We slept on the train (at least we tried) in our cozy compartment. The tracks were very rough which cause the train to bump around during the night. It made abrupt stops from time-to-time which jolted us awake. We expected this, though, so it was a fun experience.
Our Compartment
Breakfast at 6:30 was olives, cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, bread and a hard-boiled egg with coffee (Nescafe). Although Turkish coffee is made with real ground coffee, most "regular" coffee is instant. Almost everyone from our group made it to breakfast. The ones that didn't opted to sleep a little more.
We got to Ankara at 8:30 and met our bus. Then it was off to the Anatolian Civilizations Museum. It displayed artifacts from Paleozoic times to more recent history. It was a fairly small but very intense exhibit. There were lots of cave paintings, ceramics, stone sculptures, etc.
Matriarch
After that we made the requisite visit to Ataturk's mausoleum and museum.
Lunch was on our own. We went to a fast-food place and had sandwiches. Ann was conservative and had tuna with tomatoes. I had my first Turkish gyro - lamb and vegetables. There were lots of locals there so it must have been good.
Our Lunch Spot
Then it was time to get on our bus to drive 5 1/2 hours to Cappadocia. It was an easy drive because we had time to nap and catch up on some of the sleep we lost on the train. We also made two pit stops to stretch and relieve our bladders. The pit stops were in huge truck stops with restaurants and shops. We even had a chance to drop a one-lira coin in a slot and get a five-minute massage on a special massage chair. Ann said it was quite good.
Our inn called The Greek House in the village of Mustafapasa is a 300 year-old house that has been run by the same family for many years. They bought it after the Greeks were tossed out of Turkey in the 1970's (?). The Greek owner was mayor of the village so it was a large, well appointed house. It has several old rooms that have been upgraded through the years to meet more Western standards (meaning attached bathrooms with Western toilets). Our shower, however, has no shower stall. Water is sprayed over most of the bathroom floor as well as the toilet.
Our dining room was right outside our room. We sat on the floor around three large tables. The family-style meal consisted of a tomato/cucumber/onion salad, a beef/pepper/onion/egg plant stew, rice cooked with butter and macaroni and two kinds of baklava.
Dinner
We were asleep around 10:00.
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