June 5-17, 2014

At #6 on Forbes’ 2013 list of most visited cities in the world following:
Bangkok
London
Paris
Singapore
New York

is Istanbul
And now we finally know why!
This city and the country of Turkey were utterly fascinating!!!
We had 11 nights to spend and we decided to try to divide them up so as to see as many different regions as we could fit in.
We started out by spending 3 nights in the town of Selcuk on the west coast, visiting the ancient ruins of Ephesus and taking a day trip to the picturesque coastal town of Bodrum on the Sea of Marmara, part of the Aegean Sea.
Next, we flew to the interior of the country to the stunningly beautiful region of Cappadocia, where we went on an unforgettable hot air balloon ride, floating amongst the fairy chimneys and enjoyed many hikes throughout the colorful valleys.
We then flew to incredible city of Istanbul for our last 4 nights. Istanbul was such an exciting place! It exceeded all of our expectations!
This former Byzantine and Ottoman capital offers so many amazing, historic sights, striking architecture, throngs and throngs of people! ...colors, textures, tastes….a feast for the senses!!!
It is hard to describe the feeling of walking through the bustling streets of this city, visiting churches and mosques dating back 1500 years, hearing the haunting call to prayer ringing out from the Old City’s minarets….crossing back and forth between Europe and Asia on the commuter ferries, cruising up and down the Bosphorous past Ottoman palaces and waterfront mansions.
In our much-too-short 3-½ days, we barely scratched the surface of this captivating city and it is a place I could return again and again….if only life wasn’t so short!
These are just some of our favorite memories we captured.
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