I'm Goreme to Kapadokya

A intense sun welcomes the day, showering light across a strange plateau. Below is a valley of ethereal structures, peculiar in shape and function, still hiding from the morning. The sun bathes a couple of hundred hot air balloons in strawberry and tangerine colors. Each balloon filled with a handful of tourists attempting to get the best seat in the house. Their purpose? To capture this dazzling scene sitting in front of me. As the sun begins to peer into the valley, the first conical rock structure, or fairy chimney as the locals call it, begins to illuminate. Its pristine sandy brown sides washed in the early light. Soon the valley is glowing in the morning rays, presenting the magic that brings thousands of visitors a year to this part of Turkey.

Cappadocia (Kapadokya) is a fascinating middle region of Turkey. It teeters precariously close to the arid region of the middle east and its weather is quick to remind you of this. In May, the sun is intense during the day. The night time temperatures drop to barely tolerable without a jacket. Its land is a close approximation to the canyons of the American West, except for the odd landscape that defines this region.

The off-white sand that covers the area is not actually sand. The whole region has been in a millennia bout of volcanic activity. In the ancient past, a whole time period was punctuated by thousands of years of volcanic ash raining down into this valley. As the water came, the soft ash layers quickly eroded away. The rivers created the valleys. The rains carved away the rock to create the iconic fairy chimneys. The softness of the stone still remains. Heavy rains that mark the change in seasons take the stone back a few millimeters. This life cycle is both redefining the region and erasing its history, little by little.

During the 300s, Christianity was spreading by way of the silk road. It was not freely practiced, and therefore confined to underground worship. Cappadocia offered an easily sculpted hideaway for the new religion's practice, following the building habits of ancient people before them. In the Ihlara Valley, an ancient river has cut a swath of fertile land, with its own, more temperate, climate. It's last residents were the Christians still hiding from the Empires that persecuted them. Within the steep canyon walls, pocked with deliberate holes and tunnels, is a secret city of Ancient Christianity. Most now exposed from sheering cliff faces that failed to resist erosion of water.

It's not just the Ilhara Valley that hides these deteriorating windows to the past. This is what defines Cappadocia. The land is filled with underground cities, carved mountains, painted caves. Those fairy chimneys? Most were at one point carved into to create villages and homes. Some clusters are the remains of villages and towns.

To those with a sense of exploration outside of guided tours, the land offers amazement. The valleys are lightly protected and free to explore. Its canyon diving. It's history exploration. Its one of those rare facets of ancient history that hangs on a precipice of swift destruction as time ages the land. An experience that everyone should live. An experience that is quickly crumbing away.

Now it's Istanbul, Not Constantinople

Istanbul has a unique geological situation that makes it stand apart from its neighbors along the Mediterranean. The Bosporus, a river that runs from the Marmara Sea to the Black Sea, is the result of a continental rift that continues to tug Europe from Asia. Istanbul comfortably straddles the two landmasses; happy to let visitors discover the mystique of the East and the philosophies of the West.

This important geography made Istanbul and its neighbor, Izmir, a natural termination point for the fabled Silk Road. Although the road is more of an unkempt trail, it still flaunts its aging visage in memory of its former glory. The Grand Bazaar's walls still ring with crowded voices. The odd tradition of negotiating the price of goods over a sticky sweet apple tea is still honored in all of the stalls. Chai is hurried through crowded alleys to supply the shoppers with a steady flow. A keen eye can still discover rare vintage goods through a brackish sea of cheap Chinese merchandise. Any patient tourist willing to engage in a strategic pricing war can walk away with a bag full of treasure and a belly full of tea.

 
Like many cities in this region of the world, its strategic location has made it the infatuation of many Kingdoms and Emperors. Greeks, Romans, Byzantine, and Ottoman  have left their impressive shambles in layers of the city. With a bit of hardy leg work and a sense of curiosity, visitors can discover the remnants of the East and West's fight for dominance.

No other place exemplifies this more than the Hagia Sofia. Now a museum, it was once a Byzantine church that was converted, top to bottom, to be the mosque of the Ottoman Empire. It now proudly displays the duality of it's and Istanbul's past. Gorgeous golden mosaics, depicting the most important scenes in Christianity are nestled behind ornate Turkish designs and Islamic imagery.

Take a trip to the remaining Byzantine wall. Scale it crumbling stairs and take a look across the city. Fro, the top you can seer Europe and Asia. Multi-spired mosques punctuate the skyline; Churches ring out the hour from quiet alleyways. This is Istanbul, a living monument to the treasures of the East and West.

Walk Like an Egyptian

The city abruptly slinks away, giving birth to the ever encroaching blanket of sand. The sepia painting in front of me shines brightly in the bath of midday sun. Protruding from the middle are ancient skyscrapers. The limestone tops glistening; triangular beacons to any traveler from miles around.

Have you ever dreamed of going to a place so much that the place in your head was nearly tangible? I dreamt of Egypt as a child. A place as mysterious and alien as Mars. I was enamored by its megalithic buildings. Pyramids so precise and mysterious that its still a mystery how they were built. I dreamt of bustling markets, and warm people quick to welcome you and peddle their wares. White stone buildings, palm trees and camels. What can I say? I'm a product of the 80s when Indiana Jones and the 1930s rush of archaeologists was still a romantic adventure I had wholly bought into. I wanted to be an archaeologist and solve ancient riddles.

That was then, when our attention, as a country, was turned to the near east, not the middle of it. As I embarked on my travels, I knew the middle east was a place I had to see (its really north Africa, but its shared culture through the Mesopotamian crescent). Regardless of pleaded warning and vague threats of imagined danger, I booked my tickets. I was hesitant. Everything the media has built up says this is terrible idea, but I rationalized it to see through to achieving my dream. How can 15 million people be living in a place so turbulent that my very presence there puts me in immediate danger?

The gamble paid off. As I crept up on the pyramids, escaping Giza city, the vision in my head became reality. The pyramids peaked between city buildings, trying their best to blend into the city skyline. One it cleared into open, arid plains, the pyramids stood as solitary marvels of human engineering. It was magic.

Cairo is a bit different. The city has been neglected since the rush of travel in the 50s. Cairo is no walk in the park, but the city is comfortable in its peaceful chaos. People walk the street as casually as I stroll down Boston Commons. Markets are lively. The streets are organized madness. People are happy to see you, or any tourism for that matter. Granted, you will feel like a walking wallet, but cut past the salesman routine and people are genuinely kind.

Within its walls is its ancient skeleton. Its echoes of a city rich with history and religious significance. The Coptic city still exists, protected, as a city untouched by time.

Fortunately for me, I had good friends to accompany me through Cairo. I was brought to the Red Sea, where more of Egypt's magic was revealed.

Ultimately, any city is a product of its people. The people I got to spend time with showed me that, at its roots, if you can adjust to Egypt's pace, and way of life, the city is a treasure trove of truly great people, history, and some of the most awe inspiring monuments ever created. Don't miss the opportunity to live your dreams.

A Man Walks Into a Barcelona...

Mediterranean paradise. A much needed vacation. An unexpected stop over before leaving the EU. One of the most memorable cities.

I realized I had 2 weeks left of the EU allotted 3 months. Barcelona was intended as a respite to plan out my travel further than 3 days. I had heard great things about the city. I knew its legacy of artists. I knew it had good food, but how much more could an urban metropolis offer any other urban metropolis?

I was sceptical, to say the least. New cities, as I've found, tend to be consistently the same. A Starbucks here, an Urban Outfitters there, giant class and steel buildings everywhere. Barcelona, regardless of its history dating back to Roman colonies, is a new city. It has various quarters from different time periods, but Barcelona became whole during the last century and a half. Civil planners were tasked to figure out how to attach all of the different sections together for a rapidly industrializing city.

Amidst turmoil of clashing politics, the government allowed futurists, artists and engineers keys to the playground, inspired by the massive civil restructuring of Paris under Napoleon. Antoni Gaudi is, perhaps, the person most associated with this. His modernist architecture is organic in shape, and has woven its way into the cities DNA, from the iconic Sagrada Familia, to Guell Park.

Maybe its just the stark contrast to Italian cities, but I found Barcelona to be a near model city. The roads were orderly, safe public transportation is bountiful, traffic followed signals, people were helpful and kind, large open walking parks crisscrossed the city, providing liberal walking areas that connecting the important Gothic quarter, to Eixample to the Gracia quarter to the beach.

Most important of all is Barcelona's ability to still hold onto its culture. Rampant consumerism hasn't entirely changed the face of the city. There are still craftsmen and entrepreneurs focusing on skill instead of profit. Every small square has a wealth of independent shops providing a unique concept, skill or meal. Artists create in old Gothic houses, and top quality cafes nestle between cathedrals. In the middle of it all is a very active market that attracts visitors from all over.

Barcelona is in some ways a very successful experiment. The city gambled with what it could do to define itself, and made itself an even stronger cultural hub.

I couldn't help walking away from the city, knowing that I would return.