Up! Up! And Away!

Tuesday, May 14, 2012

Hello!

Today is our 30th wedding anniversary, and we decided to spend it ballooning over Cappadocia! However, first things first; last night’s wonderful dinner!
R discovered that while the internet access in the rooms/caves is really slow, if you go to the office – about 5 steps down – the access and speed is much better there. So, down there to post the blog last night, and were able to see a really spectacular double rainbow!! Neat!

For dinner, we went down a few flights of stairs (seems like everything at the Sultan Suites Cave Hotel is up or down in some measure) to the Seten Restaurant.

We got there at 7, and there were already people eating. It turns out that the restaurant goes along the cliff face and comprises something like 5 or 6 separate rooms – I’m sure a real challenge for the wait staff! We were seated in the last room, with a lovely view to the outside ( – and oh! Correction, before I forget: These piles are called Fairy Chimneys, NOT Fairy Castles… sorry ‘bout that!) Robert had been a bit apprehensive when he was told that this was “traditional” Turkish cooking, but not only was the menu varied, the food itself was wonderful!

I ordered their eggplant salad for starters; R their artichoke cap. My salad was basically the eggplant mixed with the Turkish sweet red peppers and mint; it was delicious. Robert’s artichoke cap was stuffed with veggies – potatoes, carrots, peas – and he loved it! (Although I still think mine was better.) For mains, R ordered their chicken and eggplant cooked in a sort of tandoor style oven. I had beef steak on eggplant puree with other vegetables – what tasted like a puree of turnip, as well as green beans in tomato sauce and some other unidentifiable (to me!) pureed vegetable. Everything was great, and we were definitely too stuffed afterwards to do anything but stumble upstairs to our room. And, with a 4:30 a.m. wake-up coming, that was a very good thing!

Well, you know how it is when you KNOW you have to get up? Well, I dreamed twice about somehow missing the bus for the balloon ride, and apparently Robert, in his dream, was somewhere in the hinterlands of Heathrow unable to get out and catch the bus…so, up on time and down to the office for the 5 a.m. pickup from Butterfly Balloons. Turns out that the young man “in charge” on the desk had somehow overslept, and thus had NOT made the required wake-up calls to the guests going on the balloons today; he made the wake-up calls at 4:55 a.m.

At any rate, into the bus eventually and down the hill to Butterfly Balloons office to meet all the other ballooning guests, and there were four balloons of us! We were checked in and told that our balloon pilot was John. They had a nice area with coffee, tea, water, juice and some quick munchies for those folks who need food in the morning. Then they called everybody for the buses, and all of John’s people went together. Over the roads and out of town we went – and believe me, the roads that that minibus took were REALLY tiny! Up and out of Goreme to a spot overlooking the big valley.

Pulled up to our balloons and got out; everyone milling around and taking pictures as they got “our” balloon ready to fly. We could see other balloons ALL OVER the valley, in any direction we turned, getting ready to go as well. So, John called us to get in – up and over into the high basket. It must come a little under 4’ tall; chest high (although that does depend on where you wear your chest, doesn’t it?) The way you get into the balloon is to use the two footholds that are actually in the side of the basket, and then hop over into your section of the balloon. VERY cozy! So, we’re all in, when suddenly, John says, we have a problem with the balloon, and we’re going to have to re-inflate; everybody out!

So…everybody out; and we are oh so graceful, let me tell you! Then, re-inflate the balloon, and quickly everybody, get back in! However, John still not happy with the balloon; says it is not “sealing” properly – and believe me, when it’s your life on the line, nobody was unhappy about a delay to get it right. It was decided at that point to get the “big” balloon – the other three of our balloons are already flying high at this point. So…fortunately, it wasn’t far from town, but out comes the brand-new BIG balloon – and we start the inflation process all over again! This time, (time #3 getting in, mind you!) everything was fine.
There were 16 people plus one crew member for ballast and the captain, John. We shared our part of the basket with Victoria and Ron, two young people from West L.A.; very cute and nice.

And then we were flying! Wow! The takeoff was so smooth, you didn’t immediately realize that you were in the air! Flying here is really a lot more fun that in the Valley of the Kings, because there is so much more to see! We would go high above the chimneys, and then drop down into a valley; then back up again – sometimes just coasting along at tree-top level – even hitting some of the top branches! Then WAY back up … my least favorite part! We flew through several valleys, and saw the landscape from a really unique perspective; so glad that we did it!

Coming down was a hoot. As we were the last balloon up in the valley, we got to watch the others come down – in fields, valleys, farms – from way above, we could see the chase trucks and the minivans scattering in all sorts of directions. Finally we started our descent – and believe it or not, without too much trouble and only a little help from the crew on the ground, John actually managed to land our basket on the back of the truck! It was GREAT! Once everybody got out (mostly with the help of a gigantic crew member who could literally pick people up from the basket and set them down!) we had a champagne toast, and cake, and all received our flying certificates…great fun!

Then, back in the minivan for drop-offs at our respective hotels. Met some really nice people; had a fabulous time! Thank you, Butterfly Balloons!!

To be honest, by the time we got back to the hotel, just on 9 o’clock, our only idea was SLEEP. So, we did! (Hey, it’s our anniversary, and if that’s how we want to spend it…) Up again about 11:30 a.m. feeling VERY refreshed and ready to go.
R first very insistent that we get new windshield wipers, as it definitely looked like rain approaching. We checked with the guys at the desk, and they gave us the address of a place in the closest city, Nevshir. Emmy (behaving very well now, thank you very much; knock wood!) was able to lead us to the Hyundai dealership, but they of course didn’t have any parts…but send us right across the street to a big auto parts dealership, and voila, in just a few minutes, new windshield wipers! YEA! Which is good, as it did definitely rain this afternoon.

We decided at this point to drive to the neighboring town of Urgup (yep, pronounced just like it’s spelled!), through which we had gone this morning, and get some lunch. Found Teras Café and Restaurant. VERY good food – R had the lamb shish and I had chicken (is it possible that I will ever get tired of chicken…yes, I am thinking it is…) with rice and French fries. Then, back on the road.

There are a great many tourists in Cappadocia, but fortunately, most of them don’t have cars. So, we wound around some of the very backest of roads looking at the sights; the geography is really stunning, let me say that yet again! We decided that we’re going to go to an underground city tomorrow morning, first thing; apparently they open at 8 or 8:30 and if we get there early, we’ll beat the tour buses. So…that’s the plan!

However, at this point, the heavens burst and we had a truly torrential rainstorm! (Even heard that some folks experienced hail, but we didn’t see any.) We were, of course, at this point at the back of beyond, the boy, did the water start rushing in torrents across the road. I was REALLY apprehensive, and kept thinking about Arizona’s Stupid Driver Law (translation: If you are stupid enough to cross a ranging torrent of water and get swept away, you will be rescued, but they will send you the bill.) And I did NOT want to be a Stupid Driver! However, while there were definite torrents, and parts of the road flooding completely, we were still able to make our way around and finally get back to the main road. Yipee!! From there we headed back to Goreme and Sultan Cave Suites…lovely late afternoon now, cool and crisp, but sunshine and fluffy white clouds! What a GREAT place to spend an anniversary!

Lots of love,
m
xxx