When we visited Turkey in 2010, we spent 6 adventurous weeks falling in deep adoration with the country, the people, and the food. Sure EVERYONE smokes A LOT and being eye-humped is a side effect of being female in Turkey. Even so, we couldn’t let that get in our way. So we decided to go at it again. We felt we had some unfinished business there and knew that every merchant in Istanbul would hold a grudge if we didn’t return and let them cleverly talk/charm/swindle us out of our hard-earned American money.
First stop, Istanbul. After 24 straight hours of traveling, we were grateful to arrive to the apartment we rented…even if we were greeted with “You are late.”…even if our apartment was located 4 excruciating floors up…even if the water in the shower shut off while you had a head full of shampoo…even if the A/C was shut off when we arrived. Amazing what the discomfort of an airplane seat and firm courtesy of German airline staff can lead you to appreciate.
Next stop, Kayseri. Our sweet little friend Tulay and her cousin hosted us for a few days in the beautiful, quiet countryside located directly in the center of Turkey. It was so nice to see them all again. It was like seeing family that you hadn’t seen in 3 years. There was even a little addition to the family that was very chatty. She wanted to know where our words were because we don’t speak much in the way of Turkish. Tulay showed us around her city which is rapidly growing. One day she introduced us to a childhood friend of hers and we all went up into the hills to explore some old cave dwelling (scary) then hike up a STEEP hill to enjoy some tea and talk politics until we were ready to go back down.
View of Kayseri from the hillside.