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Valley of Churches / Sarica Monastery Cappadocia

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 April 18, 2026   What a delight to discover the Valley of Churches all to ourselves. Enjoy our pastoral visit to the Valley of Churches where there were two churches, one with frescoes and the other with columns.    John suggested we drive the dirt road to see this valley, what a perfect choice!     looks much better in person than I managed to capture in a photo        We left before the rain!   Comparison of 3 famous destinations we visited today: The most famous destination in the Cappadocia region and our least favorite so far has been Love Valley because it is overdeveloped for tourists including camel rides, ATV's  etc, the ballons only being a small part of the development. We were fortunate to start in the Monastery Valley where there was one small bus of Brazilian tourists.  The geology in Valley of Monastaries is phenomenal and stunning with the luscious spring colors with vibrant green grasses and...
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Don't make a mistake at car rental counters Kayseri Turkey

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  Guess which one we almost waited in line at?  Kayseri airport Turkey April 2026
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Afternoon excursion to lunch in Istanbul

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April 16, 2026     Bused to Zeyrik Hane for lunch. This restaurant is run by the city to provide affordable/non-tourist prices for locals. Our friends know someone here who is a diplomat here and she shared this local hidden gem.  Entry garden  Stellar tiles in the restaurants were almost as amazing as the views:   and the spectacular views from the balcony of the Zeyrik Hane restaurant Entrance, menu and food (eggplant puree with beef stew, salad, manti (fried dumplings), and J's meatballs And at their adjacent establishment for dessert   Street & sidewalk photos   from our double decker bus ride         
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Phenominal, afforadable public transportation Istanbul; an adventure to Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanical Garden

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April 15, 2026      Our 2nd day we utilized all forms of public transportation in Istanbul to reach the  Nezahat  Gökyiğit Botanical Garden.  We walked first to the FERRY      to cross the Bosporus Strait. After stopping for a delicious  fried fish sandwich ($5/230TL),    we walked to the METRO   We noticed how clean and utilized the metro is as we rode 10 stops, then walked to the  BUS  We rode the bus to the botanical park stop only to discover that the entrance on Google was a construction site! A HUGE construction site! We weren't the only ones confused and discussed navigation with two other groups of Turks who also couldn't figure out how to get in! Neither knew the other's language, but there's enough gestures and familiar sounding words that we understood each other. We walked next to a lot of traffic around a huge clover-leaf. We knew that the gardens were nestled within the clover leafs, we just di...
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