Walking(shaw) in Konya!

Well hello there, fine reader. Come here often? If you do then you know that I haven't posted anything in awhile. I apologize, as I know that this has probably caused all of you a lot of sleepless nights, binge eating of Ben & Jerry's and a general disinterest in your jobs, families and social lives. Perhaps we could blame my absence from the blogosphere on age related memory loss?

 

That's right, people, when I return from Turkey I will not only be wiser, classier, more sophisticated and better looking...I'll be 25! The DeVries created a magical birthday celebration that included (but was not limited too): delicious cake, a package of coffee, party hats, a room full of balloons and a 'Happy Birthday' headdress. Plus, they even made this poster:

Obviously, the hours it took coming up with 25 things to love about me were spent narrowing down the probably very substantial list. Right? RIGHT?

I couldn't have asked for a better day, and I'm truly grateful to be living with such a warm, fun and generous family!

A few days later I was treated to another birthday extravaganza: the arrival of my favorite intrepid explorer, the one, the only (cue spotlights, trumpet blasts and falling confetti): Allison Walkingshaw!!

For those of you who don't know, Allison and I first met as interns at the Hatfield Marine Science center, where a mutual love of  ice cream, period dramas and early bed times blossomed into a friendship further fueled by Downton Abbey and Breyer's Oreo Cookie blast (you should probably stop reading and try this immediately). She and her husband Eric have been living in Marburg, Germany since September, so she was able to pop over to Turkey and stay with us for a week! Due to the limited flights in and out of Konya, we actually met Allison in the capital of Turkey, Ankara.

Ankara is much bigger than Konya, but quite frankly I didn't notice a lot of other differences between them. Both have lots of apartment buildings, shopping areas, and most of the amenities that you expect to see in big cities.

  

One thing I love about both cities is their dedication to parks. Almost every park has a brightly colored, whimsical play structure (in the picture above, it's in the bottom left corner under a white tent), lots of open space, gazebos, and even workout equipment for adults! For instance, here' s one in Konya that Allison and I visited and that the DeVries' and I later went to:

This one has the delightful addition of creepy Disney characters.

 This same park also has a covered bouncy house, ball pit, and trampolines where you pay a couple lira for the kids to bounce to their heart's content (evidently adults in their 20's aren't allowed, though. My bad).

We got back to Konya on Saturday night, so after a rest day that involved a wonderfully greasy pizza and an unmentionable number of cookies Allison and I headed up to Sille. My last post was about this little village so I won't get into too much detail, but we were able to do some hiking up to one of the many cave churches.

 Obligatory "Look, I'm in a cave church!" photos were taken...

... and I won't name names, but some of us were made squeamish envisioning our possible demise as we leaned over the edge to take pictures for our devoted blog followers (who I realize are mostly made up of my parental units. You're welcome, guys).

And like most of Allison and my adventures, food was involved:

 The rest of our week was filled with copious amounts of baked goods, a Downton Abbey marathon, child hassling and a fair amount of tram riding. It was a wonderful visit, and I can't wait to reunite again this September in Corvegas!

Now, before I go, it's time for a quick shameless plug. Perhaps you're reading this and thinking to yourself that you wish you had another travel blog to read. One by a well written, travel oriented person who's living in a charming German town and posts weekly about her life there. How interesting, because I know just the blog! Check it out here. (In case you didn't figure it out, it's written by this week's celebrity guest). If nothing else, I'm sure there will be some embarrassing photos of yours truly from her visit to Turkey. ;)

Safe travels,
Adaline