Cappadocia

We are in a mystical dreamy land of fairy chimneys, cave churches and homes and over 200 underground cities.

Yesterday we explored huge rock church caves with frescoes and paintings inside.

Rich climbed up 3 story rock houses where people used to live (I only made it up 2). See photo of rich in orange shirt.

This morning we woke up at 4am to go on a hot air balloon ride. It was quite windy, so we were lucky as we were one of the 2 of the 5 balloons in our group that flew. We flew over many pretty valleys and saw many other balloons too.

We then visited a large, intricate underground city where they used to hide for over a month. They had 8 levels underground with stables, wineries, churches, kitchens, etc. They has tiny small tunnels and one way stone doors to prevent intruders. It was quite claustrophobic.

We also stopped by a pottery shop where they make beautiful pottery. Lucky for rich, I only took a photo. ;)

Ps ghostrider2 was filmed here. Guess we will rent it when we get back.

Afrodosias and Pamukkale

Two more beautiful sites in Turkey. We drive over 7 hours in one day, but it was worth it.

After Afrodosias (2 hrs from selcuk) we were feeling ambitious and adventurous and decided to trek on 1.5 hrs to pamukkale.

We arrived around 7 pm and asked if it was open. "open 24 hrs" said the guy.

We hiked 1.5 miles and finally arrived at the beautiful white tide pools. As we were wading through the warm water, it started to sprinkle and soon thereafter it started to rain and then it began to pour cats and dogs.

Of course it would rain on rich (Charlie brown) :) we hiked all the way back in the dark and pouring rain.

Thank goodness for the iPhone flashlight, singing in the rain and the dog who lived in pamukkale. The dog sort of led us back to the entrance (because there were no lights to guide us back) and then tried to go home with us.

Efes (Ephesus)

Wanted to share a few pics from a few days in efes. Natureland efes (a retreat) sort of reminds me of carmel valley, Turkish sunset and the library of celsus at efes. A tremendous amount of history in this region.

a little time away

hi guys, going to take a little time away for a couple weeks. will post intermittently. thanks for checking back. photo of my favorite flowers, pink peonies from a farmer's market in paris.  cheers.

happy birthday mommy!

 

happy birthday mommy! hope you enjoy a wonderful day. here's a little sunshine for you on this rainy day. photo above of terrace at la minerva capri.

come fly away

hello! i will be en vacance for the next two weeks and will be back posting at the beginning of june. thanks for reading! photo above of lavender fields in provence.

a perfect getaway

escape to peaceful, beautiful staufen, germany.

espana

hello all! i will be on vacation for the next two weeks and will be back posting at the beginning of june. thanks for reading! photo above of toledo, spain.

polihale beach

every beach should be as pretty as polihale beach. it's seventeen miles of uninterrupted sand, where the natives believe the spirits leave the world to join the afterlife.

i'm back!

london, paris and amsterdam - what a fun mix of cities to explore! london is full of life, there's always something going on and never a dull moment. amsterdam's canals are just charming and strangely enough, they have delicious thai food. the anne frank house was incredibly moving. and paris . . . where to begin . . . it was everything i dreamt it would be and more. i am ready to pack up and move. =) i am so inspired by the art, the culture, the fashion, the decor, the architecture, the food etc. of these three cities and i am very excited to share some of the things i've found. it's great to be back!

*~en vacance~*

i will be en vacance in london, paris and amsterdam from today through september 16th! please feel free to miss me. =) cheers!