Merhaba from Turkey. Eilat was great...as seen from underwater: the above-water part, despite being a very popular Israeli vacation destination, is fairly cheesy as we found out. Anyway, Eilat was still very well worth it and we were glad to have made the stop.
After a couple of days there, we caught a bus back to Tel Aviv where we again saw Hadar and Ran and again used the resources of Tel Aviv to launder our clothing. That night Ran, Hadar, Paul, Sole, and Arielle and Ohad (who had just arrived from their own travels in Scandinavia) went out to dinner at a swanky restaurant in a "women's art district" and ate fish and listened to a live latin band while Israeli military helicopters patrolled the shores of Tel Aviv. A great night.
The next morning we left early for Istanbul. We were not subject to the third degree interrogation that the Israeli security teams are famous for even though we had allowed enough time for it in case it happened.
We arrived mid day, checked into the boutique hotel, and went straight to Hagia Sophia, the enormous cathedral in the old city of Istanbul. Nondescript from the outside, its architecture and mosaics are fantastic, especially given the time period in which it was built. The Basilica Cisterns were right next door and a great example of how the Greeks and Romans did things (even cisterns) to the hilt. The next day we toured the Topkapi Palace, the residence of five centuries of Ottoman Empire sultans. Very worthwhile. Our guide was knowledgeable but had a poor grasp of English and an even poorer grasp of jokes that translated well to English or to English-speakers. Then to the Blue Mosque, which has an impressive exterior in style, size and symmetry and adorned with beautiful tiles inside, but smells of feet. Moslems should consider changing this rule about removing shoes--it's deadly. We finally toured the Grand Bazaar and took a boat ride up the Bosphorus.
Then met our friends Alex and Jess at the Istanbul airport and came to Cappadocia, which has been beautiful. Tours of caves and underground cities. Yesterday we had a driver/tour guide that definitely kept us on task--enough hiking and touring that we slept well last night...in our fancy, but reasonably-priced cave hotel (WHAT!) in Ürgüp. Today is Jess' 29th birthday and we're about to go to the winery which is in our town that supplies wine to half of Turkey. Tomorrow is our last day in Cappadocia and then to Ephesus to meet up with our Turkish army friend Erol.
(goodbye in Turkish),
Paul
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