Pictures from Turkey

I have just returned from a little trip around Turkey and Greece with a couple friends from college.  Here are some highlights.  Hope they are not too boring.

This is the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. 



A light shop on the street in Istanbul.  One of many but we did not feel overwhelmed....it was actually very interesting and the shop keepers were not intrusive. ( As we had heard they would be)

I took this to show the Muslim ladies in the background and the variety of their dress.   It a very diverse group of visitors here in the Hippodrome section of Istanbul

Our first meal in Istanbul...the first of many wonderful meals.



I later asked one of our guides about this and another young boy who I saw in Istanbul dressed all in white with a white turban.  He told us that the boys were celebrating their circumcisions, an act which designates their transition from a child to a young adult.  I watched this kid for a while and he was still acting like a child.

I included this photo because I learned about meerschaum.  Its a rock that softens when its wet making it easier to carve and also it absorbs nicotine so that's why its used in pipes and cigarette holders.  

These are dried eggplants which are used for dying wool and also used during the winter to eat as stuffed eggplant.

Of course we got taken to a carpet market and had to later endure the sales pitch but we did get to see how they prepare the dyes from various plants for the wools.  This was a school partially run by the Minister of Education.    Actually, I learned a lot but didn't buy a carpet but not because I did n't want to.  They were beautiful, but....I don't have a floor.

After Istanbul, we went to Cappadocia where these fascinating caves are located.  Its complicated,  but these mounds were formed by prehistoric volcanic ash and the early Christians carved out holes and virtual homes when they had to hide from other religious groups. 

This is the view from our hotel in Cappadocia out over the valley.  Very interesting and beautiful place but you can't go in the summer as it gets way above 40 degrees centigrade and in the winter it gets snow.  But, in May, it was fantastic !!!