Urgup

You don't need to travel to remote locations in Cappadocia to appreciate the landscape. The caves, hills and valleys are all incorporated into the fabric of the cities there. The hotel where we stayed in the city of Urgup was carved into the mountainside, as were several museums, hotels and buildings we saw.

Cappadocia

It's hard to even describe the beauty of this region. Over the course of time, due to erosion and volcanic activity, this area is marked by a multitude of peaks and valleys, caves and "fairy chimneys". In history, the area has often been a refuge for various communities who could carve hiding places and homes into the relatively soft rock. That's the short story of a very long history - but really, it's best to let the pictures do the talking:

Road trip!

We have spent the last week or so touring around Turkey. Once you leave the hustle and bustle of the urban jungle of Istanbul, there is so much more to see. The countryside is spectacularly beautiful. We took a loooong route - we started out from Istanbul early (blue dot), and drove all the way to Urgup in the Cappadocia (Cappa-DOH-Kee-yah) region of Turkey (red dot). We spent 3 nights there, and then drove again a looooong way back to the city of Kusadasi (KOOSH-ah-Dah-see) on the coast (purple dot). Last night we drove all the way back to Istanbul. Over the course of the week we also stopped over in Konya and Izmir and Ephesus. It's definitely going to take more than one blog post to cover it all, so stay tuned....

Let's talk about the weather

The weather in Istanbul changes incredibly quickly, and the forecast can almost never be 100% trusted. Today I had plans to meet a friend. On the phone she kept saying "well, if it doesn't rain..." And I kept saying "well, it's a beautiful day...".

Once the girls and I got on the ferry we began to understand the disconnect - it was sunny in Cihangir, but extremely overcast in Beşiktaş. Riding the ferry in between both areas, you could see the different weather, like day and night. Even the Bosphorous was two different colours - green on the cloudy side, and its usual blue on the clear side.

The sun eventually started to break through on the other side, throwing a patch of sunlight on a boat passing us. That little spotlight seemed to follow them all the way down the river.

It was a great view today. I snapped a couple of pictures to share with you:

Travel blog and musings

Came across this fun website this morning. These two guys are basically traveling the world, but not speedily - they are spending 91 days in each locale, trying to get a really good grasp on the culture they're in. Guess where they are right now? Istanbul!! Here is their website address: http://istanbul.for91days.com/

Three months is about the same sort of time we have had here as well, so I'm curious to see what places they choose to visit. I am starting to compile a list of remaining sights we would like to see before we leave. Time is really flying now and we have less than a month before our return to the Twin Cities... A fact that is giving me lots of pause for reflection... How can we live this slower paced and more thoughtful way in our world back home - in a land of immediate gratification, fast news, American pop culture and media, where so many people thrive on their crazy schedules?

I have not driven a car in 3 months - I have walked everywhere or taken public transport. I have not purchased more than I can carry home in my bare hands (think about that next time you go grocery shopping). I have not worried too much about time or deadlines, or bothered with how long it will take me to get somewhere - in fact, we will ADD minutes to our journey somewhere in order to take a ferry or an interesting bus route.

In the US, I constantly felt like I needed to protect my children, in the sense that they could easily and unintentionally stumble upon things, particularly through media, that would be unsettling to them or would give them a sense of who THEY should be that isn't their own. This is particularly dangerous for young girls in the United States today. I did not want them sucked into the world of American pop culture/consumerism/advertising that gives so many kids these days an artificial world view. I felt like the day my kids would learn who the Kardashians are was imminent and I have been fighting it off, tooth and nail. But a strange thing happened when we left - all I have been saying is Look! Look! Look! See this, and try that, here is art and food, architecture and nature, amazing accomplishments of history and human effort. Walk, draw, taste. I feel as if my job these past three months has been exposing them and opening their eyes as much as possible... It's been a great feeling.

Italy and Turkey are both completely modern in terms of amenities (despite occasional power or water outages), but both have an Old World sort of feel that permeates its culture. Work is not King, but they work hard. People sit and drink tea/cappuccino and watch the world go by. Old men stop and play with babies as their moms push them down the street. Family is number one. Life feels simpler here in a lot of ways and I don't want to lose that when we go home. Lots to think about in the weeks to come.

Toy Museum

Maymuna has written a guest blog post for the university website about our trip to the toy museum!

Check it out at:

http://mplsabroad.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/blog-hijack-2-iki-a-la-toy-turka/

Tulips

I was delighted the other day, walking over the Galata Bridge, to see signs for Istanbul's yearly Tulip Festival! Sound familiar, Canadians? In Ottawa we have a tulip festival every May when the city is positively covered in beautiful tulips. How fun to discover that Istanbul has a similar tradition! Right now they are everywhere!

Tulips are one of my favourite flowers - a true sign that spring has come, or is on the way. Every March or April, once I see tulips for sale in the store in Minneapolis, I keep a bunch in the vase on my table for the following weeks until the sun truly starts to warm our faces and the snow is gone. The sight of them kind of keeps me going...

We always think of tulips as originating from Holland - but did you know they are actually from Turkey? They were first introduced to Europe by a botanist from Vienna in the 17th century. His name was Carolus Clusius, and he received the bulbs from his friend Ogier Ghiselain de Busbecq, who was the ambassador to Constantinople (present day Istanbul) at the time. The flower is named a "tulip" after the Turkish word for "turban".

Tulip imagery is everywhere in Turkey. In textiles and tiles, even the chai tea glass is shaped like a tulip. There is a Tulip Period in Turkish history which was marked by a "flowering" of arts and culture, influenced by the Baroque movement. To this day the tulip is still considered the embodiment of beauty and perfection in Turkey.

Miniaturk

Hafsa has written a guest post on the University of Minnesota blog about our trip to Miniaturk! Head on over and check it out at:

http://mplsabroad.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/blog-hijack-1bir-a-la-turka/