Day 17 - Cappadocia

"It is said that St Paul was looking for a secure place after he was expelled from Jerusalem. He came to this region and established its first Christian colony with his followers. Furthermore, St Gregory of Nyssa, one of the Cappadocian Fathers who lived in this area said, on his return from Palestine in 380AD, that the Holy Spirit was not confined to Jerusalem, arguing, 'One might more justly consider that He dwelt in the Cappadocian nation more than anywhere else; for how many altars there are there - one could hardly count so many in the rest of the world.'"

We started the day by visiting an underground city, the Kaymakli Underground City. Christians hid from Arab invaders in these underground cities. It is amazing to see how they carved their way through the soft rock and the planning of the different layers of the city so that each level did not cave in on another. Some of the rooms and passage ways were so low that I hit my head on the ceiling a few times.

We then went to a pottery place where they showed us how they made the traditional Hittite wine bottles and goblets. The man speaking to us said that it has been the family business for a few generations and that they had mastered the traditional Hittite design. The man speaking to us also claimed that this was the area in which the Hittites lived. The art work was beautiful. I bought a small plate and a spoon rest. I also bought a beautiful crucifix carved out of stone. It is quite heavy and will definitely be part of my carry-on luggage. I hope to have this blessed by the Cardinal.

We then had Mass in the cave of a mountain the early Christians had transformed into a Chapel at Avanos.

After lunch, we went to visit Goreme. This is an open-air museum that has the earliest Churches and carved Chapels with Byzantine frescos. We visited the Dark Church, the Apple Church, the Buckle Church and the Nunnery. Unfortunately, we weren't ably to take photos inside.

On the way back to the Hotel we had a short stop at the 'Fairy Chimneys' in the Devrent Valley. These are pieces of volcanic rock that have been eroded away by wind and rain to finish up looking like long mushrooms.

We then went back to the Hotel. After dinner the people who had put washing in to be done had a real fight trying to track it down. There were a lot of other people staying at the hotel as well and the laundry had all been mixed up and delivered to the wrong rooms.

Carolyn's didn't turn up and the person behind the desk told her to go and knock on the doors to see if she could find it! Needless to say, that was not going to happen! The Turkish guide travelling with us saw from a distance the commotion that was unfolding at the desk and he came up straight away and started interceding. I was so glad I hadn't put any washing in but I felt very sorry for Carolyn.

Eventually her clothes turned up in the returned laundry of one of the blokes in our group. How they got the two mixed up, I'll never work out because Carolyn is the shortest person in our group and Steve is the tallest in our group, besides the Cardinal. As a result of this Turkish laundry fiasco everyone then checked their laundry. Everyone's laundry was eventually returned to the correct person, however, all of it was still wet. The people behind the desk then suggested that the clothes be dried by each person with the hair dryers provided in each room! Once again, I was so happy I did not put any laundry in to be done!

We went to bed but Aret stayed up until after midnight arguing with them that they should not be charging anybody for the laundry service. Fortunately for our group Aret won the argument!