Exploring the Freedom of Travel
We walked. We tried to eat enough calories to replenish those we used walking. We stood among history, built on top of history. We drank lots of tea. We were in Turkey.
It was a whole new world. Shining, Shimmering, Splendid.
It began with a snow storm in Istanbul. We somehow managed to time our flights perfectly, mine from B. (with a lay over in Amman, Jordan) and Julia's direct from Chicago arrived in Istanbul Attaturk Airport within a few hours of each other, and a few hours before the city was covered in snow and slush.
Over the next 3 days we trekked through slush and snow and ice to explore the old city, the Byzantine walls, the Topeka Place (home to the Ottoman Sultans and where we had a memorable exchange of snowballs with a security gaurd), the view of the city's many beautiful mosques, the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn, and more. We spent New Years Eve having a snowball fight with our wonderful host on the way back from a nighttime icy walk through the city to try Sahlep and Turkish sweets. New Years day we ended on the Galata Bridge (which Julia insists on calling the fish bridge) with tea and sheesha and good conversation.
When we moved to a hostel in the coastal city of Izmir we were amazed at how warm 50 degrees can feel and the possibility of dry feet. Walking the streets of Ephesus (a day trip from Izmir) was truly an experience of a life time - the theater and terrace homes were alive with the whispers of the past. We also got to enjoy the hospitality of a local shopkeeper in the town of Selcuk (the modern town closest to Ephesus) who sat and talked with us for over an hour. In Izmir itself we fed pigeons, enjoyed lots of tea at local shops, visited the museums, and hiked up to a castle that was built (in one of it's previous re-incarnations) by Alexander the Great (on the way up to the castle we were gifted with free donuts - they were delicious). Our last day on the coast we traveled inland to Pammukkale - a majestic stairway of white calcium carbonate and warm spring water.
We concluded our time in Turkey by spending 5 days in the Cappadocia region, mountains famous for their unique rock shapes and their Christian communities from as early as 200 AD. When we booked our hostel we weren't certain we could keep occupied there for 5 days - but by second day we knew that we could have spent weeks there without getting bored. We saw faerie chimneys and cave churches, underground cities begun by the Hittites and finished by the Christians, monasteries built into the rock faces, and new rock shapes being formed. One day we hiked up to the most unique castle either of us had every visited - a castle sculpted into a large rock face overlooking the valleys around it. Another we hiked all the way to the Imagination Valley, a hike the museum attendant didn't think we were capable of. We felt we were in fairyland during most of it - the way the land was shaped was so mysterious - and so we created a story of heroines seeking alliances with elves and dwarves and fairies, filled with trial, love and tragedy, and ending with joy. We listened to "A Whole New World" while looking out over our village of cave hotels/hostels at sunset.
The freedom of traveling as independent adults surprised me. I have not traveled internationally without my parents before - and even domestically I usually travel with a plan and a purpose. It was unique to build our schedule as we went, learning about each place and exploring on the go. No one to tell us no, or where to go. Free to explore the whole new world, wonder by wonder.
It was a whole new world. Shining, Shimmering, Splendid.
It began with a snow storm in Istanbul. We somehow managed to time our flights perfectly, mine from B. (with a lay over in Amman, Jordan) and Julia's direct from Chicago arrived in Istanbul Attaturk Airport within a few hours of each other, and a few hours before the city was covered in snow and slush.
Over the next 3 days we trekked through slush and snow and ice to explore the old city, the Byzantine walls, the Topeka Place (home to the Ottoman Sultans and where we had a memorable exchange of snowballs with a security gaurd), the view of the city's many beautiful mosques, the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn, and more. We spent New Years Eve having a snowball fight with our wonderful host on the way back from a nighttime icy walk through the city to try Sahlep and Turkish sweets. New Years day we ended on the Galata Bridge (which Julia insists on calling the fish bridge) with tea and sheesha and good conversation.
When we moved to a hostel in the coastal city of Izmir we were amazed at how warm 50 degrees can feel and the possibility of dry feet. Walking the streets of Ephesus (a day trip from Izmir) was truly an experience of a life time - the theater and terrace homes were alive with the whispers of the past. We also got to enjoy the hospitality of a local shopkeeper in the town of Selcuk (the modern town closest to Ephesus) who sat and talked with us for over an hour. In Izmir itself we fed pigeons, enjoyed lots of tea at local shops, visited the museums, and hiked up to a castle that was built (in one of it's previous re-incarnations) by Alexander the Great (on the way up to the castle we were gifted with free donuts - they were delicious). Our last day on the coast we traveled inland to Pammukkale - a majestic stairway of white calcium carbonate and warm spring water.
We concluded our time in Turkey by spending 5 days in the Cappadocia region, mountains famous for their unique rock shapes and their Christian communities from as early as 200 AD. When we booked our hostel we weren't certain we could keep occupied there for 5 days - but by second day we knew that we could have spent weeks there without getting bored. We saw faerie chimneys and cave churches, underground cities begun by the Hittites and finished by the Christians, monasteries built into the rock faces, and new rock shapes being formed. One day we hiked up to the most unique castle either of us had every visited - a castle sculpted into a large rock face overlooking the valleys around it. Another we hiked all the way to the Imagination Valley, a hike the museum attendant didn't think we were capable of. We felt we were in fairyland during most of it - the way the land was shaped was so mysterious - and so we created a story of heroines seeking alliances with elves and dwarves and fairies, filled with trial, love and tragedy, and ending with joy. We listened to "A Whole New World" while looking out over our village of cave hotels/hostels at sunset.
The freedom of traveling as independent adults surprised me. I have not traveled internationally without my parents before - and even domestically I usually travel with a plan and a purpose. It was unique to build our schedule as we went, learning about each place and exploring on the go. No one to tell us no, or where to go. Free to explore the whole new world, wonder by wonder.
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