Esbelli Evi Urgup

It's St. Patrick's day today, but I think I am theonly person that knows it.....oh well. Cappadocia is amazing....a valley of magical cones and fairy chimneys. After getting up at 4:30am for a flight to Kayseri, we were all a bit numb. We landed at the airport (think more wind-sock than air-traffic control). We were met by the car rental man with a sign. We drove 2Km to the "EuropCar office". I couldn't help but feel that as soon as we left, the sign was going to be changed to "Avis Car" or s...

A very early morning today: Up at 4:30am, hotel transfer at 5, and a flight to Kayseri in Cappadocia at 7:15. Everything went as smoothely as we could have hoped for. No delays, and we were met at the airport by the car rental fellow. After getting the car (a Renault megane sedan), we left Kayseri as fast as wecould. The only redeeming feature was the beautiful Mt Erciyes looking over the town. It took about 45 minutes to drive to Urgup, with directions provided by the proprietor of the hotel...

We all awoke feeling refreshed and had an incredible breakfast......all felt today was a new day. I feel it was the first time we all felt completely rested and ready to go as a family. The girls and I satrted the day exploring the former Troglodyte and Roman caves up the hill behind the hotel before heading out to the outdoor museum (see family blog from today). We then took a lovely walk amongst the fairy chimneys. We came upon old churches carved into the rocks, unmarked and with no protec...

We woke up to beautiful sunshine, but definitely cooler tempertures. That still didn't prevent us from having an incredible breakfast spread with freshly squeezed orange juice, home-made jams, the best omellete we have ever had, and hot choclate for the kids: Patty and I were in heaven, and we had not yet even walked out the front door. If we only new what was waiting for us. It took only about 10 minutes to drive from the hotel to the Goreme (pronounced Goremay) Outdoor Museum. This is one o...

It's been a great day. We set off after breakfast for Pidgeon Valley, close to Uchisar, about 25 minute drive from Urgup. The valley is filled with fantastic rock formations, hundreds of pidgeon holes, and ancient houses. It was just great to walk, and the kids were completely energized. After about 25 minutes of walking, we were joined by a local farmer who then continued to serve as our hiking guide, all the way down the valley and eventually up to the town of Uchisar. It was just as well, ...

When people ask why we travel with our children, we could say that we enjoy exposing them to other cultures and letting them experience different ways of life. Or that we enjoy spending time together "outside of the box". But the truth of the matter rests in the fact that we are allowed to do things with our children in foreign countries that we would never get away with in the US. Just today, we were hiking with our children through the Rose Valley, outside of Cavusin. The scenery was gorgeo...

The flight from Istanbul to Kayseri with Onur Air was smooth and uneventful - just what you want from a flight! We arrived into Kayseri at about 4 pm and two things immediately struck me. First was how dark it was for that time of day and second what a magnificent snow-capped mountain was to be seen. As promised, there was a man waiting with a sign with my name on it ready to give me my hire car. I was a bit nervous about what I was going to get, because I had paid a lot less than other agenc...

We started our day with a delicious breakfast at Esbelli Evi - a Turkish style breakfast, but with eggs cooked to order as well as cereal. Without me needing to ask, Suha took us aside and spent 15 minutes drawing a map for us with a tour of the region taking in some of the significant sites, explaining which way to go, what to look for etc. It was very valuable advice, because the region is bog and there is a lot to see. With my trusty navigator Jess operating the map, we were ready to hit t...

On our last full day in Cappadocia we decided to stay pretty close to home, revisiting some of our favourite sites and eating in some of our favourite restaurants. We had to go and pay for the carpet that we bought yesterday, so the day started well with buying a third carpet! And Jess spotted another one she wanted. We could have gone on like that for ages, but we have to leave something for next time. We took the opportunity to stroll among the fairy chimneys, to poke in and around the shop...

We flew from Izmir to Istanbul, then from Istanbul to Kayseri, where we took a shuttle to our hotel in Urgrup. This is the Capadoccia region with famed "fairy chimneys". We stayed at a hotel called Esbelli Evi, which is located in cave. It's really nice, with the best hotel staff. They arranged tours, answered questions, and made sure we were comfortable. Complementary beer, wine, and laundry were an added bonus! The first day we hired a driver who took us to an underground city, the Ilhara v...