The view of Istanbul from the Galata tower, built in the 1300s as part of the city walls. These days it houses a restaurant/nightclub and also the panorama balcony as seen in the photo. You can see 'Golden Horn' (the name given to the estuary) and the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya over the other side of the water in the background.
The Galata tower from the street. It is situated in the more modern side of Istanbul (Beyoglu) which feels so different from the older touristy Sultanahmet area, the main street seemed more like Oxford St than Turkey. Unfortunately the weather wasn't that great in Istanbul so our view from the tower was a bit average.
The impressive Blue Mosque. It's called the Blue Mosque because of its interior tiles (it's not blue on the outside) but the tiles are quite high up so it doesn't really seem that blue at all.
An alternative entrance and view to the Blue Mosque. The smaller building in the front is an ablution fountain for mosque-goers to wash at before they go inside. 
The pretty tilework on the walls and domes inside. 
John in Topkapi Palace, home of the Ottoman sultans for about 400 years. It's a huge complex with four courtyards, a harem, glittering treasury and various other exhibits. 
This is the eerie looking Yerebatan Saray Cistern (or Sunken Palace) in Istanbul. It is an impressive underground Byzantine cistern with 336 marble columns and atmospheric lighting. 
The Spice Market had some interesting goods for sale... mostly spices, dried fruits, nuts, seeds and Turkish delight.
Aya Sofya (or Hagia Sophia) was built in 537AD, the biggest church ever built until St Peters in Rome about 1000 years later. It was originally a Christian church but was proclaimed a mosque by Mehmet the Conquerer after he took the city from the Byzantines in 1453. You can see imprints in the walls where crosses used to hang before it was transformed into a mosque. It is filled with lots of impressive mosaics. 
The Ayasofya by night. It faces the Blue Mosque, making a very pretty square in the centre of Istanbul.
So after Istanbul we piled into the bus for our trip to Gallipoli. We arrived around 8 or 9pm and headed to the site on ANZAC Cove to get a seat for the dawn service. The atmosphere was good, about 10,000 Kiwis and Aussies there. They played various ANZAC-related footage on two big screens and most of the seating was in grandstands. So we sat up all night wrapped up in our sleeping bags waiting for the service to start. Actually managed to get a bit of sleep as well. The photo above is of John in some of the many trenches scattered over the cliffs above ANZAC Cove.
A memorial on the way up to the New Zealand service at Chunuk Bair. 
The Turkish people also commemorate ANZAC day and like NZ and Australia, have their own service later in the morning. This is a group of Turkish children on their way to the Turkish service.
John and some more trenches and the Dardanelles in the background. 
The Chunuk Bair memorial where the New Zealand service was held. 
MC laying her poppy. 
The crowd at the Dawn Service. It was quite emotional to be there - MC looked over at the big Aussie guy sitting beside her and there was a tear rolling down his cheek... awwww 
John at ANZAC Cove where the ANZAC troops landed. I think we learnt so much more about the Gallipoli battles by being here.
This is John's paparazzi photo with Judy Bailey and Winston Peters at the NZ ceremony who both spoke very well. Judy is looking pretty hot too. 
MC in one of the 30 or so cemeteries scattered on the peninsula hilltops.
Judy smiling at the admiring crowd. 
Cappadocia is famous for its 'moonscape' area where erosion has formed caves, clefts, folds and 'fairy chimneys' (like in the photo above) in the soft volcanic rock. There are also a few cute camels around for tourists to be photographed with...
The rock is really smooth due to the erosion and the area is also on a fault line which means there are lots of chasms and earthquake-induced damage.
John looking out a 'window' in a cave house in the Zelve Valley. This settlement was inhabited until the 1950s.
Cave houses in the Zelve Valley - straight out of the Flintstones!
On the way to the Zelve Valley we climbed the mountains and wandered along the top of the fairy chimneys.
The weird-looking landscape.
And again.
John in the window of one of the houses.
There are also two underground cities built by the Hittites around 1500BC (and expanded over centuries) near Goreme. We went to one (Derinkuyu), a subterranean town extending about seven levels into the earth, carved from the soft volcanic stone. There are big rolling-stone doors to prevent any invaders getting in, deep wells for water and tall chimneys for ventilation.
The town of Goreme with its striking backdrop. And some yummy Turkish pide.
John on the rocks.
More fairy chimneys. We took soooo many photos here!
One of the coolest things we did during this trip was a hot air balloon ride at sunrise over Cappadocia.
The hot air balloon ride is a popular activity here and there are quite a few different operators all flying at the same time so we had a good view of all the other balloons as well as the awesome scenery below.
Our balloon coming in to land.
We had a nice smooth landing in some fields, luckily away from the rocks!
We continued our holiday tradition of hiring a scooter in Cappadocia to see the sights without having to pay for various tours. This is John in Uchisar, a wee town near Goreme.
Good-looking camel.
At the Goreme Open-Air Museum. The above is a monastery.
The Open-Air Museum has the region's best collection of painted cave churches. Most of the frescoes in the churches have been damaged but there are a few really beautiful ones such as the one above.
Waiting for the balloon ride.
Taking off at sunrise in the balloon.
More Cappadocia. We stayed in a cave hotel in Goreme which was fantastic, our room was etched out of the cave and even had a jacuzzi in the bathroom!After 3 great days in Goreme we travelled west on another overnight bus to Pamukkale.
John and the ruins of Hierapolis, an ancient Roman mineral water spa city.
MC relaxing among marble Roman columns in the Sacred Pool, which is kept warm by an inflow of hot calcium-laden mineral water.
The thermal pool was sooo touristy - tour bus after tour bus arrived during the afternoon but as most were day-trippers we waited until about 5pm to swim and virtually had the whole baths to ourself. Bliss!
The main attraction in Pamukkale is the Travertines. Somewhere under the ground is a huge source of water heated by volcanic lava. The water dissolves pure white calcium, becomes saturated with it and carries it to the earth's surface, where it runs down the steep hillside. As it cools in the air, the calcium precipitates from the water, adheres to the soil and forms white calcium cascades frozen in stone. They are pretty at sunset in the photo above.
The Travertines.
The flowing mineral water pools in the terraces.
More Travertines.
Below is John being a poser in the impressively preserved theatre at Hierapolis.
One night was all we needed in Pamukkale so the next morning we set off for Selcuk, the last stop of our trip. Ephesus is the main attraction in this area of Turkey, being the best-preserved Roman city in the Mediterranean region, however the town itself (Selcuk) in the photo above was worth a visit - very chilled out and relaxing.
Emperor uhhhh... John in Ephesus.
The library, the most impressive building in Ephesus.
A show put on by the locals outside the library at Ephesus.
The sign says 'genuine fake watches'.....???!!
We spent an afternoon at Pamucak, the relatively undeveloped beach near Selcuk. Was great to get some sun, sand and surf after a long English winter!
Also in Selcuk is St John Basilica, which marks the spot where St John is buried after spending the last years of his life writing the Gospel at Ephesus. The above is a view of Selcuk and surrounds from the Basilica ruins.
Dinner by the fountains in Selcuk. There were lots of scavenging cats in this town doing very well out of diner's leftovers. Selcuk is also famous for its stork population, you can see them in the photo in their nests on top of the old city gates.
We met a very friendly and chatty carpet seller in Selcuk who originally came from a city in the east of Turkey called Van, which is known for the cats bred in this district ('Van cats'). This guy had 3 of them in his shop (mum and two 5-week old kittens). They are beautiful cats - pure white fur with one blue eye and one green/yellow one. Apparently they also like swimming!
The Mummy cat - she has two different coloured eyes, her babies still have two blue ones, apparently they will change colour later in life. Maybe Daisy would like a little Van cat to play with?
We had a Turkish bath (hamam) on our last night in Selcuk which was interesting. It turned out to have only male attendants so MC felt a bit odd being exfoliated, soaped up and massaged by a middle-aged Turkish man while wearing only bikini bottoms (and even they were only an afterthought)! MC that is, not the masseuse - he was wearing a loin cloth!
So that was our Turkey experience, we absolutely loved it, the people were so friendly and seemed to have a special affinity for Kiwis and Aussies. Many of the ubiquitous touts would greet us with "G'day mate" and even "Kia ora"!
Our next trip is this Saturday, we are going back to Amsterdam for the weekend to see the tulips at the Keukenhof gardens - MC is very excited! Meanwhile in London the weather is improving and the sun has been shining all week with temperatures in the 20s so we are looking forward to summer!
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