Turkey: Arrival and Then Some

Though I'm happily traveling around Turkey now, my travel got off to an unfortunate start with a four-hour delay at Dulles. This caused me to miss my connection in Amsterdam... which was preceded by serious anxiety and panic as I tried to figure out an alternate way into Istanbul that didn't delay my travel by a day. I held my ground at the rebooking desk in Amsterdam and succeeded in getting on a direct Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul that actually arrived before my intended itinerary (traveling via Zurich). Fantastic for me... not so good for my luggage. It did not get rebooked and was nowhere to be found. After three days of washing my clothes in the sink and obsessively calling the unhelpful folks at Turkish Airlines, I went to the mall. Catherine was a trooper and spent a couple hours with me picking out a new wardrobe. Of course, as luck would have it, my bag arrived that afternoon after spending some time in Frankfurt. I was able to pick it up at the airport just prior to catching a flight to Cappadocia, where I am now. I know this bag stuff really isn't interesting, but I've been preoccupied with it for the past few days!

Additionally, however, we also did a whirlwind tour of Istanbul, taking in the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, cruising down the Bosphorus, going to the hammam (bath), and wandering the streets of Sultanahmet and Beyoglu. I'm currently writing from Goreme, a town in Cappadocia, which is a region in the center of Turkey. The topography and rock formations here are absolutely incredible and I hope to post some pictures soon. Tonight we take a night bus to Antalya, a city on the Mediterranean coast. In the meantime, here's a map of Turkey if you want to follow along (Goreme is near Nevesehir).