that was used as shelter and refuge for as many people over the years being adapted to suit their needs. The Greeks who converted to Christianity were being killed and needed shelter and a safe place so they adapted the caves and built chapels. Now it has been adapted and put in lights, much needed directional arrows, and other safety features for tourism and to learn about the history.

    Carly, Aaron, Arthur, and I went into the underground city for a tour and it was cool. All the passageways were really small and the hallways were smaller and it felt weird to be underground but it was fun If you get a chance to go to Cappadocia I definitely recommend the “green tour” which includes the underground city, some panorama views, some history, and some hiking and lunch by a river!    Read more

  • Oliver & CA - Turkey & France
    Day 8

    Traditinal Turkish pottery

    April 21, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Pottery in Turkey is an important part of the culture and making pottery dates back to about 10,000 years ago to when the people in Turkey used pottery to start making useful things such as better and stronger vessels to store water and better and stronger pots which is still used today in certain cooking methods. One of the most popular methods is to use a clay pot with a lid filled with food to cook being placed over a fire and when the food is ready the lid be popped or smashed off to pour the stew.

    Today my Mom, Adelia, and I were kindly driven to the pottery workshop recommended by the hotel manager who drove us on his way to his house. Adelia and I were given a chance to shape some clay on their pottery wheel after a demonstration by one of the family apprentices. Then we were led to the basement to see all the masterpieces made by the pottery masters in the family. We saw 2 people painting the designs and a lot of beautiful pottery. Some of the pottery was glow in the dark. It was definitely worth checking out and we got some good pottery, including one beautiful piece by an artist we met!    Read more

  • Oliver & CA - Turkey & France
    Day 8

    Göreme’s Open Air Museum - Dark Church

    April 21, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    After a short nap and a huge and wonderful Turkish breakfast, we headed out to the Göreme open air museum, which is a phenomenal complex of medieval painted cave churches carved by Orthodox monks several hundreds of years ago.

    There are over 10 cave churches in here and many are painted with beautiful and historically important Byzantine murals that date as far back as the 9th century.

    As we explored the UNESCO World Heritage Site and its unusual cave churches, we noticed that although the Byzantine frescoes are in remarkably good condition, many of the faces and hands are scratched out.

    This seemed very odd to us. We were told that the reasoning for this was because superstitious inhabitants were afraid of the Evil Eye that would bring them bad fortunes (faces in pictures were considered bad luck).

    We, on the other hand, felt very lucky to have experienced these cave churches - especially the Dark Church, where many of the images of Jesus remained untouched. All in all, a special place to visit!    Read more

  • Oliver & CA - Turkey & France
    Day 8

    Up, up and away in Cappadocia!

    April 21, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    What an incredible start to the day - Oliver, Carly, Adelia and I headed out to the “hills” above Göreme to embark upon a hot air balloon ride. There were so, so many hot air balloons ready to take off. We got into our quadrant of the balloon and held on tight - as it turns out we were in good hands and our pilots lifted us up effortlessly - and so smoothly - we really felt like we were just floating, happily through the air! With smiles of joy, we marvelled at the snow-capped peaks in the distance, the “fairy chimneys” (hoodoos) and cave dwellings below, but most of all, we were in awe of the hot air balloon dotted sky all around us!

    Once landed, ever so gently (these guys were such pros, they touched the basket right down onto the trailer!), we celebrated our first trip with some sparkling fruit “champagne”. Thrilled as can be, we returned to the hotel and caught a few zzz’s before continuing with our days’ adventures. This was a morning we’ll not soon forget!!    Read more

  • Oliver & CA - Turkey & France
    Day 7

    Now to explore Turkey - Göreme

    April 20, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    After delighting at the ease of domestic travel through the new and lovely Istanbul airport and civilized flight to Kayseri, we took an hour long shuttle to Göreme. It was super interesting to see the landscape changing. So arid, rocky and some new construction mixed in with some very old.

    We arrived at our destination - Shoestring Stone House, which is a lovely stone hotel with nice large rooms.
    We wandered around this awesome little town and immediately fell in love! It was hard to get to sleep early as we were so excited about all of the adventures we were about to have.!    Read more

  • Oliver & CA - Turkey & France
    Day 6

    A typical family day in Istanbul?!

    April 19, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ 🌧 7 °C

    So today we thought we’d do what we think the locals would do on a day off together… so we went to the always-crowded İstiklal Caddesi, which runs from the main Taksim Square to Tünel Square, and is one of the city's main shopping streets. We stopped in a mall where Oliver and Arthur spent an hour jumping around in a trampoline gym and then we shopped for some essentials for the rest of our trip at Decathlon. Then we went to hang out at Starbucks, naturally. When the barista asked, Carly said her name was “Jack” and even that came out interestingly spelled in Turkish! And they have resident cats like everywhere else in Turkey 🐈

    Finally, we took a fun but crowded tram back up the busy street and then a funicular down to the water and the metro back to the neighbourhood with lots of great restaurants and we had a nice last meal in Istanbul!    Read more

  • Oliver & CA - Turkey & France
    Day 5

    Topkapi Palace

    April 18, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

    On our 4th day we saw Topkapi Palace to learn some history and to see some historic buildings. We saw 3 courtyards, amazing views, and beautiful buildings. There was a room full of very old and interesting clocks, 2 full rooms dedicated to coffee and the coffee brewing process, old weapons and armour, and the 5th largest diamond in the world. The harem where the Sultan’s wives lived was fully decorated in some places from the floor to the ceiling in paint or gold or sculptures and beautiful mosaic tile. It was cool to learn about the history of the palace. Mom and I both agreed there were many beautiful parts to the visit but we especially loved the view of the city, the harem and the library (so did the sleeping cats!!).Read more

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