Tag Archives: expatriate life

Turkey Trip: Istanbul and Capadoccia, May 2011

It has been a lifelong dream of mine to travel to Turkey. The home of so many civilizations all in one place, the intersection of European and Asian cultures, the architecture, food, people, handicrafts. Highest on my list were visiting Aya Sofia in Istanbul, and hiking amongst the fairy chimneys of Capadoccia, which I’d first seen in National Geographic as a child.

As luck would have it, two of our Cultural Detective authors decided to conduct a facilitator certification workshop in Istanbul, sponsored by our professional association, SIETAR Europa. And I had the blessed privilege to facilitate the course. It was held in an absolutely beautiful venue called Cezayir, the former Italian trade union building, off Itsiklal Cadessi in Istanbul. We lunched each day in the garden restaurant, and had a view of the Marmara Sea and the Bosphorous that was incredible. The participant group was very talented, experienced, and diverse. We had a terrific time and I believe everyone learned a lot and improved their skills. Click the slideshow below if you’d like to see the Cultural Detective workshop participants and the venue, or keep reading below for more on the sights and sounds of Turkey.

And, fortunately for me, I had two free days in Istanbul before the training, a partial one after, and two full days to tour Capadoccia before returning home. In a place so rich with experiences to savor and places to visit, these five and a half days were only a meze/appetizer, but they were surely an awesomely good one!

I have so very many photos that I felt the best way to show them to you would be in the form of a few slide shows. I have set the slide shows to some traditional Turkish folk music. Please pour yourself a cup of chay/tea or Turkish coffee, or Capadoccian wine, and enjoy!

The slideshow below, includes photos of Istanbul:

  • Galata Tower
  • New Mosque
  • Spice Market/Egyptian Market
  • Train Station/Oriental Express
  • Rüstempasa Mosque
  • Süleyimanye Mosque
  • The Grand Bazaar
  • Basilica Cistern
  • Aya/Haggia Sofia
  • The Blue/Sultan Ahmet Mosque
  • Tünel
  • Itsiklal Street
  • Topkapi Palace and Harem
  • Turkish Handicraft Center
  • Istanbul Handicraft Center
  • Bosphorous Boat Cruise
  • Military Officer College
  • Maiden’s Tower


My trip to Capadoccia included a hot air balloon ride over the region, extensive hiking, and a private tour by automobile that included an underground city and a gorgeous thermal hot spring. The Capadoccia/Kapadokya slide show is below:

  • Hot Air Balloon Tour
  • Göreme Open Air Museum, including Dark Church
  • Anatolia Cave Pension
  • Rose Valley
  • Red Valley
  • Love Valley
  • Pigeon Valley
  • Fairy Chimneys
  • Çevusin
  • Avanos
  • Kaymakli Underground City
  • Uchisar
  • Turasan Winery
  • National Rug Weaving Cooperative
  • Bayramhaci  Hot Spring
  • Göreme Village


We of course live in the land of hand painted tile work, Mexico. With that existing love, it was quite easy for me to absolutely fall in love with the tile work in Turkey. OMG I saw UNBELIEVABLE tiles! Below is a slideshow of some of the tilework.

As you saw above in the Capadoccia slide show, I took a hot air balloon ride. It was an incredible experience. I will post a few videos here if you’d like to take a look. The first one is taking off in the balloon.

The second clip shows the pilot of our balloon as well as a shot of the fire shooting up into the balloon to take us higher. It was awfully warm when that torch was blowing!

The third one is a short clip of the people in our balloon. There were loads of large tour groups, and it seemed that anyone traveling alone or in pairs was kept aside and made into a “group” for the ride. Interestingly, we all ended up being women, and we were from all over: Japan, Singapore, UK and Mexico. We called ourselves the “beautiful girls’ club.” Take a look.

The fourth video clip is of our high-tech landing. The crew, these guys landing us, were all terrific fun. And it was just hysterical to watch them pulling and running, over hill and dale, getting pulled through trees, in their quest to land our balloon.

My final video clip is of me opening a petori kebap for dinner in Göreme with my tour guide and the waiter.

Please let me know what you think! It’s always nice to know someone’s is reading/looking.

Cheeseburger in Paradise

First, there is a typical day on our terrace: paradise, Mazatlán style. (Click here to listen while you read.)

Add to that two men (and sometimes a woman) who love burgers. But, the beef here is VERY lean, not that marbled fat-filled juicy stuff my boys are used to. No worries!

Chef Greg, charter member of “Cooking Club of America,” to the rescue! He has learned to add some extra fat to the ground beef, to make it juicier once it comes off the grill. Turkey chorizo along with his secret spices in a frequent combination. But the best-ever cheeseburger in paradise was made from our local ground beef with some summer sausage, portobella mushrooms, and pineapple.

“I like mine with lettuce and tomato, Heinz 57 and french fried potatoes.” In our house, we go for sriracha mayo on the bun rather than ketchup, though of course we like lettuce and tomato (and sprouts), too. However, no normal bun will do. Chef Greg must go shopping for ciabatta bread. Mmmmmm. Not easy to find here, but doable. And what about the french fried potatoes? Hey, we’ve got a grill! Grilled vegies are loads better than the french fried variety. We nuke the potatoes first, then refrigerate till they’re cool and firm. Slice ’em, spice them up good, and grill ’em in a basket.
We put the sriracha mayo on the bun, but we still need the Heinz 57 for the fries! Since we live in the land of tomatoes (they appear on the Sinaloa car license plates), you’d think our local ketchup would rock. Not! The ketchup served here in the land of bountiful tomatoes is thin, watery and lacking flavor. Like Jimmy Buffett, we prefer Heinz 57. It’s hard to find here in Maz, but, with planning, doable.

¡Buen provecho!