It's 4 am when our alarm wakes us from a short night's sleep. Finally, after three canceled mornings in Cappadocia, we plan to fly up in an air balloon.

We are bused to the launch site and are advised the crews are just waiting for the confirmation that they can launch. Soon afterward, we are given the go-ahead, so we get off the bus and watch as our balloon is inflated.

We are the first balloon in the sky. What a magical way to see the sunrise. Our pilot's skills are exceptional as he takes us up and over the travertine pools we visited yesterday, barely above the ground. We float peacefully around until he parks us in one spot, rotating the balloon so all sixteen passengers can see everywhere.
Then, the magic begins. Just as the sun slowly rises, we see balloons of various colors start rising over the edge of the travertine hillside.
One balloon, then another, and another come into view. Soon, one comes right up to us and brushes lightly into our balloon as if to offer a good morning kiss. Both pilots are confident in their skills.

We carry on at various heights, and I am continuously mesmerized by the view of the landscape and the 20 other balloons around us. We even drop close to the homes below and wish people on their balconies a good morning.

When it's time to land, we crouch down into a landing position and land smoothly. The truck and trailer pull up alongside the balloon, and the pilot parks us onto the trailer with crazy precision. Then, of course, we have the traditional champagne celebration to celebrate a fabulous morning.

After breakfast, we toured Ephesus. Ephesus is an ancient city in Turkey’s Central Aegean region near Selçuk. The excavations reflect centuries of history, from classical Greece to the Roman Empire.

This city was famous for the Temple of Artemis, designated one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The cities many monumental buildings included the large Library of Celsus and a theatre capable of holding 24,000 spectators. It really is an impressive ancient city to visit.

For dinner some of us went to The Old House Restaurant in Selçuk. It's a restaurant with a quaint outdoor patio. We sat right underneath a beautiful grapefruit tree. Shortly after we sat down I looked up and said the grapefruits looked like they were ripe and ready to fall. We enjoyed our supper and we're just visiting when suddenly three grapefruits fell from the tree, with one landing right on my chest and bouncing off me then the table to the ground. It scared the crap out of me and Maily who was sitting next to me.

The waiters took them away, cut them up, and served them to us. They were very juicy. It doesn't get any fresher then that. When our waiter came to square up the bill he jokingly said he had to add the grapefruit to our bill.

We wrapped up the evening with a walk and an ice cream. The walk included a beautiful street with arches covered in fantastic smelling vines. So pretty!