Cappadocia, Pasabag Valley, and Zelve

Definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip. Cappadocia, Pasabag Valley, and Zelve are ancient cities built into rock formations in the center of Turkey. I loved exploring the network of tunnels and houses and churches and climbing all over the place.

The day we visited Cappadocia was the coldest day of the whole trip. Quite chilly.

There were a few churches that were absolutely amazing. My favorite was the Apple Church. We weren't allowed to take pictures, so I found this one online instead:

Source: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk

After Cappadocia we went to one of the Underground Cities. This one went underground 16 stories! Only the first 8 were open though, probably a good thing since it was very easy to get lost. 

We also visited the shop of Chez Galip, a famous potter who looks exactly like Einstein. His craft was passed down through the generations and he is the first in his family to take on female apprentices. He also creates and sells glow-in-the-dark ceramics!

The next day we went to Pasabag Valley and Zelve. The difference between these two and Cappadocia is the "fairy chimney" rock formations. Pasabag Valley was very relaxed in letting us climb everything, the security at Zelve wasn't as lenient, but we had some good adventures anyway.

Pasabag Valley

Zelve:

Natural formation of a "mini-Zelve"

A few of the adventurous ones in the top left cave

We finished the day with some good food and looking out over Pigeon Valley.

Museums, King Midas, and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

On the trip we went to a LOT of museums. Our next stop in Ankara brought us to a couple of different museums, some traditional, some archaeological, and some attached to memorial sites.

 The container on the right is an ancient thermos!

King Midas' tomb and King Midas' skull! The skull was in a corner of the museum with some pots and pans, sadly nothing special, but I'm glad we were able to see it!

The Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, first President of the Republic of Turkey:

  Atatürk was the commanding officer of the Turkish forces at Gallipoli during World War I against the ANZACs, the Australia New Zealand Army Corps. My great-great grandpa fought in that campaign and the Gallipoli Landing is an incredibly important event to Australia. Part of the ANZAC story is the story of John Simpson Kirkpatrick, simply known as Simpson, and his donkey. It was nice to see Simpson and his donkey included in the mural of the Gallipoli Campaign at the mausoleum of Atatürk. Even though we fought on different sides of the war, there is a friendship and respect that exists between Turkey and Australia.

Ancient ruins of the city of Gordion:

  

Next stop, Cappadocia, Pasabag Valley, and Zelve...

Istanbul

Two and a half years of dreaming, finally a reality. Sultan Ahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque).

Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia) literally right across from the Blue Mosque. It was originally a Christian building, converted to a mosque in 1453, and now a museum.

 The Church of the Holy Savior in Chora (Chora Museum) has some of the best-surviving frescoes and mosaics from the Byzantine Age. Absolutely amazing.

Can you believe the one on the left is a mosaic?!

 Cruising on the Bosphorus between Europe and Asia.

So far, I like this place a lot.

Many posts to catch up on

I feel like this is the theme of my blog recently. I do cool things, then forget to sit down and blog about it. In the past month or so, I've been to Australia, California, and now I'm about to head off to the Mediterranean for 3 weeks! I'm very excited. I don't plan on taking my laptop though, so all the photos from that trip will be posted when I get back.
In other news, I have a cold, and I held a baby hedgehog.

San Diego.

Here are some of my favorite photos from my last day in California.