Yesterday morning we cleared out of our apartment and spent our last hours exploring the Taksim region of Istanbul. Leroy and I descended from one of the highest point in Istanbul to the Bosporus waterfront and then back to the top in quick order. We have this idea that we've gotten in to shape with all the walking in the last month, and then the steep, cobblestoned streets remind us that they are mightier than us. Our little group hailed a cab to take us to the airport. An article I read online said that there are three kinds of taxi drivers in Turkey: lunatics, crooks, and those that are perfectly fine. Our driver when we arrived in Istanbul was fine. One we tried to hire yesterday was obviously a crook. The one who ended up taking us to the airport was a lunatic. The article provided the Turkish words for "Slow down!!" and unfortunately I didn't remember them. Leroy was in the front and was white as a sheet the whole way. The flight to Cappadocia (a region in central Turkey) was great, and we were the only plane in sight at the tiny Neveshir airport (think of a small bus station in the middle of nowhere.) Our transfer to the hotel was waiting for us, and we were whisked away to Goreme.
Cappadocia is mentioned in the Old Testament as a territory populated by the Hittites. In the New Testament, it appears in Acts 2; Jews from Cappadocia were present in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost and it is assumed some were converted. Later, Cappadocia become a refuge for Christians fleeing Roman persecution. They created underground cities, and we anticipate exploring some of those hiding places as well as remains of early Christian communities while we are here. The landscape of Cappadocia is fascinating. It has an eerie moon-like quality and is characterized by odd rock formations known as "fairy chimneys." Several of those chimneys are incorporated into our hotel. The Kelebek Hotel started out long ago as a private home that was part cave-rooms and partly constructed out of stone. We are actually staying for four nights in a room created out of a cave! It's nice to be out in the countryside again after nearly two weeks in urban areas and we have a long list of interesting sights to see. A priority for today will be finding the best deal on an early-morning hot-air balloon ride for tomorrow!