Monday, Oct. 12, 2015 – Before moving on to today’s activities I must bring you up to speed about last night’s experience seeing the Whirling Dervishes. We were instructed that the spectacle was a religious ceremony and not a performance therefore photos and applause were not appropriate. Although quite interesting to witness, these men spun in circles for just under an hour to Turkish music and chanting and after about 10 minutes it became pretty redundant to me. How these guys can do what they do for so long is incredible but now that I’ve seen it, I don’t think I’ll need to go again. One saving grace is that the room was warm and sitting in row one their ceremonial skirts created a pretty nice fan action.

This morning we met our guide at the Topkapi Palace for a full tour including the Harem section. The palace dates back to the 5th century AD and was the residence of the Sultans and basically the seat of government while the Ottomans ruled over three continents for over 600 years. Beautifully preserved today it contains the treasury including the 86 carat “Spoonmaker’s Diamond” and hundreds of other priceless historic items and religious artifacts. Finishing up our tour we strolled back down the hippodrome and enjoyed lunch al fresco at one of the numerous cafes lining the walkways. Still getting used to the “Call to Prayers” being broadcast five times per day almost simultaneously from hundreds of Mosques around the city. In the evening we attended a fun performance of regional dancers including belly dancers, (my personal favorite) musicians, singers and a four course Turkish dinner.

Tuesday, October 13, 2015 – Up early this morning at 3:30 am for our flight to Cappadocia near the center of Turkey for a tour of this fairy tale land of caves and rock formations turned into churches, homes and even hotels. I’m writing this evening from our “Cave” room which dates back four hundred years and was at one time a monastery. The boutique hotel is beautiful, comfortable and totally unique but I have to type sitting at the window because the wi-fi won’t penetrate the cave walls of the room. 

Tomorrow morning we are scheduled to go on a balloon ride followed by another day of touring including a visit to an underground city. This will be my last report from the middle east as we will return to Istanbul tomorrow evening for return flights back to the good ole’ U.S.A. As I’ve mentioned previously, photos will have to come later as it’s been impossible to send large amounts of data with the limited wifi. I’ve done my best to do justice to the places and experiences we had the pleasure to visit and hope you’ve enjoyed the blog. I’ll post a follow up once we get home.