Arguably the most momentous archeological discovery of our time, Gobeklitepe is an amazingly bewildering place to visit. This 12,000 year-old-world wonder was designed a whopping 6,000 years BEFORE the Pyramids of Egypt or Stonehenge. Yes, that means it was developed and crafted by Neolithic, basically hunting/gathering cave people, who had not even cracked the code on how to make metal…
The potpourri of cardamom and other exotic smells permeate the air as you amble through the most authentic souk in Turkiye….the sounds of men chattering in a mix of Turkish and Arabic over tea comingles with the haunting call to prayer…the sights of women in various degrees of sheathing sashay by collections of pint-sized tables and chairs which look like…
From Cappadocia, we rolled east to Kahta, which would serve as the base for our venture to the much lesser visited Turkish wonder of Mount Nemrut. We planned to take a direct overnight bus from Kayseri to Kahta but since that would involve a 13-hour wait at the bus station, with the help of a friendly bus station attendant, we…
Göreme Ridge Trail Although we loved the unique experiences like cave hotels and hot air balloons, the reason we loved Cappadocia the most was the buckets of hiking opportunities. To kick off our eight nights in this whimsical region, we stayed in the tourist hot spot of Göreme for two nights and almost immediately went on the ridge walk up…
Anyone who has been to Türkiye usually swoons when you mention the whimsical fairylike land of Cappadocia, located in the Central Anatolian plateau. The entire region is blanketed with fairy chimneys, conical wizard hats, gnome-like domes, and Smurf-esque spectacles, which have served as churches, monasteries, tombs and dwellings for centuries. The landscape of Cappadocia has significant stretches of soft volcanic…
En route to one of Turkiye’s most magical places, we stopped in a place a little less magical, but certainly worthy of a stopover…the cosmopolitan capital of Ankara. We were also fortunate to arrive in this thriving city of 5.5 million people on the 100th Anniversary of a date which helped sealed the deal for Turkiye becoming a republic: Victory…
Where we Lived In August 2022, we gratefully put down roots and unpacked our clothes for a month in a third story seaview apartment on the outskirts of Istanbul in a community called Dariča. The "c" is pronounced as a "j" by the way. Since we had already experienced staying in the city, we splurged on amenities and comfort over…
Ahh….Par-ee!!! Mandy couldn’t have been happier to finally be “dragging” her husband to the City of Lights. Like so many young dreamers, icons of Paris had bedecked her walls from an early age and held a perpetual vision of romance and passion. Although she got most of that dreaminess (and quite frankly, over expectation) out of her system in 2008…
