Category Archives: Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday-The Netherlands (No Tulips For Me)

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I love tulips. There. Now you know. When I got married, I wanted to have a tulip bouquet. Sadly, they were out of season. So, no tulips at my wedding. But I still love tulips.

When I moved to Germany, I knew I was moving close to the Netherlands (home of the tulip). I was excited. I was even more excited to find out about an event called the Floriade. The Floriade is an international exhibition of flowers and gardening (think botanical garden, but on steroids). It’s held once every 10 years in the Netherlands. And in 2012 it was being held in Venlo, Netherlands. Now, if a gardening event is supposed to feature over a million flowering bulbs (the tulip is a bulb) surely there would be tulips all over the place. Right? Wrong! I did not see one tulip. Not a single one. I was taken aback.

These boots greeted us before we entered the park

These boots greeted us before we entered the park

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Flashback Friday-Konya

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When you visit Turkey, a few things become apparent; they have great carpets (oh yes, I bought a few), they drive and move very quickly (see Flashback Friday-Istanbul), and this is the country of the Whirling Dervishes. You’ll see glimpses of them here and there; on TV, maybe at a show in Istanbul. But if you want to see them at home, visit Konya. Konya is a city in Central Turkey and it was the home of Mevlana Rumi. Rumi started the Mevlevi Order. The Mevlevi (followers of Rumi) are known as Whirling Dervishes. Supposedly, Rumi had a habit of “whirling from joy” in the streets of Konya. Continue reading →

Flashback Friday-Istanbul

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In 2010, Mike and I were living in Adana, Turkey. We wanted to start traveling right away, so we decided our first trip would be to Istanbul. And because we were living in Turkey, it was a lot easier for us to get around than if we’d come straight from the U.S. We were however, still becoming accustomed to the pace at which our new country-people were moving.  They are fast!  So, it was only fitting that our trip was quick, too.

Now, I should preface this all by saying that before moving to Turkey, we spent three years in Okinawa, Japan. The top speed on a regular 2-to-4 lane road was about 34 miles per hour. In Adana and Istanbul, the top speed seemed to be based on the speed of the car in front of the traffic lane, at the time. If you were at a stop light, the people behind you would start blowing their horns before the light changed to green. They were in a hurry.

So, we started our 3-day tour of Istanbul with a free day. We spent the day near the Bosporus Strait (a stretch of water that separates Europe from Asia). The water is a gorgeous deep blue green, and the rocks that separated us from its icy depths proved suitable for seating.

The Bosporous

The Bosporus

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Flashback Friday-Cappadocia

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I’ve decided to devote some time on this blog to trips of vacations past. And so, Flashback Friday has been born. The first trip I’d like to bring “Back to the Future,” is a trip Mike and I took to Cappadocia, Turkey two years ago. We were living in Adana, Turkey at the time. We were about to move to Germany (our house was all packed up and we were ready to go). So, we decided a short get-a-way, was exactly what we needed.

The trip to Cappadocia, Turkey took place over the Memorial Day weekend (May, 2011). And because they don’t celebrate Memorial Day in Turkey, it was the perfect time to go.

Because Mike had been extremely busy at work that year, we cut back on the amount of traveling we wanted to squeeze in during that time.  And because of his busy schedule, and our early departure time from Turkey (we stayed for only one year), we decided we needed a break.  So, this trip was all about… relaxing.  No set schedule, no tour guides, no plan.  Well, we planned to get there, and Mike reserved a room, but beyond that…no plan.

Okay, so our trip started pretty much like we spent the entire weekend…no real plan. We did some stuff around the house, packed our bags and…went to lunch. See, we were not in a hurry.  After that, we were on the road.  We had never driven any real distance since we arrived in Turkey, so this was our first Turkish road trip.  And it had some exciting moments.  But once we got back on the right road, we didn’t have any problems getting to Cappadocia.

driving

Trying to read some of the highway signs was sometimes a problem

Cappadocia is a beautiful area (comprised of several cities) that was formed by the eruption of several volcanoes, the erosion of a river and the forces of the blowing wind.  That Mother Nature 1-2-3 combination, left behind a magnificent landscape of fairy chimneys and an eroded tuff landscape…that would later become cave dwellings and underground cities.

fairychimney

Fairy Chimneys

A camel shaped rock

A camel shaped rock

Ever since Mike heard that cave hotels existed in the area, he wanted in. Continue reading →