Dixit, Dixit: One couple's strange, exotic journey from Florence to Cappadocia

Of course, there are many things we miss about Florence:

• The castle-like doors of our apartment on Via della Vigna Vecchia.
• The warm and welcoming owner of Osteria de Benci with the Elvis side-burns.
• The rooftop cafe at Rinascente in Piazza de la Republica where we had our Italian lessons with Lucia.
• Lucia.
• La Nazione newsstand near the Bargello Museum, where Amol bought the Herald Tribune in the mornings.
• Cappucino and hot chocolate and Scrabble at various caffes in various piazzas across the city. Amol is becoming an expert on scoring the 50-point bonus for using all his letters. I think he has an unfair advantage because he just finished reading "Word Freak" about the underworld of competitive Scrabble.
• The super rich hot chocolate that we discovered only towards the end of our trip. It was especially good at Paskowski's in Piazza de la Republica and at Rivoire in Piazza de la Signoria.
• The open-air museum-ness of the city, which our friend Fio pointed out.
• Random accordion players. I wonder if locals find them to be a nuisance. I loved them.
• Buying soymilk and bananas from our market. Somehow, buying groceries in Europe is more fun than at home. Unless we go to the farmer's market.
• The Paperback Exchange bookstore. A small group of American women would sit at the back of the store and try to register any unregistered Americans before the upcoming election. I admired their dedication and good posture.
• Even the loud, inexplicable construction noise outside our apartment in the morning.

Fortunately, we have a good distraction from missing Florence too terribly. Turkey has been wonderful. Beautiful and astounding. Some of the things we've loved:

• The exterior of the Blue Mosque. Amol is mesmerized by it and wants to build a house in its image.
• The interior of the Aya Sofya.
• Dubb, indian restaurant. Incredible view of the Aya Sofya from the 4th floor terrace.
• The mix of East and West on Istiklal street. We saw a very old woman pulling an utterly enormous load of boxes on a handcart, uphill, in front of a Starbucks. Istiklal has 3 Starbucks.
• The landscape of Cappadocia. It's really like we're on another planet. I can't believe that this place exists in the same world that I have been living in all this time.
• The hamams (Turkish Baths). They are kind of like saunas, but without the steam, but with heated marble benches that make you super warm and relaxed. (Julie and Jason, you'd love it!)
• The "British Orientalist Paintings" exhibit at the Pera Museum in Istanbul.
• The dog that followed us on our hike through the Rose Valley. We named him Blue, after Amol's new favorite building. We all felt very betrayed when he abandoned us for another group with better snacks. Our friend Mike was particularly devastated.