Thursday's Child: Fairy Chimneys in Cappadocia

This month, I’ll be writing about four amazing outdoor adventures we’ve enjoyed on our trips.  One of my favourite aspects of traveling is seeing the natural beauty in many places around the world, and Cappadocia was one such highlight.

Cappadocia is a region in central Turkey that possesses a landscape that could have come straight from the moon.  These freestanding rocks have been eroded by centuries of flowing rivers and flood waters to resemble rocky spires.  Could it be that they really are the fairy chimneys that they’re known as?

It’s easy to imagine that King Oberon and Queen Titania of A Midsummer Night’s Dream dwelt in a palace as regal and unusual as one of these.  Living here really might make a fairy king perform magic that would make his queen fall in love with a donkey.

These photos were all taken the day we flew into Cappadocia from Istanbul, and if it wasn’t quite like visiting Fairyland, it really was a mysterious and unrecognizable landscape.  We felt as if we’d been transported to another realm where, after you’ve left, you wonder if it really was a dream after all.

A Taste of Turkey - Part One

My family and I were fortunate enough to visit Turkey in March, and I wanted to post a few pictures before we leave for our next trip.

 We saw the Blue Mosque on our first day in Istanbul, as well as the Grand Bazaar and Hagia Sophia.

What a wonderful, walkable city Istanbul is – so easy to get around, and incredibly welcoming.

For anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of flying with Turkish Air, you won’t be familiar with the excellent travel bags given to everyone boarding the plane.  These little beige bags come complete with everything you need for a great travel experience – eye shades, ear plugs and lip balm.  But most important, they contain lime green socks.

These socks were particularly important to our family, because one of us (I won’t name names, but he wears men’s shoes) forgot to pack socks.  And until we got to Istiklal Caddesi to buy him new ones, the lime green plane socks worked just fine.

Cappadocia was one of the true highlights.  From primitive cave dwellings to moonlike landscapes, I’ve never seen anything like it.

For me, one of the thrills of this trip was seeing the Temple of Artemis, near Ephesus.  Although it’s only ruins now, it was one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World, and I couldn’t wait to see it.  It would have been slightly more exciting to share this moment with my family; however, they were too busy taking pictures of the peacock in the next field to pay attention to - did I mention this? - one of the wonders of the Ancient World.  

And finally, my favourite market sign in Turkey:

Because you wouldn’t want to get ripped off.