Two and a Half Geeks: vacation

Turkey Trip: Miscellaneous Pictures

Final picture post from me for our Trip to Turkey. This is full of pictures that just didn't fit elsewhere...

Nana nana nana..

Anyone know how to translate Sumerian cuneiform?

I found a glitch in The Matrix

Apparently, Santa Claus is more of a New Year's thing in Istanbul

Turkey Trip: Churches, Frescoes, and Mosaics

People have been living in caves carved into the volcanic tuff rock of Cappadocia near Göreme for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Folks have carved homes, storehouses, aviaries, churches, and more into the soft rock. We were fortunate to stay in a cave hotel (warm, quiet, but a little too quiet sometimes) and we saw cave churches both in the Göreme Open Air Museum and on our hike through the Rose Canyon.

Carvings near uppermost chapel at the Open Air Museum

Church carved into the rock, Göreme

Fresco inside church at the Open Air Museum

Turns out one is not supposed to take pictures inside the churches - even though I wasn't using flash photography - so that's the only interior picture we have. It's not disappointing, though - that fresco is about 800 years old.

Carrying on with the church and fresco theme, here are pictures from our visit to the Chora Church in Istanbul:

Mosaic with the parables of the loaves and fishes, and turning water into wine

Mosaic on the interior of one of the domes in the narthex

Mosaic of Saint Peter

Fresco at the end of the interior narthex

What the brickwork looks like without a mosaic or fresco

Turkey Trip: Hagia Sophia

A few of the places we visited were so amazing that they need their own posts.

I've been fortunate enough to see wonderful sites like St. Peter's Basilica, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the Pantheon, Versailles, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai, and my personal favorite: Sainte-Chappelle in Paris with its beautiful stained glass.

The Hagia Sofia now heads that list. It is utterly stunning - I literally stood still with my mouth hanging open for the first few minutes I was inside. Here are just a few pictures from that glorious building.

The line outside was fairly short

View of the main apse from the gallery.

Main apse

Interior of the main dome

The sultan's library was behind this wall

Closeup on the Deësis Mosaic, showing Jesus as Christ Pantocrator

View of the medallions, minbar, and interior

Turkey Trip: Street Scenes

One of my favorite bits of travel is just walking around town and seeing what we see. Along those lines, let me present you with various street scenes from Turkey:

Roman "Castle" in Göreme

Grumpy panda is grumpy

Street scene in Cihangir, Istanbul

Istiklal Street in the evening

View from the tram going across the Galata Bridge

Street scene with cat and minaret, Istanbul

Street scene near city walls, Istanbul

Geek Girl on a side street in Istanbul on a snowy day

Snow coming down!

Turkey Trip: See, Mom, I do take pictures of people!

My mother always complains that I never take pictures of people during our trips. Mom, this post is for you:

Geeks getting ready for an early morning balloon ride

Geek Girl and goofy-looking guy at the Göreme Open Air Museum

Mama Geek looking dynamic as she navigates a slot canyon

Parental Geeks at the Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofia)

Mama Geek and Geek Girl with the Hagia Sofia

Mama Geek and Geek Girl in their scarves at the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque)

Geek Girl and Mama Geek on the Istanbul city walls near the Gate of Charisius, with the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque

Mama Geek and me showing steep steps on the city walls

Mama Geek and me at the Topkapi Palace terrace, with the Bosphorus in the background

Mama Geek looking pretty with the Bosphorus in the background

Geek Girl contemplates the frescoes at the Chora Church

Geek Girl being a Portal Lion at the Istanbul Archeological Museum

Geek Girl with a cool dress we saw at the Archeological Museum

Turkey Trip: Food

We ate well in Turkey, including some new treats I had never had. Some of the highlights for me were:

Poğaça, a bread roll that we had with various fillings including olive and olive paste and peynir cheese, and plain
Mantı, Turkish dumplings similar to ravioli or aushak, filled with minced meat or potatoes and served with delicious yogurt sauces
Pide, Turkish flatbread pizza with a wide range of toppings including eggs, pastrami, and peppers
Börek, pastries made with phyllo dough and stuffed with spinach, cheese, etc.
Gözleme, which were basically Turkish crêpes. We had savory (cheese, spinach, minced meat, etc.) and sweet (apple and cinnamon, chocolate, etc.)
Testi kebab, a Cappadocian specialty of meat and vegetables cooked for about three hours in a clay pot that is broken at the table
Simit, available everywhere and basically like a Turkish soft pretzel
Puddings - I had no idea pudding was so popular in Turkey
Dondurma or Turkish ice cream, which has a texture that's an interesting combination of the smoothness of gelato and the elasticity of chewing gum. I read later that is because it includes mastic gum

We also had lentil soup everywhere, partially because it was delicious and warming on cold evenings, and partially because it came with bread for our carb-loving Geek Girl. I got to indulge my taste for döner kebab with fries, which is an old habit from Zurich days. We had tea everywhere, and baklava, and of course Turkish delight.

Three places stand out in my mind:

Nazar Börek Cafe in Göreme. We had börek, pide, gözleme, and lentil soup here, all of which were delicious. The owner, Refik Ciftci, and his main assistant were really friendly - telling us stories, showing us books of things to see in the region, and generally making us feel welcome. Refik even offered to make us the apple/cinnamon gözleme when he was out of the börek listed on the menu.
Ficcin Restoran in Beyoğlu, Istanbul. We had Carcissian cuisine (food from the Caucasus region), which we had never even heard of before. Delicious mezze, mantı, liver, and a special meat pie that we really enjoyed. We must have liked it -- we went back twice.
Cuma in Beyoğlu, Istanbul. We indulged in one Turkish breakfast out, and this was it. Geek Girl was thrilled to get her usual Sunday pancakes, Mama Geek got to enjoy salmon and eggs and my olives, and I got a fun Turkish spread including several different cheeses and yummy bread.

I can't resist some pictures, so here you are - selected culinary pictorial highlights.

Crew working in pide restaurant, Göreme

Testi kebab in Göreme

Refik and crew at Nazar Börek Cafe, Göreme

Ashure (Noah's Ark dessert) from Saray Muhallebicisi, Istanbul

Breakfast out at Cuma on a sunny Sunday in Beyoğlu, Istanbul

Turkey Trip: Fairy Landscapes

We spent our first few days in Cappadocia, in south-central Turkey, which is a World Heritage Site. We lucked out of the weather, which was sunny but cool much of the time. As a geo-geek, I found the landscape amazing, especially the view during our hot air balloon ride. Here are just some selected highlights.