GO TO TURKEY!!!!!

Seriously, I'm not sure how I can be more clear about this. If you haven't considered Turkey as the next great place for a big trip, you need to reconsider. Without question it has been one of our favorite destinations so far, and if I could redo this itinerary, I would easily add another week in Turkey so we could add in at least one more city.

We spent a week in Istanbul and felt immediately at home there. Maybe it was because we were staying in a terrific neighborhood with parks, grocery stores, restaurants and major sights within 10 minute walking distance. Maybe it was because the kids finally got to play some soccer with local kids a couple of afternoons.

Or maybe it was because the Turks were friendly people who aren't afraid to yell to you every time you pass their store.  Whatever it was, we were immediately comfortable there, and felt like we could have switched neighborhoods to another part of the city, and spent another week there with a completely new perspective.

We are not your typical tourists because (except when we are with my parents!) we spend most mornings doing "homework" (kids doing math, writing in journals and blogs; adults figuring out where we are staying next, trying to blog, etc) and then spend our afternoons out and about. We rarely make it out of the "house" before 11:30 or 12.  This meant that there were enough activities to keep us busy, but we neither felt like we missed a bunch, or that we were jam-packed. 

We did all the "typical" stuff - Blue Mosque (fabulous), 

Hagia Sophia (meh - under construction  - not as exciting as we hoped), 

the Grand Bazaar (so great - want to go back!)

and the Cistern (really fabulous).  Luke has become a HUGE Dan Brown fan on this trip (has read all of his DaVinci Code Trilogy books), and so seeing the Cistern was like his Mecca - he was blown away. 

Luke in the Cistern

Drinking Hot Chocolate in the Cistern

We also were able to see other gorgeous mosques and all the great sights of Turkey in one afternoon - at a place called Miniaturk where all of Turkey is presented in 1:25 scale models.  While we expected it to be a bit cheesy, it was actually a pretty cool place and the best history lesson we received all week!

Maggie has really grown on this trip!

After leaving Istanbul, we headed to Goreme, a small town in the middle of Cappadocia. You have probably (even if you don't know it) seen pictures of Cappadocia - hot air balloons floating over incredible rock landscapes. While we didn't get to go in a hot air balloon (WAY out of our budget and really, I don't think I would have survived the heights) we LOVED Goreme - and really wish we had added a few days on to our time there.  We even stayed in a cave! Well, it was a cave hotel and is pretty much the main option in the area - but besides the fact that it gets REALLY dark (think solitary confinement like) at night, we really loved it and highly recommend it!

Our first day we hiked through the famous "fairy chimneys" in the Rose Valley and had one of our best days yet. It was like a playground out there - you can explore to your heart's content, including walking through the caves, sliding down the dirt and rocks, skating on paths of ice (we hit a heat wave, but its freezing at night), and just getting filthy while being amazed at the incredible beauty of the area (up there in sheer awe-inspringness with Petra, etc). 

While our second day didn't start as fun (Goreme Open Air Museum basically meant paying money to see a lot of what we saw for free the day before - with restrictions - only go if you aren't able to hike freely around the area), it ended SO FUN.  Despite my apprehension, we decided to go on an ATV/Quad sunset tour of the various valleys around Goreme.  SO MUCH FUN. While it took me a few minutes to get comfortable (especially with my 9 year old on the back of mine!), once I got the hang of it, we were keeping up with the speed demons and tricksters on our tour. The kids are dying to go back once they are 16 so they can ride their own, but in the meantime, they LOVED hanging on to the back of ours while we flew over rocks and hills, fishtailed on the dirt paths, and once again admired one of the most beautiful spots we have ever seen - sunset looking over the valleys is breathtaking.

If we could do it again, we would add on 3 more days to Goreme - and probably spend mornings hiking and afternoons ATVing, followed by dinner each night at a fabulous restaurant eating local specialities like pide (similar to pizza), manta (ravioli in a yogurt/tomato sauce), and the kids' favorite: pottery kebab, where they bring your meal in the small ceramic bowl and then cut the top of it off with a huge knife.  Even if ATVing isn't your thing (it wasn't mine previously…), there is no way not to fall in love with Goreme!!!