Day 222-224: Barcelona

I LOVE Barcelona. If I could speak Spanish and get a job in the EU, I would 100% come to Barcelona. What is there not to love about the city? It has:

• Gaudi moderisma architecture
• Roman ruins
• Gothic quarter
• Beach and mountains that you can literally take a long walk between
• Funky fun bars and cafes tucked all around the Gothic quarter walls
• An amazing public transportation system
• Water you can drink from the tap (Yes, I have been travelling so long in "bottled water land" that I did need to ask if you can drink the water)

The only sad thing is that my friend Camilla, who has a base here in Barcelona, was in Berlin instead of here.

We actually ended up in Barcelona in a roundabout "how can we get to India in the cheapest possible" way. Believe it or not, it was cheaper for us to fly from Ankara to Barcelona and then use my American Airlines miles to fly out of Madrid (Business Class baby!) to Delhi than it was to fly to Delhi from Istanbul directly. Hence, we are in Spain! One baby touch of Europe to send us off of our backpacking trip properly. 

Barcelona really is just as lovely as I remember it. However, I do NOT remember the directions to anything! Last time I was here, I just followed Camilla around (and I did find some of the places, with Camilla's help, that she took me too the last time). After an uncomfortable low-cost airline flight from Ankara to Barcelona, poor Pallavi then ended up following me in the wrong direction for food when she was in a hangry state. I started looking at the map after that! 

We had less than 48 hours in Barcelona, so I took Pallavi on the highlight trip. Obviously, that meant taking her to Gaudi's Parc Guell and to the Sagrada Familia. Both have changed so much since I was last there. The administrators of Parc Guell are now trying to control the number of people on Gaudi's architecture, so to get to the main bits, you now need to pay a fee, which only allows you 30 minutes inside. It's a bit much for crowd control, although I do get it. Lucky for us, you don't have to go in in order to still see all of the great Gaudisms that exist in the park. Plus, in my opinion, it is the best view of the entire city! You can see the Sagrada Familia, the Gothic Quarter, the sea, and more. 

It's also really cool to see the Sagrada Familia again. It's a building that's been under construction for over 100 years and I had heard that it looks different ever time you see it; however, you have to experience it to really understand it. How amazing to see it change! Different statues. Different pillars are now almost complete. The tourist route is different because new construction has come up. Plus, you can see a lot more detail the second time around. I forced poor Pallavi to take the audio tour, but I think it was a big hit. It just was an incredible experience. Inside Sagrada Familia you really do feel the glory of God.

The next day we had just a few hours to 'finish' Pallavi's Barcelona highlights tour on a budget before catching our bus south to Valencia. We just walked! We walked by the sea (which turned out to be quite boring since all of these rich people boats were inconveniently parked in the harbor blocking us from the sea). Then we walked to the 'local' side of the Gothic Quarter, towards the Picasso Museum, by the old Roman walls and defense towers of the city, past the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Mar and finally back to the Cathedral. Tragically, our timing was wrong, so we missed all of the free entry times into all of the churches. Next time! Also, I'm so sad that we are here in November instead of December, because although we could see the Christmas markets being set up and get a sneak peek as to the wares, we couldn't experience it properly.

We left Barcelona very much with a 'see you again soon,' attitude and jumped on our bus to Valencia, to the waiting arms of our friend Elena.

Day 218-221: Ankara

We had heard that bus travel in Turkey is quite the experience. Legend has it that they have an attendant who serves you complimentary drinks and snacks, in-seat entertainment, and more. We had yet to travel via bus in Turkey and, as life would have it, that was the best way to get from Cappadocia to Ankara.

We got on board only to realize that the legend was true! We had in-seat entertainment that had a welcome screen with our name on it. The attendant came whenever we called him after his first run through. The movies and TV shows were only shown in Turkish, but Pallavi found an exception that was half in Hindi and wasn't dubbed over. That is the way to travel by bus!

We arrived at Ankara's airport-like bus station and needed to make our way to my friend Josh & Anca's house. I had not done my thorough research and only knew that their place was 12 kms south of the bus station and that it might be possible to get there by bus, but they and Wikipedia and the Ankara city bus website couldn't tell me how to do it. Did that stop us?? Of course not! A few questions from random strangers and the information desk later and we made got there. Check public buses in Turkey off of our transportation list!

It was so great to see Josh and Anca. Josh is in the Department of Commerce in the US Embassy, so we got to see all of the perks of staying with a diplomat (he does have a diplomatic passport!). We just relaxed with them and spent the whole next day preparing for and enjoying pre-Thanksgiving dinner. The day after they showed us around the Old City of Ankara, which is surprisingly cool.

Ankara is the capital city, primarily because it is strategically close to nothing. It lacks the charm of Istanbul and some of the size, but at first glance it just looks like a modern city. The old city has a beautiful citadel that clearly was rebuilt multiple times using leftover stones from the previous citadel. As a result, you have a mix of stones with Latin, Greek, etc. written on them, with random stone heads sticking out. We also just walked around the area, which surprisingly is the locals market. There are tons of artsy shops filled with mostly different stuff from what we had seen across the rest of Turkey. All of which are at artsy prices.

We then just relaxed, went to the mall, drank lots of wine, and stayed up just chatting. What a great way to end Turkey. Next stop: Spain! 

Day 217: Hot Air Balloons in Cappadocia

Ever since I saw my first hot air balloon rise above me as I went on my morning run in Melbourne, I have wanted to go on one. We never went in Melbourne. We always said we would go somewhere else. Cappadocia has earned the reputation of one of the best places to experience a hot air balloon. After some convincing and overcoming some trepidation about the -8 degree temperature we'd experience while up in the air, we decided to bite the bullet and get up at 4:30 a.m. for our 5:15 a.m. pickup time with Butterfly Balloons.

The experience was not like I expected and all in a good way. We missed sunrise because our original balloon had a problem and we needed to wait for them to set up another balloon. That didn't stop us from taking pictures of the other balloons starting to rise alongside the "sailors beworn" red sun, with a snow-covered volcano backdrop. It turned out to be the best use of that 10 minutes. Once we all climbed into our hot air balloon basket, before we knew it, the balloon had risen a few hundred feet. I didn't feel a thing! I always thought that a hot air balloon would create a sense of instability and would shake and blow with the wind. I didn't feel a thing. It was such a smooth experience. We soared over the fairy chimneys and the various valleys, catching all of the colours and shadows caused by the sunrise. Then we also saw all of the Byzantine Christian villages from the sky. You could see the various pigeon houses and cut-out windows in the volcanic stone. I hadn't expected to see that. Plus, because of the 10 minute delay, we were able to cross a mountain which other balloons hadn't been able to cross because of a wind that died out when we got there. As a result, we landed right near one of the open-air Byzantine museums. How did the balloon land? We were all prepared for our landing positions, which involves holding on for dear life while in a squat at the bottom of the balloon. We had mentally prepared to be dragged for a few hundred feet. Did we need to use our landing positions? No! Not only did we not need to use our landing positions, but the balloon operator landed spot on to the balloon trailer!

We then helped to squish the air out of the balloon and had our champagne while the balloon guys packed up everything before delivering us home. That wasn't the end of our day! We ended up meeting this American critical care doctor, Luke, who is in residency at Bellview Hospital in NYC, on the balloon. He is hilarious! We ended up meeting up with him after breakfast, sharing a long shisha and having tea, and then relaxing for dinner and drinks later. It was absolutely a perfect day. 

Day 216: Cappadocia & Goreme's Open Air Museum

Cappadocia is one of the top 10 IT places to visit in the world. At least according to what I had read. Obviously, when I learned my close friends Josh & Anca live just 250 kms away from Cappadocia, it only made sense that Pallavi and I pay this town a visit. Cappadocia is famous for it's "fairy chimneys," formed by some volcano that erupted 10,000 years ago. It has hit the tourist trail primarily as a hot air balloon destination.

We arrived completely unprepared for the weather. Believe it or not, a flight here cost us less than a bus ticket would. We stepped off of the plane from Istanbul at night and couldn't see what we can see now - that mountains surround this area on all sides.

We stayed in a town called Goreme. What we didn't know prior to visiting turkey is that Cappadocia was a refuge for the Byzantine Christian population. They lived here from about 300 AD until 1400 AD or so. They used the fairy chimneys and various vertical volcanic rock structures as hideouts from persecutors. Apparently, there was some sort of Lord of the Rings-like signal system that ran from Jerusalem to this region to alert the Christians that the persecutors were coming. They built entire monasteries and cities completely underground to help protect themselves.

We went to one particular monastery that is part of one of an open air museum. It is a series of complexes carved into the rock. I figured it would be like the cave dwellings found in Bandelier National Park in New Mexico. In some ways, it was exactly like that. You'd find random doors and windows carved into the rock face. However, nobody told us about the gorgeous, amazingly preserved Byzantine art found inside each of these various rock chapels. It is stunning. The colors are more brilliant and amazing than almost any 'outdoor' paintings I've seen. Obviously, these aren't nearly as old as the Pyramids or Pompeii; however, they are gorgeous. I've never seen anything like them. Unfortunately, their eyes are gouged out. We aren't completely sure what happened in history that caused people to mark out their eyes; however, it still didn't mar their beauty.

We explored the entire museum in awe and then booked our hot air balloon the next day. In a tragic turn of events, I quickly realized that it was going to be -8 degrees C up in the air. We decided to bite the bullet, despite the cold, but I made the decision that I needed gloves! Fortunately, some Turkish nana who ran a tea shop also happened to be knitting gloves. If only I had my Grandy, she could have made me some gloves as well. It didn't matter. This nana could solve my problem.

We called it an early evening. Hot air balloons await! 

Day 211-215: Back to Istanbul

I never want to drive in Istanbul again. How can people stand to drive how they drive here? I can handle the zipping across 4 lanes at high speeds to get to your exit. I can handle all of the fast moving truck traffic. I cannot handle start/stop traffic in a manual vehicle to travel 7 kms in 30 minutes just because this is a) a toll that is meant to be automatic, b) an on ramp, c) a bridge or d) some high profile escorted vehicle that requires the traffic to be stopped. I should be less stressed as a driver. Who does it help? Nobody! However, dang, Pallavi and I were so stressed that after we dropped off the family at the airport, we grabbed a kebab, went to the hotel, and refused to leave!

The next day we decided to just check out Hagia Sofia. As you enter that place, you can't help but think that this decor reflects how religions should interact with each other. Where else can you find the Virgin and Child next to Muslim decorations? Or Byzantine images of saints next to 12th century minarets? It is hard to imagine that this is the site of Constantine. Without Constantine, where would Christianity be? 2nd to Jesus, I'd say this is the next birthplace of Christianity. What a cool concept.

The whole church is beautiful. Layers are built on layers. Remaining mosaics of different former Emperors who commissioned a picture of their family alongside Jesus showing them giving money to the church. Circles on the floor show where the Emperor use to sit. All in all, it's an amazing place.

We finished up and went to stay at a friend of Pallavi's, staying at Taxim Square, who just landed in Istanbul for a month for work. All of the interesting museums closed the next day, on Monday. As a result, we did nothing but watch TLC on television, which launched in Turkey just a month ago. We only stepped out to get dinner at  Taxim Square. Taxim is the local area and it is humming. Thousands of people are out on the main pedestrian street walking around. When I stepped out earlier in the day to find a grocery store to buy breakfast stuff, it felt like I had slipped into living in Istanbul. It had a completely different feel than the touristy Sultanahmet.

The final day in Istanbul, we had just a few hours after we got up and around before we had to leave for our flight down to Cappadocia. We made a call and only I went off to the Dolmabahce Palace. Rick Steves told us that the Dolmabahce Palace was built at the end of the Ottoman Empire, by some 'weak' Sultans, who were determined to show the world that they still had it.

Overcompensate much? This palace had a huge wow factor. It has huge gates that look out upon and step down directly into the Bosphorus. On the inside, the palace doesn't have just one 1 ton crystal chandelier; the palace doesn't have an additional 1.5 ton crystal chandelier; the palace also has a 4.5 ton crystal chandelier. Oh, and that doesn't include the multiple crystal lamps and minor crystal chandeliers in each of its 100+ rooms. Or the huge crystal staircase. I must confess. I was a bit disappointed by the crystal staircase. I was expected floors of crystal! What did I get? Only the railing balustrades were 100% crystal. Disappointing! How am I supposed to be wowed by that.... ?

Of course, that doesn't include the 500 kgs of gold that gilded the palace. Or the beautiful baroque-style paintings that covered the entire room and ceiling. Or the historic paintings. Or the grand ceremony room, which I swear was built in size and style like Hagia Sofia, topped by that beautiful 4.5 kg crystal chandelier, and floored by the largest handmade carpet in Turkey. It is just as grand as any a crazy King Ludwig palace.

I barely had one hour to tour the palace before I had to get back to leave for the flight. You can't tour the palace by yourself. You have to join a scheduled group. I had seen my group leaving, knowing I didn't have enough time to wait for another group, I ran to join and the tour guide waved me on! You have to wear booties on your feet to protect the elaborate parquet floor made of 3 woods. As a result of the rush, I only saw half of the palace (the other half is on a separate ticket that I had wisely not purchased). Then I made it back just in time to start the 2.5 hour hike, including a ferry over the Bosphorus, to get to the other Istanbul airport for our flight to Cappadocia.

Istanbul is a cool city. I would absolutely love to go back.

Day 208-210: Pamukkale

I feel like the theme of the drive to Pamukkale, Pamukkale, and the drive back from Pamukkale is tractors. I feel like we got a glimpse into authentic, rural, agrarian Turkey. We didn't just take the main roads. Oh no, the shortest route to where we were going took us through all of these back road, country Turkish towns. Not that it would have made a difference. I have never seen so many tractors driving around in my life. Not even in Warrensburg, MO! Tractors drove on the highway. Tractors drove on the farms. Tractors drove on the small town roads. We even passed what I have decided was a tractor depot! Tractors parked on all sides of the roads AND driving on the town. My now TWO-tractor owning Dad would have loved this place.

Pamukkale itself is an interesting place. This location was Pallavi's sister's pick. Pamukkale is the site of an Ancient Roman spa town, set upon a cliff, with natural hot gas and water. Over a period of time, somehow, the water flowing off of the hill, has formed a series of calcium-deposit terraces with water pools. If you look up the site, it'll make more sense as to what it looks like. However, as one bypassing American tourist said: the fact that only a few and not all of these pools have water must be Turkey's best kept secret. There were a few pools that you could go in, and go in these people did!

Traditional Muslim head-covered women, would pull up their trouser legs to dip their legs in the cold water pools. European women would strip to their bikinis and sunbathe. Children would all try to play in the small fast-flowing water channel. One child even fell in! If there hadn't been another tourist, she would have been swept all of the way down the mountain in this narrow water channel. I, not realizing this was an accident, at first thought, water slide! That is why I'm sure I would not have made it long as a child in these kind of countries!

A local sweet owner of a restaurant we were at pointed us 6 kms nearby to the 'hot water.' Here is where we found all of the locals dipping their feet into the hot water pools. I swear it was like taking a bath! However, lots of people were drinking the hot water that was bubbling up. I can't help but think two things: 1) that can't be healthy, and 2) even if it were, how can you drink boiling water like that? I've tried drinking just hot water. It is not nice!

We made a call to drive Pallavi's parents back up to Istanbul rather than let them to their own devices. The whole aggressive drivers and driving on the other side of the road was getting to them. We switched our plan around a bit, but next stop, Istanbul. 

Day 207: Ephesus

We drove like mad to get so that we could see the ancient capital of Asia Minor, Ephesus. This is the town of "love is gentle, love is kind," Paul [Saint] letter to the Ephesians. Apparently, this is also where Mary, mother of Jesus, is rumored to have spent her remaining years (which I don't believe, but you gotta love a bit of Christian mythology). To start my day right, I ended up chatting with an older gentlemen, dressed in his Sunday best on a Tuesday, from Kokomo, Indiana, who was a Bible conspiracy theorist who believed that "Turkey will play a key role in the end of days." The key, he says is in the last verse of the 1st chapter, the first verse of the 2nd chapter, and the 10th verse of the 3rd chapter. I'm writing this down just in case he is right and I need to quickly reference from where the end is coming so that I can run in the other direction. 

We got on our way and made it to Ephesus. WOW! I have never seen such amazing ruins outside of Rome. I am so happy again that I listened to Rick Steves' recent podcast which touched upon Ephesus. His podcast helped bring the whole journey to life. They measure the size of an ancient city by estimating its theatre capacity and multiplying it by 10. As a result, they estimate Ephesus' population at 250,000. The theatre itself is an acoustical marvel. Some sound engineer was on Rick's program, and he said that the people of Ephesus figured out the same amazing acoustics as a sound engineer would today - if not better. You can stand in the middle of the theatre and speak in your dramatic Shakespearean voice and a person sitting on the top of the 25,000 capacity theatre can hear you. Obviously we tried it. It was amazing!!! I went to the top and Pallavi called out to me and did "Friends, Romans, Countryman," and I swear it sounded like she was right behind me. 

The people of Ephesus primarily made their wealth from the selling of deity icons. So, when Paul [Saint] went to go and speak at the theatre, the people in the crowd basically booed him off, saying "Great is Artemis," since this whole 1 God, 0 icon Christianity thing would put them out of business. That's why Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians! 

You really can see why Ephesus was important and a great city. Only 15% of the city is excavated, and yet, you can see a complete city. You can see the exact layout, the basic structure of the town, visit the library or the merchants. You can see how they put anti-slip devices on the marble streets and the terracotta piping for the aqueduct. You can see the Library of Celsus, which was the 3rd largest library in the Ancient World, holding 12,000 scrolls. It was incredible. 

Then, just 1 km down the road from Ephesus, what do you have? The ruins of the Temple of Artemis, one of the ancient wonders of the world. There isn't much to see in terms of ruins, but there is enough to be in awe of the size and scale of the place. You can see how it would have been a wonder of the world. 

Incredible.