Tag Archives: Turkey
Hiking In The Rose Valley II
Our balloon pilot said the caves in the Rose Valley were no longer inhabited, that the Turkish government had moved everyone into the towns about 50 years ago. Supposedly a safety issue. He was wrong. Oh, I’m sure the government did make that edict. But just because the government tells you to do something doesn’t […]
Hiking In The Rose Valley
For more than a year I have been meaning to tell you about an afternoon spent wandering through the Rose Valley in Cappadocia, Turkey. And I just never seen to find the time to sit down and tel the tale, to really do the place justice. I don’t have time to do that today either, […]
Waiting For A Plane XII – What Time Is It?
I have rarely been more confused. I spent almost half a day uncertain what time it was. The Internet let me down, which just goes to show you can’t always trust what you see online. As the plane taxied to the gate upon our arrival at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport the pilot made the routine […]
Waiting For A Plane XI – Between Flights at Ataturk
I rarely fly, but these days when I do it seems like I’m always at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport waiting for a connecting flight. The wait seems like forever. As with most airports, there’s not much to do at Ataturk except shop, and even that gets pretty boring. There’s only so much Turkish Delight a person […]
Yoros Castle
Castles come in different varieties. There are those well preserved that you can tour and marvel at all the furnishings and décor from centuries past, seeing how people used to live. And there are those that are nothing more than ruins, leaving everything to the imagination. Yoros Castle in in ruins. It sits at the […]
Hagia Sophia III – Looking Around
Just some random pictures taken at the Hagia Sophia to give you a bit more of the flavour of the place. I am a big fan of digital photography, though I admit mine was a forced conversion: my beloved Canon FTb camera, which I had owned for more than 20 years, was stolen a few […]
The Buckle Church
Anything free when you are traveling is a good thing, given that travel can be so expensive. Of course if you don’t know it is free it kind of defeats the point. That is the case of the Buckle Church. The church is part of the G Tokali Kilise (The Buckle Church) is the oldest […]
Up, Up and Away – III
As we headed into the van for our hour-long balloon ride over Cappadocia, my friend Mike asked “so how much does this cost?” I told him we had a discount – 150 Euros each. The look on his face said it all. He doesn’t have my stinginess, but he’s not a spendthrift either. I could […]
Up. Up and Away – II
Cappadocia is one of the top three places on the planet to go for a hot air balloon ride, or so I have been told (the others, if you were wondering are the pyramids in Egypt and the Loire Valley in France). And for very good reason – the view is spectacular. I had never […]
Up, Up and Away – I
I am noted for my frugality. I make no apologies, and for the most part have no regrets about pinching pennies. Mind you, my idea on what is worth spending money on has changed a little bit over the years. In 1986 I was in Paris for the first time, and like any good tourist […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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