Cappedocia Part V: The Inside of our Cave Hotel

The inside of the caves are just as interesting as the outside. Here are a few shots of my parent's room.
They had a little "inlet" with Turkish pillows. A little boy seems to have found his way up to it.

Behind Mom is an old water reservoir or perhaps a bath.

There are lots of little niches carved into the rock, which served long ago as shelves.

We also enjoyed the main room where we had our breakfast. Big Ben even got his own plate.

Cappedocia Part IV: The Outside of our Cave Hotel

The hardest part about blogging this trip is deciding which pictures to share! There are so many good ones. Maybe one day when I run out of things to say, I'll dig from the archives and post the unused ones! Anyway, here is the outside of our cave hotel. If you look carefully above Hassan Bey, CC, and my parents, you can see parts of the arches, which once were part of this structure as a 9th century church.

Every terrace landing had a beautiful view of the landscape around us.

You can see how this land has been many different people's homes over the years.

Of course, my kids wanted to play 'house.' You finally get them away from their "house" and they want to play "house"!

Cappedocia Part III: Old Time Pottery

The Cappedocian region is famous for a river, called the "Red River." There you find red clay, which has been used to make pottery since the time of the Hittites. That's a long time! So, one fun thing to do while there is to visit pottery shops and factories. We were advised to try out a "Mom and Pop" type shop rather than the big commercialized factories. It was a great find. The man who owned the shop had made all the pottery in it, just like his father and his grandfather had done before him. He had some beautiful pieces. My dream one day...someday...is to buy these beautiful, not-terribly-expensive plates...all different..and use them as my dinnerware. They are lovely. Here is his shop.

He was so happy to have us come in. He sat right down and kicked his spinning wheel into motion and formed a pot. My girls were mesmerized. One immediately announced she wanted to grow up to be a potter and that she'd have the verse, "I am the potter, you are the clay" across her storeroom. It was amazing to watch how quickly he turned a lump of clay into something useful. There are many lessons here!

Then, the biggest treat of all! He told the girls to come make a pot. He even told Firstborn to throw on his work gear!

We now have 3 unique creations drying and setting up on our balcony, as well as a wonderful memory all "set up" in our minds.

Cappedocia Part II

The day we drove down was rainy. What do you do on a rainy day on vacation? Eat! We had missed lunch, so we had a lunch/supper. We found a little corner spot, went down two steep steps, and wound up in a comfy, pillow-surrounded room. The girls' table was a big tree stump.

We decided to go with something somewhat normal, so we all ordered hamburgers. This is what we got! ha! I love it! Pita bread, lettuce, tomato, kofte (Turkish meatballs), and fries. Actually, it was delicious.

And some little girls became very happy when the cook brought them Turkish apple tea.

A little dog, who looked similar to my parents' dog, kept begging to join us. We found out her name was "Fistik" which means "Peanut." Our meal was a perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon!

Keeper of the Green

Our Firstborn is named Mary Erin. As she grew, she asked what her name meant. Mary means, "bitter" referring to the bitter waters at Marah. Erin means, "Ireland." She curiously asked, "So, I'm a bitter girl from Ireland?" No, she was not named for meaning, but for people. Her paternal great-grandmothers were both godly women, Mary Lois and Erin Kathleen. We absolutely loved the combination of the name and so we gave it to our daughter. It didn't occur to us at the time how closely she would be tied to Saint Patrick's Day. She was due in April, after all. But she was born exactly one week before St. Pat's Day. One of her very first gifts was a little Irish bear with a shamrock, which we named Erin Bear. Because of her name, because of her birthday, because she is just a fun girl...she has become the "Keeper of the Green" for St. Pat's Day. She woke at 6:30am and checked/suggested/overruled every one's wardrobe to be sure they had enough green on. I admit I got one pinch from my husband, but just because I was still in pj's and hadn't put my green on. Best of all for Mary Erin, St. Pat's Day officially starts the countdown to her birthday!

Cappedocia Part I

Now, on to my series of Cappedocia. Cappedocia, as I've blogged before, is about 3.5 hours from our house. It is an absolute Must See for someone visiting here. It is made up of lava rock, which is so soft it can be carved. Therefore, Christians for centuries carved homes and even entire cities into the rock. It made a perfect hideout for them during persecution.

So, we made a weekend trip there. My folks were in awe, as we knew they'd be.

We took a risk this time. We have always stayed in this same cave hotel. We like it, however, his prices keep going up. We called ahead and asked why they were so high in off season. He grumpily responded, "Well, I still have to heat the place." At the very last minute, we got a tip on another place to stay. Would it be ok? Would it be cold in the cave rooms? Would our guests be comfortable there? We had our friend specifically ask, "Are the rooms warm?" This is a legitimate question. Caves are cold, and one year we stayed overnight down there and were so cold we wore every stitch of clothing we brought, all slept in the same bed, and drove home the next day we were so misearable! The cave owner replied to our question, "You will be so warm, you will complain of the heat." Still, CC packed 2 space heaters!

So, we got there and were so pleasantly surprised and glad we went with the less expensive cave. The owner was delightful, spoke English, was so hospitible that he kept telling us, "This is your home. Do what you want." And perhaps the best surprise of all was that he explained that this cave had been his childhood home. After he married he had renovated it to make it a hotel. But before his family owned it, it had been a 9th century church! We slept in a 9th century church. I had to pinch myself. More tomorrow.

Amazing Lunch!

After our museum tour, CC found us a place for lunch. They only served one thing (a good sign!)...lamb kebabs. The restaurant was tucked in a corner of this street.
First, we each got a salad plate...fresh tomatoes with peppers, strong sour pickles, and raw onions. I love the food in Turkey!

We were given "lavash"...thin bread (like a tortilla but thinner) to assemble whatever 'stuff' you wanted inside...sizzling lamb, onions, tomatoes, grilled peppers...that's what went in mine.

And then the owner asked us if we wanted dessert...he had just made it. We told him we'd think about it. Soon, out came plates for everyone. He wanted us to try his dessert, it seemed. He was proud of it, and rightly so. It was a warm, delicious, stuffed walnut dessert.

And in places like this, they don't ask you if you want tea. They just bring it!