Cappadocia, Land of the Cave Monks, Part 1

Day 6 Istanbul / Day 1 Cappadocia

We landed at the airport in Kayseri, a fairly large city whose design was unusual. Though widely spread out, most of the housing seemed to be in high rise apartments. And the apartments were not grouped together in compact housing areas, but were spaced seemingly at random. Kayseri used to be called Caesarea in Greek and was home to Basil, one of the Cappadocian Fathers. I have read and appreciated Basil, so it was interesting to see where he served as bishop. While I enjoyed our whole time in Cappadocia thoroughly, I didn’t find time to read the Cappadocian Fathers as planned. Exploring with four kids doesn’t allow for a lot of down time, because what is contemplative time for me and Rebecca is simply boring for them. But now I’ve seen the home of the Cappadocian Fathers and I can catch up on my reading later.

And there was the mountain! Mt Erciyes the volcano dominated the landscape. Already my heart stirred with a longing to climb that mountain. But that would mean selfishly leaving my wife and kids while I enjoyed an alpine adventure.

Someone from the rental car company was supposed to meet us at the airport with the car, but we didn’t see anyone. I was a little dubious of this company already, but when I made a call they assured me someone would be there within five minutes. They were. We drove to their office and filled out paperwork, which always takes a surprisingly long time. The kids played at a playground next door to the office. Kayseri is filled with great playgrounds, many of the with fitness equipment of various sorts. We noticed this in Istanbul too. I asked my friend about it and he said he often sees people using it. Rebecca said I looked like Mr. Bean on this most interesting piece of exercise equipment.

MVI_1706

The only vehicle available that would seat six was a nine-seater Mercedes Benz van. One of the bench seats faces backwards, kind of like the inside of a limousine. A manual 6 speed transmission was new to me.

I asked at the rental car company for a restaurant recommendation. He said Gubate was famous in Kayseri so we decided to check it out. I’m not sure if it was the afternoon hour or the fact that Ramadan had begun, but we were the only customers in the place. We ordered with the help of a kind and patient waiter who said he spoke more German than English. Psihalive was delicious but difficult to pronounce. It was like Chinese pot stickers, but stuffed with potato. Kayseri mantisi was a tasty, tiny ravioli soup. We also got a dumpling type thing filled with a small amount of meat. And we got a cabbage, tomato, and cucumber salad to go with it. When we ordered more dishes, they insisted on clearing the table entirely and brought new plates of salad.

We drove about an hour to Goreme, and after a few wrong turns and U-turns, found our apartment, Doors of Cappadocia. It’s a beautiful apartment, with a spacious courtyard decorated with farm implements that gives it something of an old west feel. There are numerous small buildings set at various angles to the courtyard.

We went out for a brief walk, and before heading into town we checked out just a couple of the area’s characteristic caves. Our kids were enthralled.

This is just a hint of what’s to come.

We peeled the kids from the caves (we would have several days to explore them) and walked into town and bought supplies for dinner: bread, cheese, fruit, and veggies. We had our meal on the rooftop in a light rain.

What’s with those faces? I don’t know, but check out Uchisar castle in the background. We explored the inside and outside the following day. Pictures will come, probably too many.

You know, I had difficulty deciphering the symbols on the dash of the car, which were always there for me. They seemed to be telling me to prepare and/or drink a hot beverage, but avoid a fender bender. Can someone interpret these symbols for me?