Here's where it gets interesting. Dale was given a couple of extra days off that coincided with our Anniversary (32nd), so we packed up and joined Paul and Cheryl on the next leg of their adventure in southern Turkey. (They had already been to Tunisia and Egypt and Cyprus of course). It was a brilliant scheme. Cheryl had done all the research, and all we had to do was pack. We drove up to northern Cyprus, showed them a couple of sights, then caught a flight from Lefkosia to Adana. We rented a car and headed straight to our first destination.
Goreme, Cappadocia - Much to our delight, The Orient Restaurant (note - local cuisine - not Oriental) was highly recommended by our hotel The Goreme House.
We had a fabulous dinner, most notably the beef cooked in clay, which they broke the top off of at the table with a hammer. When we were done they treated us to a beautiful plate of fruit which looked like a flower arrangement. Good thing we walked over as we were so full we waddled back. We opted for the regular rooms at our hotel instead of the deluxe ones which were built right into the caves. We didn't plan on spending much time in our rooms - and rightly so.Cappadocia should definitely be on the list of the wonders of the world. The fairy chimneys are truly phenomenal. We spent most of the first day at the open
air museum, which 
was basically a community built into the fairy chimneys. After exiting, we hiked into the neighbouring hills to see more. We then drove to the Uchisar Castle, which is the highest point, for some breathtaking views. Another drive to more amazing fairy chimneys in Zelve had us stopping for photos all along the way. Our sunset hike at the Kizilcukur Valley was spectacular. We took hundreds of pictures, although I am sure that none of them will do justice to the scenery. We were in awe.
http://images.google.ca/The next day we stopped at just one of the many underground cities in the area. We were only able to descend to the 5th level of an 8 level city, and 1.5 hours later had apparently covered only 10% of the entirety. Our guide was indispensable. He used to play in the rooms and tunnels as a child and was able to help us understand how 15,000 people could live quite successfully underground. Fascinating.
http://www.cappadociaonline.
Here's about where Cheryl lamented on Paul and Dale's inability to pronounce the names of the places we were visiting (not that Cheryl and I knew what we were saying, but at least we put all the letters in). Our favourite was - we were instructed very carefully on how to say thank you - ti-se-ker-e-de-ream (tea+sugar+dream). When we got back in the car, Dale teased and said "I even said 'coffee-sugar-cream'", at which point we all burst out laughing. Later, upon receiving directions from a very nice man, who had us follow him on his scooter, Dale tried 'tisekeredeream' and the look on the man's face was one of complete bewilderment as to what Dale had said - so I piped up from the back seat and said "you may as well have said coffee". Well Paul lost it. He started laughing so hard, that he turned off the car, opened the door and fell onto the pavement. At which point, we were all laughing so hard it hurt. What a bunch!
That is when we arrived at Heaven and Hell! Heaven was a beautiful traipse down (way down) the side of a very deep gorge to an enormous cave and church at the bottom. The cliff sides were beautiful, and the cave enormous. To me though - hell was not the deep pit one looked into, it was the climb back out. What goes down, must come up!
http://www.oztoprain.com/en/kizkalesi/heavenhell.htm Near Mersin we stopped at the Mamure Castle. It was built by the Romans in the 3rd Century A.D. and has 39 towers and 3 courtyards. It took us a couple of hours to climb around.
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Middle_East/Turkey/photo950074.htm
We spent the night at the Barbarossa Hotel with a lovely view of Kizkalesi (Maiden's Castle).
Situated 60 km. to Mersin, in the Erdemli province, it is 800-1000 m. away from the remains of the Mediterranean Sea. Over the years, its tie to mainland has disappeared and it is now an Island. Corcyus, which was established during the 4th century B.C. by the Hellens, and expanded during the Roman and Byzantine Periods, was an important harbour during the 8th century. The castle was established to prevent attacks from the Sea. It contains the remains of a church.
A short stop at Silifke Castle in the morning then on our way to Aspendos - the oldest and most intact Roman amphitheatre in the world. Not to mention the adjoining aqueduct. Fabulous.
http://www.adiyamanli.org/aspendos.html
http://209.85.229.132/search?
Lots of reading, but scroll down to see some great arial shots.
Then on to Antalya and our very quaint hotel 'Villa Perla' in the old section of town
. Apparently they are number 10 in Lonely Planet for their restaurant. Personally I think they should be much higher. We had a full course meal, and everything is homemade - right from the soup to the quince and apricot preserves for dessert. Same with breakfast. Yum.
We spent the day just walking around town, including the lovely marina and requisite fort, and the beautiful parks - lots of green space but more restaurants
, most of which were up 
on the cliff with great views. Again, dinner was gourmet. The Sea bass was cooked to perfection and you just couldn't pass up the stuffed aubergines (not to mention the numerous other dishes). Unfortunately, we missed breakfast the following morning as we were up at 4am to catch our flight back to northern Cyprus.So what does one do when the plane has landed but one is up too early for anything to even be open? Buffavento of course. Nothing like 10,000 stairs to get your appetite flowing. I think though that we had gotten used to having many delicious meals, and it was none too soon that we arrived in Kyrenia and had brunch at the harbour. Once we were fat and happy again, we had the strength to continue in our sightseeing and toured the fort. Our hotel wasn't very far out of town, so we checked in then came back to Kyrenia to have a fish meze for dinner at our favourite restaurant The Lagoon. It surpassed our expectations, so we were glad that we talked Paul and Cheryl into going there (not that they needed convincing, we were all very amenable to each other's suggestions).
Next morning, we set out for St. Hilarion Castle on our way home. Paul and Cheryl enjoyed it as much as we did, and it was worth seeing again as was Buffavento and the fort in Kyrenia. Crossing the border at Nicosia was a non-event, and soon we were heading to the Kykkos Monastery in the south - well, not exactly south, as it is in the Troodos Mountains, but still, on our side of Cyprus. It is the most famous and most visited Monastery in all of Cyprus. It is a pilgrimage point for Cypriots and visitors alike.
http://www.mlahanas.de/Cyprus/Geo/KykkosMonastery.html
There was lots of snow in the mountains, which will again help the reservoirs and the water crisis.
Back home! We managed to get some laundry done for Paul and Cheryl and show them a few more sights before sending them off to Crete. After that, they go to Athens, Rhodes, Efesus and Istanbul, then on to Brussels. We are hoping to get the rest of their tour info. from them when they get home, and will hopefully have an easier time planning our next adventure.So, now you are caught up. Dale is off to work again soon, so things will quieten down around here for a while. Hope you could connect with some of the links, as it is very hard to pick and choose which pictures to include (we have sooooooooo many!).
I managed to get a few loads of laundry done today, as the Coptic Winds are blowing, and everything dried before the next load came out of the washer. At least our temperature is back to normal (+25C today). It is nice to be warm again.
Take care and bye for now.
Love,
Laurel and Dale
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