Hot air ballooning in Cappadocia

Cappadocia is an amazing place.  I've heard it described as a lunar or Martian landscape and, I agree, it's not too far from that.  But, for us, we both felt as if we had stepped into a fantasy novel --- perhaps Frank Herbert's Dune or the Aiel Waste in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series --- because it didn't feel possible.  The rocks grew in strange shapes, caverns undulated and rippled, and houses and churches peeked out in arches and entryways in the yellow rocks.

There's no better way to see this landscape than on a hot air balloon.  We floated into the air, gently and smoothly, rising higher and higher as the sun rose over Cappadocia.  Within twenty minutes, there were eighty or more hot air balloons swimming through the air, rising and dipping across the blue skies and into the rocky crevices of the earth.  The ten of us on the balloon spoke softly in whispers, as if afraid to disturb the peace of the morning (though the honeymooning couple next to me carried on a furious argument in low whispers for the first half of the flight which cannot bode well for their marriage because all fears, worries, and anger disappeared for me as soon as we got into the air.)

We wanted to stay, forever, in that way, floating above beauty.

Details

We used Kapadokya Balloons for our hot air balloon experience.  We took the 90 minute deluxe flight, that cost 230 Euros per person, rather than the 45-minute flight for 165 Euros.  The deluxe flight also put us in a smaller 10 person balloon rather than the huge 24 person balloons.  Our pilot was fantastic --- he navigated us right above the Goreme Open Air Museum and very close to some of the painted churches and took us very high up.  We thought long and hard about shelling out so much money for only a few hours' experience, but, ultimately, it's the most amazing thing we did in Turkey and one of the best things we've done in the entire world.  The cost is high but it is well worth doing.

The balloon company picked us up at 4:00 a.m., drove us 20 minutes to a big hotel where they gave us a very mediocre breakfast, and then we were piled into individual vans to go to our various hot air balloons.  Kapadokya Balloons is a huge company and I think if we had to do it over again, we would have opted for a smaller company that has breakfast right in front of the balloons because it would have been nice to see more of the set up.  Then, we drove to the balloon point and watched them inflate the balloon and were off.

When it's all said and done, all the balloon companies offer pretty much the same services and go up at the same time, so if you see a deal for something better, take it.  We arrived at 4:00 a.m. and took the 90-minute experience.  Though I don't think that the company matters much, I do recommend taking the longer hot air balloon ride for 90 minutes rather than 45 minutes because we were able to go much higher and further than the shorter rides, and I think that the incremental cost is worth the expense.  (Note, it's more expensive to pay via credit card than cash so we would recommend paying by cash.)

F1 race at the Circuit de Catalunya

If you're not into amazing food or crazy architecture, I still think you should consider a trip to Barcelona because the city delivers on adventure.  You can be a spectator at some of the coolest arenas in the world, or, if you'd rather get your proverbial hands dirty, you can do that, too.  Check out this picture post of amazing adventuring in Barcelona:

Watch the F1 races at the Circuit de Catalunya:

Drive an antique car through the streets of Barcelona with PummBarcelona:

Sail with the Museu Maritim:

Hear the imaginary fans screaming GOOOOAAAALLL at the field at FC Barcelona's Camp Nou and at their interactive museum:

Read more about Adventuring in Barcelona at these sites:

• The Planet D: Cool City Tours in Barcelona; Our First F1 Race - Circuit de Catalunya

• Mallory on Travel: Postcards from Barcelona's Seafaring Tradition; FC Barcelona Camp Nou; Touring Barcelona on the Catalan Job

• Travels of Adam: Formula what?

* Note: My trip to Catalunya was sponsored by Catalunya Experience but, as always, all opinions on this site are mine and mine alone.

F1 race at the Circuit de Catalunya

If you're not into amazing food or crazy architecture , I still think you should consider a trip to Barcelona because the city delivers on adventure.  You can be a spectator at some of the coolest arenas in the world, or, if you'd rather get your proverbial hands dirty, you can do that, too.  Check out this picture post of amazing adventuring in Barcelona:

Watch the F1 races at the Circuit de Catalunya :

Drive an antique car through the streets of Barcelona with PummBarcelona :

Sail with the Museu Maritim:

Hear the imaginary fans screaming GOOOOAAAALLL at the field at FC Barcelona's Camp Nou and at their interactive museum:

Read more about Adventuring in Barcelona at these sites:

• The Planet D : Cool City Tours in Barcelona ; Our First F1 Race - Circuit de Catalunya

• Mallory on Travel : Postcards from Barcelona's Seafaring Tradition ; FC Barcelona Camp Nou ; Touring Barcelona on the Catalan Job

• Travels of Adam : Formula what?

* Note: My trip to Catalunya was sponsored by Catalunya Experience but, as always, all opinions on this site are mine and mine alone.

Scenes near Brienz Lake

My one and only skiing experience began and ended with me flat on my butt.  I don't know why I expected anything less: nine years of detested gym classes (as soon as I got into high school, I figured out a way to avoid gym altogether) plus two years of abhorred gymnastics revealed a complete lack of balance and athleticism.  Patrick is never surprised when I trip over my own feet in the middle of a flat, unmarked street.  It's just my way.

Chewy in the snow

Anyhow, so, we had this plan to go skiing in Switzerland.  Why?  Well, it's the thing you do when you go to Switzerland . . . you ski, eat cheese fondue, and drink hot chocolate.  But, we had to cut our time in Switzerland to a very short three days which meant that we wouldn't have time to take ski classes and ski while there.  Which, in the long run, was probably a good thing for me, my body, and the rest of the Swiss population, because I can only imagine that they would have been mortified by me constantly falling flat on my butt.  (As a side note, the Swiss literally begin learning how to ski as soon as they are taught how to walk.  We talked to a ski instructor at the resort who said that she recently had a 22-month-old in her ski class and that the 5-year-olds were practically experts.)

Views of Meiringen and Sherlock Holmes statue

We reached the Bernese Oberland region, most famous as the scene of Sherlock Holmes' "death" while battling Moriarty, and I started thumbing through the brochures, wondering if there was a way to enjoy the stunning winter wonderland without skiing.  And, there was.

Sleds stacked

I always thought that sledding was a kid's activity and a relatively tedious activity at that: trudge up a hill, slide down, trudge back up, and so on.  But, in Switzerland, sledding (or what they call sledging) is no child's game.  In Switzerland, you take ski lifts to the top of a mountain, sled down a specially groomed run for about three kilometers (about a mile and a half), reach the bottom and head back up the ski lift again.  And again.  And again.

Sledding and the sledding runs

It's pretty much the most fun wintertime activity ever.  I'm whizzing down the mountain, taking curves around the hills, charting how long I can go without stopping, and staring all the while at huge hills of snow piled on top of tree branches and houses.  It takes me an hour to reach the bottom of the first sledding run and when we go back up, we get better --- or more daring --- not stopping or slowing even when the curves rush at us, and we're down at the bottom of the mile and a half sledding run in forty-five minutes, and the next time we make it down in thirty minutes.

Super short sledding video

Snowflakes flutter through the air and the cold wind is in my throat and I want to scream "Whee!" but I don't because I am, after all, a grown up.  And sledding is a grown up activity here in Switzerland.

Details

We stayed in a fantastic holiday rental in Brienzwiler between Brienz and Meiringen, both of which are very cute little towns.  We went sledding on the Hasliberg mountain , at the edge of Meiringen town.  There is a large tourist shop at Meiringen next to the railroad where we purchased one-day sledding passes for 37 CHF (about $45 USD) each which gave us unlimited access up and down two different ski lifts.  We rented sleds at the Magisalp ski lift for 12 CHF (about $15 USD) per day.

Magisalp ski lift

We started at the Magisalp ski lift and sledded down to the Bidmi ski lift.  There are several restaurants, lockers, and a small shop at the Magisalp ski lift so it is definitely possible to spend the whole day sledding.  It's a great activity for all ages because it's exhilarating enough for adults but safe for kids.  On the day we were there, we saw mostly adults sledding, sometimes holding onto a family dog which ran ahead of the sled.  Dogs are allowed on the ski lifts and down the sledding runs.

Warm jackets and gloves are essential while sledding and we also wished that we had rented ski boots because snow quickly soaked our shoes and socks and we had to cut short our sledding because our feet were so cold.

Wiener schnitzel, rosti, fondue

Though we normally try to avoid super heavy and cheesy food, we craved fatty food while in Switzerland because of the cold.  Swiss food delivers with delicious, creamy, and cheesy options at every meal.  We highly recommend the Steinbock Hotel Restaurant in Brienz where Patrick indulged in a mushroom covered crisp wiener schnitzel and I chowed down on a hearty and decadent vegetable rosti.  We also enjoyed our meal at the Restaurant Laterne in Interlaken with its choices of excellent fondue and rosti (though the rosti was not as good as the one we had at the Steinbock).

And, oh yeah, if you're wondering why I'm posting about winter weather in March . . . it's because it is still very much winter here in Europe.  We got snow flurries two days ago --- I am very envious of all the warm weather that folks in the United States are getting.