Cappadocia, where we cheated the DEATH

Our tour guide (who also served as a guide for Hillary and Chelsea Clinton as well as Supreme Court Justice Scalia and his wife) took us all around the wonder-filled Cappadocia region: camel rides, mimicking rock structures, tours through ancient underground housing complexes, nights on the town, hot air balloon rides, stunning hikes...this is an area that we could spend a long time in!

These mushroom-looking structures are believed to be straight out of the fairy-tales. When climbing, make sure to duck your head!

Like mother, like daughter.

Feel free to cast a vote: Which mother-daughter duo truly captures the rock structure?

Our hike through the Rose Valley, or a valley nearby, was filled with fruit-eating. We really felt like, if there was any place to be lost (or abandoned)...this was it. The fruit truly abounds in this region!

And we think we have discovered why the fruit abounds: While walking through the valley, we would look up and see many little holes carved into the stone. Apparently the farmers chisel tons of these little holes (one foot by one foot, give or take a little) into the rock formations so that the pigeons in the area will come and rest in the safety and security of the holes. The farmers then gather their excrement and use it for fertilization. How innovative!

Eating in the dining hall of an ancient greek-orthodox monastery, home of devout monks of age old. Walking through the rock-hewn churches and dining halls, we caught a little glimpse of what life would have been like many, many years ago.

We decided to take a day trip to the Greek island of Samos, where we spent the day lounging outside of beautiful restaurants and drinking some of the good wine and the delicious cocktails that they had to offer. After our feasting, we decided to look at the sites: a statue of Pythagoras, an influential mathematician, mystic, and scientist from the 6th century BC.

Greece. (I think Tessa is really perfecting her photography skills!) This is what Pythagoras would wake up to everyday. With inspiration like this, we would expect nothing less than the Pythagorean theorem.

Janet and Alisa overlooking the beautiful island of Samos.

Surprise! The one and only Trisha Hall, as well as her two Turkish friends (which she often refers to as her bodyguards), just happened to be in the exact same city at the exact same time as us. (Thanks to Facebook, and crazy Turkish keyboards, Trisha was able to ascertain that we were both in Turkey. From there it was just a matter of meeting up! Luckily, she was traveling around the country the same time we were!)

This is to a night of wild and crazy dancing, cocktails complete with bursting fireworks, a spirited Iraqi woman who came to Turkey to escape the constant pressure of working for the US military in Baghdad, glamorous dresses, rides in little cars with hotel managers, and Trisha's guitar and singing career. This night was unforgettable.

And yeah, we were ready for the 4:30 am morning that awaited us.


Up, up, and away. Our mother's treated us to an early morning hot air balloon ride, something that Alisa has spent her whole life dreaming about. With cookies and tea in hand, we all anxiously awaited the lift off. Who would have known that hot air balloons really are hot? At some points, it felt like we would burn. We flew up and away, over the Red Valley and rock-hewn churches, over fields, and homes...

When people say that it was a crash landing, they really mean it.

"Brace yourself. Brace yourself." And then we crash, full force ahead. Afterward our hot air balloon pilot wiped the sweat off of his face and pronounced, rather shakenly (which might not be a word, but we like it!), "We cheated the DEATH."

We are always comforted when our guides, pilots, and drivers reflect on how little control they actually had. At least we have a great story for the grandchildren!

A champagne toast to life! To living!

After the rather stress-filled week (just kidding!), we treated ourselves to a Turkish bath. We entered the bathing facility, wrapped ourselves in these sarongs and then proceeded into the bathing room: a huge steam room complete with side rooms housing cool water showers and little benches. In the center of the main room was a huge elevated circular slab, upon which we laid. To the back of the room was another, more intense steam room.

After a thorough steam treatment we waited in line for the Turkish scrub down. Yes, that is the official terminology: scrub (and rub) down. It was the most wonderful, pressure-filled massage/ wash down that we have ever received. One person would be on the rectangular slab lying down receiving the full body massage treatment, complete with a sudsy bath. The other person was receiving an exfoliation treatment from a young Turkish man.

We wish we could receive these daily.