Turkey is lovely!

Right after spending our winter holidays in Poland we decided to hop on a plane and go to Turkey for 6 days. Our first stop was Istanbul. We planned to stay there for 1 night only. It was our “transit place” on our way to Cappadocia. We chose a hotel in the city center to explore as much as we could in the 24h that we had. The hotel was stunning. I always knew how beautiful Istanbul was but never thought it had so many interesting old buildings and a mixture of architecture. The first day was quite low key. We landed in Istanbul in the afternoon, took a taxi and went to our hotel. Right after checking in we went for a walk to some nearby touristic places (hotel is situated between the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia). It’s maybe a 5 min walk from the hotel. The weather was nice, it wasn’t too cold even tho it was winter time. For dinner we chose a cute little rooftop bar called Deraliye Terrace. The rooftop bar is situated at the top of Sura Design Hotel (in the city center as well). We chose a traditional Turkish clay pot kebab. The view was magnificent. If you are looking for a spot to enjoy the view and the food that’s definitely a good spot. The price at that time was $20 (and easily can feed 2 people). We also chose a local wine (price per glass: house white $4 a glass).

After arriving in Cappadocia from Istanbul ( the flight took 1,5 h ) we took a transfer organized by the hotel. It took about 1h to Goreme. After checking-in we went to search for food. The Local Cave Hotel doesn’t have in-house restaurant (they only serve breakfast - it is delicious and fully home made by the older lady in the back kitchen!!) Due to covid lots of restaurants were only open for take away food. We picked up some Turkish kebabs from the local restaurant called Sedef )it was recommended by my Turkish friend who lives in Cappadocia as well. Prices for the food vary from $4 - $10 per person, but the food is highly recommended!

Visiting Cappadocia and not being on a hot air balloon? ... Wait, WHAT?! 🙈 It’s one of the best ways to start your day over there. You will have to wake up quite early. Our pick up from the hotel (in the winter time) was at around 6:45am (of course in the summer time it’s much earlier because of the sunrise). Driver from the hot air balloon company that we chose picked us up and took to the offfice to do some paper works and from there to the field where the balloon was being inflated 🎈 It’s a quite interesting process to watch I must admit. The standard balloon ride takes approximately 1h. There were two types of baskets; for 12 and 24 people. Best places are in the corner (easier to take a nice picture without random people around). Price per person $80 We chose Hot Air Balloon company called @airkapadokyaballoons and our amazing pilot @flywithserkan It was my second time flying with him and each experience was wonderful!! First time it was September 2019 and second time; one of the last days of December 2020. 🎈🥰 FOR GIRLS - while inside of the basket it doesn’t really matter if you are wearing a dress or pants (no one will see it on the pictures 😉). Only when you get off after hot air balloon lands, you can take nice full body pictures with tons of other balloons landing around (so than a dress could be a nice accessory).

Last day of the year 31st of December! Our day was quite busy… we woke up early, packed our bags, moved them to another hotel and went on a day tour. It was quite a lot for one day as NYE celebration was starting at 6pm. But we enjoyed our busy schedule! The tour included: - Underground city, (one of the deepest underground cities in Cappadocia Region) - Love valley, - Goreme open air museum (member of UNESCO World Heritage) - Pigeon valley (Pigeons should meet you at the top of the valley, as they were always important for the Cappadocia habitants) - Goreme panorama, - Devrent Valley (lots of animal shaped rocks - fun time trying to figure out what they present!) - Monks Valley (fairy chimneys shaped in mushrooms 😃 so unique and beautiful!) - Avanos (pottery) ( as you see on the picture above; you can try it yourself!) Price : 80 euro per person. Ended up being completely private - just us and a tour guide. What was included in the price: - Transportation with AC (pick up from the hotel and drop off to the hotel) - Lunch (we chose to have it outside with a beautiful view) - Entrance fees, - Service charges and local fees Tour takes almost all day - 10am- 6pm

Choosing accommodation and searching for a nice hotel with beautiful views can be pretty draining... who agrees?! 🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻 We decided to stay in few different cave hotels to see how they look... Picture above was taken in @sultan_cave_suites After this trip I realized how important it is to book a hotel that has their own restaurant. When we arrived Cappadocia was under lockdown (all restaurants were doing only take aways). Luckily for NYE we moved to this hotel and could book our NYE dinner in @setenrestaurant If not we would probably have only take away in our room in some other places (what wouldn’t be bad at all, but not as festive as this was 🥂🎊🥳) Before our NYE dinner started we had some “cocktail party” on the terrace outside of the restaurant. It was quite cold like 1 C or so... the fire bon mulled wine & wonderful view were keepin us warm. 😉 Check picture to see how the terrace looked like 😀

Last day in Cappadocia. It was sad to leave this beautiful place, but we were not done yet! Early wake up call (as per usual) and we walked to the top of the hill called Lovers Hill. The price for walk in was about $1 per person. When we arrived there, we were the only ones (better to come early so you can have a nice spot for pictures). It was very cold that day, but it was really worth it. Magical morning view with hundreds of balloons flying over. Look at the pictures 😀 You can also see the city Goreme from the top. Perfect spot for sunset as well. There is little cafe upstairs selling snacks, soft drinks and alcohol as well. After that we had a quick quad bike tour too. We used company called Silkroad Goreme ATV Turlari. Tour takes 2h. Beautiful views and fun times. Definitely worth trying 😀 Price per person $30: (they will pick you up from the hotel and drop back as well). We had delicious mulled wine at the top of the hill called Sunset View Point near Rose Valley. Time to go back to the hotel, pack bags and hopper on a plane to spend the next 24h in Istanbul!

We arrived at the hotel quite late. We decided to go sleep and wake up early to have breakfast and go see other parts of the city. Before going back to Dubai we decided to stay in @sevenhillshotel again as we loved every second we got to spend there! If you are thinking or planning your trip it’s a “must visit” place for sure. If not booking your stay in the hotel then at least having lunch or dinner at the rooftop restaurant called @sevenhillsrestaurant Three beautiful views from the rooftop terrace: 1. Sunrise 2. Blue Mosque 3. Hagia Sophia Breakfast: Look at this breakfast!!! I guess we tried EVERYTHING possible that Turkish people eat for breakky!! Hehe That’s the way Turkish breakfast is being served when you book your stay at @sevenhillshotel Not only was the food amazing but also the views around! 🤩 Architecture in Istanbul : There are so many beautiful historic buildings all around Istanbul. If you like history, art and architecture, you would definitely find a lot of interesting places to visit. Let me mention a few of them: 1. Hagia Sophia (you can enter for free but women have to cover knees, shoulders and head - there is a possibility to rent a scarf. Shoes have to be removed) 2. Blue Mosque ( same instructions as Hagia Sophia - entrance for free as well.) 3. Dolmabahce Palace ( entrance fee ) 4. Topkapi Palace ( general entrance fee + separate prices if you would like to enter different parts of the Palace) 5. Grand Baazar (one of the biggest Baazars in the world, definitely worth visiting! Even for a pic 😉) 6. Lots of different museums (for example carpet museum, museum of Turkish and Islamic arts, Archeology Museum etc) 7. Lots of other Mosques, bridges, Island etc... The trip was over and we flew back to Dubai…✈️😄